Embrace North is a mixed bag for me. I had a subscription for around three and a half months and I can say it has its ups and downs. Some of the positives are the community. I met so many interesting people here and it can be really fun. It is also pretty inclusive and I met a wide range of people from different ages and backgrounds. The hot sauna is also really nice and relaxing.
Some of the cons are the availability. This place can get very packed and the slots book up super fast. It can be frustrating because there were times when it felt impossible to get in since everything was fully reserved a week in advance. Considering it is almost forty bucks a month it is reasonable, but if you can only make certain times that never line up, you end up feeling like why do I even have this membership.
Another issue is the cleanliness of the ice tubs. I noticed many times that the tubs looked a bit dirty on the inside. When I say dirty, I mean kind of gross, maybe even unhygienic. At the beginning of every month they do a full deep clean, which I really appreciate, and right after that the tubs look pretty good. But as the weeks go on they get dirtier, probably because of the heavy traffic. This bothered me because when I go in for a cold plunge and see skin flakes, hair, or random stuff floating in the water, it makes the experience unpleasant. I also got some acne on my back during the time I was going here, especially when I was doing the cold plunge often. Now that I have not gone for a couple months the acne has fully disappeared. I am sure they have a chlorine and cleaning system, but I think the tubs need to be cleaned more often.
The cold plunge setup itself is cool though and I did enjoy using it as far as the temperature experience goes. They have three main saunas inside the building. One is the quiet sauna, but it does not stay that quiet since it is between the two louder saunas. I wish they had a better way of keeping it quiet. The other two are a smaller sauna facing the tubs and a large one in the back. All of them get pretty hot which I really appreciate and they smell really good. I am not sure if it is essential oils or something else, but the scent is relaxing.
They have a changing room, a bathroom, and lockers for your stuff. The service is OK. Some of the employees seemed like they did not want to be working, at least during my visits, while others were super nice and outgoing. It seems like it depends on the day, but you do not interact with the staff that much anyway so it is not a huge factor. They charge you if you want to use one of their towels, but I recommend bringing your own. They have quick showers to rinse off, and I almost wish people used them more considering you are going from a hot sauna straight into the ice bath. Sometimes it feels like people just jump between everything without rinsing, which is kind of gross. I am not sure how they can fix this without staff stepping in.
I recommend trying Embrace North for at least a month. If it is not for you, it is forty bucks and you probably will still get some good use out of it. read more