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Health & safety

Read this before your first session.

Heat and cold water are powerful, which is rather the point — but they put real load on your body. Two minutes reading this now is worth it.

Please speak to your GP before booking if you have a heart condition, high or low blood pressure, have had a stroke, are pregnant, have epilepsy, diabetes, a circulatory or respiratory condition, or you're recovering from surgery, illness or injury. Never use the sauna, plunges or hot tub after drinking alcohol or taking recreational drugs. Under-18s must be with a parent or guardian throughout.

Using the sauna

  • Start short. Eight to twelve minutes is plenty on your first visit. Build up over a few sessions rather than trying to prove something on day one.
  • Sit lower if it's too much. The bottom bench is meaningfully cooler than the top one.
  • Get out if you feel dizzy, sick or your heart is racing. Every time. There's no prize for staying in.
  • Drink water before, during and after. You'll lose more than you think.
  • Sit on a towel and don't put anything on the heater. It's hot enough to burn instantly — keep well clear of it.

Using the cold plunge

  • Get in slowly and breathe out as you go. The gasp reflex is the genuinely risky part of cold water — control your breathing and you control the dip.
  • Twenty to sixty seconds is a real session. Two or three minutes is plenty for anyone. Longer isn’t necessarily better.
  • Never put your head under, and never hold your breath deliberately before or during a dip.
  • Warm up gradually afterwards. Don't go straight into a hot shower — let your body do it.
  • If you're on your own, keep it short. And if you've never done it before, come with someone else the first time.

A sensible first session

  1. Shower before you get in anything. Everyone, every time.
  2. 10 minutes in the sauna.
  3. 30 seconds in the plunge, breathing out as you get in.
  4. A few minutes sat down, warming up on your own.
  5. Repeat twice more if you're enjoying it, then finish warm.

How we keep the water clean

The plunges and hot tub run continuous filtration and circulation with automated chemical dosing, so water quality doesn't depend on anyone remembering to check it. On top of that we run a scheduled testing and record-keeping regime under a written water safety plan, with a named responsible person, in line with HSE guidance HSG282 and the L8 Approved Code of Practice for spa pools. Plant is serviced by a specialist contractor.

In plain terms: the water is treated automatically, checked on a schedule, and written down every time. If a reading is out of range, the suite closes until it isn't.

Before you get in — every visit

  • Shower first, and don't use the water if you have an open wound, a skin infection, or you've had a stomach upset in the last 48 hours.
  • Don't use the suite on an empty stomach or straight after a big meal.
  • Wet floors are slippery…

If something goes wrong

There's an emergency call point in the suite — press it and it raises an alarm and calls us for help. Use it if you or anyone else feels unwell, faints, or gets into difficulty. In a genuine emergency, call 999 first.

Not medical advice. This page is general safety guidance, not advice about you specifically. If you're unsure whether heat or cold-water bathing is safe for you, ask your GP — they'll know your history and we won't.