Picture via Refinery 29

During the majority of the year Saturday Nights in the city are for amateurs, but once summer hits all those fools peace out to the Shore/ Hamptons/ The Cape, etc. leaving the city for us true die-hards to revel in.  It’s so hot you have no choice but to drink all day – because the bars are air conditioned and most parks are doing something involving a free concerts, slip and slides, or at least a sprinkler.   This past Saturday, I had a plan-  to drink all day long and see where life takes me.  I called up my one of my favorite partners in crime, Katherine, and knew once the two of us got together things would fall according to plan.  Kat showed up at my apartment with a Smirnoff Ice in hand – and we all know what happened next.  We then headed over to the JellyNYC Rock Yard to check shit out.  Rock Yard, held at 354 Wythe (not to be confused with 234 which my weird dyslexia led everyone to) was pretty reminiscent of what the OG Jelly parties used to be like but on a much smaller scale.   Super chill, laid back security (no turnstiles, wristbands, and bag checks… Think the BKLYN Yard 1.0.) Anyway, we came in at the tail end so no report on the bands – but beer was only $4! Win!  We ended up meeting a crew of cool chicks and headed to some rooftop party/ art exhibit.  It was… interesting.  As we started to “come down” we debated our options for the night.  Go home and go to bed (we have already been drinking for a good 5 hours). Go out in Brooklyn.  Go to Kenmare. Go to Jane. Or go to Le Bain.

Le Bain Won.

In our semi-drunk stupor we managed to put some heels on, spruce ourselves up a bit, and head to The Standard. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty eager to check out Le Bain. The notorious new creation by Andre Balazs and Andre Saraiva has seen more naked chicks in the past few weeks than Bronques and Igor combined.  When we got up to the 18th floor, the elevator doors opened, and immediately I thought “WOW This is MUCH better than the Boom Boom Room.”   Le Bain is everything that the BBR lacked – edge, mystery, a roof deck, and a hot tub swimming pool. Paper Mag said it best, “Like a yin-yang to the swankier, fancier Boom Boom Room (right next door) Le Bain is young and fun and feels like a hipster-packed Euro disco.”

Side rant: The best part about the BBR (besides the view), was to being able to say “I’m at the Boom Boom Room.”   The atmosphere was amazing – such a throwback glitzy, glammy, swanky place. But the crowd was a little too… old?! gay?! foreign?! pretentious?! Not really my scene.

The crowd at Le Bain was definitely that of the Downtown elite class – with Steven Rojas and Mike Nouveau pioneering the party.   A scene and a half, but a fun, not-pretentious scene with familiar friendly faces and an overall loving vibe.  The motif in the main room is ‘All Black Everything’ with black tiled floors, walls, and bar with an oversized jacuzzi with naked bodies glowing in the corner.   We copped drinks at the bar (not as expensive as I actually anticipated) and headed north to the roof deck.  Yes.  This is the shit I am talking about.  It was chill.com up in there and I was loving life as I relaxed in some crazy spider chair and sipped my Dark & Stormy.   The roof closed at 3AM and when the crowd moved downstairs, that’s when the party really got live.  Nouveau was playing 80′s and 90′s hits and it was singalongs for days while people danced and belted tunes from U2 to Pretty Woman.  The vibe, the crowd, everything was as perfect as it could get.  There was no bottle service, no egos, and at that point no inhibitions.  Wanna get naked and go swimming – do it.  Wanna then continue to have some guy suck your tits…why not! Hell, even I, one of the most modest girls around, was moved by the spirit and stripped down to take a dip.  It is just what you do at Le Bain.

This might just be the best lounge/club/rooftop bar/ whatever-you-want-to-call-it in the city.  I would like to thank Le Bain, Nouveau, and my glorious partners in crime for making me dance, sing, swim, and let lose.  It’s been a while since I could honestly say that was a damn good time…and see the sun rise.

It’s pretty impossible to take pictures there since (A) its so damn dark the flash would blind people and (B) everyone is naked so its pretty accurate to say whatever happens at Le Bain actually stays there but… here are a few pics I compiled off the internets.