Portioned

exclusivewellness

Op Pinkstermaandag gaan we ook vandaag naar een publieke sauna. Op zoek naar super professionele opgietsessies? Ga dan maar langs bij Thermen Katara!

Te ontdekken via #exclusivewellness

#publiekesauna #openbaresauna #opgietsessies #sauna #zwembad @thermenkatara

What to expect when you visit one of Belgium's best wellness complexes?

Let's first seek to establish why one would mention this as the best?

Over to our tried and trusted (?) review sites:

* On Google, the decade old facilities of Thermen Katara are accorded with 4.7 stars from 1750+ reviewers. Virtually all 5 stars, nearly all in Dutch language (meaning visitors are Flemish/Dutch).

* On Tripadvisor 4.5 stars from 425+ reviews. The most recent English review:

'Beautiful thermal baths ! Diverse and qualitative installations and the new islandic zone is really nice ! The infusion sessions in the saunas are worth it. Moreover the whole team was very kind and the restaurant offers very good and (maybe too) big portions. Relax and respectful atmosphere'.

Most reviews (85%) are in Dutch; English reviews are mostly somewhat dated. Note that during the past few years Katara has expanded considerably.

* On Facebook, nearly 2000 reviews, with a score of 4.8 stars.

Away from these, there's this:

* On Flemish website (Relaxy.be) in their overview of public sauna's Katara leads with 9.7 out of 10.

* Heading away from the middle of the road sites, naturismegids (Dutch) accords Thermen Katara with a 9.3 (out of 10).

* Blootkompas rates it a 8.9, ex-aequo best of Belgium.

Certainly on Google it's relatively easy to establish the relation to other Belgium wellness / complexes. Katara beats Waers Waters and Thermen Londerzeel (both 4.5 stars). 

So, yes best. Near to top notch so to say. But this according to it's mostly Dutch speaking clients.

Herald

And the reality?

Locationswise, it's hardly a very scenic place: just outside the East-Flemish village of Belsele, along the main road between the towns of Sint Niklaas and Lokeren. There's a large parking area in front. And an overflow area which quite often fills up as well.

Note that it is advisable to reserve an arrival time on forehand, Katara is very popular.

The entrance procedure is efficient (single entrance is nearly 40€) and one is ushered in, within a short time to the changing area. 

The changing rooms are a number of larger cubicles with lockers around, nothing out of the ordinary.

Katara has expanded quite a bit during the past few years, so don't be fooled by the modest actual entrance with just a couple of showers and a central hall with 2 saunas, and a steam room. 

Directly outside here are a heated pool and jacuzzi. 

To the right a door heads to a smaller hall, affording entry to a rock sauna and  another door heading further outside. 

The outside area comprises besides the already mentioned: three saunas, a couple of jacuzzi's and a seperate building with relax space. Then there's another additional building with an Icelandic themed corner with two larger saunas and then a large deep hot bath. This building also has a large Roman steam room.

For more info just head over to their informative website.

All this completed with an extensive and well used restaurant. Surprisingly (for Belgium) with a good choice for vegetarians and vegans, with many of the dishes heralding the season.

Faith

As for the experience.

On a dreary saturday afternoon, mid-March, we arrived with just a few spots available on the car-park, neatly on time as to regards our reservation (just a sort of heads up to sauna staff, so as to spread those entering). 

The changing rooms were quiet as was the entrance showers. 

The smallish central was busy, it's always good to establish what's the programme for that day. When are the Aufguss sessions? And where? Anything else ?

The Aufguss sessions were mostly hourly, theme wised Asian / banya. And in the Roman steam-room there were two scrub sessions, which require an extra fee, as well as requirement to reserve.

As starters, we enjoy the Tibetan (rock) salt sauna, then a cooling down session outside. Followed up by a steam-room. And a light lunch.

Then a popular Aufguss session, with about 60 others, a slight squeeze. Cooling down, a couple of pool lengths swim, then just relaxing in the Geysir bath, one of the most popular places.

A light dinner, another Aufguss, with beech infusions. The ceremony master is quite good in producing this entertainment. This is as OpCongemetXavier (Dec. 22, 2021) experiences this (translated):

'Be sure to take part in the banja ritual in the Finnish Sauna [since, moved to the bigger Thai sauna]! The pourer then druidically immerses a bunch of dried birch branches in a bowl of water, first moistens the oven with it and then sprinkles his sauna guests with the healing birch water, just as a pastor in the church blesses his faithful. Wellness is not just relaxation. Wellness is a religion'.

After the cooling down, a sweatroom and then a lie down in the Japanese sauna. Time to leave.

During the day there was a good and mixed crowd (m/m, f/f, m/f couples -young and old-, young families, groups of friends, etc.), everybody is equally impressed by what's on offer and enjoying the mood lift.  A great place to get an energy uplift.

Despite when leaving evidence that even the overflow parking was well filled, one never had the impression that the other guests are too much.

Dessert

Overall there are not many other experiences to share, other than those under the review sections mentioned already. Or the odd experience here and there. There's this from Ongewone weken (Feb. 5, 2017, translated) with this conclusion:

'All in all it was a successful day. I go home 'relaxed as a pudding', to put it in Jorryd's words. And you get used to being naked. After a few hours you are so relaxed that you simply don't care who sees what. What also helps is that – contrary to what I expected – you are not stared at at all by men who could be your father or grandfather. Yes, here we felt like a bunch of hippies in a luxury world'.

Reditt has a recent stubb on Belgium saunas:

BoHoBeest·7 mo. ago

Katara in Sint-Niklaas has a large variety of sauna's and opgietsessies [=Aufguss] as well. You can't bring your own water but there is a drinking fountain so if you buy 1 bottle in the bar you can refill.

taliza·
Antwerpen
Katara is the best !
Note : on Wednesday it's bathing suit day, so then there's no nakedness
mujirushi_bland·
Katara is indeed my absolute favorite in this area. The only downside is it's a pain to travel back from since I live east of the Kennedytunnel.

Het Laatste Nieuws (May 4, 2022) with one of the very few news reports; this on the most recent extension / improvements:

'Even in the midst of the corona crisis, business managers Geert De Mulder and Nancy Goossens did not give up. Katara was further expanded with a number of new and special bathhouses, which are now presented. “In our new Icelandic Bathhouse you can enjoy the Midsommar Sauna, the Geyser Bath, the Pao Ice Cave and bee sauna The Bee Hive”, say Geert and Nancy. “Everything you see and smell here fits into the picture. The look and feel of the bee sauna provide a unique sauna experience that is unseen in Europe. Here you really feel the way of life of the North come to life.”

...

It is not surprising, according to the operators, that the new bathhouses and saunas were built in the midst of the corona crisis. “We always wanted to swim against the current with Katara,” says Geert. “Being different from others is in our nature. When we started Katara, the banking crisis was in full swing. During the recent expansion of our complex, we went through the corona crisis. Every time we look for ways to reinvent ourselves and raise the bar a little higher. A risk that has paid off so far.”

Finally, my experience based on the positives: choice of experiences, cleanliness, positive vibes other patrons, quality and service of catering: 9+/10. 

Always leave room for improvements!