"Things get pretty crazy later on": how sauna became London's hottest activity

Forget the nightclub — it's all about the sauna now

“Things get pretty crazy later on,” says Vish, a muscle-bound twenty-something with a wicked grin. “It’s not just the single men I’m competing with; it’s the married ones too.”

I am attending an “Evening Social” class at Arc, a heaving 60-person sauna in Canary Wharf that opened in February, to the delight of the capital’s management consultants. Though the website promises a zen wellness space — a coffee table is described as a “monolithic altar,” and visitors are encouraged to explore “every facet of [them]selves” — the reality could not be further from the truth. A single session here starts at £35, a potent reminder that wellness only works if you’re willing to pay for it.