Red Sanduny.  The grand-daddy of Toronto Saunas.

While there are equal (or better) sauna’s both globally and in the Greater Toronto Region, Red Sanduny claims the mantle of best sauna in the amalgamated City.  Lush, expansive and decadent, ‘Sanduny’ (as the locals like to call it) is your best bet in Toronto for an overwhelming, all-day sauna experience.

This sauna is technically a private club and it shows.  The place feels high end from the look of its clientele to it luxurious entrance and facilities.  The reality is, Sanduny is basically the Las Vegas of saunas in Toronto.  We at Toronto Sauna have experienced or heard of: fights, wild parties, women covering themselves in honey, C-list celebrity sightings, drunken rambunctiousness and a man in a sailors hat, swim suit and handlebar mustache playing the violin.

That said, Sanduny is NOT high end in price.  You’ll pay roughly $40 buck to experience the facilities.  And man, are there facilities…

As a family place in the North of the City, don’t expect a big gay scene or any hanky-panky (straight or queer).  Baths are pretty common in Eastern Europe and aren’t considered hot-beds of sex and vice like they are in most cities in Canada.  That said, I wouldn’t worry about coming with your lover either.  Plenty of same-sex groups are always coming as it’s a common thing to head to the baths with your male or female friends.    Trans-folks might find dealing with Sanduny to be a tricky deal – it’s obvious the place does not see a lot of trans-folks.  Sanduny is a professional place, so they might be able to hanle trans issues decently, but it never hurts to call up, ask and, if necessary, remind managers that trans discrimination is against the law in Ontario.

Entering the club you’ll see a sparklingly tiled room with a counter to your right and a restaurant/bar to your left.  The restaurant (called Red Square) has fine-dining and music every day…depending on the evening you’ll come in to lobster trays, disco lighting and middle aged Russians in nice suits and dresses getting their dance on.

Which bring us to Sanduny’s clientele – Eastern Europeans.  It’s a family place and people usually come there for the day to eat, get wasted and relax.  Everyone dresses their best in the club, but don’t fret about coming in track pants and a bunny-hug for the sauna – no one cares.

After paying you get the old locker key treatment.  You must bring a bathing suit for this experience though they can find a spare for you if you’re from out of town or have forgotten.  The locker area kicks ass – it’s spacious, clean and has a full shave/cologne/clean up area.  You’re key gets you a locker, towels and robe (you get your robe cord when you get to the spa).  Water-proof slippers are provided too.  The showers are private and hot…they never seem to have shampoo though.

Beyond this…paradise.  Red Sanduny has it all for the sauna lover.  There’s no windows but trust me, you won’t need them.  Red Sanduny has the following:

– A salt water pool.  It’s large enough to do laps, has a deep end and is not chlorinated meaning bliss for your skin.

– Jacuzzi.  Big and bad ass.  Not the hottest we’ve been to, but big enough for twenty people with full throttle jets.

– Cool pool.  This isn’t cold enough at all, but it’s a great place to clean off.

– Steam Room.  The steam is frequent and hot.  The marble-finish seats are a nice touch.  The true test of a good place is a clean, mould-free steam – and Sanduny delivers.

– Traditional, wood-fired, village sauna.  Hot and with a sweet smell of wood.  No smoke.  You can really spread out here on the expansive seats and lie down.

– Contemporary, brick-fired sauna.  This thing gets hotter than the sun.

Like Europe in Pulp Fiction, it’s the “little differences“.  In addition to the facilities above, you’ll find buckets of cold water you can douse yourself in with the pull of a rope, tables you sit and drink at, Russian pop music blaring on a bunch of TV’s, whisks (Russian birch branches and leaves) you can buy and whip yourself with.  There’s health and beauty area where you can get your nails done or a healthy massage.  They take benefits.

And there’s EVEN MORE!

Sanduny’s ace-in-the-hole is the LICENSED BAR and restaurant that sits IN THE SPA.  After a draining and sinful series of steaming, saunaing, swimming and getting beaten with birch trees, throw on your robe and take a stroll into the bar.

There’s plenty to choose from – fish, meats, borsch, perogies, pickled vegetables are all high on the list of dishes we’ve tried.  A particular favorite is the Kvass – a traditional Russian health drink that has about 1% alcohol and tastes like a cross between apple juice and beer.  Very tasty.  And feel free to get tanked on their vast assortment of beers and vodkas and then go pass out for a nap on their reclining chairs with a beer in one hand and a pickled tomato in the other.

At then end, you settle up by paying whatever you owe which has all been charged to your key number.  One thing about Sanduney to note is that they unilaterally add a service charge when you get booze and food on the bill.  This 10% goes to the staff as a tip but is based off both the food and your entry fee so it usually adds up to about 15% of the food bill depending on what you get.

Yup, that’s Sanduny.  It pretty much has everything you could ever want in a Russian spa.

Except maybe a naked Viggo Mortensen in the middle of a knife fight.

Overall Rating (Out of 5): 5/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Facilities: 5/5

Cost: $40

Coed: Yuppers

Queer or Straight: Mostly straight, but they wouldn’t likely care – no homo/dyke (or str8) sex allowed here and don’t expect a queer analysis

Facilities: traditional wood-fired sauna, brick-fired sauna, steam room, salt pool, jacuzzi, cool-pool, licensed bar and restaurant, health and beauty clinic