Hudson soaked

GETAWAYS • Upstate

Last month, the baths and spa at Pocketbook Hotel in Hudson, NY, which started welcoming guests last fall (early intel), finally opened.

The double-decker spa and bathhouse is similar in style to the hotel: industrial, precise, and filled with delicate artistic details. Inside the factory’s former storage building, the ground floor features a circuit of hot and cold pools, plus a steam room. Upstairs, there’s a collection of treatment rooms for spa services, as well as space for workshops and exercise classes.

While a 2.5 hour session at the baths is included with a stay at Pocketbook, it’s still necessary to reserve a spot, as they only allow 30 people in at a time. Unlike the crowded bathhouses of NYC, this preserves a sense of privacy and serenity. There are three vessels of water: a hot tub, a cold tub (described as “crisp morning lake water”), and a serenity pool set to about 100 degrees. You can do the pools as a circuit, but that’s not overly emphasized or explained. There’s no pretense of biohacking. People jumped around and lingered as they saw fit, mostly in the serenity pool — the largest of the bunch — chatting with neighboring soakers or reading a book.

The design itself reminded me a little of the jjimjilbang I’d visited in South Korea, expansive and open, with almost no privacy. There’s a line of tiny stools, though these ones designed by Rich Aybar are much less ordinary than the tiny plastic variety in Korea, in front of a long mirror for final tidy-ups post-soak. But unlike the day spas of South Korea or even the Russian Baths in the East Village, you can tell this isn’t designed for all-day hanging. There’s an element of luxe and hospitality that still screams hotel (in a good way), like the custom high-end soap products and the Dyson hairdryers.

Also, unlike many of these other day spas and bathhouses, there’s light. Where most bathhouses let you forget the outside world, giant, factory-style windows have the space awash with natural sunlight. I appreciated this light streaming in as I floated, perhaps one of the unique benefits of having a bath experience outside of the city. –Sylvie Florman

→ The Baths at Pocketbook Hudson (Hudson, NY) • Thu-Mon 9a-9p, Tue-Wed 12p-9p • Soaks from $30.