What Is ‘Aufguss’? The West End’s New AetherHaus Embraces Eastern-European Sauna Culture

I didn’t mean to make saunas my beat, but here I am again, reporting on the opening of another hot-cold spa in Vancouver. Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.

AetherHaus has been on my radar since I reported on Vancouver’s hot-hot-hot sauna scene back in 2023, and I’ve been waiting for the endlessly under-construction building near English Bay to open since. That day has come. The room is hot, the pools are cold and AetherHaus is ready to finally take you on a journey.

Though program director Dave Gu insists that Aether is not part of the “wellness industry,” and is instead focused on hospitality and community-building, I’m not quite sure I believe it. Any place that leads you in guided breathwork and offers you an in-sauna gua sha massage at least has a toe dipped into the modern wellness ecosystem.

But in a recent press release, founder Kevin Frank emphasized that this is a space not just for the health-and-fitness obsessed: it’s a home for anybody. “We created AetherHaus to welcome everyone, not just the hyper health-conscious. This is a space for people to simply show up as they are and experience the power of stillness,” he writes.

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While many of the most-hyped circuit spas of today are based off of Nordic practices, Aether more specifically has roots in the German concept of “aufguss”—a ritual where aromatic steam is circulated through the sauna—and Russian Banya, a communal bathhouse tradition known for heat, steam and social connection. Expect more wafting than at Scandinave (here, staff are armed with big, swooping fans to whip the hot air around), and more chatter, too.

It’s a space designed to focus on “embodied, sensory connection” rather than metrics or performance—there are no clocks here to time how long you’ve managed to stick it out in the pool, no thermostat to even measure just how cold is cold. Auguss is about checking in: how does it feel?

The sauna is made from Himalyan salt bricks instead of cedar, though warm wood benches wrap around the room to seat dozens of heat seakers at a time. But like any of the other hot spots in town, you’ll find an experience design to truly relax you, starting with a good shvitz surrounded by eucalyptus scented steam as AetherHaus’s staff ladle hot water onto the sizzling rocks.

Pools are, as expected, icy cold and offer you a pleasant shock to the system post-sweat, surrounded by candles. If you need a break from the hot-cold whiplash, a cozy tiered relaxation nook awaits: I snack on watermelon and sip cold tea as I wait for my temperature to regulate again.

On my visit, I tried out a semi-guided experience, wandering in between the heat and the watermelon station for a while until I was ushered into the pitch-black sauna where the temperature was turned up to new heights to accompany a meditative musical experience with some psychedelic EDM. The fanning got pretty intense to match, and while it was a little overwhelming for me personally, fellow sauna-ees left buzzing. “I’m not spiritual, but that was really something else,” marvelled another guest as we plunged ourselves into the ice bath. But there’s no pressure here to go that hard: other programming includes a chill breath and sound sessions, guided meditations (“The Space Within”) or free-flow “Open Haus” experiences.

I can’t promise that the aufguss lifestyle will leave you feeling any more relaxed than any of the other fine sauna spas around town–but I can confirm that I left with a clear head and my shoulders loose and limber. Whatever you want to call it, for 90 minutes of my time and a little bit of sweat, that’s for sure a hot deal.

AetherHaus
1768 Davie St.
aetherhaus.ca