South-Western Bathhouse — Local services in Mississauga

I have very mixed feelings about this place. I am Russian so Im no stranger to banyas, and as a banya this place dissapoints.

Starting with the good, the atmosphere and the ambiance is excellent. The lounge area has dim lighting, a big TV, the kitchen is cozy, and the bath area has really nice decorations. However, you dont come to a banya to look at decor.

First off, this place is expensive at $65. Most other banyas in Missisauga and Richmond Hill are $40-50. Other places let you bring your own food and drinks, this one doesnt. They also nickle and dime you, charging $3 for a new bath robe. The main sauna isnt nearly hot enough, and oddly enough the ladle needed to pour water on the rocks gets taken away by the attendant, so we couldnt easily get it hotter. He said it was because the “tourists” would complain its too hot, but I talked to most people inside and they were all unsatisfied by how room temperature it was. A Russian Banya being room temperature is simply unacceptable. The steam room is cozy but doesnt have enough steam, and isnt hot enough as a result. The cold pool is shallow and often dirty, with random trash floating on the surface. For $65, I expected more cleanliness. The sauna’s cold splash bucket was more of a cold shower, and was unpleasant to use.

Lastly, while the decor inside the restaurant was nice, the food was mediocre and overpriced. The pirogies aren’t home made, they are “Pelmen” brand store bought pirogies. The loose leaf teas were quite nice though.

Overall, this place is a mixed bag - if you care about spending the evening in a cozy place and dont mind paying a premium for it, maybe this place is for you. However if you are a true Russian Banya enthusiast, I cant recommend South Western Bathhouse. Save your money and go to Vladimirskie Bani in Richmond Hill or Steamul in Missisauga. I wont...

What to bring: your swimsuit and flip flops

What not to bring: towel, robe, locker padlock

What to expect: $60 per person, very small changing rooms, one steam room, two saunas, a cold bucket shower, a small one person cold plunge pool, a small relaxation area in the sauna area for about six people, a decent sized restaurant with great food and reasonably priced drinks, and showers with free products to use.

Tips: Start in either the steam room or one of the saunas (approx 10 mins), then either have a cold bucket shower or go into the cold lounge pool, then relax for 20 mins in one of the lounge spaces. Repeat! They have unlimited free herbal tea in the restaurant so you can enjoy that as you lounge Get the Venik massage experience for $20 extra - it’s not at all painful and feels like someone brushing your skin lightly with soft leaves. There was a lot of shouting from the massager to move through the stages of sauna to cold plunge quickly with the massage but it felt like part of the experience! One of the employees told us that the hot cold circuit is best done on an empty stomach so plan to save your Russian meal at the restaurant until the end of your experience Try the sourdough pancakes and Russian dumplings Bring as little as you can into the bathhouse as the changing rooms are tiny and get cramped easy. Knowing this, I’d only take essentials with me next time so I could be in and out quickly.

An authentic Russian spa that feels as much a cultural experience as it does a health experience. The facility is small so it can feel a bit...

Fist of all I liked the whole concept of the place, the inside decoration makes you feel like home, very comfy and relaxing. The food was also amazing - a good variety of tea, great quality. The girl at the bar was pretty nice too - loved her attitude

On the other hand, my wife and I felt so taken the advantage of with the whole leaf massage we received. The owner was playing to be so friendly and talkative, educating us on how to properly do things in there since we were first timers, after some time talking he offered to give us a leaf massage (which is basically getting rubbed/hit by some leafs) that's supposed to help with blood circulation, which we found pretty nice of him - right after the massage first thing he did was look at my bracelet number and left. The interaction did not continue after he got what he wanted. Once we are ready to pay for our food I realized he charged us $30 for the massage. HEY I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE A LIVING AND GET YOUR BUSINESS GOING BUT THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO BUSINESS - 0 TRANSPARENCY - I DONOT CARE ABOUT THE CHARGE BUT THE WHOLE INTENTION THIS PERSONE HELD BEHIND PLAYING BEING COOL

Also, even the place makes you feel warm and comfy the woman at the front does not. No customer service at all, knowing it was our first time there did not show or explain anything. Also when leaving, did not even ask about out experience whatsoever.

I felt like if I was in some South-American country where they play to be most friendly people in the world for you to...