One of the biggest misconceptions about running a public sauna is that success comes from simply opening the doors and allowing people to book a session whenever they like.

While that approach can work, it rarely creates a business that customers become loyal to. The UK's most successful public saunas don't just sell access to a hot room—they create a calendar of experiences that gives people a reason to return every week.

Think about how successful gyms operate. They don't simply open the building and hope people arrive. They offer spin classes, yoga, strength sessions and personal training because different customers want different experiences at different times of the day. A public sauna should be approached in exactly the same way.

Programming helps you increase occupancy during quieter periods, attract different customer demographics, justify higher ticket prices and, most importantly, build a community around your business. The goal is to make your sauna somewhere people regularly visit, rather than somewhere they try once.

Why Programming Matters

Many new operators focus almost entirely on the sauna itself. They invest in beautiful timber, premium heaters and stylish changing rooms but spend very little time thinking about what customers will actually do once they arrive.

Programming is what transforms a sauna from a facility into a destination.

It gives customers a reason to choose Tuesday instead of Saturday. It helps fill quieter morning sessions. It creates talking points on social media and encourages word-of-mouth recommendations. Perhaps most importantly, it builds habits. If someone attends the same recovery session every Monday evening, your business becomes part of their weekly routine rather than an occasional luxury.

Themed sessions also allow you to charge more because customers aren't simply paying for heat—they're paying for an experience led by knowledgeable hosts or specialist instructors.

Build Your Week Around One Signature Event Per Day

A common mistake is trying to make every session different.

In reality, most of your timetable should remain straightforward.

Standard open sauna sessions provide the backbone of your business, while one carefully programmed event each day creates excitement and helps attract specific customer groups.

This keeps staffing simple, allows first-time visitors to book whenever they like and gives regular customers something fresh to look forward to throughout the week.

Monday – Recovery Club

Monday is often one of the quieter trading days for leisure businesses, making it the perfect opportunity to attract a completely different audience from your weekend visitors.

Local running clubs, cycling groups, rugby teams, football clubs and CrossFit communities are usually recovering from weekend training or competition. Instead of marketing another generic sauna session, position Monday as a dedicated Recovery Club.

The format doesn't need to be overly complicated. Customers arrive, spend time in the sauna, rotate through cold plunge pools if available and relax before heading home. If you have relationships with local physiotherapists or sports massage therapists, consider inviting them to attend one session each month for talks or demonstrations rather than every week.

By giving sports clubs a fixed weekly time slot, your sauna becomes part of their training programme rather than somewhere they visit occasionally.

Suggested format

Session Length	90 minutes
Ticket Price	£20–25
Capacity	12–16 people
Led By	Sauna host
Why It Works	Encourages repeat weekly bookings from clubs

Tuesday – Guided Breathwork

Tuesday evenings often attract customers looking to unwind after work rather than recover from sport.

Breathwork complements sauna bathing naturally because both encourage relaxation and mindfulness. A qualified breathwork facilitator might begin with twenty minutes of guided breathing exercises before leading participants through several sauna rounds, cooling periods and quiet reflection.

Customers aren't simply paying for a sauna—they're paying for professional guidance and a structured wellness experience. This allows operators to command a noticeably higher ticket price while appealing to customers who may never have considered visiting a public sauna before.

Breathwork sessions are also highly shareable on social media, particularly when paired with atmospheric lighting and carefully designed interiors.

Suggested format

• 20 minutes guided breathwork
• 50 minutes sauna and cooling rounds
• 20 minutes relaxation

Typical ticket price: £30–40

Wednesday – Women's Wellness Evening

Midweek is an excellent opportunity to build community rather than simply fill capacity.

Women's wellness evenings work particularly well because they create an environment centred around conversation, relaxation and self-care. Rather than treating every session identically, introduce occasional guest speakers covering topics such as sleep, menopause, nutrition, stress management or skin health.

Not every week needs a speaker. In many cases, customers simply enjoy knowing they're attending alongside like-minded people.

These evenings often develop into loyal communities that continue booking week after week because friendships naturally begin to form.

Suggested format

Session Length	90–120 minutes
Ticket Price	£28–40
Led By	Sauna host with occasional guest speaker
Added Revenue	Herbal teas, retail products and private bookings

Thursday – Aufguss Night

Aufguss has become one of the fastest-growing trends within public saunas across Europe and is steadily gaining popularity in the UK.

For customers unfamiliar with the concept, an Aufguss ceremony involves a trained sauna master pouring water infused with carefully selected essential oils onto the hot stones before using specialist towel techniques to circulate the steam around the room. The result is a carefully choreographed experience that combines heat, aroma and movement in a way that simply can't be replicated during an ordinary sauna session.

Because trained Aufguss masters remain relatively uncommon in the UK, these evenings can become destination events that attract visitors from outside your immediate catchment area.

Many operators choose to run three or four ceremonies during a two-hour session, allowing customers to cool down between rounds while maintaining the sense of occasion.

Suggested format

Session Length	2 hours
Ticket Price	£35–50
Led By	Qualified Aufguss Master
Why It Works	Premium experience with strong marketing appeal

Friday – Social Sauna

Friday should feel completely different from Monday.

Rather than focusing on recovery or structured wellness, Friday evenings are about helping people relax at the end of the working week.

Encourage conversation, create a welcoming atmosphere and consider extending opening hours into the evening. Offer quality teas, alcohol-free cocktails or healthy refreshments and create comfortable outdoor seating where customers can cool down between sauna rounds.

Some operators partner with local cafés or street food vendors, turning the venue into a social destination rather than somewhere customers leave immediately after their session.

This approach broadens your audience considerably by attracting couples, friendship groups and professionals looking for an alternative to traditional nightlife.

Saturday – Guided Contrast Therapy

Saturday is often your busiest trading day and provides the ideal opportunity to showcase everything your business offers.

Contrast therapy continues to attract enormous interest, but many newcomers lack confidence about alternating between heat and cold safely. Guided sessions allow staff to explain the process, answer questions and help customers get the most from the experience.

For many people, this becomes their introduction to both sauna bathing and cold plunging.

Because these sessions naturally generate photographs and videos, they also provide some of your strongest social media content.

Suggested format

Session Length	90 minutes
Ticket Price	£25–35
Led By	Sauna host
Audience	First-time visitors and wellness enthusiasts

Sunday – Slow Sauna

Not every customer wants an energetic atmosphere.

Sunday mornings should provide the opposite experience to Friday evenings.

Reduce the capacity slightly, minimise conversation if appropriate and encourage customers to disconnect from phones and everyday distractions. Herbal tea, comfortable relaxation areas and quieter surroundings help position Sunday as the perfect way to end the weekend.

Many operators discover that these calmer sessions develop an extremely loyal following because customers begin associating Sunday mornings with relaxation before the working week begins.

What About the Rest of the Day?

One question prospective operators often ask is whether every session needs to be themed.

The answer is almost certainly no.

Themed sessions work because they feel special. If every booking becomes an event, they quickly lose their uniqueness while staffing costs become unnecessarily complicated.

Instead, use standard open sessions throughout most of the day and reserve one premium experience for the evening.

A typical weekday timetable might look like this:

Time	Session
7:00–8:30	Morning Open Sauna
9:00–10:30	Open Sauna
11:00–12:30	Open Sauna
13:00–14:30	Off-Peak Open Sauna
15:00–16:30	Private Hire, School Groups or Maintenance
17:00–18:30	After Work Open Sauna
19:00–20:30	Themed Event

This approach keeps the business simple while still giving customers something different to look forward to every evening.

Who Should Run the Sessions?

Another common concern is staffing.

Fortunately, not every event requires another employee.

A well-trained sauna host should comfortably manage standard open sessions, recovery clubs, social evenings and guided contrast therapy.

Only specialist experiences genuinely require external instructors.

Activity	Specialist Needed?
Open Sauna	❌
Recovery Club	❌
Social Sauna	❌
Guided Contrast Therapy	❌
Breathwork	✅
Yoga	✅
Sound Bath	✅
Aufguss	✅
Guest Wellness Talks	✅

By bringing in guest instructors only once or twice each week, you create premium experiences without significantly increasing payroll costs.

Why These Activities?

Every event in your programming calendar should have a commercial purpose.

Recovery clubs attract sports communities who naturally attend every week. Breathwork appeals to professionals seeking stress relief and justifies a higher ticket price. Women's wellness evenings build loyal communities that return regularly with friends. Aufguss differentiates your business from competitors and creates destination events. Social evenings attract customers who might otherwise spend Friday night in a café or pub, while contrast therapy introduces newcomers to one of the fastest-growing trends in wellness.

Each session speaks to a different customer, helping your sauna appeal to a much wider audience than standard bookings alone.

Measure What Works

Programming should evolve over time.

Monitor occupancy, average spend per customer, repeat booking rates and membership conversions to understand which sessions genuinely drive the business forward.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Replace poorly attended events, test different time slots and ask customers what they'd like to see next.

The best public saunas rarely have exactly the same timetable twelve months later because they're constantly adapting to what their community wants.

Final Thoughts

The most successful public saunas don't simply operate a timetable—they curate a weekly programme that encourages customers to return again and again.

By combining standard open sessions with carefully chosen themed experiences, you create variety without unnecessary complexity. More importantly, you transform your sauna from somewhere people visit occasionally into somewhere they build into their lifestyle.

At Ice Cold Spice, we work with entrepreneurs, wellness operators, hotels and leisure businesses across the UK to create commercial sauna spaces designed around customer experience as much as equipment. Whether you're planning your first public sauna or expanding an existing venue, thoughtful programming can be just as important to long-term success as the sauna itself.