It’s not just the Finns who do great sauna experiences. Russian bathhouses have a long and storied social and cultural history. NOON Editorial Director Jennifer Howze visits a modern version in the heart of Victoria: Here’s her Bath House Banya London review.
Victoria Station can whisk you to Cambridge or Brighton, to Gatwick or Ashford International for a flight, or to Southampton and Portsmouth to sail away. But just minutes away, in a historic bank building across from Buckingham Palace, there’s a spa experience that promises to transport you 2,500km east with its traditional Russian banya.
What’s the traditional banya experience?
The Russian bath experience is long and storied – considered a way to rejuvenate spiritually and physically while drawing communities together and separating friend from foe. The book Without the Banya We Would Perish by Ethan Pollack explores the particular culture and importance of the banya.
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He writes about the traditional experience: “On oven packed with burning logs heats a pile of rocks. When the rocks are red-hot, the fire is tamped down and water is tossed on them, producing billowing steam that raises the temperature. Bathers perspire, whisk each other with switches (veniki) made from young birch or other trees, cool off in a pool or pond or by rolling in the snow, and then repeat the process.”
Catherine the Great’s medical advisor said the banya was often better than doctors, according to the book. It’s featured in the works of Dostoeyevsky and Chekhov, and could be a place of virtue as well as vice. (Women who attended mixed-sex sessions were presumed to be unfaithful and could be divorced.)
The tradition has persisted even throughout huge social and political change. “Before there was Russia, there were banyas,” writes Pollack.
My Bath House Banya London review
The Bath House Banya London is situated in a grand building, behind an unassuming door. The lovely ladies behind the reception desk greet my group with wide smiles and warm hellos, efficiently checking us in and walking us through the process. When you book, you choose from several packages: from a banya-only session up to Banya Premium, which includes a 3-hour session, parenie leaf massage and 2 treatments. We were there for ultimate package: Banya Premium.
We’re given a towel, a bath sheet and flip-flops, with the option to purchase a felt banya hat to keep your head cool in the parilka. (I would recommend it.)
Then we’re directed downstairs to the diminutive changing room. We change into swimsuits – we’ve booked in on a mixed day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday –Sundays), when cossies are required. Tuesday is men-only; Thursday is Ladies’ day.
The Bath House restaurant
After a quick tour, we settle into our booth. This is the first time I’ve come to a spa experience where a café restaurant is basically ‘homebase’. It’s a bright social space, with other visitors eating, relaxing, drinking tea or sipping vodka or beer.
At that point, basically we gave ourselves over to the staff. They kept us how much time we had before our treatments, so we could enjoy the heat and cold rituals or order from the menu. When it was time for treatments, they collected us and escorted us to the treatment rooms.
The banya sauna
The oak-lined steam room is the common element that connects the banya experience, from the most rural and basic to the most modern and sophisticated. I’ve enjoyed many a sauna over the years, but this one stood out as a full-on experience.
The room was hot…even moreso when one young host came in with a giant fan and wafted air from the hot bricks directly onto us. Whoa – like a satisfying gust from a blast furnace.
My friends and I sat sweating in the half-light, alternately chatting, listening to the others and sitting in silence. After 10 minutes, the cold drench from the bucket shower just outside was chilly bliss. We did another round, finishing in the cold plunge pool. (One of my friends jumped in and out so quickly she was practically a blur.)
First treatment: Body scrubs
For treatments, we started with scrubs. I choose the coffee and honey scrub, recommended for sensitive skin; my friends got the salt and honey version. In a tiled-lined room, a no-nonsense lady gave me my aromatic exfoliation, front and back, after which I stood and she rinsed me off. I looked back – on the table where I had been lying: the brown coffee outline looked like aftereffect of an exhumation and I felt scrubbed new.
After a short break – more banya, more cold plunges, tea at the table. Then we went off for the piece de resistance: the parenie.
Next: The signature parenie treatment
The first time I heard of this treatment, it sounded like something out of a spy film – taken to a very hot room and beaten with sticks? In reality, it’s deeply relaxing and said to detoxify, stimulate blood flow, ease joint pain and cleanse the skin.
The parenie is the classic banya treatment and in my opinion a must-experience when visiting the Bath House. (Read more about its origins here.)
My friend and I were ushered into the darkened room where a hulking metal stove stood wedged between two treatment beds. The heat coming off it was intense. We lay down as the banshik brushed and “hit” us with the bundles of soaked branches, called venik – increasing circulation and promoting relaxation. While lying on my back, my lady plunged a bundle of leaves into a cold water then laid them on my head – it was blissful feeling the cold rivulets run down my face, breathing in their scent. I walked out feeling euphoric and deliciously loose-limbed – and eager to take another dip in the cold plunge pool!
We did another round of sauna and plunge pool, then were called into other treatment rooms for short (30 minute) but extremely relaxing massages.
Ending with vodka, pickles and toasts
When we returned to our table, we spent the last 30 minutes on our 3-hour session sharing a tangy bowl of pickles (cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage and mushrooms) and 3 shots of vodka. Cheers…or should I say, «За дружбу!».
You can also choose from heartier offerings, including salo (Ukrainian cured pork lard with horseradish, garlic and spring onions), beef tongue with horseradish, beef pirozhok (miniature stuffed pies), salt beef and pastrami, borsch, kholodnik (cold beetroot soup made with kefir), Herring in a Fur Coat (salted herring, vegetable and mayonnaise salad) and much more.
On my next visit, I’m looking forward to homemade dumplings stuffed with either potatoes or meat, the pancakes with beef and sour cream and, of course, caviar.
Going to the banya has been a part of everyday life for Russians. Now, whenever you’re in Victoria in London, it can be part of yours too.
Before you go…
- The banya is social, so enlist a friend or 2 to go with!
- Visit the website and choose your package before booking – Premium, Classic, Light or Just Banya
- You can decide on your body treatments in your package (scrub or massage type) on the day
What to bring:
- Bring an extra towel, wrap or sarong if you don’t want to rent an extra at reception. Jumping in and out of the banya and cold water can leave the towel and bath sheet you’re provided very wet
- A swimsuit – required on mixed days; up to you on single-sex days. We brought 2 suits each so we could change into drier one while we ate and drank together in the café
- A banya / sauna hat – not necessary but great for keeping your head and hair from overheating
The Bath House Banya London
1 Grosvenor Gardens
Belgravia, London SW1W 0BD
