Chicago Bath House

The building has housed a bathhouse since 1906 under various names and owners, and it was renovated in 2011. A day ticket covers the hot rooms, the steam rooms, the cold plunge and the hot tub, and comes with a robe, towels and slippers, so you can stay as long as you like.

The traditional platza is the signature add-on: an attendant works you over with oak or birch branches in the heat, and there are also soap scrubs and body scrubs. Between rounds, the restaurant and lounge serve Russian dishes and drinks. Treatments are booked ahead with a card, and late cancellations are charged.