New to Denver | My Honest Review of RÖK Spas

Saunas and cold plunges are hot topics in the wellness space. But what happens when you pair them together in a meditative and community-driven environment? RÖK Spas. Here’s my experience at the new contrast therapy bathhouse in Denver.

My sister came to visit over the weekend, and the top thing on her Denver to-do list? RÖK Spas, the brand-new Nordic sauna and cold plunge experience in the heart of the city. 

I’ll be honest, my enthusiasm for this activity was dim. After all, I own a sauna, which I annoyingly remind my sister every time she visits. But after living in Finland for two years, she’s a traditional sauna purist and accepts nothing less than cedar wood and an adjacent cold plunge. So I tagged along on her mission to see if I could catch the löyly hype, and (spoiler alert) I did.

Chapters

• What’s RÖK Spas? Give Me the Overview
• What’s the Booking Experience at RÖK Spas?
• Here’s What You Get Inside the RÖK Spas Bathhouse
• Tell me About RÖK Spas in Denver: What’s the Vibe?
• Pros and Cons of RÖK Spas
• My Honest Thoughts on RÖK Spas in Denver

What’s RÖK Spas? Give Me the Overview

Brand new to the Denver area, RÖK Spas offers the full sauna experience, Nordic style. This means a full-service bathhouse where you rotate from dry sauna to cold plunge, steam room, thermal bath, and back again.

We can’t all retreat to the Finnish countryside and rotate from frozen lake to backcountry wood sauna. But RÖK Spas makes you feel like you can. It’s the ultimate wellness retreat to escape the chaos of the city and welcome a slower pace.

Pairing hot and cold activities is the traditional Nordic experience, too. It’s called contrast therapy, and it’s much more productive for the body than simply hopping in a sauna or cold plunge. The idea is to deeply experience your wellness habits while you create a vascular “pump” that supports detox and blood circulation.

What’s the Booking Experience at RÖK Spas?

The booking experience for RÖK Spas is super straightforward. All the single-visit passes give you the same thing, so you don’t have to worry about add-ons or missing any of the activities. The sauna, cold plunge, steam room, and thermal soak are all included in your pass.

Here’s how it works for a single visit: 

• Single visit pass during non-peak hours (Monday–Thursday): $40.
• Single visit pass during peak hours (Friday–Sunday): $50.

Here’s how it works for membership passes:

• If you love the RÖK Spas experience, you can buy a monthly subscription for a discounted price and even sign up for unlimited visits.

Classes and activities:

• You can sign up for activities, like a sound bath or breathwork experience, too.

It’s best to reserve your space ahead of time through the website. Each RÖK Spas pass gives you two hours of unlimited spa time, which you can use however you like. I honestly thought this would be too long, but the rotation of activities gives you plenty to do, and the time passes quickly.

Here’s What You Get Inside the RÖK Spas Bathhouse

Trust me, this isn’t just a Nordic sauna pass. It’s a whole wellness experience.

Nordic sauna

What makes Nordic spas unique? They’re cedar wood and high temperature. When you walk inside, you’ll instantly notice that sweet wood smell and relaxed atmosphere, and you’ll start sweating fast. The benefits of sauna are widespread, from gentle detox to pain relief and stress reduction. But the traditional practice of sauna is important, too. It’s meant to be meditative, a calm experience where you connect with your body. The sauna inside RÖK Spas is pristine, traditional, and huge. We had space to stretch out on our towels and soak in the comforting heat.

The TL;DR:

✔️ Traditional cedar wood sauna

✔️ High temperature to sweat quick

✔️ Large room with space to stretch out

✔️ Meditative sauna experience

Open showers

When you’re hopping from sauna to cold plunge in a public space, the open showers are important. Here, you’ll take a brief pause to rinse off sweat and let your body temperature return to baseline. If you want an instant cold plunge though, RÖK Spas has a bucket of cold water hanging above the showers. Pull the string and you’ll instantly be drenched in cool water. It was such a fun little add-on that everyone in the spa seemed to enjoy.

The TL;DR:

✔️ Rinse off sweat between sessions

✔️ Quick cold plunge

✔️ Balance your temperature

Cold plunge

There are so many benefits to a cold plunge, including muscle recovery, mental clarity, a dopamine boost, and reduced inflammation. That said, a lot of the cold plunge research has been done on men, and women’s hormones don’t always respond well to temperature shock. Cold plunging as a woman should be done intentionally, with slightly warmer temperatures and less exposure time.

That’s why I appreciated RÖK Spas’ angle. They offer four different cold plunge tubs, all with different water temperatures, from frigid to mildly cold. This was actually my favorite part of the experience. I tend to have a lot of swelling and inflammation in my body, which gets worse in hot temperatures. This ritual made the sauna experience easier, and I felt better for a few days after.

The TL;DR:

✔️ Four different cold plunge tubs with different temperatures

✔️ Super clean experience — the water is constantly flushing in and out

✔️ Quick dopamine boost

Steam room

My steam room experience is limited to my local gym, so RÖK Spas definitely raised my standards. Steam helps with circulation and respiratory health, and the room itself was a comforting space in between contrast therapy. The air is also infused with eucalyptus to help open the air pathways.

The TL;DR:

✔️ Luxury experience

✔️ Infused with eucalyptus

✔️ Breathing support

✔️ Comforting space in between contrast therapy

Thermal baths

It’s best to hop in a quick bath before ending your contrast therapy experience. The thermal baths have mineral benefits to soothe the skin, and they also help your body temperature return to baseline. RÖK Spas has a few baths set up, and you can choose to soak at any point during your experience. You choose your own temperature, too.

The TL;DR:

✔️ Skin-supportive minerals

✔️ Helps your temperature balance after contrast therapy

✔️ Relaxing space to rest

Amenities

I brought a bag full of shower items with me, but RÖK Spas kindly provides the full experience, with everything you need. You’ll get a warm towel, personal locker, shoes, shower soap, and they even have hair dryers and natural spray deodorant.

The TL;DR:

✔️ Your pass includes access to showers, towels, a personal locker, hair dryer, and soaps

✔️ Just bring a change of clothes and bathing suit with you

Tell Me About RÖK Spas in Denver: What’s the Vibe?

RÖK Spas is immediately warm and welcoming. The receptionists are friendly and were quick to give us a tour, answer questions, and hand us warm towels. We also borrowed some spa shoes to keep us from slipping on the wet floors.

What really surprised me about RÖK Spas, though, is how it feels like a third space. You’ll meet other sauna-goers, some from the Denver area and others who are traveling here on business. The space is super relaxed, so there’s plenty of room for organic conversations and community building. RÖK Spas isn’t just a functional wellness center, it’s truly a place that invites connection.

Pros and Cons of RÖK Spas

Pros

✔️ It’s immaculately clean. The Nordic-style space is warmly inviting and spotless.

✔️ You don’t need to bring anything. Just a change of clothes, they have everything else.

✔️ There’s a phone-free space. The RÖK Spas staff really makes an effort to make sure everyone feels comfortable (no pictures) and connected.

✔️ Your entry pass includes everything. There are no add-ons or tiered memberships; one pass gets you everything from sauna to cold plunge to steam room.

✔️ There are various cold plunge temperatures. This makes cold plunging a lot more accessible for beginners.

✔️ The staff is super friendly. I chatted with the receptionists and got to meet the owner, and they were all a delight.

✔️ You get the whole contrast therapy experience. I’ve tried saunas and cold plunges before but never together. I genuinely loved contrast therapy, and now I think I’m addicted.

Cons

❌ I would have loved a diffuser. Not to be ultra-picky, but I am a curly girl and my hair doesn’t get along with typical blowdryers.

❌ It’s a little pricey. Like any sauna experience, you will pay top dollar. But RÖK Spas offers so much more than the other sauna spaces I’ve been to, and I walked away thinking it was well worth the cost.

❌ It’s a coed space. This didn’t bother me, and honestly I loved watching the guys get excited about the cold plunge bucket. But it is something to be aware of if you’re used to more private bathhouses.

❌ There are essential oils in the steam room. I’m at the point in my healing journey where I loved this, and I could tell they use high-quality oils. But I do have friends who might react to it.

My Honest Thoughts on RÖK Spas in Denver

I walked into RÖK Spas thinking, “I have this at home.” Then I walked out wondering, “When can I do this again?” The relaxed environment, community connection, and health benefits felt addicting.

RÖK Spas felt like exactly what my body was craving; I just didn’t know it. Not only did I notice health benefits, like inflammation reduction, better sleep, and improved energy, but RÖK Spas truly sets up an enchanting experience.

It’s everything we need here in Denver, too. You can already tell how RÖK Spas is changing the local environment far beyond health benefits. It offers a slow living space that’s focused on real community and mental health. This will be my future must-do activity with guests when they visit the Denver area.

Visit the Spa

---

*This article may contain affiliate links, so I may receive a commission if you make a purchase. I only partner with brands and businesses that I love and use personally.