This Former Army Barracks Is Now A European-Inspired Spa In NYC

An abandoned Army barracks on Governors Island in New York City has been renovated and turned into a luxury spa, the New York Post reports. Purchased for $50 million by Andrea Quadrio Curzio, the Italian native CEO has named the spa QC NY Spa.

A variety of services are offered at the spa, their website listing luxury foot baths meant to relieve tension, the "Scottish room," which offers sauna treatments, a separate city-themed sauna, a steam room, a Vichy shower, and various massages with both spiritual and physical goals. There are also rooms for pure relaxation and unwinding, such as the fireplace room, among many others. There is also food and drink service focused on health, wellness, and relaxation — including wine service during happy hour.

The spa is accessed via ferries from either Manhattan or Brooklyn. Daily access to the spa costs $88 to $100 on weekdays and weekends, respectively, whereas the day spa is $200 to $228.

QC NY Spa is all about promoting wellness and relaxation. The spa is located on Governors Island, a former military base located on a 172-acre island, according to the spa's website. The island is a ferry ride away from either Brooklyn or Manhattan, and aside from hosting the luxurious spa, there are cultural, art, and educational buildings, a 22-acre national monument, lots of historic buildings, and a large public park. While the island itself offers a relaxing getaway, QC NY Spa only further enhances this experience.

While receiving a wellness treatment, lounging outside, dining or drinking, you will not only get to experience the gorgeous views of the island, but, as seen in the picture above, you also get to view the gorgeous skyline of both Manhattan and Brooklyn, whether indoors or out. "The purpose is to make the people feel pampered. You should feel like in a dream — you can get lost here," Andrea Quadrio Curzio told the New York Post.

The treatments found inside QC NY Spa are meant to totally relax and ease the mind and body. Andrea Quadrio Curzio, hailing from Italy, has set to model the spa after the luxurious European spas he is familiar with. Most of the spa has been designed and built by authentic Italian craftsmanship, per the New York Post.

There is more Italian influence in the spa than just its construction, though. Curzio told the Post that "The environment should remind of an Italian home," and has taken care to reflect this in the decoration style in some of the relaxation and lounging rooms, such as the fireplace room, among others. Soft beiges, mimicked stucco, and comforting and homey furniture, among other things, reflect a sense of home, only further enhancing the relaxation experience.

More personal and nostalgic touches have been added to the spa as well. For example, one of the saunas (So Close Yet So Far) is named for Curzio's late sister. He has also named massage rooms after different Italian operas, as well as painted rooms inspired by those which he grew up with.

In some of the fancier rooms at QC NY Spa, though, modernity and luxury take center stage. The Vichy showers or the city skyline saunas, for example, reflect a much more modern sense of luxury — luxury which Andrea Quadrio Curzio is having a hard time finding clientele for; he told the New York Post that he finds New Yorkers "slave of the stimulus," or, more plainly, that they are not taking time to relax and unwind (though much of that could have to do with COVID-19 pandemic era wage cuts, work demands, etc.). Curzio implores New Yorkers to "get lost in his new castle of respite." He is actually already working to expand QC NY Spa, building more massage cabins, adding additional dining and drinking options, and procuring more space.

QC NY Spa also offers their own unique line of relaxation scents, which the New York Post reports are featured in the spa's many rooms. Different scents are actually carefully paired with specific songs to create a specific but ultimate relaxation oasis.