Here the cold plunge is something you book privately. Nearly every venue on this cut is a studio reserved for your own group, with the plunge plumbed and chilled beside the room.
Asheville has the most of it, and the studios spread through both states' cities from Charlotte to Knoxville. Steam usually comes with it, and the stoves are mostly electric.
In the Carolinas, 10 of the curated saunas fit this cut. See the full the Carolinas region guide for every venue, or keep scrolling for just the saunas with a cold plunge.
Every sauna with a cold plunge in The Carolinas
Drip Nordic Sauna
$$Asheville, United States
Outdoor wood-fired Nordic sauna site in Woodfin, about ten minutes north of downtown Asheville, overlooking the French Broad River. Cedar saunas, cold plunge tubs, a fire pit and outdoor lounge tents, designed around being outside rather than in a building. Community drop-in, private bookings and full-site rentals all run, plus a separate mobile sauna.
HILO Sauna + Plunge
$$Winterville, United States
HILO Sauna + Plunge is a contrast-therapy studio in Winterville built around private suites. Each suite pairs a full-spectrum infrared sauna with a cold plunge tub and a rainfall shower. A guest can join you in the suite for a fee.
Melt Well — Raleigh
$$Raleigh, United States
Melt Well's Raleigh studio is in Brennan Station on Creedmoor Road, North Raleigh. Contrast suites pair an infrared sauna with a cold plunge and a vitamin C shower, and sauna-only suites are booked separately. A full-body red light bed has a room of its own.
Pure Sweat Sauna Studio — Winston-Salem
$$Winston-Salem, United States
Pure Sweat's Winston-Salem studio on Trade Street rents private Sunlighten infrared cabins for 45-minute sessions, with chromotherapy and a chilled peppermint cloth to finish. Contrast sessions add a cold plunge and an ensuite shower. Suites can be booked for one or two people.
Sauna Culture
$$Charlotte, United States
A traditional Finnish-style sauna in a Cotswold storefront, with tiered cedar benches and water you ladle onto the stones yourself. Three individual cold plunges sit at different temperatures, and a lounge serves tea between rounds. A private suite adds a salt sauna, shower and its own plunge for up to four.
Sauna House — Charlotte
$$Charlotte, United States
Set inside a 1934 industrial building in Charlotte's historic FreeMoreWest district, with exposed brick, bow-truss ceilings, and factory-style windows. Co-ed, phone-free, swimsuit-required Nordic-style bathhouse built around a two-hour Thermal Cycle of Finnish sauna, cold plunge, and rest on heated benches. Includes a silent salt room and a small massage menu.
Sauna House — Durham
$$Durham, United States
A 6,900 sq ft converted Geer Street warehouse in downtown Durham, stripped to its glass and rebuilt as the brand's "Version 2". Same contrast-bathing ritual as the rest of the group: Finnish sauna, cold plunge, heated metal lounge sofas, phone-free, with massage rooms attached. Walkable to the Geer Street bar and restaurant strip.
Sauna House — Greenville
$$Greenville, United States
Occupies the historic Borden Ice Cream Company building on the edge of Unity Park, with 16-inch-thick insulated walls and 9-foot windows. Adds a private one-hour infrared cabin and a silent salt room on top of the standard Finnish sauna, in-ground cold plunge, and heated bench loop. Two-hour Thermal Cycle, swimwear required, phones in lockers.
Sauna House — Raleigh
$$Raleigh, United States
A single-floor, ADA-accessible bathhouse off Dupont Circle in southwest Raleigh, next to the Platform Apartments. It is the Sauna House site with both a cold plunge and a warm pool, alongside the Finnish sauna and heated lounge benches. Tea, kombucha and electrolytes only: no food, no phones, no alcohol.
SweatHouz — West Ashley
$$Charleston, United States
SweatHouz lists its West Ashley studio in Unit D at 835 Savannah Highway, Charleston. Guests have a private suite to themselves for up to 60 minutes, with an infrared sauna, a cold plunge and a vitamin C shower.