Von Sauna — Local services in Kirkland

We booked our session a few weeks in advance. We went on a Sunday in the middle of the day.

The location is very easy to find and they have a front kiosk that you can check in at.

I recommend coming dressed with your swimsuit on underneath as there is a tiny locker space before you enter the sauna, but it is not private otherwise you can utilize the public restrooms nearby.

Our host did a great job of explaining best practices for utilizing both the sauna and taking a cold plunge into Lake Washington.

Water stations are available, but you should bring your own reusable water bottle. I noticed other groups had also brought some hydrating snacks that they were munching on in between the hot and the cold.

The sauna and the lake were approximately 190°F and 45°F, respectively.

We booked a social session so we were in a sauna room with a bunch of other people. When you enter the sauna, you need to bring your own towel to sit on. There are essential oils that you can use and water to create more steam on the rocks. Our host came in periodically to re-fuel the fire with fresh wood.

In the sauna, there is a sand timer that lasts 15 minutes. Then you do the cold part and jump into Lake Washington. It’s absolutely freezing cold! You can either go down the metal ladder to ease yourself in or jump off the dock. Most people immediately get back out, but you can stay in there for a couple of minutes.

Because you have to utilize steps and a dock ladder (at least to climb back up and exit the water) I would say this experience requires an abled-body.

We had an excellent time getting to know the other people in our session and bonded over the ridiculous temperature extremes. I would absolutely recommend this experience and would love to...

The sauna experience was the MOST FUN (and healthy) way to bring together a group of friends and beat the boredom of a Seattle winter- when you're not skiing ;)

Seriously, this is the most legal and cozy way I've found to get the endorphins going and fight the seasonal depression.

I've worked as a corporate event planner, and I would recommend this to anyone planning a party (albeit one where you're ok being sweaty in swimsuits together) or wanting to show off the PNW to a tourist, in addition to those lucky enough to live nearby and get a membership for regular sessions.

The sauna was clean, roomy, and had ample storage space. We left feeling incredible after a 75 minute session where we alternated between enjoying coffee (we set up a little coffee bar on the dock, no food or drink inside), sitting in the sauna, and jumping into the lake.

We did a private sauna but I loved that there were lockers you could store your things in safely if you chose a social sauna.

The view is beautiful and relaxing but it is not open water, you're in the marina- we loved it, but some of our group expected we'd be motoring around the lake and this is stationary. I preferred this, and feel that to be moving would have been distracting and make our time slot pass much too quickly- way better to relax and enjoy the space and the view, feeling the water beneath you.

David was great- polite, efficient, timely communications and for this setting, best of all? He was scarce, so your group gets to enjoy the experience fully without interruption. Bonus points for being tall and dressing in the flannel and beanie- like a cosplay of a "sauna master," in the most delightful way.

Ok I'm...

We went this past Sunday for my birthday and I’ll start off by saying that the spa is beautiful and the heat is wonderful and it was clean and having access to the dock to either go for a cold plunge or a cold bucket was also excellent. The problem was that I have been in many a sauna in which it is typical that if you are with other people that they are mindful, and in such a close space will often whisper to each other, aware that a sauna is a relaxing and often meditative experience. So if you are coming with that in mind, just know that you may well have a large group of friends arrive, as we did, sharing the sauna with four very chatty individuals for which I now know far more than I care to about their personal lives. Of course you can book an entire sauna for yourself for the private sauna, but that is prohibitively expensive to be honest. I would also say that the website says the sauna can fit up to 12 people but that would be incredibly cramped so hopefully they don’t actually book 12) as we had 8 and that was plenty…Unfortunately, the other couple gently asked the group if they would not mind being more mindful of their constant chatting and volume, and it turned the relaxing experience into a very stressful confrontational experience. So I say this just so you can be prepared that this could be the experience you have when booking yourself into the...