Most couples spend Valentine’s Day giving each other chocolates or flowers. Maybe they have a romantic candlelight meal together. Instead, a Comox Valley couple is celebrating their February 14th event by launching Ritual Nordic Spa, a new Finnish-style destination day spa in Victoria.
Hotsenpiller enjoying a sauna
Credit: Facebook
Entrepreneur Marci Hotsenpiller has designed and built a Scandanavian-style oasis in downtown Victoria. There must be something in the Valley’s water as she is the second area entrepreneur to launch a sauna this year.
Ritual Nordic Spa was created for Islanders who want to hit pause and escape from their busy lives while relaxing with a Finnish sauna experience.
Finland is the undisputed global leader in sauna culture, and Finns are among the happiest people on earth, so perhaps we could learn something from their rituals about health and wellness.
Marci’s custom-designed spa facility puts a modern spin on the age-old tradition of combining hot and cold elements to help people relax and improve their health. Ritual’s hot features include Finnish saunas for couples or groups, a eucalyptus-infused steam room, and infrared saunas.
Ritual’s cold features include a cold-water plunge pool cooled to 9°C, a Nordic cold-bucket shower, and even snow from a snow-making machine for the truly brave.
Guests are encouraged to do a “Circuit”, moving between areas of hot, cold, and rest to offer temperature contrasts that boost the immune system, improve mood, and jump-start circulation.
Guests can recover between hot and cold cycles in the Salt Lounge or outside on the patios. While relaxing in the Salt Lounge, you’ll be surrounded by walls of Himalayan salt blocks which are said to help fight inflammation and infection.
After your Circuit, you can relax with a massage or hang out in the Sip + Savour Lounge and enjoy après-spa Scandinavian-inspired snacks and drinks.
If you’re craving a quieter, more-private sauna escape, you can reserve one of Ritual Nordic‘s two private sauna suites. Individuals, couples, or up to 4 friends can book these suites to relax and sauna by themselves.
So, if you want a modern Finnish-style sauna experience and you happen to be visiting Victoria, check out Ritual Nordic Spa.
But book in advance as spots are filling up.
