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Circle Wellness thermal spa opens in Fremont

Circle Wellness opened its first U.S. location in Fremont on September 1, 2026, a private automated five-stage thermal spa at 1326 N Northlake Way.

<h6>Seattle Fitness Magazine · 29 Oct 2026</h6><ul><li><strong>7</strong>circuits</li><li><strong>5</strong>stages</li></ul><h2>Circle Wellness opens its first U.S. location in Fremont</h2> <p><b>Circle Wellness opened its first U.S. location at 1326 N Northlake Way in Fremont on September 1, 2026.</b></p><p>The Vancouver company says the Granville Island flagship drew a waitlist of 20,000 people when it opened in 2023. Circle Wellness is what the company describes as the world&#x27;s first fully automated private thermal spa circuit.</p><p>Founder and chief creative officer Paul Hennessey began developing the concept around 2011, running a first prototype on Industrial Avenue in Vancouver before the Granville Island flagship opened. That location has six circuits and, according to Alycia, Circle Wellness&#x27;s director of marketing and communications, has run at basically full occupancy since.</p> <h2>Five stages, no staff, no shared space</h2> <p><b>Once a guest enters, the circuit stays private for the full session.</b></p><p>No staff re-enters after orientation, and no space is shared with other guests. The five-stage loop runs in a fixed sequence: open-air shower, cedar soaking tub, WellPod multi-sensory sauna with Himalayan salt walls, cold plunge, and heated riverstone bed. A gentle gong signals each transition.</p><p>The WellPod sauna runs at 50 degrees Celsius, roughly half the temperature of a standard sauna, with no benches. The tubs use salt and essential oils rather than chlorine. The thermal area has open-air ceilings and living walls, and the Seattle circuits include retractable skylights for heavy rain or snow.</p> <h2>Seven circuits on the north Lake Union shore</h2> <p><b>Seattle magazine&#x27;s managing digital editor Rachel Gallaher-Zenz attended a media visit shortly after opening and counted seven private circuits, each roughly 380 square feet.</b></p><p>That makes the Fremont location larger than the Vancouver flagship&#x27;s six. The building sits off the Burke-Gilman Trail near Gas Works Park. Guests enter with a booking code, walk through a courtyard with plants and a water feature, watch a short orientation video with a host, and are led to their own circuit. Between sessions, tubs are drained, cleaned, and refilled by automation.</p> <h2>How the concept got here</h2> <p><b>The WellPod&#x27;s benchless layout comes from Korean jjimjilbangs, the heated open rooms Hennessey visited growing up near Toronto.</b></p><p>Early Vancouver sessions ran with someone mixing sound and light live. Over time that became fully automated. His motivation, he told Seattle magazine: &quot;I was motivated to make something that inspired people to use it often and not become a storage room.&quot; Circle Wellness filed permits for the Fremont site in September 2024 and received them a year later.</p> <h2>How to book</h2> <p><b>Sessions run 90 or 120 minutes, seven days a week, for up to two guests per circuit.</b></p><p>New slots open on the first of each month at 9 AM at circlewellnessspas.com. Prices run $225 to $295 per session, the same whether one or two guests book. Seven circuits opened on September 1 on a stretch of Northlake waterfront that had sat vacant since 2018.</p>
Seattle Fitness Magazine · 29 Oct 2026
  • 7circuits
  • 5stages

Circle Wellness opens its first U.S. location in Fremont

Circle Wellness opened its first U.S. location at 1326 N Northlake Way in Fremont on September 1, 2026.

The Vancouver company says the Granville Island flagship drew a waitlist of 20,000 people when it opened in 2023. Circle Wellness is what the company describes as the world's first fully automated private thermal spa circuit.

Founder and chief creative officer Paul Hennessey began developing the concept around 2011, running a first prototype on Industrial Avenue in Vancouver before the Granville Island flagship opened. That location has six circuits and, according to Alycia, Circle Wellness's director of marketing and communications, has run at basically full occupancy since.

Five stages, no staff, no shared space

Once a guest enters, the circuit stays private for the full session.

No staff re-enters after orientation, and no space is shared with other guests. The five-stage loop runs in a fixed sequence: open-air shower, cedar soaking tub, WellPod multi-sensory sauna with Himalayan salt walls, cold plunge, and heated riverstone bed. A gentle gong signals each transition.

The WellPod sauna runs at 50 degrees Celsius, roughly half the temperature of a standard sauna, with no benches. The tubs use salt and essential oils rather than chlorine. The thermal area has open-air ceilings and living walls, and the Seattle circuits include retractable skylights for heavy rain or snow.

Seven circuits on the north Lake Union shore

Seattle magazine's managing digital editor Rachel Gallaher-Zenz attended a media visit shortly after opening and counted seven private circuits, each roughly 380 square feet.

That makes the Fremont location larger than the Vancouver flagship's six. The building sits off the Burke-Gilman Trail near Gas Works Park. Guests enter with a booking code, walk through a courtyard with plants and a water feature, watch a short orientation video with a host, and are led to their own circuit. Between sessions, tubs are drained, cleaned, and refilled by automation.

How the concept got here

The WellPod's benchless layout comes from Korean jjimjilbangs, the heated open rooms Hennessey visited growing up near Toronto.

Early Vancouver sessions ran with someone mixing sound and light live. Over time that became fully automated. His motivation, he told Seattle magazine: "I was motivated to make something that inspired people to use it often and not become a storage room." Circle Wellness filed permits for the Fremont site in September 2024 and received them a year later.

How to book

Sessions run 90 or 120 minutes, seven days a week, for up to two guests per circuit.

New slots open on the first of each month at 9 AM at circlewellnessspas.com. Prices run $225 to $295 per session, the same whether one or two guests book. Seven circuits opened on September 1 on a stretch of Northlake waterfront that had sat vacant since 2018.

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