Are People Really Getting UTIs at Bathhouse?

At a minimum, Bathhouse has a Reddit problem. In the last week and a half, several people have claimed that they developed urinary-tract infections after taking a dip at the wellness chainlet’s locations in Williamsburg and Flatiron. “I noticed the hot tub and body temp tub were looking kinda dirty and gross,” one wrote. “I thought it would be fine but then I ended up with a UTI.” (To drive home the point, they added: “I’ve literally never gotten a UTI from a pool and grew up as a competitive swimmer so it must be pretty bad.”) What followed was a flood of similar allegations about the cleanliness of the upscale spas’ facilities and general skepticism about the communal bathing practices at both locations. “People treat Bathhouse like a Ramada Inn pool,” one person observed.

Bathhouse opened its first location in a former Williamsburg soda factory in late 2019 — bad timing for a business dependent on physical contact. Despite the pandemic (and becoming a punch line over a decision to heat pools via bitcoin mining), the spa has developed something of a fan base. The company has since opened a second location, complete with James Turrell–ish light installations and a moody, Dune-esque aesthetic courtesy of the Rockwell Group; announced plans for a rooftop pool at its expanding Williamsburg location (which called for tearing down a historic water tower, much to the frustration of some of its neighbors); and got permits for a Gensler-designed Chicago outpost. But clients say that amid all this growth, services and conditions at the current locations have tanked, or as one person put it: “The most expensive mid experience of my life.”

After the first Reddit post, commenters piled on with more allegations, from “hair and dust particles” in the pools to the more vague “some sus stuff in those waters.” (While these are just Reddit rumors, the claims don’t seem to be too far-fetched. The Cleveland Clinic warns that hot tubs, even those that are treated, can be hot spots for bacteria and parasites.)

People claiming to be former employees also jumped into the fray. Justine Smith, who says she worked as a scrub tech at the Williamsburg location from September 2023 until December 2024, posted a nearly ten-minute video on TikTok alleging the hammam and tropical sauna rooms, plus a drain near a hot tub and water fountain, had mold problems, which she says caused an odor. When I spoke with her, Smith told me she and other employees tried to mask the odor with lavender and citrus essential oils but would nevertheless see the occasional client, paying at minimum $135 for a 30-minute scrub down, scrunching their faces “because there’s a stench in the room.” Another former employee shared videos with me that seem to show several wormlike insects crawling on tile floors and brick walls with patches of what they say was mold in the hammam rooms.

Since 2022, the Williamsburg spa’s address has received 17 complaints to 311 that were directed to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, six of which were made in the past week, including for mold. (For comparison, a similarly ritzy bathhouse like Great Jones Spa received two complaints over the span of two decades, both for vaccine compliance issues, while Brooklyn Banya accumulated a dozen complaints over 14 years.) Shari Logan, a Health Department spokesperson, said the agency is investigating the recent allegations, and 311 records show officials sent a letter to Bathhouse management last week advising them about a mold complaint. A Bathhouse spokesperson shared documents appearing to show that the Williamsburg location passed a Health Department inspection with no violations on New Year’s Eve, following a complaint made about facility maintenance and unsanitary conditions in December 2024. In a statement, the spokesperson wrote: “The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority and always has been,” adding: “These rumors are blatant and defamatory lies which seem intended to harm our business.”

Maybe worse than mold allegations? Shvitzers claim the vibes are just off these days. “There’s something about them overpacking those venues where it just feels like a bunch of sardines partying,” one said on TikTok. Another former regular tells me she was turned off by the influx of couples she claims were hooking up in the very public space (“There’s so many couples that are basically just having sex in the pool,” she says), and one customer left a middling Google review about how, while she enjoyed her massage, no one seemed to respect “the ambiance of a spa experience.” The company’s response? “Unlike traditional spas, we offer a social space for people to hang out and recover together.”

This, of course, has all spiraled into a wider fight over who’s responsible for the supposedly grimy scene. Bathhouse management? The Bathhouse crowd? (Bachelorette parties seem to attract extreme ire on and offline.) Both? “They do not enforce people showering after sauna before going into cold plunge. It’s disgusting,” one Redditor observed about Bathhouse. “People cannot be trusted this is sauna 101.”