"Tucked away off a side street near Old Street, it sits in the basement of a new-build block. They even share the same entrance, so you get the odd thrill of wondering whether you're heading for a spa treatment or someone's Amazon delivery. Once you're downstairs, the walls are plastered with celebrity photos, quotes and snapshots. Kate Moss apparently floated out feeling fantastic after a visit with her aristocratic beau, while Renée Zellweger, like us, seemed stunned that this even exists on Micawber Street."
"Inside the spa, things heat up, literally. The sauna sits at around 70 degrees. Banyas are designed to make you sweat properly; the mix of dry heat and steam pushes your body into a deep sweat, which helps flush out waste products. It's tended by a banya master: essentially a very committed, very topless man who ladles water into a brick furnace until your face starts stinging."
Hoxton's Banya No.1 provides an authentic Russian spa experience in a basement near Old Street, sharing an entrance with a new-build block. Walls display celebrity photos and anecdotes, and an on-site restaurant serves Russian specialties including vodka, dumplings and garlic bread sticks. The sauna operates around 70°C and combines dry heat and steam to induce a deep sweat that helps flush waste products. Treatments are led by a banya master who ladles water into a brick furnace and administers Parenie: rhythmic waving and tapping with hot fragrant branches, followed by a cold-water plunge after a scrub and mud mask.
Read at London On The Inside
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