Whanganui siblings Max Butters (left) and Rebakah Butters have opened a new business, Sauna Sanctuary, which offers contrast therapy. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown
Whanganui siblings Max Butters (left) and Rebakah Butters have opened a new business, Sauna Sanctuary, which offers contrast therapy. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown
New business Sauna Sanctuary is aiming to be the best place in Whanganui for recovery and relaxation.
Founded by Whanganui born and raised siblings Max and Rebekah Butters, the business was created from their shared love of saunas, holistic wellness and the belief Whanganui deserved its own space to restand recharge.
Rebekah, 25, came up with the idea in June and asked her 28-year-old brother Max to help.
The Butters rented premises at 56 Victoria Ave, above Mainstreet Whanganui, to turn the idea into a reality.
“Once we found the spaces up here, it was easy to bring the idea together - we decided that it was a cool wee spot,” Rebekah said.
“We want to make it Whanganui’s best place to come for recovery and relaxation.”
Inside one of the private rooms at Sauna Sanctuary. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown
Sauna Sanctuary opened on September 15.
It has contrast therapy studios, which bring together heat and cold through infrared sauna sessions and cold plunge therapy to help people recover and relax.
The siblings want to make their contrast therapy an enjoyable part of daily life for everyone from elite athletes to wellness seekers.
The pair also want to make it a safe, comfortable place for women to relax in a private setting.
“We both love saunas but [in Whanganui] there’s not really many options, Splash Centre would be the main one, but there’s nowhere that is really private,” Max said.
Sauna Sanctuary offers contrast therapy with a hot sauna and cold plunge to help with relaxation and recovery. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown
They saw an opportunity to create a unique experience.
“You can walk in off the street, you don’t need to be a part of anything, this is your space,” he said.
“There was definitely a bit of a gap in the market. New Zealand is always a bit late; this has been taking off in America for quite a while now.”
“A lot of people in Whanganui seem to really be getting into their fitness so we just wanted to create a space for people to really dive into their recovery,” Rebekah said.
In the five weeks it had been open, the Butters said they had received positive feedback from users.
The most popular option has been the one-hour infrared sauna and cold plunge session, they said.
