What makes a high-quality and sustainable Finnish sauna experience?

The blog of third-generation nature tourism and accommodation entrepreneur Annu Huotari talks about the responsibility of the sauna experience.

Hawkhill Cottage Resort is committed to developing and nurturing a high-quality sauna experience. At Hawkhill, we want to offer the world’s best Finnish cabin experience. In our opinion, the sauna is one of the top products in Finnish tourism, so it is important for the tourism company to invest in a high-quality Finnish sauna experience.

Through Sauna from Finland’s business cooperation, we have found valuable partners and a lot of information about saunas and sauna use. Membership in Sauna from Finland has given us support and brought more know-how and information about the best partners in the field. We also wanted to certify our saunas to ensure that all aspects are at a sufficiently high level.

Sauna is the heart of the Finnish cabin culture

Our Eino-vaari started building cabins in the early 1960s on the shore of Kaitalammi at the foot of Haukkamäki. The sauna cabin was the first to reach the beach immediately after the road. We are currently doing business on the shore of the cottage pond for the third generation and the sauna is still the cornerstone of our cottage experience.

Sustainable experiences

The sauna experience consists of the Finnish landscape, the heat of the stove and high-quality materials. For us at Hawkhill, it is important that a quality sauna experience can be produced sustainably.

The heater is the heart of the sauna. You should pay attention to the choice of stove, regardless of whether it is an electric or wood stove. The choice is especially influenced by the size of the sauna and its surface materials. They determine the power required from the stove. We have dimensioned and selected the stoves with the guidance of experts, so that the power of electric stoves and the use of wood in wood stoves are optimized to be as efficient as possible. In addition, starting from your own needs and preferences, you should pay attention to safety, ease of use, the heating speed of the stove and, of course, the appearance.

During the spring of 2021, we renovated our little cottage in Villa Armas into a new Armas Suite. Villa Armas was in our family’s own use for a long time, and until the 2021 spring, it was a traditional cottage with an outside door and running water. Although Villa Armas was updated into a modern eco-luxury villa, we wanted to preserve a piece of traditional sauna culture and chose a wood stove for its sauna. For environmental reasons, we ended up with Harvia’s Linear22 Greenflame, which has minimized carbon dioxide and small particle emissions and maximizes wood efficiency.

In Hawkhill, tar alder from the home village or certified domestic timber is used as board and wall material. In our opinion, it is worth investing in the quality and visual beauty of the sauna’s materials as much as in the interior design of other facilities. When choosing materials for the sauna, we also pay attention to safety and ease of cleaning.

Save water. We Finns are used to the fact that water is always available and it is incredibly clean. It is important for all of us to learn to save water in Finland as well. In Hawkhill, we have limited the flow of all water taps for environmental reasons to max. to 9 liters per minute. This way we save groundwater and produce less sewage to absorb.

Laws and regulations. Saunas are often located on the beach, and during the construction and renovation phase, you must ensure compliance with the Wastewater Act and municipal regulations.

An experience for all the senses

When the sauna has been built, you can move on to the matter itself. A Finnish sauna is experienced with all the senses. A high-quality sauna experience cleanses both body and mind. It’s clean scents, beautiful lines, atmospheric lighting and, above all, soft relaxing baths. The whole is crowned by high-quality domestic sauna textiles and vihta (or vasta, depending on where you live)! From the sauna, you take a dip in the cool forest lake and after a while you return to the wonderfully warm baths. Finnish water, awarded as the cleanest in the world, or a forest berry drink are perfect for cooling down.

At the end of a relaxing sauna evening, it’s nice to enjoy fresh sauna meals, even on the cottage’s terrace!