PARIS — Sant Roch is poised to push the boundaries of wellness in France when it opens on March 2.
The 2,150 square-foot, two-level location, a stone’s throw from the Tuileries Gardens, bills itself as the first venue in the country to offer contrast therapy, which alternately exposes a person to heat and cold. The location has the largest sauna in France, spanning 645 square feet.
Sant Roch was created to be an immersive — and communal — experience. The Roman baths of Lutetia and ancient rituals inspired it.
The interior is dimly lit. “The objective is that people enter into an atmosphere that is like a safe place — very confidential — where they can feel at ease,” said Chloé Bouscatel, Sant Roch’s cofounder and co-chief executive officer. “We want [them] to integrate Sant Roch into their weekly routine.”
She and her husband, Jules Bouscatel, the other cofounder and co-CEO, are also the entrepreneurs behind Monday Sports Club, which operates more than 20 fitness studios in the French capital under the monikers Dynamo Cycling, Punch and Riise. Last year the business generated 15 million euros.
“When we were researching about how we can regulate our stress, we found out about contrast therapy,” Chloé Bouscatel said. “We were blown away by the effect on our body.”
The idea for Sant Roch was born.
“Our job is to create experiences, brands and communities,” she said.
They worked on the new concept for a year. “We want the experience to have no friction at all,” Bouscatel said.
Sant Roch has an elegant aura. The ground-floor hallway is decorated with a stone fountain and terracotta tiles. The women’s changing room, where guests don bathing suits, features original ’30s flooring patterned with tiny yellow and white tiles in arcing patterns and a glassed-in ceiling, vestiges of the hotel that once stood on the site. Lockers are wooden.
The social area at Sant Roch.
Courtesy of Sant Roch
Women and men meet downstairs in a large social area where people may lounge on textured leather benches. The mammoth, winding sauna next door can hold up to 35 people. There, guides will do performances, including towel waving to raise the heat or throwing snowballs mixed with aromatherapy on to the fire.
“It’s a multisensory experience we’re creating,” Bouscatel said. That includes, as well, different lighting and immersive music playlists. The goal? Deep relaxation.
Visitors can sign up either for self-guided sessions or those led by practitioners trained in the “Sant Roch method,” which includes breathwork, sound immersion, meditation, self-massage with gua shas and embodied movement. Three to four group classes are planned daily.
A rendering of the cold tub room in Sant Roch.
Courtesy of Sant Roch
Nearby the sauna are five stainless steel, oblong plunge basins for 14 people containing water that’s 37 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, for an energizing effect.
Toggling between the hot and cold is meant to give a physical and mental reset.
“Contrast therapy has this power of putting you in a state where you’re like tipsy — but not really tipsy,” Bouscatel said. “It’s cool to have parties and social programming around that experience.”
Olivier Léone spearheaded Sant Roch’s artistic direction, while the architecture was designed by Futurestudio, founded by Ali McQuaid Mitchell.
Jules and Chloé Bouscatel
Photo by Robin Lefebvre/Courtesy of Sant Roch
Sant Roch, at 8 Rue Saint-Roch, will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. People can purchase an individual, 75-minute session for 45 euros. On offer, too, will be packs or memberships. Those run from one entry a month to unlimited entries, which costs 180 euros.
Sant Roch’s Paris location is projected to generate 2 million euros during its first year, according to Bouscatel. She and her husband fundraised 1.5 million euros for Sant Roch with more than 70 investors last year.
“We want to go international very soon,” Bouscatel said. An aim is to have Sant Roch locations in 10 large European cities by 2030.
