Holiday home with sauna: what to look for

We rent out a house with a sauna ourselves, so we have an interest in you booking with us. Even so, this piece is not meant to make you do that. It is meant to give you the questions we would ask ourselves. They apply to any holiday home, including ours.

1. Private or shared?

This is the most important one, and it is often not stated clearly in the listing. A sauna at a holiday park is usually shared: you book a time slot, or you share it with other guests. A sauna that belongs to the house is yours for as long as you are there. Look for the word “private” or “own” in the text — if it is not there, ask.

2. Wood-fired or electric?

An electric sauna goes on at the push of a button and is warm in half an hour. A wood-fired sauna has to be stoked: lay the wood, wait, top it up now and then. That is more work and it takes longer — but it is also a different kind of evening. If you want it without any fuss, choose electric. If the stoking is part of the holiday for you, choose wood.

3. Where is it, and can you cool down?

A sauna inside a bathroom is not the same as a sauna outdoors. An outdoor sauna comes with cooling down in the open air, and that is where the feeling lives. Check whether there is an outdoor shower or something else to cool off in, and whether you can get from the sauna into the house without walking along a public road.

4. Is use included in the price?

At some places the sauna is an extra with a surcharge per use or per stay. That need not be a problem, but it is good to know before you arrive. Search the terms and conditions for the word “sauna” and see whether a rate is attached.

5. How much privacy do you have outside?

An outdoor sauna on a 200 m² plot with neighbours on three sides is a different experience from an outdoor sauna in a forest. In the photos, look not only at the sauna but at what stands around it. And check the plot size, if it is mentioned.

How it works at our place

For completeness, the same five questions applied to our own situation: our barrel sauna is private and wood-fired, stands outdoors on our own 1,000 m² wooded plot, with an outdoor shower beside it. The plot is detached, with no neighbours in sight. Use is included in the price: no surcharge per use or per stay.

If you want to see what that looks like, have a look at wellness & outdoors. And for what the house has to offer around it, see the bungalow. The fixed additional costs and the house rules are all together at frequently asked questions.