Spa Experience Old Street

Fancy earning your spa day? Spa Experience Old Street sits beneath Ironmonger Row Baths, a fully fledged leisure centre popular with locals, so you can fit in a workout or a swim upstairs before or after your visit. Although it’s not available as part of a spa day, pay-as-you-go and day passes are available through Better (Spa Experience’s sister brand, who run the leisure centre).

The gym here is kitted out with weights and cardio machines, and the studios host everything from Pilates and yoga to boxfit, circuits and group cycling – there are squash courts too if you’re feeling competitive. Swimmers can do lengths in the 30.5m pool, which has been at the heart of the building since the 1930s. 

For something more gentle, step out of the door and let your feet do the work - the Regent’s Canal is about a 10-minute walk north. Want to up the ante? A short bus ride north takes you to The Castle Climbing Centre on Green Lanes. It’s housed in a Victorian water pumping station built to look like a medieval castle – so you can scale its walls quite literally!

There’s no café at Spa Experience Old Street, but you won’t go thirsty! Fruit, herbal teas and fruit-infused water are on hand throughout your session to keep you refreshed. And the good news is that you’re in one of London’s liveliest food neighbourhoods, so step outside and take your pick.

Just around the corner, Whitecross Street has been home to a market for centuries. Today it’s a weekday favourite with local office workers, with stalls serving street food from all over the world. A short stroll west takes you to Clerkenwell, where pedestrianised Exmouth Market is lined with cafés and restaurants spilling out onto the pavement. Head east and you’re into Shoreditch, with its buzzing food halls and late-night bakeries, while Brick Lane, famous for its curry houses and round-the-clock beigel shops, is a little further on.

If you’d rather toast your spa day with a pint, Clerkenwell’s winding lanes hide some of London’s most characterful old pubs, many of them set in centuries-old buildings with creaky floors and cosy snugs. It’s the perfect place to round off a day of bathhouse heritage in suitably historic style. Cheers!

There’s no pool in the spa itself, but the leisure centre in the same building has a 30.5-metre pool. It sits beneath a restored original ceiling lightbox that floods it with natural light. 

Access to the pool isn’t included in your spa day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go! There’s no need to be a member to use the pool, as pay-as-you-go and day passes are available through Better, Spa Experience Old Street’s sister brand.

Just bring your swimwear, as the spa takes care of almost everything else. Every spa day includes a robe, a towel and flip-flops, and the lockers open with a wristband, so there’s no need for a padlock or a key. Only one towel is provided, so you might want to pack a spare if you like a fresh one for after your shower. 

There’s no need to bring a hairdryer or straighteners, as the stylish vanity area has both, so you can head back out into Old Street looking as good as you feel. Fruit, herbal teas and fruit-infused water are on hand throughout, so you won’t need snacks either. If you’ve visited before, bring back any bottle you bought from the apothecary-style wall of oils, teas and herbs. You can refill it at a reduced price, which is better for the planet and kinder on your wallet.

There’s no hot tub, and the plunge pool is more about cooling off than warming up! But you won’t miss it, thanks to all the other hot and cold experiences on offer, like the Himalayan salt sauna, infrared sauna, salt and herbal steam rooms, ice fountain and experience showers. In the traditional Turkish hot rooms, the tepidarium is gently warm, the caldarium is hotter and steamier, and the laconium is a dry heat room.

It’s tucked beneath Ironmonger Row Baths, a handsome Grade II-listed art deco building at 1 Norman Street, on a quiet side street just north of Old Street. The area itself is called St Luke’s – a historic corner of Islington where Shoreditch, Clerkenwell and the City meet. Old Street station is about five minutes’ walk away. 

Just down the road, look out for the striking obelisk spire of St Luke’s Church, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and now a home for the London Symphony Orchestra. Bunhill Fields, the leafy burial ground of William Blake and Daniel Defoe, is just around the corner, so you’re never far from a dose of London history.

Fancy an overnight stay in the capital? Spa Experience Old Street is a day spa, so there are no rooms on site, but you’ll find plenty of hotels nearby if you’d like to make a weekend of it.

Ironmonger Row Baths was built in two stages by the old Finsbury council. In 1931, a public wash house opened along with “slipper baths”, private baths that locals with no bathroom at home could hire. The swimming pools and Turkish baths followed in 1938. The building was given a major £16 million restoration in 2012, and the spa was reborn in 2024 with its sleek new thermal facilities alongside the original hot rooms. 

Nearly a century on, it’s still a busy community hub, with a launderette in the building that’s a nod to its wash-house roots. Look up as you swim and you’ll spot the pool’s original 1930s ceiling lightbox, which still floods the water with daylight.

The spa is open from 12pm to 8pm on Mondays, from 10am to 8pm Tuesday to Friday, and from 9am to 7.30pm at weekends. Your arrival time and the timing of your two-hour thermal session will be shown on your booking confirmation, so check it before you set off. It’s worth arriving a little early to check in, collect your robe and wristband and change, so you get the full two hours to unwind. 

The spa is for guests aged 16 and over, for both the facilities and the treatments. That keeps the atmosphere calm and grown-up.

Definitely. Two of the six treatment rooms are designed for couples, and there’s a dedicated couples’ wet hammam space for traditional rituals together. The Quiet Zone relaxation room has comfy day beds, so you can doze side by side afterwards.

The spa is on the lower floor and can be reached by lift. The wider leisure centre has accessible changing facilities and toilets. If you have specific access needs, it’s best to contact the spa before your visit.

Dogs aren’t allowed in the spa, so your four-legged friend will have to sit this one out. You’ll both enjoy a stroll along the Regent’s Canal towpath afterwards, though.

No, there are no courses nearby, but you’ll find crazy golf bars in Shoreditch and the City. Otherwise, there’s plenty to do. The Barbican Centre offers art, theatre and a tropical conservatory, and Bunhill Fields is the final resting place of William Blake, Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan. You can also explore Shoreditch’s street art and vintage shops, or follow the Regent’s Canal past colourful narrowboats.