The bathhouses at Hot Springs National Park are the perfect, maybe only, place in North America where you can still experience a Romanesque Bathhouse. Hot Springs, Arkansas, offers a unique blend of natural beauty, history, and therapeutic geothermal waters you won’t find many places. It’s a great destination for a relaxing weekend getaway or a girl’s trip.
There are 47 natural hot springs in Hot Springs National Park that filter into historic 19th and 20th-century bathhouses. Today, two bathhouses on Bathhouse Row offer a variety of spa treatments, ranging from traditional thermal baths and massages to facials and body wraps. I recently experienced the unique, traditional Romanesque bathhouse and soaked in some public pools. The hot springs vary in temperature and mineral content, offering diverse potential benefits for visitors.
Hot Springs Have a Legacy of Healing
For centuries, people revered the hot springs of Hot Springs National Park for their therapeutic properties. The healing properties of hot springs can vary depending on the specific mineral content of the water. Some springs are high in sulfur, while others are high in silica or magnesium. Each mineral has its own unique set of benefits.
Their warm, mineral-rich waters offer a variety of benefits for both physical and mental health. Here are some of the ways bathhouses at Hot Springs National Park can be healing:
- Pain relief: The warmth of the water can help to relax muscles and ease pain, making it beneficial for people with arthritis, joint pain, and muscle tension.
- Improved circulation: Soaking in hot water can increase blood flow, which can help to improve circulation and deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells.
- Skin health: The minerals in hot spring water can benefit the skin. For example, sulfur springs can help treat skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema, while silica can help soften and smooth the skin.
- Detoxification: Some believe soaking in hot springs can help detoxify the body by sweating out toxins.
- Stress relief: A hot spring’s warm, relaxing environment can help reduce stress and anxiety and promote peace and well-being.
- Improved sleep: The relaxation and stress relief that comes from soaking in a hot spring can help to enhance the quality of sleep.
For about $100, I spent several hours luxuriating in the hot spring water and enjoying a variety of spa treatments at Buckstaff Bathhouse. Here’s what it was like:
A Traditional Romanesque Bathhouse Experience
First off, leave your modesty at home and get comfortable with nakedness. This wasn’t an easy ask, but I adjusted quickly. When you arrive, they tell you to go into the dressing room and disrobe. A woman stands outside the curtain and waits with a white sheet, a.k.a. a toga. This is a Romanesque experience, after all. When you are naked, she opens the curtain, wraps the white sheet around you in an artful way, and directs you to a sitting area with other women, also in togas, waiting their turn. Men’s and women’s areas are separate. After about 15 minutes, I entered the bathing area.
Everything in the spa is original marble. Even the silver fixtures and lighting are original to the building. This means it shows signs of wear and tear but also adds to the historic feeling. My bather, Latoya, leads me to a stall with a big old clawfoot tub. This thing is oversized and old. She finishes filling the tub with hot spring water, tells me to step up on a stool, and takes my toga off.
Fun fact: Because the spring water is too hot to bathe at its natural temperature, bathers must mix it with cool water so it will not scald. But by law, it can only be combined with cooled spring water. In the past, bathhouses had elaborate systems of fans and finned pipes that allowed thermal water to circulate and cool, then flow into large stage tanks to use as needed. Today, they have central cooling systems.
Bathhouses at Hot Springs National Park
My bather instructs me to get into the tub and we both pretend I’m not naked as she propped a wood board and a rolled towel behind me so I can recline comfortably. There is a row of several tubs behind other curtains, and I can hear splashing and conversation.
In the tub is a massive jet vacuum resembling a giant Cuisinart mixer head. It is ferocious in how hard it jets the water into my nether regions. Some might like this part more than others. After a minute, I found a comfortable position that wasn’t quite so violating. About 45 minutes later, Latoya returned. She had me prop my legs up on the tub and move in various positions so she could loofah my legs, arms and back. She went at me like she was de-feathering a turkey. Once done, I stood on the stool again and she wrapped me in my toga.
Hot Springs Bathhouse Services
After, she led me to a massage table in a row with about 10 other women. She gave me cool spring water and covered me with hot towels and a cold one for my head. I lay there and meditated for some time. Eventually, she came for me again, took me to a phone booth-sized closet, and instructed me to take off my towel and sit on a bench. I did, and she closed two metal shelves on either side of me, exposing only my head. The steam from the spring radiated around me and sweat poured out of me. Thankfully, she was only gone five minutes this time.
Once she replaced my toga, she led me to a row of sitz baths along another wall. They’re only chair-sized marble fountains that you sit in. I plopped down and the hot spring water covered me up to my lower back. By this point, I have no shame. It’s like giving childbirth; modesty is out the window. I recline and enjoy the ice in my spring water.
My nether regions, now the cleanest they’ve probably ever been, are covered in a new toga and Latoya walks me down the hall for my massage. It’s a Swedish massage, which, in my opinion, is more frustrating than good because it’s very delicate. I’m more aggressive when I apply lotion. Still, I enjoyed laying there while the masseuse oiled me after all the hot water. Once done, I went to another station; the attendant dipped my hands in paraffin and I reclined in a big chair one final time. It was the oddest thing I’ve ever done, but it was terrific, and I can’t wait to do it again. Plus, for only $100, it’s a steal. Children are allowed services at the bathhouse, but they must be able to do all of it alone.
Public Hot Spring Pools
I also visited the public pools at Quapaw Baths & Spa. Here, for $25, they give you a towel, a pair of plastic shoes (for an extra $7 if you didn’t bring your own), and a locker key. You change and rinse off in the locker room before entering the pool area.
Four pools range in temperature from about 95 degrees to 104 degrees. I tried to get right into the hottest pool first but decided it was too hot once I put my feet in, so I went to the 98-degree pool instead. Then, I moved around between the various pools for the next hour. I also took breaks from the heat on the lounge chairs and got a smoothie from the attached café. The number of people allowed in the pools is limited, so there’s enough space for everyone without crowding.
No children under 14 are allowed, so it’s a relaxing experience for a public pool. Mostly, everyone just sat there quietly, chatting and soaking. After about 45 minutes, people started to filter out, but you could stay in the pools and lounge chairs all day. I left after about an hour and saw several people waiting for entry.
Pro tip: I’d thought arriving early was a good idea, but that’s when everyone goes. After an hour, fewer people were in the pools, and I bet there were still fewer in the afternoon.
If you Visit Bathhouses at Hot Springs National Park
The bathhouses are open year-round except on major holidays. Weekends are much busier than weekdays. Make reservations for spa treatments, especially during peak season and weekends.
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