Miami Beach's Russian & Turkish Baths Reopened, But What's Changed?

Miami is ready to shvitz again.

Three years ago, the famed Russian & Turkish Baths, located inside the Castle Beach Club Condominiums on Miami Beach, closed for repairs after thirty years in business.

The Miami Herald first reported Castle Beach Club's condo association had hired an engineering firm to perform the building's 50-year recertification. They found damage in the garage below the bathhouse, and emergency shoring was installed to support the structure. This led to contention between the Baths' management and the condo association.

Regardless, the Baths' owners made the repairs to "waterproof" parts of the business, and three years later, just as temperatures in Miami began to dip, the steam rose again.

The 10,000-square-foot space officially reopened in October, with its old-school aesthetic left wholly intact. "It's not a spa; it's a bathhouse," co-owner Dorina Tuberman Solon tells New Times. "It's a community experience. It's unlike anything else you can get in Miami."

The original Russian & Turkish Baths opened in New York City before the turn of the 20th Century in 1892. Dorina's father Boris purchased the business in 1984 and expanded it to Miami Beach a decade later.

"We had a home here, and my dad decided to build me another bathhouse," says Tuberman Solon. She co-owns the Miami Beach location with her brother Julius and daughter Dasha. She and Dasha also manage its Instagram page, of which Dorina is quite proud.

"My grandpa Boris lives in this building," she adds. "He is still good and around. Now, he lives with his daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter. Four generations walking the hall."
"Everyone is very happy," she says of the fall reopening. "My clients from New York are here, and it's wonderful. Everyone came back right away."

Admission costs $65, granting guests all-day access from noon to 10 p.m. A wool banya hat (to keep your head cool) will run you another $30. On your way to your designated locker room, you'll see mosaics, Russian murals, and photos of the many celebrities who've sweated it out here over the decades, including the late John Belushi.

The interior looks like a plastered sandcastle with seashells scattered about. Ambient lighting lines the curved hallways and each station has a neon, fluorescent sign indicating its purpose.

The setup is communal; guests 18 and over are welcome to sit and sweat together in the spirit of tradition and new experiences.

"The bathhouse is a social hub for all kinds of people," Tuberman Solon explains. "I think the bathhouse is important here because there aren't many places to go where you can socialize and meet someone in a healthy setting; it's a health club and a community."

New Times visited the revamped space to get a temperature check from the many locals who've flocked back to the Baths since its reopening.

"The best! The best!" said a thick-accented New Yorker. "An institution," remarked another.

Another loyal client who expressed his relief was Club Space doorman Alan "T" Tibaldeo. "It's incredible to be back," the twenty-year regular tells New Times. "It's my happy place; I feel so invigorated. It was such a part of my routine, and to have such a broad disruption — I felt it."
Tuberman Solon explains the order of operation at the Baths is "hot and cold, hot and cold, in rounds. It's like a pseudo-workout that is good for your body and skin. That's how Russian people have longevity."

The first option is a large grotto adorned with seashells and mosaics, featuring a waterfall-like spout hanging from the ceiling. You can go to the left and choose between a dry, extremely hot sauna or a wet sauna, where the steam is so thick you'll need to watch your step.

There's an option to pour ice-cold water on yourself from the nearby tub once you feel your pores give out. Fresh and revitalized, you'll walk past Swedish pressurized shower stalls.

The crystal room — a not-too-hot, not-too-cold sauna tinted in a lovely shade of orange — is a meditative space. Guests can also pay extra for a massage, black-mud treatment, or Dead Sea salt scrub.

Another sauna further down the hallway more closely resembles the typical wooden Scandinavian style, with a starlit ceiling inviting you to lie down and melt.

The next station, the banya, is a Russian steam bath with a history spanning millennia. It generates heat from a large stove, with customers sitting on wooden benches to let the warmth seep through their skin. An old-school banya pro-tip: Bring oak branches, soak them in water, and whip yourself with them (or politely ask a neighbor to do it for you).

The final step, a near-freezing bath next to the banya, will shock your skin, cells, and spirit back to reality. After your treatment, head to the Baths' restaurant, which serves smoothies, wraps, and delicacies such as borscht, sweet blini crepes, and dumplings. Or, you can simply opt for the relaxation room, a bunk-bed-filled space for snoozing.

Russian & Turkish Baths. Open Monday through Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. at 5445 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-867-8313; russianandturkishbaths.com.