Sulphur Bathhouse №5 — Local services in Tbilisi

When in Rome...

So I went to the baths in Tbilisi. I am a big fan of public baths, not gonna lie. China, Japan, Turkey, France and others, I've done the public baths.

This place is more like a public shower house, definitely a local experience!

I went at 7am right when public baths open, I'm a guy and I don't speak a word of Georgian.

This review is for the PUBLIC section, not a private room.

I paid 5 lari to enter (cash only), upon entering the men's locker room I was "greeted" by a surly man with some English. He told me I would need multiple sheets if I was doing a massage. He said "do 2 sheets and tea, 10 lari" I haggled down to one sheet (bath towel) and no tea for 2 lari.

Place your belongings in a locker and have Mr. Lockerroom lock it up. He will open it when you're done. Enter the "bathhouse"

Step 1 - Sauna Loved this Sauna. It's hotter than hell, I was the only one there. No sauna in the US is ever this hot, I immediately started sweating and stayed in for a solid 8-10mins I think. Great. Great. Great. Miss it.

Step 2 - Shower A pipe runs around the middle of the bathhouse room with a tiled bench for placing items. None of the men in there were seated on the bench. Two twist spigots allow for water control, I just turned on hot water. It's hot. Rinsed off. All the local men are there showering and soaping up. That seems to be the main function of this place.

Step 3 - the Bath At the far end of the room there is a large soaking tub, big enough for 10-12 guys. I could only soak my legs up to my knees. I got in for a minute, but felt like I was going into cardiac arrest so I got out and kept soaking just the feet. Still feels great, most other men were doing the same. It's hot. Maybe 45°C??

Step 4 - the Scrub Flag down one of the dudes in swim trunks. Motion scrub. I recommend skip the massage and just do the lather thing. It's like the Turkish style where they fill the towel with soapy foam and wrong it out over you to lather up and scrub. I think I actually got a massage and scrub... But only paid for one. You will pay the scrub/massage man directly after you're dressed. You'll pay your sheet towel on one of the tile beds along the wall, lie down and they will take it from there. It was 10lari for a massage and scrub, but confirm price you want to pay with Mr. Lockerroom before going in at the get-go. I paid my scrubber guy after I was dressed.

I had to race to catch my bus out of town, otherwise would recommend sitting and relaxing. Left the place quickly and was sweating, still so hot.

If you love hot water and hot air and don't mind being around other human bodies in their natural state, this place is a local experience...

The place can be a little hard to find. Look for Cielo restaurant - it's right next to it. The sign is only in Russian and Georgian. One of the few places that offers any kind of public facilities. Finding any information online (in English) was tough. I don't think they have a website. Hours were not posted (at least, not in English or Russian). Hours for public bathing, 7am-9pm, as well as how to find this place was communicated to me orally by locals.

In terms of public facilities, entrance in the evening was 3 lari. They also sell water (1 lari) and ice cream (1 lari). I believe, you can rent a towel and buy single use flip flops (I brought my own). Women's and men's facilities are separate. There is a small lobby and a couple of benches to sit in there.

As you go into the women's side, there is a small place with a mirror and shelf. A small room/area for staff. Then, a small locker room/ dressing room. Staff locks or unlocks your locker for you. Finally, you enter a small communal shower room with about 10 primitive spouts. Two knobs on the top let you control the temperature (red for hot, white for cold). That's pretty much it as far as public facilities go. As the name in Russian suggests, this is a "bathhouse". Public facilities are the most limited out of about a dozen of similar places I've visited (across the world). The only benefit is that showers are supplied by sulphur water. It's a decent deal for 3 lari.

This review is for the public facilities only. I do know that they have private rooms with more facilities. Which are probably a better option if you are going in with a friend or friends. I was by myself and thus did...

Really liked it. The staff was really friendly but spoke limited English so will write a short guide below (expand review):

After payment (10 lari) you will walk down and enter dressing room far back in the right. Here you can rent towel/slippers or reserve the scrub and massage. Lockers are available for no extra charge. The staff in the dressing room take care of the key.

In the bathing section everyone is completely naked. I wouldn't recommend bringing your towel in, because its very humid it will get completely wet.

In the middle part of the bathing section are showers with both hot and cold water.

On the left side is a toilet and sauna. It's a Finnish style sauna, but due to high air humidity you'll get sweaty very fast. For hygiene you might wanna take a cloth/small towel to sit on (although I haven't seen anyone do that).

On the right side is a hot bath. The water was steaming hot.

On the other sides are places where you can lie down for a while to normalize your heart rate. You can take a bucket and splash some water first to rinse from the person before you.

Scrub and/or massage will also take place on these tables. First back scrub, then front scrub. Then back massage with soap, then front massage with soap. Total time about 15-20 minutes.

When I was here, weekday afternoon, there were about 10 other men. From 15 it would start to feel crowded I think. Most visitors were locals.

I asked one of the local men about his ritual and he told me the following -go in take a shower to clean yourself -sauna -another shower to clean yourself -bath -lie down to relax as needed -repeat a...