Aire Ancient Baths has selected New York City’s Upper East Side neighbourhood for its latest bathhouse, marking its second destination in the city and ninth location worldwide.

Known for revitalising historical buildings into luxurious bathing havens, Aire offers an immersive bathhouse experience inspired by ancient Roman, Greek and Ottoman traditions. Each location features the brand’s signature candle-lit ambience, is infused with orange-blossom scents and offers access to a range of communal and contrast bathing facilities and spa treatments.

Aire's new 9,600sq ft wellness space in New York will be housed in a 120-year-old former warehouse, once used by Manhattan’s elite to store their valuables. Recently, the space was entrusted by prestigious institutions like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to protect some of their most valuable collections.

The company says Aire New York Upper East Side’s standout feature will be its classic salt bath, called the Flotarium, which will be suspended from the ceiling.

Aire’s growing global presence

Aire launched its first bathhouse in Seville, Spain, in 2000, and has since expanded to major cities worldwide, including Barcelona, Almeria, Vallromanes, Copenhagen, Chicago and London.

The brand will soon debut in Canada with a new location in Toronto, designed in collaboration with wet area specialist Aqua Plans.

Speaking exclusively to Spa Business about the Aire business model, CEO Amadeo Serra said: “The client journey at Aire is the same in every location and we spend a lot of time finding the right buildings.

“The site needs to have historic importance and a dialogue with the city it’s in. This is often one of the most challenging aspects of opening Aire, as it needs to be large enough for the facilities but also have an authentic story and connection to the city.”

Every Aire location is strategically situated in a central area of the cities it enters.

The urban wellness group’s last major launch was in 2021, introducing an underground bathhouse in London’s Covent Garden – click here to read our first-person review.