By Erin Nicole Davis
Amid the buzz of Toronto’s Fashion District and the sheer scale of the neighbouring urban mega-project, The Well, a dreamy oasis has been carved out of time. The city’s luxury and wellness seekers have a new sophisticated sanctuary with the arrival of AIRE Ancient Baths, the revered Spanish thermal experience brand. The opening marks AIRE’s inaugural Canadian location and its tenth global location, following successful launches in cities like New York, Chicago, London, and Barcelona.
This strategic selection places Toronto on the map for high-end, experiential wellness, demonstrating the brand’s confidence in the city’s ability to sustain one of the world’s most distinctive luxury offerings. With the opening of facilities like Othership and Wellness Haus, Toronto’s modern wellness scene has pivoted toward community-focused, high-tech, and elemental recovery in recent years, championing contrast therapy and breath work.
In contrast to the community-focused energy of Toronto wellness spots like Othership, however, AIRE Ancient Baths is more about silent, candlelit hydrotherapy and personal contemplation (and inevitably comes with a steeper price tag). With that said, it’s natural to assume a few quiet connections will still be made over silent steams and cold plunges.
A Masterful Transformation of Heritage
In keeping with the brand’s tradition of transforming historic urban structures, AIRE Toronto is situated within a beautifully restored 1912 Edwardian Classical building, a heritage site that once housed the Copp Clark Publishing Company. While it may sit in the heart of Toronto’s hustle and bustle, the space itself is quietly tucked away from the street, behind the building’s original facade.
“What sets AIRE apart is the way timeless bathing rituals come to life inside restored historical buildings,” says Amadeo Serra, CEO of AIRE Ancient Baths. “These places have a soul, they tell stories. When you’re floating in a candlelit bath in a space with a century of history, time slows, the mind quiets, and you feel part of something much bigger.”
The new facility is a substantial one, encompassing approximately 23,000 square feet, making it one of the largest properties in the AIRE collection. The moody design features exposed brick and wood beams, and focuses on silence, stillness and candlelight, creating a subterranean atmosphere where the city noise fades away. The architectural reverence for the original structure, combined with the sensory design of the bathing space, underscores a commitment to authentic luxury over mere opulence.
Rooted in Ancient Tradition
The core of the AIRE experience is the thermal circuit, an immersive journey rooted in the ancient bathing rituals of Roman, Greek, and Ottoman civilizations. Guests navigate a sequence of thermal baths at varying temperatures, moving at their own pace, guided by candlelight, silence and the sound of water.
Elements include:
- Tepidarium (Warm Bath): Prepares the body for deeper relaxation.
- Caldarium (Hot Bath): A sanctuary of heat to soothe muscles and joints.
- Saunarium (Dry Sauna): A traditional dry heat experience, which promotes detoxification and deep muscle relaxation through intense, gentle warmth.
- Frigidarium (Cold Bath): Invigorating plunges to stimulate circulation and provide contrast therapy.
- Vaporium: A steam room infused with aromatherapy.
- Balneum (Bath of One Thousand Jets): A specialized warm bath featuring powerful, yet soothing, pressurized jets designed to provide an intense, targeted hydro-massage for the ultimate muscle relief.
- Flotarium: A high-concentration salt bath designed for effortless flotation and deep sensory disconnection.
- Palestra: A distinctive outdoor bath unique to Toronto, offering an immersion experience beneath the Toronto sky.
- Laconicum (The Pool/Rest Area): A dry heat chamber or dedicated rest area that promotes perspiration and offers a tranquil space for passive relaxation between thermal immersions.
Beyond the circuit, AIRE offers a curated menu of rituals, and features 12 massage rooms, and two warm marble beds. Notable offerings include specialty massages for singles and couples and its famous signature Wine Bath experience, where the entire body is immersed in the antioxidants of Spanish Ribera del Duero red grapes. It is followed by a cranial treatment, a full-body massage, and a tasting of Matarromera wine with cheeses ($1,560 Canadian, per couple).
To honour its Canadian debut, AIRE introduces an experience available only in Toronto, The Signature Boreal Forest Experience. This 150-minute ritual is inspired by the purity and stillness of Canada’s northern landscapes. It includes a guided thermal circuit rooted in contrast therapy, 15-minute Canadian pink salt exfoliation on warm marble, 60-minute cedar essential oil massage with jade hot stones, a restorative scalp massage, and sparkling wine, chocolates and forest berries to complete the ritual.
The AIRE Ancient Baths Toronto is poised to be more than just a place of relaxation; it is set to become an essential, high-calibre destination for both sophisticated travellers (with hotels like Nobu and The Ritz-Carlton Toronto nearby) and discerning locals seeking genuine restorative luxury without leaving the city.
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Toronto-based writer Erin Nicole Davis is a long time regular contributor to Travel to Wellness.