Brooklyn Banya — Local services in New York

This place is horrible! I went here a few years back and things have changed horribly.

:::The begging::: I stumbled onto a groupon deal for the place which reminded me it existed so I bought it and went.

Problem 1) They tried to stop my friend and myself and claim the passes were no good and were only valid Monday through Friday (it was a Sunday).

I made sure to check for that before hand and pointed out that nowhere on the paperwork was that limitation listed. The front desk woman/waitress actually scowled at me, made a show of reading the paper, asked me when i bough it, and then relented... BUT not before claiming we had to pay a $2 per person "tax" to get in... Groupon will be hearing about this.

Problem 2) Any Russian Bath house (banya) will provide slippers for their guests since nobody wants to walk around barefoot. They were out.

Not a big deal you'd think as the front desk woman said they were being cleaned and would be out in five minutes. Well we wait, ten minutes later still no slippers so I ask again about the slippers. The woman rolls her eyes, and puts her head down on the desk like a frustrated child before calling someone over to actually have them check. While asking him to check she says that people keep annoying her about the slippers... right in front of us.

Eventually (ten more minutes) a male employee brings out the slippers. I ask him as he is passing us whether we can have a pair (in the same russian I heard him speak to the front desk woman in so I know there wasn't a language barrier) and he completely ignores me, dumps the slippers in the slipper basket, and goes to chat with the front desk girl.

At that point we had paid and we were inside changing. We then went to the main area.

Problem 3) Towels... Any Russian Bath House (banya) will provide towels for their guests... you sweat, you swim, you need towels. They have them, but in extremely short supply. As is typical they are stored on shelving by the laundry room, but they only put out six or seven at a time. As soon as they're put out they're snapped up and you have to wait for more to appear at time unknown.

Other places keep them well stocked (dozens at a time) and don't let them run out.

We then went into the saunas. There were the only decent part, but only decent. There were well heated, but rather dirty. There were leaves and towels strewn about and no signs of staff cleaning up. Other Banyas regularly close one sauna at a time for 15 minutes to have someone come in and sweep up. They also have people making rounds and collect towels that were left behind (which admitedly shouldn't be left behind by people, but that is not the point at all).

We sat down at a table and tried to order some tea.

Problem 4) The waitress (same person as the front desk girl) actively ignored us. I tried to wave her down several times and she made eye contact, sneered, and kept walking past us. I then walked up to her and politely (I continued to be polite despite her shocking rudeness) asked for a pot of black tea with some cherry preserves. She barked at me to stop and wait to order because she hadn't pulled out her pad to write it down yet.

She then pulled out her pad and wrote down that I had ordered black tea and asked if we wanted honey or preserves. I repeated that I would like cherry preserves with our tea (which they charge for! per person!). She took the order and returned with the tea and preserves (which were pretty much syrup with three cherries in there per person).

At this point we had no intention of staying there any longer and decided to leave and cut our losses.

Problem 5) Hey look... no towels again. Sure is hard to rinse off, and dry off without towels... yay!

Overall I will NEVER return to this place. The service wasn't just bad, it was actively antagonistic! The facilities are sub par, dirty, and...

I really love this place... It's like a great "bad habit". LoL Every 6months or so my husband & I go and enjoy half a day here! There are plenty of pros & a few cons. And to each their own, but in case it helps, here are my general thoughts, In brief:

PRO: the food is unreal!! You haven't eaten bread until you try this "lavash" (this one is fluffy & scrumptious--filled w delight) PRO: the Healthy (nourishing is maybe a better word) food & drinks are served in VERY generous --shareable-- portions (the salads & perogis are fresh and flavorful) PRO: stay as long as you like, bring games, relax PRO: sauna options--the place is not "huge"--but it's Brooklyn CON: each time I've come with a groupon--there was a challenge to Its validity/use/dates, etc (but just stick with it...it's worth it) PLUS know you will need to pay gratuity ($16 each) CON: Price ($45 to enter) + food + tips (adds up), but worth the treat now & again CON: décor is very dated... One review I read said " sauna-meets-my-russian-grandmas-livingroom"... #accurate, but once again, worth it, and it may seem a bit "worn" (I.e. lockers need an update...bits of rust marks noticeable...not the end of the world, but still) BUT I've never found it dirty PRO: some outside space for "open/ fresh air"--" valuable" in the busy city CON: neighborhood is a bit run down (again, just try not to think about it--focus on the relaxation CON: I'm never sure exactly when the chef comes (but again...worth the wait!!) PRO: Access to massage services! I've found it oddly frustrating that many massage places in The city (esp Manhattan) don't have a place to shower after...which (esp if you want to use public transport) makes for a very oily trekk home--very "unrelaxing" if you ask me... Also after a massage-- you can easily go back to relaxing at the sauna...all in all: a great environment for a massage! Pro: Banya Kitty!!! Enough said!

Tip: Come early, when they first open...fewer people!! Feels like it's...

I was harassed at this Banya by a man and I have video evidence of it…

I came to this Banya with a friend (31F) because I wanted to relax and it was one of the more affordable Banyas near me. Upon entering, I was met with an older lady who spoke little English and who took 15 minutes validating our Groupon deal. We finally were let in and to our dismay, the Banya was filthy. There was hair in the pool, the Jacuzzi was not hot and the cold pool was not cold at all.

There were a bunch of Uzbek guys rough housing in the cold pool, who eventually approached me. After showing my disinterest and discomfort, one of the guys continued to follow us from pool to pool and sauna to sauna. He would not stop. There were many times we had to look the other way and move locations to avoid him and he did not take the hint and persisted to ask for my phone number.

We only stayed for an hour and within the end, this man followed us into the locker room. This is when things got terrifying as my friend went to change in a stall and the older woman was downstairs cleaning the pool. He continued to plead for my number and asked for more, leaning in to touch me. This is when I started to record the encounter as I was alone and he was taking advantage of my friend being in the stall. If he had touched me, I was going to get cops involved and upon reading hidden reviews on Yelp, this place is no stranger to cops.

I was able to kick him out and close the door but there were 2 entrances to the locker room and he found it funny to enter using the other entrance and ended up getting a peek at my friend changing. I was able to rush downstairs to get the manager who again, spoke little English so did not understand the gravity of the matter. She finally understood and went upstairs and berated the men but honestly that’s not enough for the harassment we faced during the short stay.

This place is not for women, POC,...