Do Recovery Amenities Actually Pay? The ROI of Sauna and Cold Plunge

Recovery amenities have crossed the line from perk to profit center. Sauna, cold plunge, contrast therapy, steam, and red light are now among the most-requested features across gyms, hotels, med spas, short-term rentals, and residential developments — and the operators adding them are not doing it for goodwill. They are doing it because a well-placed recovery build lifts pricing, deepens retention, and opens revenue that the space would not otherwise earn. The question for most operators is no longer whether demand is real. It is where the return actually comes from, how large it is, and how to build so the amenity pays rather than drains.

This guide answers that segment by segment, using the most credible industry data available rather than vendor claims. It covers the demand signal driving all of it, the return by property type, the one honest caveat most sales pitches leave out, and how to size a build so it earns its keep. Sauna Republic is an authorized dealer of 15+ premium wellness brands, so we can spec a recovery room across a single quote for any of the operators below.

The Demand Signal Behind the Trend

Before looking at any single segment, it is worth establishing that the underlying demand is not a fad reading. The Global Wellness Institute measures the global wellness economy at more than $6 trillion as of 2024, growing roughly 8% year over year and forecast to approach $10 trillion by the end of the decade. Within that total, wellness real estate is the fastest-growing sector — expanding at nearly 20% a year — and thermal and mineral springs, spas, and physical-activity recovery are all tracked, growing categories. This is a structural shift in consumer spending, not a seasonal spike.

The consumer data points the same direction. McKinsey's research finds that more than 80% of US consumers now consider wellness a top or important priority in their daily lives, a figure that has risen year over year, and that younger consumers — Gen Z and millennials — drive a disproportionate share of wellness spending. Cold immersion in particular has moved from the fringe to the mainstream fast enough that market-research firms tracking the cold plunge category disagree on its exact size but agree on its trajectory: up, at a meaningful clip, led by commercial buyers.

Gyms and Fitness Clubs

For fitness operators, recovery has become a retention and premium-tier lever. US fitness memberships reached an all-time high in recent years, and across the industry recovery has been named a top consumer trend since the start of the decade — sauna, cold plunge, and contrast circuits now sit alongside strength and cardio as a reason members choose, and stay with, a club.

The clearest signal comes from the operators voting with capital. Life Time — a publicly traded operator whose results are filed and auditable — grew revenue more than 18% in its most recent full year and attributed record membership retention and its highest-ever revenue per membership to a premium model in which recovery is central. The company announced it was adding cold plunges to more than 70 clubs, on top of the recovery suites and rejuvenation spaces already standard across its footprint, after its own member survey found that a large share of members wanted to try or increase ice bath and recovery use. Equinox and other premium operators have made saunas and steam rooms table stakes and are layering cold plunge and advanced recovery on top.

The practical build question for a gym is scale and modality, which we cover in detail in our guides to adding a commercial sauna suite to your gym and adding a commercial cold plunge to your gym or recovery center. Both walk through cost, installation, and how the recovery offering supports membership — the business case here is the reason those buildout decisions are worth making.

Hotels and Resorts

In hospitality, the return runs through rate, guest spend, and differentiation. The wellness traveler is a high-yield guest: the Global Wellness Institute finds that wellness tourists spend substantially more per trip than the average traveler — on the order of 40% more for international trips and even more for domestic ones — and that wellness tourism has grown into a market exceeding $1 trillion. Critically, most of that spending comes from "secondary" wellness travelers who add a wellness experience to an otherwise ordinary trip, which means mainstream hotels, not just destination spas, are positioned to capture it.

The rise of the social bathhouse underlines how much capital believes in this. Independent operators like Bathhouse and Othership have raised tens of millions of dollars to build sauna-and-cold-plunge-centered venues, with Bathhouse reporting it expects a nine-figure revenue run rate as it expands into major markets. Sophisticated investors are funding thermal wellness as a standalone business — which tells a hotel operator that the same modalities can anchor an amenity floor, not just fill it.

That said, hospitality is also where the honest caveat matters most — the best independent dataset shows wellness lifts revenue but does not automatically lift profit, which is exactly why the size of the build is the decision. We cover that trade-off, and how a boutique property and a flagship resort should each approach it, in right-sizing your hotel spa and in the hotel spa buildout guide.

Med Spas and Recovery Studios

The med spa and recovery-studio segment offers some of the cleanest per-location economics in wellness. According to the American Med Spa Association, the average US med spa generated roughly $1.4 million in revenue in 2024, up nearly 7% year over year, and the number of locations has grown quickly. Just as telling for anyone adding recurring recovery modalities: the repeat-patient rate climbed from 65% to 73% in two years, evidence that these treatments are becoming routine wellness behavior rather than one-off indulgences.

For a recovery studio or contrast concept, that repeat behavior is the whole model. Sauna and cold plunge are naturally habitual — members come back multiple times a week — which supports membership pricing and predictable recurring revenue in a way that a one-time aesthetic treatment does not. The contrast-therapy boom of the last few years has been driven precisely by operators who recognized that heat-and-cold is a high-frequency, membership-friendly offering.

Red light therapy layers in cleanly here as a third modality with broad appeal. Our guide to Lumaflex red light therapy for gyms, med spas, and recovery studios covers how it complements a heat-and-cold offering.

Short-Term Rentals

For short-term rental operators, a recovery amenity is one of the few upgrades that visibly moves both nightly rate and booking rate. A sauna or cold plunge is a search-differentiating, photo-forward feature that lifts a listing above comparable properties, justifies a higher nightly rate, and — because it is memorable — drives the reviews and repeat bookings that compound over a season. In a crowded rental market, it is the kind of feature guests filter and book specifically for.

We cover the specifics of how these amenities perform in rental settings, and what to install, in our guides to sauna for Airbnb ROI, bookings, and nightly rate and cold plunge for short-term rentals. The economics are unusually favorable because a rental monetizes the amenity every single night it is booked, not just when a guest chooses to use a spa menu.

Multifamily and Residential

Residential real estate has the most directly documented financial premium of any segment here. The Global Wellness Institute — drawing on a review of hundreds of studies — finds that wellness-focused residential commands a price premium of roughly 10% to 25%, and that wellness-certified commercial space earns a measurable per-square-foot rental premium. Wellness real estate is, again, the fastest-growing sector in the entire wellness economy, valued in the hundreds of billions and forecast to roughly double by the end of the decade.

The premium is not the only benefit. The same research associates wellness amenities with faster lease-up, longer lease terms, lower resident turnover, and higher tenant satisfaction — the operational metrics that drive a property's net operating income and, ultimately, its asset value. Renter-preference surveys consistently rank fitness and wellness facilities among the amenities residents most want and will pay a monthly premium to have, and a wave of luxury and student-housing developments now feature saunas, cold plunges, and salt rooms as signature draws.

Because a residential wellness amenity serves many residents at shared, often unsupervised, hours, the equipment specification matters — durable, commercial-grade units with straightforward maintenance and safety features. That is a spec conversation we have regularly with developers, and one we can scope across a single quote alongside the rest of the amenity package.

The Honest Caveat: Right-Size the Build

Here is the detail most vendor pitches leave out, and it is the most important one in this guide. Recovery amenities reliably lift revenue — but revenue is not profit, and the largest, most expensive builds are where that gap can open. The best independent hospitality dataset available, covering more than 11,000 hotels, found that properties with major wellness footprints grew revenue impressively yet saw far thinner growth in profit per room than properties with leaner, well-targeted wellness offerings. The culprit is fixed cost: a sprawling spa carries payroll, maintenance, and space costs that a right-sized recovery circuit does not.

The lesson generalizes across every segment above. The goal is not the biggest possible build — it is the build correctly sized to your actual demand. A gym does not need a destination spa to move retention; a sauna and cold plunge that members actually use will do it. A boutique hotel does not need a resort floor; a lean, well-designed contrast circuit captures the rate premium without the fixed-cost drag. Overbuilding strands capital in equipment that sits idle. Underbuilding caps revenue and frustrates users at exactly the moments the amenity should shine. Sizing honestly to demand, with a clear path to expand, is what protects the investment at both ends.

The tax side reinforces the case for building smart. Commercial recovery equipment generally qualifies for Section 179 and 100% bonus depreciation, letting much of the cost be written off in the year it is placed in service — and freestanding, plug-in units sit in the cleanest tax category. Our Section 179 guide for wellness equipment covers how that works and why a right-sized, modular build is often the most tax-efficient one as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do recovery amenities actually increase revenue, or just costs?

The evidence across segments shows they increase revenue — through higher membership retention and premium tiers for gyms, higher rates and guest spend for hotels, recurring per-visit revenue for med spas, nightly-rate and booking lift for rentals, and a documented rent premium for residential. The important nuance is that revenue is not automatically profit: the largest, most fixed-cost-heavy builds can compress margins, which is why right-sizing the build to real demand is the central decision.

Which segment sees the strongest documented return?

Residential and short-term rentals have the most directly measurable returns. Wellness-focused residential carries a documented price premium in the range of 10% to 25%, and a short-term rental monetizes the amenity every night it is booked. Gyms and hotels see strong but less isolable returns, because recovery is usually bundled into a broader premium experience rather than sold as a standalone line.

How big does the wellness market actually have to be for this to matter?

It is already large enough that demand is not the risk. The Global Wellness Institute sizes the global wellness economy at more than $6 trillion, with wellness real estate the fastest-growing sector, and McKinsey finds more than 80% of US consumers prioritize wellness. The operator's job is capturing existing demand efficiently, not creating it.

What is the single biggest mistake operators make?

Building the wrong size. Overbuilding strands capital in equipment that sits idle and carries fixed costs that erode profit; underbuilding caps revenue and creates bottlenecks. The best independent hotel data specifically shows that oversized wellness footprints can grow revenue while barely growing profit. A correctly-sized recovery circuit, with room to expand, is what protects the return.

Which recovery modalities should a business start with?

For most operators, a sauna and a cold plunge are the anchor — the heat-and-cold contrast pairing has the broadest appeal and the highest visit frequency, which is what drives retention and recurring revenue. Steam and red light therapy layer in well as a second phase once demand is proven. The right starting mix depends on your users, space, and segment, which is part of what we scope when specifying a build.

Does commercial recovery equipment qualify for tax deductions?

Generally yes. Commercial saunas, cold plunges, and red light systems are tangible business equipment that typically qualifies for Section 179 and 100% bonus depreciation when used predominantly in the business, letting much of the cost be deducted in the year it is placed in service. Freestanding, plug-in units sit in the cleanest category. See our Section 179 guide and confirm the specifics with your accountant.

Can one dealer spec a recovery build across different segments?

Yes. As an authorized dealer of 15+ premium wellness brands, Sauna Republic specs sauna, cold plunge, steam, and red light for gyms, hotels, med spas, rentals, and residential developments across a single quote and delivery schedule — sizing each modality to the specific demand of the property rather than applying a one-size-fits-all package.

How do I know what size build my business actually needs?

It comes down to honest demand numbers — member or guest volume, peak simultaneous use, available space, and how you intend to monetize the amenity. Those inputs determine heater output, chiller and filtration capacity, and modality mix. Rather than apply a template, we size each component to your property and plan for expansion, so the build fits the demand you actually have.

This article is general information, not business, investment, or tax advice. Market figures are drawn from third-party industry research including the Global Wellness Institute, McKinsey & Company, the American Med Spa Association, and published operator results; outcomes vary by property, market, and execution. Confirm any tax treatment with a qualified professional.