Inside Brooklyn's New Oddly Satisfying 'ASMR Spa'

I’ve probably watched enough paint mixing and sand cutting videos online to put me in line for some #ASMR targeted marketing, so by the third time I saw the ad for Luxury Escapism: an immersive, multidimensional ASMR spa experience in DUMBO, I bit.

Last Friday, I stood outside of an unmarked white door on a street about as dark and quiet as it gets in NYC, checking the address on my phone for a good minute and a half, wondering if I was in the right place—but once I opened the door, it was obvious that I had arrived. If there’s such a thing as a “digital new age” aesthetic, this place has it. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, but I figured it would be at least moderately entertaining if perhaps a bit eye-roll inducing.

There were a handful of others in the blue, dimly lit waiting area. Everyone had swapped their coats and shoes for robes and slippers and were awaiting their “digital realignment.” The spa has a whisper-only rule but they encourage conversation. They also ask you to put your phones away, which these days is enough to make any place feel exciting and engaging.

I grabbed a cup of peppermint tea and sat near a glowing digital campfire art piece where I met 17-year-old Nola, who was there with her father and friend. They had been to the “Oddly Satisfying Spa” pop-up last year in Ridgewood, which was founded by the same duo, Tyler Pridgen and David Lobser. The four of us were first led to the sound bath, a small room lined with faux fur and just enough room to stretch out on four oversized bean bags. Here, the lights were turned off and we were treated to a 15-minute pitch black sound bath. Honestly... it was great. I immediately ditched all my skepticism, eager to see what else they had in store for us.

Next, we wandered into a dome where we played with some simple light toys while wearing light-refracting glasses. I sat, holding a long smooth stick with an LED candle firmly attached to its end and noted how deeply satisfying it was to wave around, like a psychedelic marshmallow roast.

And did it all remind me of some distant drug trip? Sure. The whole place definitely has a trippy vibe, which is fun and disruptive — but it’s also quiet, light-hearted and playful.

From there, I wandered to a few different nooks where I tried a few of the various VR glasses that were scattered around the place: I laid on a furry bed and fell through an infinite fractal-looking tunnel. I sat in a chair hammock and floated down a river, following an orb of light. I stretched out on a vibrating massage table and watched a vivid sunset over a beach. My favorite experience was probably the Kinetic Sand Dome, where perception-bending mirror glasses, combined with tactile stimulation “made you feel like you were watching a POV movie of yourself,” as my new friend Nola put it.

A quiet playground for grown-ups, the space is clearly assembled with love and intention. As founder, Tyler Pridgen notes, “A lot of hands have touched the space, but overall I tried to maintain a DIY aesthetic in order to make everything more accessible. Overly produced ends up feeling…sterile.”

It’s basically an ASMR-inspired digital funhouse, presented within the context of self-care — another well-used buzzword. And why not? Self care is often defined by the intention more than the action. Whether it’s a long walk, a manicure, a book — or in this case, a vibrating waterbed that blasts you with a face-melting array of colorful strobe lights. Calling it self-care makes it just that.

I caught up with Nola and her dad before taking off and asked for her thoughts on the experience. “I really liked the whole thing… my favorite part was the waterbed strobe light experience. I was thinking, is this what psychedelic drugs are like?” Great intuition, Nola.

Luxury Escapism was ultimately a really fantastic and unique sensory adventure for me. The type of thing that will be more and more welcome as we head into another cold and barren winter. By the time I’d gotten home, I’d already put together a list of friends that I want to calmly explore the satisfying, slow, sober space with.

Luxury Escapism is located at 218 Plymouth Street in DUMBO. Tickets start at $40 (for two hours).