Our Corner of Midtown, Where Two Neighbourhoods Meet

Most people find us for the first time by walking down West 38th Street looking at building numbers, which is not how anyone wants to begin a quiet hour. So here is the corner of Midtown we sit in, what it is like, and how to get to the door without hunting for it.

Which part of Midtown is this, exactly?

Manhattan neighbourhoods do not come with fences, and this block is a good example of why. The Garment District is broadly the stretch from 34th to 42nd Street between 5th and 9th Avenue. Hell's Kitchen is broadly everything west of 8th Avenue from about 34th Street up to 59th. Draw both on a map and they overlap on a handful of blocks between 8th and 9th Avenue, and West 38th Street runs straight through the middle of that overlap.

So if a friend tells you we are in the Garment District, they are right, and if another tells you we are in Hell's Kitchen, they are also right. Neither name will get you lost. The address that matters is the street and the two avenues.

What is the street like when you arrive?

Busy in the ordinary Midtown way. These are working blocks, with people moving between offices, the two big transit hubs a few minutes away in either direction, and the general pace of a part of the city that is mostly on its way somewhere else. At the start and end of the working day the avenues fill up with people heading for trains and buses.

None of that is a reason to avoid the area. It is a reason to leave yourself a few spare minutes, and to expect the walk to feel like Midtown rather than like the inside of a spa. The change happens upstairs.

How do you find the building?

1. Get to West 38th StreetWhichever direction you come from, aim first for 38th Street itself. It is easier to count along one street than to navigate by landmarks you have not seen before.
2. Stay between 8th and 9th AvenueNumbers in the 300s on West 38th Street belong to the block between 8th and 9th Avenue. If you are seeing numbers in the 200s you are one block too far east, and in the 400s one block too far west.
3. Look for 307Walk the block watching the numbers on the doors. It is quicker than it sounds, since the block is a single stretch between two avenues.
4. Take the elevator to 16We are on the 16th floor. Step out of the elevator and check in at reception with the name you booked under.

How do you get here from each direction?

The block sits between several of the busiest arrival points in the city, which makes it easy to reach from almost anywhere. The times below are rough walking estimates at an ordinary pace, not promises, and they stretch a little in crowds or bad weather.

If you are arriving off a long train or bus journey, the hour you book may be doing a slightly different job from a lunchtime visit, and massage after travel covers how to choose for that.

Why does the 16th floor feel so far from the street?

Partly because it is. Sixteen floors is a real distance between you and the pavement, and the ride up is a small, useful threshold: one moment you are in the flow of Midtown, and a minute later the doors open somewhere with a different pace to it. People often notice their walk change between the elevator and the desk without deciding to change it.

The rest of it is the room itself: low light, warmth, quiet sound and very little to look at, all chosen so your attention has nothing to catch on. The details that make a room feel calm explains what each of those choices is doing. The short version is that the street stays downstairs.

The walk here is Midtown. The hour upstairs is not, and the elevator is where one becomes the other.

When is the easiest time to get here?

We are open every day from 10am to 9pm, and the last appointment is timed to finish by 9pm. Within that, the question is less about us and more about the streets around the transit hubs.

• Late morning and early afternoon. Usually the calmest walk from any station, and the easiest time to arrive without hurrying.
• Lunchtime. Very workable from nearby offices, as long as the rest of the afternoon does not need you at your sharpest.
• The evening rush. The avenues around Port Authority and Penn Station are at their fullest as people head home. Leave extra time if you are walking through it.
• Later evening. A good slot for making the hour the last thing in your day, with nothing to rush off to afterwards.
• Weekends. A different kind of busy, with more visitors and fewer commuters, and a pleasant time to make a longer visit of it.

What if you are coming from work, a train or a show?

The location makes it easy to fold a treatment into a day that is already happening in Midtown, and the right booking depends on what sits either side of it.

• From an office nearby. A 60-minute treatment fits a long lunch or the end of the day. Swedish massage is the easy choice if you want to go back to work feeling settled rather than worked over.
• Before or after a journey. Give yourself proper margins at both ends. A missed train is not a relaxing way to finish an hour.
• Before an evening out. Book early enough that you can dress and leave without rushing. Thai Combination massage is worth considering if you have been sitting all day and would like more movement in the hour.
• With someone else. Couple Massage puts two of you in the same room at the same time, which is an easy way to share an hour in the middle of a day in the city.

What should you do once you are upstairs?

Very little, which is the point. Check in, mention anything the practitioner should know, and let the rest of the city wait. If it is your first time with us, what to expect at a first massage walks through the hour from the desk onwards, and massage etiquette answers the small questions people are often too polite to ask.

When you are ready, choose a time or look through the treatments first. The block is easy to find once you have done it once, and after that the walk from the station becomes part of the ritual.