The idea for launching a spa featuring an ice bath began for Robbie Bent a few years ago in the garage of his home in the Toronto neighbourhood of Geary.
Today, Othership, an immersive sauna and ice bath experience, has two locations in Toronto and one in New York City with plans to significantly grow in the coming years.
Robbie Bent, CEO and Co-Founder, said the idea began actually in his backyard in 2019 with just an ice bath.
“Anyone who was part of the community was able to come, open the gate and just use the ice bath,” he said. “I would come out of my house and there would be people having coffee. People would be hanging out during the day. At night we’d buy firewood and ice and have a fire and we’d go around the neighbourhood and invite people. Every night there would be music back there and a place to hang out without alcohol that was social.
“From there it became cold out and people were really excited but they didn’t want to do an ice bath in the winter outside. So we converted my garage – it’s a three-car garage – put a sauna, ice bath and made a little tiny tea room. At first it was just by donation and that grew to a 1,000 person community. In that space we started designing emotional wellness classes. So we’d have people in a circle sharing a healthy habit. We’d do date nights for couples. We would have intense classes for anger release. It was all geared at just allowing people in the neighbourhood to meet each other, to make friends, to find romantic partners.”
When COVID hit, staffing of the facility was stopped but people could access it through an app and let themselves in.
The popularity of the concept led to opening a location at 425 Adelaide Street West in Toronto – a 3,000-square-foot, 36-person sauna and 50-person max space. That opened in February 2022.
“That space was popular right away and we had two assumptions. One was that mainstream people wanted to do emotional wellness classes. We weren’t really sure about that. But that’s one of our most signature things – our classes. And that people would want to hang out at night without alcohol. Most of our customers are corporate professionals. People that are bankers and lawyers and writers. People in Toronto who have jobs and are stressed and on their phone all the time.
“Since the beginning, there have been two or three week waitlists. Within one month we signed a lease in Yorkville and we recently opened a flagship double in size in November. That’s a 100-person sauna, eight ice baths, there’s a tea room. In this space we’ll do a lot more social things like Comedy Night.” There’s karaoke nights and musicians who come in and perform.
“So it’s taking a lot of stuff that happens in bars around alcohol and pulling it into a more healthy container where people can connect and become friends.
Othership’s second Toronto location on the concourse level of 110 Bloor Street West in Yorkville. It’s one of several new tenants for the renovated commercial podium.
Matthew Pieszchala of CBRE represented Othership for this transaction, and is representing the company as broker for North America. Arlin Markowitz of CBRE and Carmen Siegel of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord.
“We’ve also signed two leases in New York so we’re opening Flatiron in about 45 days and that will be our largest unit and then we’re opening Brooklyn in January,” Bent said.
The concept’s space features a massive performance sauna where different activities take place. The sauna itself can be 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. There’s an ice bath room with hot and cold therapy. And there’s a stadium seating style tea room with a fireplace.
Ice baths have become a trend these days as many people say there are various mental and physical health benefits.
“Having something like just two minutes the benefits are very similar to exercise. So in that amount of time the physiological and neurological benefits are immense. There’s some discomfort but when you get in and come out you’re tripling the norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain. So these are the feel good hormones. You come out feeling alert, alive. A lot of times people will do it to start their day in the middle of coffee. A lot of people who struggle with stimulation – cigarettes, Netflix, binging, substance use – use this as a healthier way to repurpose the dopamine receptors. So it’s fantastic for people who struggle with addiction. It’s a healthy way to turn on, to be stimulated, to feel alive.
“It’s really good for a social setting because when you come out you’re hyper aware and you’re also feeling elated and so it leads really well to breaking down social barriers.”
Bent said there’s research showing that ice baths can reduce inflammation in a person’s body. It can also protect the immune system. Proponents say it can help with longevity.
Bent said he believes an Othership could be in every major city where people use their phones.
“It’s why New York was our first choice (in the U.S.) because it’s a very hard city to live. People are struggling left and right. It’s a massive rat race. So we’re looking for places where there’s cold weather, high density and a lot of stressed individuals. We just think urban areas in North America are a really good fit.”
