Calgary’s newest sauna facility adds to the city’s growing sauna scene with private hydrotherapy sessions in rooms for just one or two people. The newly opened Leela Thermal House is the newest concept from Gaurav Gupta, founder of Leela Eco Spa and SKA Thermal Spa.
Unlike Leela Eco Spa, which has a multitude of services like massages, acupuncture, manicures and pedicures, or SKA, a communal sauna and cold plunge facility in the Beltline, Leela Thermal House’s sauna and cold plunge suites are designed for one or two people maximum per hydrotherapy session.
“Coming from SKA, operating there for two and a half years, we saw that there was a good need for people to not be in a social setting and for them to still have time for themselves,” says Gupta.
Some people, says Gupta, don’t want to be seen in swimsuits or in front of other people. Sometimes, a couple of people together want a spa session that is still secluded from strangers, or an individual wants solo time to unwind.
At Leela Thermal House, each thermal contrast therapy session takes place in a private suite that includes an Estonian wood sauna and a custom cold plunge tank. You decide how you want to spend your 60-minute session, but you can also follow the guided therapy journey provided, which starts with a five- to 10-minute shower, followed by a 20-minute sauna session with guided meditation, a three-minute cold plunge, five minutes for a tea break, a second 10-minute sauna, a final three-minute cold plunge and lastly, a salt scrub shower and tea service.
Registered massage therapy can also be booked. Leela Thermal House provides spa items like a robe, slippers, towels, a salt body scrub and tea.
Leela Thermal House’s first Brentwood location is now open for bookings and a second location is slated to open in Kensington in 2026.
6180, 5111 Northland Dr. N.W., 587-326-7988, leelathermalhouse.ca
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