We visited Hot Springs, Arkansas for the first time — and while we didn’t stop (we had somewhere else we needed to arrive) — it was a unique place to see.
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The middle of the city is called ‘Bathhouse Row’. The Lamar (from the NPS) was unique in that it offered a range of tub lengths for people of various heights. It also had a small coed gymnasium with another separate area for women adjacent to the gymnasium. The Lamar Bathhouse closed November 30, 1985. It now houses offices for several park employees and the park store, Bathhouse Row Emporium.
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The Ozark bathhouse is now the Ozark Cultural Center, an event venue
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The Buckstaff Baths is still in operation as a bathhouse.
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The Hale bathhouse is closed.
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The Quapaw Baths is open and operates as a bathhouse.
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The Fordyce is now a museum
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The Maurice is closed.
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There are shops built into pretty buildings all over downtown
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There’s an Embassy Suites and some other chains, but there are still a lot of old motels around, with original signage
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I think this was a church.
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While we’ve been to Ein Bokek at the Dead Sea and know what to do there (basically nothing, you just float around) and the hotel spas have saltwater treatments, I’m unfamiliar as to what to expect from a Hot Springs bathhouse. Here’s the answer from HotSprings.org: what to expect when visiting a bath.