America Is Finally Embracing Europe’s Bathhouse Ritual (With a Twist)
From contrast therapy to hydrothermal circuits, ancient European bathing rituals are shaping the future of wellness in American cities.
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It starts with heat. Then cold. Then, heat again. Maybe a plunge pool. Maybe a nap. A moment of stillness. A social sauna. A hydrothermal circuit that feels more like a ritual than a routine. This isn’t just another spa day. It’s the rebirth of a wellness culture centuries in the making — and finally, it’s gaining steam in the U.S.
Welcome to the age of contrast therapy.
The New Bathhouse Boom
Across Europe, bathhouses have long been a part of daily life: a third space between home and work where the body and mind reset. Now, that same ethos is showing up stateside, thanks in part to global innovators like the Therme Group. Known for their sprawling wellness destinations in Bucharest and soon, Manchester and Dallas, the brand is redefining what it means to disconnect and recharge.
“Therme is an oasis inspired by centuries of European bathing traditions, from Finnish saunas to Russian banyas to the Roman baths of antiquity,” says Robert Hammond, President of Therme U.S. and co-founder of the High Line. “Places where wellness was never an isolated or individual pursuit. It was public, it was social, and it belonged to everyone.”
What Is Contrast Therapy, Exactly?
The premise is simple but powerful: expose the body to hot temperatures (via sauna or steam), then cold (cold plunge, ice bath, or cryo shower). Rinse and repeat. This back-and-forth stimulates circulation, boosts endorphins, and strengthens the immune response.
Studies suggest that contrast therapy can:
- Increase blood flow and vascular function
- Reduces muscle soreness
- Lower inflammation
- Supports stress relief and sleep
While the science continues to evolve, the real-world results (fewer aches, deeper sleep, better mood) have made believers out of everyone from elite athletes to overworked parents.
Therme’s Vision: Wellness for All
Rather than catering only to a niche wellness crowd, Therme is opening up the experience to a broader audience. Think fewer $300 massages, more communal thermal pools, and botanical saunas. Therme Dallas, for example, is poised to become a 100,000+ square-foot urban oasis, with accessibly priced day passes, water-based wellness, art installations, and zones for both solitude and social connection.
“A bathhouse, at its core, is heat, water, and people,” Hammond explains. “It can be a cold plunge, a sauna, a thermal pool, but the essential element is community.”
Therme calls this “well-being at scale”, a purpose-built space that combines nature, art, architecture, and rituals to help people reconnect with themselves, each other, and their cities.
Europe Knows: It’s Not Just Self-Care. It’s Social Care.
In many European cities, taking time for thermal bathing isn’t an indulgence; it’s hygiene, therapy, and civic life rolled into one. People chat in saunas, journal in rest areas, or unwind in mineral-rich waters. “There’s a reason these traditions have endured,” Hammond notes. “Americans are only now rediscovering that. Not just for the physical benefits (though those are real) but for better circulation, lower cortisol, and improved immunity. And more importantly, we’re seeing a hunger for something communal.”
The Wellness Circuit: What to Expect
Unlike a traditional spa menu of services, a hydrothermal circuit invites exploration. You move through temperature shifts and sensory experiences at your own pace.
At a Therme facility, a day might include:
- Dry sauna: Provides deep heat to relax muscles
- Aromatherapy steam room: Warm mist infused with botanicals
- Cold plunge pool: Instant endorphin rush
- Thermal bathing lagoons: Warm, mineral-rich waters to soak and float
- Quiet zones: For meditation, journaling, or just doing nothing
Each space is designed not just for individual healing but for collective well-being.
Why Now? Urban Stress Meets Global Burnout
We’re living in what experts call the “Age of Overwhelm”: digital fatigue, chronic stress, and social isolation. Americans are burned out and looking for alternatives that aren’t tied to screens or subscriptions.
Therme’s concept taps into this cultural shift. With projects underway in Washington D.C., Dallas, and beyond, it’s not just about creating beautiful spaces. It’s about reshaping how we view health, leisure, and connection.
“Therme democratizes wellbeing by reimagining the bathhouse as a form of social infrastructure,” Hammond says. “It’s a place for families, friends, and strangers to come together, move through water and heat, and leave feeling a bit transformed.”
Not Just a Spa Day
Forget the hush-hush luxury spa stereotype with cucumber water and whispered voices. Therme combines nature, entertainment, and culture in equal parts. Think: immersive art, natural light, indoor gardens, and spaces for both movement and stillness. And it’s working. Therme Bucharest, one of Europe’s largest wellness centers, welcomes over 1.4 million visitors a year.
As Therme prepares to open new doors in the U.S., a question lingers: Could bathhouses become America’s next great third space? Hammond thinks so. “As bathhouses start to reemerge in cities like New York, our hope is that Therme becomes a cultural fixture,” he says. “A new kind of public space, equal parts wellness center, social club, and civic institution. Like a museum you don’t just visit, but soak in.”
And maybe that’s what we need most right now: not more to-do lists, but more places to be.
Click here for more information on Therme Group
