Overview
Relaxing usually means avoiding difficult decisions. Before you chase bliss at The Bathhouse Albion, however, you do need to make some choices. Will a soak help ease your stresses? Would a cold plunge revitalise your senses? Maybe you'd prefer to float away your troubles? Is getting steamy — in a steam room, that is — your path to unwinding? Would you prefer a sauna instead?
These are the best types of verdicts to make, of course, because you're plotting out how to level up your self-care. Making them at the latest relaxation spot in Brisbane's inner north — its second in 2024 alone, after also scoring a new bathhouse in Lutwyche — means that you're on your way to forgetting your worries.
A European-inspired wellness haven, The Bathhouse Albion has set up shop on Nariel Street as part the Albion Fine Trades precinct. First announced back in April, it started welcoming in patrons in late June. The vibe here is indulgent, opulent and luxurious — all in an architecturally designed space that boasts Hogg & Lamb's fingerprints, as Brisbane restaurants Babylon and Gemelli Italian already do. Travertine stone is a key element, giving the venue not just a Euro look and feel, but an old-school one as well. Moody lighting and high ceilings also feature.
Vanderbilt Wellness is behind the wellness spot, which Managing Director James Walsh — an experienced long-distance and ultra-marathon runner — explains aims to "create a space where our guests can re-energise and restore, as part of a balanced lifestyle in an unmatched setting".
He's dubbing it "one of the most luxurious bathhouses in the world", too. "I've had the opportunity to run ultra marathons all over the world and the privilege of experiencing some of the world's most well-regarded and award-winning wellness and recovery centres."
"Our aim is to transcend the standard of service and experience available in the Australian market."
Within the atmospheric bathhouse, patrons can take a dip in both hot and cold pools (the latter gets down to 12 degrees), then get sweaty in traditional and infrared saunas — and in a Finnish sauna with a fireplace. The six-degree ice bath will cool you down. The tiered steam room will heat you back up. If you just want to drift, there's the float room. And, in-between treatments, the relaxation lounge awaits.
Turning chasing bliss into a multi-sensory experience, The Bathhouse Albion also features calming fragrances and sounds — and there's no phones allowed, and no alcohol as well. It also has a cap on guest numbers for each session, so you won't have too much company. And yes, there's tea — that bathhouse staple — for sipping, plus cotton towels aplenty.
Casual sessions start from $59. At the other end of the pricing scale, those feeling flush, not to mention willing commit a hefty chunk of cash to their relaxation, can opt for the $833-a-month unlimited membership. It gets you unlimited access and priority bathhouse sessions, as well as two monthly guest passes and two float passes.
Find The Bathhouse Albion at 64 Nariel Street, Albion — and head to the venue's website for more details.