Many Australian Hotels Just Don’t Do Saunas Well

After spending a lot of time in Finland, I’ve really started to appreciate saunas. So much so, that I will now often choose one hotel over another – other things being equal – if one of them has a good sauna.

After a few cycles of sweating in a hot sauna and cooling off in a cold pool, you feel really good. There are plenty of long-term health benefits, too. A good sauna especially hits the spot when the weather is cold outside.

But, at the risk of sounding like a sauna snob, there is a difference between a sauna and a good sauna. Increasingly, I’m finding that many Australian hotel saunas unfortunately fall into the former category.

Electric and infrared saunas miss the mark

In my opinion, the best thing about a sauna is the feeling when you add water to the hot rocks, creating a wave of hot steam in a process that the Finns call “löyly”. This is also the quickest way to heat up a sauna that isn’t yet hot enough to make you sweat.

When you’re in an electric or infrared sauna without hot rocks, you can’t do this.

Some hotel saunas with hot rocks even specifically instruct guests not to add water to the rocks.

I don’t think I’ve ever found an electric or infrared sauna in a hotel that actually made me sweat. They take ages to heat up, and even when at their highest temperature I find that they’re not hot enough. If I’m not sweating, it’s not a real sauna.

Poorly maintained hotel saunas

Then there are many saunas in Australian hotels that just haven’t been properly maintained. They either don’t work or are “temporarily out of service” for months at a time.

I recently stayed at a hotel near Melbourne Airport where the sauna’s “on” switch didn’t even seem to be working! The hotel was still advertising its sauna, and there was no sign advising that it was out of order – but it wouldn’t turn on.

Perhaps Duolingo was right when it taught me the following Finnish phrase:

Some hotels do get it right

Fortunately, there are still many Aussie hotels that do provide proper, steamy saunas that make you sweat. But it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when comparing hotel options online.

A couple of honourable mentions that come to mind, of hotels that do saunas right, include Pullman on the Park and Pullman Albert Park in Melbourne, as well as InterContinental Sydney and Branksome Hotel near Sydney Airport.

A few dishonourable mentions go to Pullman Melbourne City Centre, Mantra Melbourne Airport and PARKROYAL Melbourne Airport. The saunas at these hotels were either too cold or didn’t work during my most recent stays.

Is this a niche issue? Yes! First world problem? Absolutely! Nonetheless, when you’re paying good money to stay in a hotel that advertises a sauna, it would be nice if it worked properly.

So, my fellow sauna enthusiasts: Have you noticed this too? And which Australian hotels do provide an authentic Finnish sauna experience that makes you sweat?

P.S. If anyone knows an airport lounge with a proper sauna – other than the Finnair Platinum Wing in Helsinki – let us know in the comments too!