Traditional Old-World bathing with all the fixin’s, right in the East Village.

It's about shvitzing here, the Eastern European bathing ritual which, in addition to a steam and cool down, consists largely of hanging out. In the cafe, fill up on beer and hearty Russian fare while watching TV, or catch rays on the roof deck.

Take your choice of heat rooms: Dry, steam, scented or the cherished Russian, heated with 20,000 pounds of rocks. In the latter, get a 15-minute Platza treatment—a scrub down with an olive-oil soaked oak-leaf broom that opens pores and removes toxins. After steam sessions, guests cool down in the "Ice Cold Pool" or triple-jet Swedish shower. Each pass is good for the whole day, so you might later opt for a massage, soap wash (a serious rubdown with scented soap), salt scrub or black-mud treatment.

www.russianandturkishbaths.com

Solicited by Juliet Pederson