It’s the Sunday after a run of brutal late nights, and mine is one of a group of slick, flushed bodies hunched over a steaming wood bench, heads wrapped in wool hats, sweat dripping onto the slats below. The furnace is roaring, the room pushing 80°C, and a dozen of us have stripped down to our swimwear in search of a physical reset. Welcome to Banya Forrest’s Slavic banya ritual – heat, cold, Russian dumplings and the occasional slap of a birch branch. It’s really fun, promise…

Located on Dubai’s Bluewaters Island and led by Artem Avanesov, Banya Forrest is betting on recovery-led wellness, pairing an authentic Slavic banya tradition with a distinctly modern, luxury finish. The banya tradition is ancient, first recorded around 440 BCE, but you’ll find its rituals alive and well, from Russian villages of old to major cities around the world today.

The main ritual is Parenie: a hot-and-cold experience that involves being whipped and wafted with oak, birch and eucalyptus branches inside a searing sauna, before plunging into an icy pool. I’d read about it, and it intimidated me slightly, but contrast therapy has become a viral wellness obsession, so I was keen to see how the traditional version stacked up against the infrared saunas and ice baths I knew.

I arrived an hour before the Parenie ritual, which is guided by banshchiks – sauna therapists trained in Eastern Europe. The venue is a maze: guests wind their way past the entrance, past diners tucking into pierogi and Peroni (yes, it’s licensed, though beer and dumplings before an afternoon of sweating felt ill-advised).

After changing into swimwear, a robe and a bright green wool hat – essential for regulating body temperature in the heat – I headed through the central wellness space and into the main event.

The steam chamber itself dwarfs the cedar-lined Swedish saunas I’m used to. A wood-burning stove blazes in the corner, benches stagger upward, and wooden massage tables sit at the centre for those brave enough to take on personalised treatments in public. The ritual – held four or five times a day – turns the heat up alongside brilliant Euro-pop (Daddy Cool blares through the speakers), as men in loincloths waft bundles of leaves at each guest’s limbs until it’s only just bearable. We sit, we stand, we follow orders, heads bowed, breathing through the heat.

Just when we think we can’t take it anymore, we’re ordered out of the chamber and into the icy plunge pool outside. For once in my life, I couldn’t wait for cold water. I emerged feeling like I could punch through a wall.

The science backs the ritual up: contrast therapy has been shown to aid muscle recovery, cell health and immune function, and reduce inflammation, though it’s not for anyone with heart or respiratory conditions. For the rest of us, Banya Forrest delivers exactly what it promises – a jolt of clarity, a serious bonding experience, and, according to my friend’s sleep tracker, noticeably better sleep for days after. I’ve been back four times since.

Banya Forrest, Bluewaters Island. Daily, 10am to 11pm. Dhs300 to Dhs450 for three hours. Tel: (0)50 486 3224. @banya_forrest

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