Best Banya in New York

Sweating out toxins in a wet-steam sauna at the Aman is authenticity with a touch of luxury.
by Deborah Frank
An ornate courtyard with a central fountain and a stained-glass ceiling. The fountain has multiple tiers and a cascading water feature. The stained-glass ceiling is colorful and geometric.

The ancient custom of heat treatments to cleanse the body exists not only in Turkish and Moroccan hammams but also in the Russian banya, a wet-steam sauna. At Aman New York (from $1,950; aman.com), this traditional experience has been taken to a whole new level in a private Spa House suite with a seasoned practitioner. Set between 150 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat in the wood-clad room is balanced with moisture in the air. As you lie on a wooden table, the therapist whips around a towel to circulate the humidity, then uses oak and birch leaves known as veniks to gently beat your back, arms, and legs to aid muscle-and-joint-pain relief, exfoliate the skin, and stimulate blood flow. Since Aman is all about luxury and comfort, you are given a bell-shaped felt hat to keep your scalp from burning while a bushel of cold eucalyptus leaves is placed on your face to help you tolerate the heat longer.

An indoor Moroccan-style swimming pool with arched entryways and white columns. In the center of the pool is a four-poster bed. The pool deck is tiled and there are two chaise lounges visible.

Available for half- or full-day sessions, the Spa House consists of a double treatment room for couples, a living area with a daybed, and a large outdoor terrace with a cold plunge and hot bath. After the beatings in the heat, a cooling-off plunge is a welcome respite. Another option is booking the transformative Strength & Recovery Programme developed by tennis champion Maria Sharapova, Aman’s global wellness ambassador. It begins with an optimized performance breakfast at Arva, the hotel’s Italian restaurant, followed by a personalized hour of strength training and conditioning in the fitness center, the banya treatment (or, if preferred, a hammam treatment), a reflexology massage, and an exclusive Aman x 111SKIN facial mask. The breakfast menu was created by Sharapova and Executive Chef Jeremy Price based on the tennis pro’s own nutritional eating habits. It includes some of her favorites, such as a warm sprouted grain bowl with wild mushrooms and hakurei turnip; shirred eggs with kale and piquillo pepper; prebiotic smoothies with dragon fruit, plum, and coconut water; and cardio-care smoothies with blueberry, raspberry, hemp milk, hemp seed, flax seed, and psyllium husk powder.

As the global wellness ambassador, Sharapova has co-created a series of wellness retreats across different Aman properties globally. Tailored to complement the destination, the retreats focus on preparation, performance, and recovery. Earlier this year, the first retreat was held at Thailand’s Amanpuri on Phuket’s west coast, with more retreats to come.

Aman’s 34 hotels, resorts, and residences are dedicated to offering cutting-edge wellness immersions as evident in another new partnership at Aman New York with leading cosmetic surgery practice bodySCULPT (bodysculpt.com), which offers a menu of minimally and non-invasive treatments from IV therapy to microneedling.