The Schvitz Health Club

Open since 1930, The Schvitz is Detroit’s original urban bathhouse and the last historic one still standing in the city — a hot-and-cold banya experience that’s survived a Jewish-community-center origin, a rowdier chapter in the ’70s, a closure, and a careful restoration under current owner Paddy Lynch, who bought the building in 2017 and reopened it in 2020. The format is simple and old-world: a dry sauna, a wetter steam room, and a cold plunge pool that hovers around 50 degrees, cycled through as many times as you can stand.

Hours rotate between women-only, men-only, and coed blocks through the week, and general admission runs $40. It’s unpretentious in a way that’s almost the point — bring your own robe, ring the doorbell, and expect a crowd that ranges from yoga-retreat regulars to guys who’ve been coming since the ’80s.

On our radar for the hidden-gem, hot-and-cold-therapy crowd — just double check hours before you go. The Schvitz closes every summer for about a month so staff can replace the roughly 15,000 pounds of rock that heat the furnace, which is either the most Detroit maintenance schedule imaginable or exactly the kind of upkeep a 96-year-old bathhouse deserves.