Furnitured

A wee entry.

West Coast Wellness is a smallish sauna complex located on a recreation park near the southwestern Flemish coastal town of Oostduinkerke / Nieuwpoort.

Two indoor sauna's, one outdoor, a steamroom and an outside pool, the lay-out is very orderly and easy to understand. There's also an empahtically called bistro. Quirky could be the coolish bath inside the steamroom (why?), while in the winter all the sunbeds are cramped indoors.

My own points would be just 6.5. 

Gosh, why? 

Well the bistro was very spartan like furnitured. While what was on offer matched the furniture style. 

The sauna's were good though, so all was not lost. 

The aufguss was without enthusiasm, such that this lack was in itself an attraction. 

Other guests (i know not much can be done about this) were a bit iffy. Taking glass drinks into the pool, smoking directly after the door, using your phone in the changing rooms; maybe management might need to be a bit more hands-on.

Entrance was €27,50 a near-bargain in the current wellness / sauna market of Belgium. But not really worth it. Maybe in the summer, when you can also work on your tan, there's a nice field and the cooler outdoor swimming pool would be more welcoming.

Others visitors were mostly couples many with the need to address their shameful lack of bathing costumes: cover-ups are almost ubiquitous. Culture clash so near French border?

Other reviews from the internet:

* Relaxy.be notes 8.5 out of 10 (28 reviews); a Flemish wellness site, very optimistically rated.

* Facebook: 4.3 (from 50 reviews), many reviews in French (French speakers seem to often come here).

* Tripadvisor 3 stars (from 20 reviews), seems better atuned.

* Finally Google 3.9 (100+ reviews), though unclear whether what is reviewed is the wellness only.

Mastered

One of the most spectacularly located public sauna's in the Netherlands is that of Blue Wellness in the central west city of Leiden.

Located on the 11th and 12th floor, the architects have managed to fit in a great variety of sauna's, with the pool, the biggest sauna and the restaurant providing views over either the university quarters or the old city center.

kevinvopstal

26 🥳(2 days ago)

Despite this, reviews have been quite iffy. 

For instance Google notes only 3.8 stars (1400+ reviews), with this number possibly covering both hotel and restaurant facilities in addition to that solely of the wellness.

Cherry picking these reviews, there is this recent 5 star review:

'The best sauna in Leiden. Clean, spacious, plenty of free space in the steam rooms. I would like to admit the "opgieting" events. They are being made on good professional level by enthusiasts. I was especially impressed by the event performed by master Carmen. She is the only one who does mini shows. These are mini performances on different topics - Travel to Australia, the Wild West and so on. The smells and music are well chosen. I recommend visiting'.

Other reviewers however mention: poor check-in service, busy in weekends (and noisy), with  lots of reviewers having reservation complaints.

Likewise Tripadvisor reviewers aren't very generous (3.5 stars, 90+ reviews), though there is this recent review:

'My congrats to the building architects, that realised a very great Wellness with open fresh air space into the 11th level of this building. It's naturist people, but every naturist Wellness enjoyer is used being naked between others. There's nobody hiding or ashamed. It's pure pleasure. The facilities are from the highest level we know, and that's also the reason we return. It's clean and hygienic, it's fun enjoying the sauna-experiments, fresh food in restaurant, clean changing cabins, I have to stop speaking in superlatives'.

Booking.com gives the overnight facilities 7/10 (from 3000+), average thus.

Condoned

source

Possibly we need to focus on the wellness only reviews. 

But these are mostly  in Dutch. Possibly with exception of Facebook 4 stars (500+ reviews).

Dutch review sites:

* Saunaaanbiedingen notes 9.1/10 (10 experiences), 

* Blootkompas 7.7/10 (14 reviews, again poor service / busy). 

The latter though has the Leiden branch in their undated top 10 (at no. 10; Blootgewoon). But no objective parameters as regards to how list is compiled.

* Jouwsaunagids reviewers mention too full, too small. 

* Naturismegids rates Blue Wellness at 5.3/10 with a lot of recycled reviews (from other websites), mostly by users with iffy experiences.

* Zoover notes 4.7. But that's out of 10! And includes overnight staying.

This, from youtube gives a good impression, though the reception area is now different and the ladies are dressed, whereas dressing is not condoned. The post is from more than 10 years back.

My own experience was very positive. 

Reviews were checked pre-visit, so the negatives were on-board. 

Despite this, the positives were way ahead of what was expected:

- Excellent public transport accessibility (check; it's located directly next to the Leiden Central Station), 

- impressive views (especially from the Panorama sauna),

- slightly cramped (but that's because others fail to take a different than central route through the complex), 

- good restaurant service, 

- original Aufguss sessions, 

- good variation and

- friendly guests.

Negatives? 

The usual: it's mainly the vibe concerned which is very much dependent on other guests, but as said:  in general the other guests were very friendly and open. Noteworthy was the more international crowd.