Chelsea’s sprawling Sonara club will combine traditional bathing rituals, restorative treatments and European-inspired dining.
Remember when the phrase ‘public baths’ referred to a municipal swimming pool? Not any more. Restoring a tradition once native to Bath in Georgian times—not to mention Ancient Rome, the Ottoman Empire, and modern Japan and Russia—this take on London’s newfound appetite for elaborate wellness experiences takes the concept of bathing as a social activity into sophisticated new territory, while also adding fine dining to the mix.
Set to open before the end of the year at 120 King’s Road, Chelsea, Sonara will see guests encouraged to move between heat, cold, rest, treatments and European-inspired food from an 80-cover restaurant. The 16,000 ft² club will feature London’s largest traditional oak-lined banya chamber, accommodating up to 30 guests.
Here, Steam Masters will conduct ‘parenie’, a Russian bathing ritual involving handcrafted veniki made from birch, oak or fir. The leafy bundles are used to gather and direct steam around the body, with cycles of intense heat followed by cold immersion and rest. The repeated rhythms of contrast and recovery ease muscular tension and leave the body feeling warmed and rejuvenated.
Other exotic treatment spaces include a snow room, hammam, cold plunge, shower buckets, floating room and red salt grotto, alongside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, with further treatment and recovery facilities due to be announced before doors open.
The dining facilities, meanwhile, have been conceived to accommodate quick dishes to indulge in between bathing cycles, and longer meals when schedules allow it. Guests are assigned a table, which serves as a base for the duration of their visit, and all patrons dine in their robes—a great leveller which makes dining more of a shared ritual with others in the room.
For more small-scale gatherings, Sonara offers four private 10-guest suites, around 970 ft² in size, drawing aesthetic influences from English country houses, Moroccan riads, Chinese courtyards and Alpine chalets. Each has a banya chamber and cold plunge, plus dining and relaxation areas. Private treatments and a dedicated Steam Master will also be available.
You can visit as a day guest, but given that the aim here is to turn bathing back into a social activity, full membership—providing access to a private members’ lounge and a year-round programme of experiences —is recommended.
