Soak Spa

Soak Spa lives inside The Detroit Club, the city’s oldest private social club, occupying a building architect Wilson Eyre designed in 1891 that now sits on the National Register of Historic Places. The signature move is a heated saltwater grotto — by most accounts one of the largest soaking tubs in Michigan — plus infrared saunas tucked into each locker room, all wrapped in the kind of old-money architecture that makes a spa day feel like an event rather than an errand.

It’s a members’ club at heart, which shows up in the details: valet parking, a curated food-and-beverage menu from the in-house restaurant Bohemia, and reduced rates for group bookings if you’re planning something bigger than a solo soak. Located steps from Campus Martius in the financial district, it’s an easy add-on to a downtown day — dinner at Bohemia, drinks at the Library Bar, then the grotto to close it out.

On our list for anyone who wants their relaxation with a side of Detroit architectural history, or for out-of-town guests who need to understand why this city’s old buildings are worth the fuss.