Scribble World Travel Blog

Buckstaff Bath House, Hot Springs, Arkansas

The Buckstaff Bath House in Hot Springs, AR is currently the only operating bathhouse in Hot Springs.  I’ve been to hot springs before, but a bath house is quite different as it turns out.  Chris & I each paid our $23.76 admission fees, and then my experience went something like this:  I was invited to make my way upstairs to the ladies department, present the attendant with my ticket, and I would be taken care of.

A bath house attendant led me to a curtained changing room with a locker and instructed me to undress, and with my back turned, to let her know when I was ready.  She asked me to hold my arms up, and she wrapped a white sheet around me, then showed me to a waiting room with a handful of other ladies, who were also loosely wrapped in white sheets.

It’s funny how conversational and friendly strangers get when you’re all half-naked. Everyone wants to know where everyone is from and what brings ya here.  Probably a good thing too, because sitting in nothing but a sheet for half an hour might otherwise feel a little awkward.

My name was called and I was escorted to a small room with my own bathtub, where my attendant took the sheet from me and saw to it that I got in the tub alright, and propped a towel behind my neck for comfort.  There was a large powerful bubble blower in the tub.  I was left alone, and it was very relaxing.  After 15 minutes or so she came back to wash my back, arms and lower legs.  It was kind of funny but a pampering touch.  I was left alone for a few more minutes.

When she returned, it was time to get out and I was once again rather ceremoniously wrapped in a sheet by my attendant, and led to a bench to rest for a few minutes with a small cup of hot mineral water.  The next stop was something called the Sitz bath.  A small-almost sink-like tub that is supposed to be good for your lower back.

I was only in there a few minutes, then taken to a private-sized steam box for a few minutes.  I loved the steam room and would’ve stayed longer if I could’ve, but before I knew it, I was already being led to a table to lie down on my back, with a hot pack on my shoulders and a cold pack on my forehead.

It was then time for quick 2 minute “needle” shower, with small streams shooting at me from all directions.  It was nice, but 2 minutes is hardly long enough (There’s an attendant waiting for you so you can’t go over time).  I got dressed and went outside to find Chris already waiting in the van-asking what had taken me so long-he claims he’d been done for an hour.  We compared notes on the experience and there were a few differences.

He wasn’t given the sitz bath.  And he was in a larger steam room-not the personal sized steam room box.  Oh, and he was given the sheet to wrap himself in, whereas an attendant always wrapped and unwrapped me.

A similar old bath house was turned into a visitor center, so we were able to take pictures that fairly accurately resemble our experience at the Buckstaff Bath House.