The Best Spa In London? Hoxton’s Banya No. 1 is Unlike Any Other
Without revealing too much about my personal life and while maintaining a certain degree of journalistic integrity, I’ll admit that being led into a steaming room, laid almost-naked on a condensation-soaked table and being beaten with bundles of oak leaves is exactly my idea of a good time. While it wasn’t always, it most certainly is now. After spending a glorious afternoon in the warm embrace of Banya No. 1 in Hoxton – London’s first (and best) Russian bathhouse and spa – I’m a thorough convert to its vigorous and intense interpretation of relaxation and wellness, and I’m already planning my return.
Perenie treatment - an experience to remember. Banya No.1, Hoxton
I’m actually not a total newbie to the concept of the Banya, which sits somewhere between a Finnish sauna and a Turkish bath (moderate heat, very high humidity) and provides visitors with a sweaty, immersive experience that isn’t easily forgotten. My undying love for Tallinn, Estonia’s peerless Hanseatic capital, has seen me visit similar set-ups, but I must admit I was always a little too apprehensive to make full use of the frankly terrifying-sounding services on offer, previously preferring to take the ‘safer’ approach of simply lying on the wooden benches and letting my pores rid themselves of whatever the day had accumulated.
An unexpected hidden foodie gem awaits at Banya No. 1
Banya No. 1, which sits discreetly just around the corner from the ever-vibrant, ever-surprising Old Street in East London, was founded back in 2012 to offer something a little different to the city’s wellness scene. It’s grown a devoted following ever since (including regular visits from no shortage of celebrities in search of thorough awakening rituals, including Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger and Kate Moss, to name but a few), and yet has stuck steadfastly to a winning formula and array of treatment packages that reflect an authentic St Petersburg bathhouse experience. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that it’s a beautiful place in which to while away a few hours – the banya itself is wood-lined and features piped soundscapes of twittering birds and gently babbling streams, and the adjoining restaurant’s decor is reminiscent of of babushka’s kitchen; all Soviet-era artworks and a menu featuring Russian favourites such as red caviar pancakes, borscht soup and stuffed dumplings. It even offers a homemade version of herring under a fur coat – in my humble opinion, a king among salads and a celebration dish featuring layers of pickled herring, chopped egg, beetroot and potatoes. With a shot of vodka, a cold beer or a glass of home-brewed kvass, I’d honestly go back for the food alone.
The Banya’s wooden plunge pool
Anyway, back into the steam and consensual thrashing. I was in for Banya no. 1’s renowned Silver Package, which includes three hours of top-to-toe wellbeing rituals, including the famed perenie treatment, a mud mask and a rigorous scrub with sea salt and honey. The perenie is a beloved Russian wellness practice, and the one which is hard to describe without accidentally slipping into Fifty Shades of Grey territory. To summarise: once warmed, relaxed and glowing after some serious time spent in the banya’s all-enveloping humidity, you’re led into a room and laid on a treatment table. The heat is ramped up to almost uncomfortable levels by splashing water onto a pressurised brick oven, and an attendant begins gently hitting you up and down, up and down with twin bundles of leaves that have been soaking in hot water.
He begins hitting harder. Then harder still. By the end, the pounding thwacks verge on the unbearable until they stop, and long, sweeping strokes provide respite from the intensity. You’re led, wobbling and unsure, to a corner where a huge bucket of very cold water is dumped on your head, and then told to get into a vast vat of similarly chilly water. “Put your head in”, instructs my newfound friend. My head goes under, the cold water shocking my skull and piercing my brain. I come up, gasping. “Do it again”, I’m told. This is wellbeing with the gloves off, clearly.
Writing this, I know full well that to many people, all of this sounds horrendous. It would to me, too, had I not been there and encountered it first-hand. However, I can’t deny that I headed back into the steaming banya and, as I lay down to consider my life choices and career path, I experienced a wave of euphoria washing over me. I felt, frankly, fantastic.
A thoroughly authentic banya experience in London
The aforementioned honey and sea salt scrub that followed ensured a sloughing of dead skin cells and yet more sensory awakening, and then I was instructed to sit in a chair – my feet submerged in a bucket of scented water – and my former tormentor took a hefty paintbrush and tenderly, oh-so-tenderly coated my face and upper torso in a mixture of Black Sea mud, rich in more minerals and sea salt. I was given about twenty blissful minutes to sit back, still exuding steam from my reddened skin, and have not a care in the world. That very same feeling has lingered since.
The past few years have seen urban saunas spring up across London and elsewhere in the UK – there’s a brand new harbourside sauna in Bristol that I’m keen to dip into next – and it’s a trend I can’t see fading anytime soon. However, Banya no. 1 offers something that’s so exciting, immersive and memorable, while also being brilliantly effective at ensuring that forever-sought-after blend of relaxation and enlivenment, that there’s little wonder it’s considered a best-kept secret that’s almost impossible to keep to oneself for long.
Spa packages for Banya no. 1 Hoxton can be purchased here.
