2 weeks Ago
“What on earth is going on?” you might wonder, as a stranger slaps your sweaty flesh with a bundle of leaves. It's not your ordinary afterwork experience. But then Beach Box Spa, one of the UK's best according to The Times , is no ordinary sauna.
Located off Madeira Terrace, Beach Box has recently been granted permission to stay in its spot for another five years, and the application received hundreds of letters of impassioned public support . The spa's location is spectacular (Image: Beach Box Spa) As it turns out, one unexpected side effect of reporting on that development was a strong, sudden desire to experience the sauna myself. So I headed down on March 20 to experience a ‘Spring Equinox’ session, entirely unsure what such a thing might entail.
One of the many different ways of cooling down (Image: Beach Box Spa) And firstly, what a gorgeous place for a spa. About halfway between the pier and the marina, you’d struggle to find a better-sited sauna in any city in the world. In fact, you forget you’re in a city pretty quickly.
The three saunas are gathered round a cosy central fire, with horse box changing rooms and various cold water offerings dotted around. Enter this circular sanctum of peace and you instantly feel you’ve left the bustle of Brighton behind. I was directed by one of the many lovely staff members to a sauna named Lotta, for an ‘Aufguss’ session with sauna-meister Steph.
A sauna named Lotta (Image: Beach Box Spa) I hadn’t the foggiest what any of this meant, until Steph explained that Aufguss, a German word meaning ‘infusion’, is a form of aroma-therapeutic sauna meistery in which all kinds of lovely smells are wafted artfully around. I’ve been in saunas before, but only the run of the mill, public swimming pool-adjacent variety, where questionable characters lurk in shadowy corners. READ NEXT: Striking 19th century church could be at risk of demolition Beach Box was simply on a whole other level.
Lotta’s huge window provides sweeping views of the watery horizon, and combined with the sauna’s gentle golden lighting and the sun slipping behind the sea, the atmosphere was unparalleled. One toasty reporter and three expert sauna-meisters. Steph is on the right (Image: Beach Box Spa) Sauna-meister Steph, soon to be competing in the UK Aufguss Championships, was a consummate performer, twisting and twirling with balletic poise and purpose as she blew sweet and savoury scents to and fro.
She had a number of different tools at her disposal - towels, fans, the aforementioned foliage. Her deployment of the leaf bundles was particularly fascinating: one minute they flung cool drops on sizzling sauna-sitters, the next they were instruments of percussion, as Steph brushed us down in time to the rhythm of Viking-inspired music. I can't think of a better place to watch a sunset (Image: Beach Box Spa) And the aromas.
My god! It’s hard to exaggerate how much they elevated the experience. All manner of surprising and satisfying scents permeated the fiery air, each one more exciting and tantalising than the last. Gusts of peppermint, waves of birch, tea smoke, lemon, basil, black pepper, orange blossom; enough to bring one to the brink of a fully blown olfactory orgasm.
The spa's lovely owner, Liz, joined us for pic (Image: Beach Box Spa) After two blissful hours, I made my way home along the beach. And the bliss stayed with me - I felt bloody amazing. Colours were more colourful, sensations more sensational.
Even my dinner tasted especially amazing. If I didn’t know better, I’d think someone had spiked my brownie. But, of course, they hadn’t.
I hadn’t even eaten a brownie. I’d just had an almost spiritual experience in a very special sauna. And I cannot wait to have it again.
Prices at Beach Box Spa start from £12.50 for a 45-minute session. For more information, visit: https://beachboxspa.
co.uk/..
