Uncle Boris' creepy basement rec room? Fuhuuuuk no. Voda in West Hollywood is the greatest but Banya 5 has a better vibe. Both are probably dead now. Voda's website has been taken over by squatters and Banya is "eagerly awaiting Phase 3."
Ha that place is a bit weird but it’s authentic, it was dirty and sometimes people were super inconsiderate but the actual steam room was legit. Personally I preferred Q spa in lynwood. It’s closer and good enough, no awesome shower though. Idk how any of this stuff survives unless it was funded by hot money. Maybe it will just change owners when covid dies down
I find "authentic" is hipster for "skunjey like I anticipate the original is based on my orientalist appreciation of foreigners." It's a way to say "if you don't like it it's because you don't revel in play-acting." Voda is authentic AF down to the fact that 80% of the people there are Mafiya. It's also clean and frickin' sybaritic. Like $50 to get in, tho and built in an old crematorium. The tracks leading into the furnace in the hot banya take some getting used to. I got an extraordinarily bad massage as part of a package deal at Q on New Years in 2017. I still have trigger finger from it.