Howl like a wolf and imitate monkeys and this new London spa
At new London spa Shoreditch &Soul, strangers laugh like wolves in a 40-person sauna. Could this be London’s most joyful answer to the wellness boom?
One of my favourite TV quotes comes from Samantha in an early Sex and the City episode: “You can’t swing a Fendi purse without knocking over five losers.”
I recycle this line to describe overcrowded trends. Lately? You can’t swing a battered Longchamp tote without smacking into a sound bath or cryotherapy chamber. And I say that as someone who’s fully signed up to the cause. We’d all be better humans—happier, healthier, and maybe even nicer to one another—if access to hot tubs was NHS-prescribed.
Londoners are starting to agree, as evidenced by the great rise of the sauna, with the number in London more than tripling since 2023. The challenge now, though, isn’t selling wellness—it’s doing something original with it.
The new London spa with zany activities to help bond guests
Shoreditch &Soul opened this month in East London, and brands itself as the UK’s first ‘social experimental wellness space’ featuring an alcohol-free bar, plant-based café Palm Greens, co-living apartments, and The Sanctuary, with movement studios, ice baths, and a standout 40-person sauna. Founder Reza Merchant, best known as the entrepreneur behind co-living brand The Collective, describes it as a “soulful playground.”
For Merchant, this new London spa has been shaped by frustration. “It saddens me that so many Londoners suffer from loneliness and mental health challenges,” he says, inspired by festival culture to create a space where “people can try new things, connect to themselves and each other, and feel part of something.”
Shoreditch &Soul sits on Cheshire Street, once a gritty hub of weavers and artisans, and now the epicentre of East London’s gentrification wave. The building was formerly a textile factory and, for two decades, the flagship of vintage retailer Beyond Retro. Inside, the original brickwork has been preserved, there’s street art by Abraham O, as well as Paul Trevor’s candid photographs of Brick Lane in the 1970s.
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It’s a meaningful gesture but also raises questions. How community driven can a wellness destination really be when memberships rise to £279 per month? Merchant insists that inclusivity is baked into the business model. Discounts and subsidised memberships are available for locals, NHS workers, and those on low incomes, alongside free community events and workshops designed to welcome the neighbourhood.
I’m here for Silly Sauna by The Way of Play—a mix of movement, voice activation and laughter held inside Sensorium, the venue’s sauna co-designed with the British Sauna Society. I’m feeling a little nervous but climb up and commit to the hotter top-tier bench, knowing that if the seats below me fill up, I’ll be trapped up here.
One of the instructors does a high kick to warm up, and soon we’re impersonating monkeys and howling like wolves. It’s all gloriously unhinged. Thirty strangers, dripping with sweat and playing without inhibition in 80°C heat. Everyone is so into it that I wonder if a few of them are paid actors.
I chat to one of my playmates during an ice bath break. He recently moved to London from Indonesia and signed up today for the social aspect. “Who cares what people think?” he tells me. “There’s just something powerful about letting go and laughing.”
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We usually think of laughter as something spontaneous and throwaway, but it has a deeply bonding quality. In that sense, play and laughter are intrinsically therapeutic: “The intersection of entertainment and wellbeing is where the magic happens,” says Merchant, and “being able to have fun, let loose, and let your guard down is an essential part of remaining sane in the urban hustle”.
The Sensorium hosts life drawing, storytelling and even mini raves – yes, all inside the sauna. Afterwards, head to their booze-free botanical bar, courtesy of Karmaceuticals, where you can sip on plant-powered elixirs promising everything from a pick-me-up to a wind-down. Prices start at £4 and the Puhpowee Margarita is excellent.
Elsewhere in the Sanctuary, there’s Afro-Brazilian martial arts, sessions with folk herbalists, plus a steady stream of yoga, breathwork and creative workshops. “We have over 40 partners contributing,” Merchant tells me, “from keynote speakers to craft and personal development sessions, exposing guests to a broad range of wisdom and traditions from other cultures.”
You could easily spend the entire day here, and with the £279-per month Air membership, that’s exactly the idea. It includes unlimited access to the Sanctuary and private co-working space.
Many of us are used to chasing release through noise, pints, and late nights. Now, as the sober- curious movement gathers pace, Shoresditch &Soul is asking whether moving like a monkey in 40 degree heat could replace all that.
114 Cheshire St, London E2 6EJ To find out more visit andsoul.com