The Rise of Social Wellness Clubs — Why Saunas, Cold Plunges and Community Are the New Frontier
Wellness is no longer a solitary pursuit. Across major cities, social wellness clubs are emerging as a new category of health infrastructure — blending traditional modalities like sauna and hydrotherapy with modern branding, hospitality, and community design. For investors, these spaces represent not only a consumer trend but also a new asset class: wellness as lifestyle real estate.
1. Remedy Place — Social Wellness as a Category Creator
Los Angeles–based Remedy Place, founded by Dr. Jonathan Leary, has built a reputation as the “first social wellness club.” With locations in LA and New York, Remedy offers hyper-curated experiences including ice baths, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and infrared saunas. Its model reflects a shift toward community-based wellness — not just treatments, but belonging. remedyplace.com
2. Othership — Sauna and Cold Plunge Culture in Toronto + NYC
Othership, co-founded by Amanda Munday and Robbie Bent, is reframing sauna and cold plunge as rituals of connection. The brand has raised venture backing (including from Blue Collective) and opened a flagship in Toronto, with expansion underway in New York. Programming combines ancient practices with modern breathwork and sound journeys, cultivating wellness as a social ritual. othership.us
3. Banya No.1 — Eastern European Bathhouse Revival
In London, Banya No.1 has reintroduced the cultural tradition of Russian banyas — complete with steam rooms, venik platza rituals, and communal dining. Popular among creatives and wellness enthusiasts, Banya represents the cultural fusion angle of wellness real estate: how heritage practices can be reframed for modern urban consumers. gobanya.co.uk
4. Bathhouse — Brooklyn’s Take on Affordable Luxury
Brooklyn-based Bathhouse combines sauna, steam, and communal soaking pools with a modern hospitality aesthetic — concrete, mood lighting, and curated music. Its expansion shows that wellness real estate can scale regionally with the right balance of price accessibility and design-forward branding. abathhouse.com
5. The Investment Picture
According to Global Wellness Institute, the wellness real estate market surpassed $439 billion in 2023, growing nearly 18% year-over-year, with urban social clubs and bathhouse-inspired spaces among the fastest-rising categories.
Investors are eyeing wellness clubs as sticky membership models akin to fitness clubs — but with higher spend per visit and stronger emotional loyalty.
Why This Matters for 27K Ventures
Community as medicine: Isolation is a public health crisis; social wellness clubs meet a fundamental need for belonging while promoting health.
Experience + infrastructure: These clubs are as much about branding and hospitality as about the treatments themselves.
Scalability: While capital-intensive, clubs like Remedy and Othership demonstrate that with strong branding, wellness real estate can be venture-scale.
White space: Opportunities exist for hybrid models (e.g., combining sauna/cold plunge with coworking, retail, or digital membership layers).
Bottom Line: Social wellness clubs aren’t a passing trend — they’re becoming cultural institutions. For investors, they represent an intersection of hospitality, real estate, and health innovation, poised to become anchor spaces in the next generation of urban wellness ecosystems.