Riversong Saunas is 5 minutes from Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. Virginia’s first public wood-fired, Finnish-inspired sauna.
We are proud to welcome EVERYONE to experience the unmatched magic of real sauna and nature-based cold plunge.
Riversong Saunas/Rivanna River Company Gift Certificates are good for both Sauna AND River Trips!!!
Riversong Saunas will return in full form in November 2026! In the meantime, we are open for Community Sauna + Cold Plunge on Thursday Evenings!
Here are details from the sauna season:
- Reservations for 90-minute Community and Private Sessions will be available online.
- Community Sessions in our larger sauna are available to any individual, pair, or small group and are limited to 14 participants total.
- Private Sessions are available for groups of up to 10 people in the party. Private Sessions for larger groups of up to 25+ are possible with advanced notice. Email [email protected].
- Memberships for the 6-month sauna season will be available online. Members will be able to reserve slots in any Community Session (limit 2 per week), can reserve 1 Private Session at half price, and will receive a 15% discount for friends they bring along. Members who sauna twice weekly enjoy a rate of only $11 per session!
- Whole Facility Private Rentals– 5:30 pm to 9 pm (or other custom time slot). Host the most unique and magical get-together utilizing all aspects of our facility, including the sauna!
- 2025-2026 Pricing:
- Community Session per Person……………$38
- Private Session 1 to 4 people………………..$185
- Private Session 5 to 10 people…………….$285
- Membership per Season (6 months)……..$550
- Whole Facility Private Rental…………… price varies with group size and day of the week. Email your inquiry to: info@rivannarivercompany
- Community Sessions in our larger sauna are available to any individual, pair, or small group and are limited to 14 participants total.
- Private Sessions are available for groups of up to 10 people in the party. Private Sessions for larger groups of up to 25+ are possible with advanced notice. Email [email protected].
- Community Session per Person……………$38
- Private Session 1 to 4 people………………..$185
- Private Session 5 to 10 people…………….$285
- Membership per Season (6 months)……..$550
- Whole Facility Private Rental…………… price varies with group size and day of the week. Email your inquiry to: info@rivannarivercompany
We are hiring Weekend Sauna Hosts for the coming season!!!
In 2023 The Rivanna River Company opened Riversong Sauna. For 3 great seasons we have hosted private and public wood-fired sauna sessions at our riverfront location in Charlottesville. Our goals are to bring people together and into the outdoors to build community, connect to nature, and foster health and happiness during a sometimes difficult and dreary time of year.
We are a rustic facility. Our primary cold plunge is the river itself. Our buildings are funky and small, and our bathrooms are portable toilets. Our staff thrive on a sense of challenge, creativity, adventure and authentic human connection!
Sauna Host Work Requirements and Conditions
This position is for candidates able to work on Saturdays and/or Sundays, 1 to 2 shifts each weekend, with the ability to pick up some weekday evening shifts as well.
Some early mornings and/or late evenings are required. Hosts work outdoors in adverse conditions including cold weather, snow, rain, ice and mud.
This is a physical job. Work requires the ability to navigate slippery surfaces, clean saunas including under-bench areas on hands and knees, split firewood and kindling, move firewood with a wheelbarrow, haul buckets of water, and shovel snow.
This is a social job. Sauna hosts will continually be interacting in a positive and supportive way with guests and coworkers.
Sauna Host Responsibilities
Care for Guests: Our guests come from all walks of life. Sauna Hosts are here to greet and orient guests, answer questions related to sauna, make sure safety information is conveyed, and hold the space for magical moments to transpire during and after sauna sessions.
Fire Keeping: You will be trained in safe and proper sauna stove management, including firing, tending, safety protocols, and splitting/stacking firewood and kindling.
Cleaning: The saunas are cleaned thoroughly in between each group. In this role you will also be tending to portajohns, changing rooms, and additional indoor and outdoor spaces with brooms, sponges, vacuums, and leaf blowers on a regular basis.
Projects: During down-time, Sauna Hosts stay busy with re-stocking, cleaning, and doing various sauna-related projects that might involve art, carpentry, photography, sign-making etc. Proactive, creative people will thrive in this role.
Hours and Compensation
Our saunas will be open Wednesday-Sunday, November-April. This position is part-time with 1-3 regular shifts per week on evenings and weekends.
Staff will be hired as an employee and you will file a W-4.
Starting compensation ranges from $17-$20 (plus tips) depending on work experience.
We require that all Sauna Hosts have a current First Aid and CPR certification. If you do not have this please plan on finding a local course to take before the start of the season on November 5th.
Required Staff Training will be held on Wednesday October 28th from 3:30-10pm
Riversong Saunas at the Rivanna River Co.
We built our first sauna by hand in 2022 on a 20′ tiny house trailer. The sauna features a 7’x10′ hot room paneled in Atlantic White Cedar wood from North Carolina and heated by a Kuuma sauna wood stove built in northern Minnesota. By consulting with sauna expert Glenn Auerbach (www.saunatimes.com), we were able to design a well-ventilated, comfortable, and authentic sauna. All the heat comes from very local firewood, much of which we gather and process ourselves. Guests do not need to add wood or mess with the stove, but they can enjoy a view of the flames through a glass viewing window on the front of the stove. The hot room capacity is comfortable for 8 and cozy for up to 10 friends.
We completed the build of our second sauna in the fall of 2024. This slightly larger sauna is primarily used for Community Sessions of up to 12-14 people. Just as we did with our first sauna we used Atlantic White Cedar paneling, the Kuuma wood-burning sauna stove, and incorporated a large picture window to bring the same lovely and authentic experience to all our sauna participants. We have set up our first, smaller sauna primarily for private rentals, utilizing its own private deck and lounge to create space and a little separation in our little sauna campus.
The changing rooms/lounge spaces are a rustic but comfortable space with bench seating which maintains a nice temperature even in winter. This space can be used for relaxing in between rounds. If cooler air is preferred, our 20’x20′ deck has many comfortable chairs for taking in the crisp temperatures outside.
Our primary cold plunge is the river. Stairs and a landing that we use in our river outfitting season make for easy access to the water. The water at the base of the stairs is typically no more than 3′ deep, perfect for sitting down for a cold plunge. If river conditions are not conducive to river plunging, we will set up a bathtub style plunge. Bucket showers are always available for those wary of the the full plunge! Their are lots of ways to cool down, and sudden cold may not be appropriate for all guests. Simply relaxing on the deck for long enough can be enough to cool down.
We strive to make our space comfortable and pleasing to the senses. That being said, we are not a spa. We are a semi-off grid RUSTIC sauna, close to nature, best enjoyed with the spirit of adventure. We welcome you to spend some time in our Tea Room after your session… we offer a selection of cold and hot drinks, snacks, and charcuterie for post-sauna time. Many sauna goers find this one of their favorite parts of the experience….lounging, chatting, connecting, laughing and experiencing the mellow bliss of a body and mind that have experienced some extremes.