Hygiene and tub cleaning: how we keep things spotless between bookings

Why hygiene matters most in a beer bath

When a guest pictures a beer bath, the image is usually warm water, the scent of hops and fifty minutes of rest on a bed of heated straw. Far fewer people think about the precise hygiene routine that makes all of that possible. Yet cleanliness is exactly what decides whether a bath is pleasant and safe, or a source of trouble. At Lázně Pramen in Dejvice we treat hygiene as the foundation of the whole operation, not as an afterthought squeezed in at the end of a shift.

A wooden tub filled with warm water at 35-38 °C is, by its very nature, a place where microorganisms could multiply if maintenance ever slipped. The warm water, the natural ingredients such as hops, yeast and malt in a beer bath, or the wine extract and honey in a wine bath, are wonderful for the skin, but they are also organic matter. That is exactly why the water can never be left standing between guests, and never simply topped up. Our approach is unambiguous: what a guest takes for granted, we handle as a fixed process.

The real difference between a home bathtub and a spa tub is that the same spot may host several separate bookings in a single day. Every guest has the right to step into a bath prepared freshly for them alone. That is why our rules are set up so that two bookings never share the same water. In the sections that follow we walk through the full cycle - from draining and cleaning the wood, through disinfection, to refilling and adding the natural ingredients in full view of the guest. We want everyone who comes to us to know exactly what happens behind the door of a private room, so they can sink into their relaxation without a single doubt about how clean it all is.

Fresh water for every booking

Our one non-negotiable rule has no variations: every booking gets its own freshly drawn water. Once a guest leaves, the water is drained completely and the tub is refilled from scratch for the next person. We never top up, never filter and never recycle water from a previous bath. That is the single most important sentence in this article, and it applies without exception to both the beer bath and the wine bath.

The natural blend we add to the water - Žatec hops, malt extract and brewer's yeast for beer, or red wine, grape-seed extract, vine leaf, honey and French lavender for wine - is likewise prepared fresh for each bath. There is no ready-made concentrate being ladled from one booking to the next. We add the ingredients right there in the room, quite literally in front of the guest, so it is plainly visible that this is a new batch. For many guests this moment is part of the experience in itself, because they get to see what goes into their bath.

The water temperature stays between 35 and 38 °C and is set fresh at every refill. The whirlpool jets built into the tubs are only switched on once the tub holds clean water. The volume matches the capacity of each particular tub - in Rubínový pramen there is one larch tub for one or two guests, while Zlatý pramen has two oak tubs. If two guests book a single beer bath from 148 EUR per booking, they share one freshly filled tub, because they arrived together. What never happens is a separate booking stepping into that same water. The price is always per room, not per person, so two guests in one tub pay the same as one - and both get water just as fresh as anyone else.

How the wooden tub is cleaned between guests

Wood is a beautiful but demanding material for a spa tub. The larch and oak we use have natural antibacterial properties, yet they still call for careful hand care after every bath. The automatic cycle you might know from a swimming pool simply does not work with wood, because wood tolerates neither aggressive chemistry nor long soaking in strong solutions. That is why tub cleaning here is largely manual work carried out by trained staff.

Once the water is drained, the inside of the tub is cleaned mechanically to remove any residue of the natural ingredients. Fragments of hops, yeast or sediment from wine extract have to come off before they dry on. Next comes a wash and the application of a disinfectant suited to wood and approved for surfaces that touch the skin. We let the disinfectant work for the required time, then rinse it thoroughly so nothing is left behind to carry into the next bath. Finally the wood is dried, so it never stays permanently damp between bookings.

We break the routine down into a set of fixed steps that staff follow the same way every time:

• fully draining the water from the previous bath
• mechanically removing residue of the natural ingredients from the wood
• washing the inner surface of the tub
• applying a wood-safe disinfectant and observing the contact time
• rinsing thoroughly so no chemical residue remains
• drying the wood and preparing the tub for a fresh refill

Beyond the tub itself, we clean the whirlpool jets and every surface a guest touches during the bath. The wooden tubs are also inspected and maintained regularly, because healthy, undamaged wood is easier to clean and lasts far longer. Good care of the material is therefore part of hygiene in its own right. This whole cycle runs between every two bookings in Zlatý pramen, Rubínový pramen and Smaragdový pramen, home to our V.I.P. baths.

A clean room, not just a clean tub

Hygiene in a private room does not stop at the tub. A guest spends most of their ninety minutes out of the water - specifically, fifty minutes resting on heated wheat straw after twenty minutes in the bath. So we give the rest of the room the same attention. The heated straw bed gets a clean textile cover every time, and towels are prepared fresh for each booking. Nothing that touched the previous guest's skin is ever reused without being laundered.

Between bookings, every high-touch surface in each of our private rooms is wiped down and disinfected - armrests, tub handrails, switches, the tap for the draught beer at the beer bath, or the glassware and tableware at the wine bath. Glasses and dishes go through standard washing as any operation serving drinks and refreshments requires. The electric fireplace, which gives a cosy glow with no open flame, and the warm lamps are part of the atmosphere and are kept clean too.

The floor and the shower found in every room are among the spots that receive the closest attention. We clean and disinfect the shower between bookings, since guests use it both before and after their bath. Here is one nice detail: after the procedure we suggest not washing the beer or wine extract off with soap for roughly two hours, so the skin stays softer and more hydrated for a day or two afterwards. The shower is more for a quick rinse and refresh than a hard scrub. Whichever room you choose, from the intimate Rubínový pramen to the spacious Zlatý pramen for up to four guests, the whole space is cleaned, disinfected and made ready for you alone before you arrive.

The V.I.P. room and cedar phyto-barrel: extra cleaning

Special hygienic attention goes to Smaragdový pramen, our V.I.P. room for one or two guests. Longer rituals happen here - V.I.P. Beer SPA from 293 EUR per booking, V.I.P. Wine SPA from 326 EUR and Delux Wine SPA from 326 EUR for a single guest. These treatments run for two and a half to three hours and, alongside the larch tub, include a cedar phyto-barrel - a small cabin of Siberian cedar that the guest enters with the body while the head stays outside.

The phyto-barrel works with herbal steam, so it creates a warm, moist environment. After each guest the inside of the cedar cabin is cleaned and aired, letting the wood dry and preparing it for the next person. Cedar carries natural aromatic and antiseptic properties of its own, yet we treat it with exactly the same rigour as the tub. The herbal blends for steaming are made fresh; a leftover mix from an earlier treatment is never reused.

Because the V.I.P. packages also include a massage or a peeling, the massage element gets its own clean preparation as well. The therapist uses clean linens, and the natural oils are dispensed fresh. With Delux Wine SPA, which is reserved for a single guest and is the only package to include a bathrobe, the robe and all linen are provided clean and laundered for every booking. A longer treatment means more steps and more components, which in turn means more places to attend to between guests. That is precisely why we set aside enough time for the V.I.P. rituals to be fully cleaned and prepared. The guest walks into a space that looks and feels untouched, even though it hosts one of the most involved treatments in our entire range of baths.

Hygiene in the salt cave and during massages

Our fourth room, Safírový pramen, is not a bath room but a salt cave with no tub. Ten tonnes of salt - rock salt, Dead Sea salt and Himalayan salt - form the walls of the space where massages, lymphatic drainage and wraps take place. Hygiene here looks different from water, but it matters just as much. Salt itself is antimicrobial and keeps the environment dry, yet the massage table, the textiles and every accessory are still prepared clean for each guest.

For the Relax massage from 33 EUR for thirty minutes or from 50 EUR for sixty minutes, and for the sports massage from 75 EUR for sixty minutes, the therapist uses a clean sheet and natural oil dispensed fresh. Hands and work surfaces are disinfected between clients. Device-based lymphatic drainage - pressotherapy in the same room - works with cuffs that are wiped down after each guest and prepared for the next. A reminder: within one visit, lymphatic drainage is not combined with a bath; it is a standalone treatment.

With mud and peat wraps, hygiene is especially sensitive, because these are natural materials in direct contact with the skin. The application is prepared fresh, and the surfaces are cleaned thoroughly once the treatment ends. One advantage of the salt cave is that it runs in parallel with the bath rooms, so with larger groups some guests can relax in a bath while others have a massage. Even then, every client gets freshly prepared accessories and a clean space. Whether you come just for a massage or add one to a beer or wine bath, a clean massage setup is as much a given as fresh water in the tub.

The cleanliness you take home

Hygiene here does not end the moment a guest leaves the room. Part of our philosophy is that the good feeling of a clean, carefully prepared treatment should travel home with you too. That is why we make our own line of beer cosmetics, sold at reception. It includes a beer shampoo, hair conditioner, body peeling, body scrub and bath salt. The label carries the mark SINCE 2008, the year this Dejvice branch has been running as part of the Lázně Pramen network.

The body peeling and scrub follow on from what we recommend right after the bath. As a reminder, after a beer or wine bath we advise not washing the extract off with soap for around two hours, so the skin stays soft and hydrated. Home care with beer cosmetics then helps extend that effect over the following days. Beer contains compounds that benefit both skin and hair, which is why we not only recommend hair care but make and offer our own.

We want cleanliness to be visible and clear to the guest, not just promised. That is why we add the natural ingredients right there in the room, use fresh water for every booking, and talk openly about how we clean the tubs. If you have any question about hygiene, products or the routine itself, don't hesitate to get in touch before your visit. We're happy to explain the details, and to help you pick the right treatment. Honest care for cleanliness matters to us as much as the relaxation itself, because it is exactly what turns a visit into something a guest looks forward to and gladly comes back for.

How to book and what to look forward to

Once you know how strictly we handle hygiene, booking becomes all the more enjoyable. You can reserve easily through the booking form on our website. Choose a treatment, the number of guests, a date and a time, and the system shows you the available slots. The whole process takes only a moment, and your confirmation arrives straight away. We're open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 22:00 and at weekends from 10:00 to 23:00, so a late evening of relaxation is an option too.

For couples and individuals, the ideal choice is a beer bath from 148 EUR per booking in Rubínový pramen, or a wine bath from 201 EUR, whose price includes a bottle of wine for the room. For a group of up to four guests there is Zlatý pramen with two tubs, where you can book two beer baths from 190 EUR, two wine baths from 268 EUR, or a beer-and-wine combination from 238 EUR. A reminder that all prices are per room, not per person, and our bath rooms can hold up to eight guests within the same hour. For something more exclusive, the V.I.P. packages in Smaragdový pramen cater for one or two guests.

If you'd like to give someone a clean, carefully prepared spa experience, we offer digital gift vouchers valid for twelve months, letting the recipient choose the treatment themselves. Whether you come for a short massage in the salt cave, a classic beer bath or a long V.I.P. ritual, you can count on a freshly filled tub, clean linen and a space prepared solely for you. A full overview of all contraindications and recommendations is in our terms and conditions. We look forward to seeing you in Dejvice, just two minutes from Hradčanská metro station.