Cedar phyto-sauna: how it works and why only Emerald Spring has one

What a cedar phyto-sauna is and how it differs from ordinary steam

The cedar phyto-sauna, known in Russian as «кедровая фитобочка», is a small, upright barrel built from Siberian cedar. You sit inside it so that your body stays enclosed while your head rises out through an opening at the top. That single detail is the whole point, and it sets the phyto-sauna apart from a Finnish sauna, or from any steam room where you sit entirely inside, head and all. With your head in the open air, you breathe ordinary room air, your face and airways never overheat, and the treatment feels far gentler and more pleasant for most people. Herbal steam wraps around the body from the shoulders down while you sit in comfort, free to chat the whole time.

The solid cedar construction is no accident. When warmed, cedar releases its characteristic resinous scent, and the wood holds heat and moisture well, so the interior becomes an even, enveloping space. Herbal infusions are added to the generator beneath the seat, where they turn into a fine, aromatic steam. This is not the dry, searing heat of a conventional warming room but a soft, humid warmth that seems to stroke the skin rather than sting it.

The most important thing to remember is this: a cedar phyto-sauna is not a Finnish sauna. A Finnish sauna is a room you step into whole, sitting with your head inside. The phyto-sauna barrel, by contrast, is a single-person wooden cabin from which your head emerges, keeping your mind and your breathing at a comfortable temperature. This distinction is no mere quibble - it changes the entire experience. That is why you will find the phyto-sauna in only one of our rooms, Emerald Spring (Smaragdový pramen), and why it forms the opening step of every one of our premium rituals. In the sections that follow, we will walk through exactly how the treatment runs, which herbs go into the steam, and why it pairs so naturally with a beer or wine bath.

How the treatment unfolds, step by step

The phyto-sauna never stands alone with us as an isolated treatment - it is the first step of a longer ritual. When you arrive at Emerald Spring, you are welcomed into a warm, softly lit room with the cedar cabin, a larch tub fitted with a whirlpool, an electric fireplace glowing quietly, and a heated bed of wheat straw. First, an attendant settles you into the barrel and tucks a soft cloth around the opening at your neck, so the steam stays around your body rather than escaping upward. Your head remains outside throughout, which means you feel entirely in control and can talk or ask the attendant for anything you need at any moment.

Time inside the cedar phyto-sauna runs to about fifteen minutes. That short, controlled span is deliberate - the barrel is meant to prepare and warm the body, not to drain it. Over those few minutes the pores gradually open, the muscles of the back and shoulders let go, and the body reaches a state in which the steps that follow work more deeply. Once you step out, the chosen package brings either a relaxing massage or a body scrub, and only then does the bath itself begin.

The full V.I.P. ritual is a matter of two and a half to three hours, so there is nowhere to rush. After the bath you move to the heated straw bed beside the electric fireplace, where you settle into a quiet rest with a drink and a bite to eat, according to your programme. It is precisely this sequence - warming in the barrel, releasing tension through massage or a scrub, the bath, then unhurried rest - that turns the evening into a genuine ceremony rather than a single item ticked off a list. Anyone hoping to share it with someone close will be glad the premium packages are built for one or two guests, so the whole room is yours alone.

The herbal steam: what goes into it and why cedar

At the heart of every phyto-sauna is steam that the skin breathes, not the lungs. Herbal infusions are added to the steam generator beneath the seat, and their warm moisture rises around the body to envelop the skin. Humid warmth is kinder to the skin than dry, hot air, because it does not parch it and can be tolerated comfortably for longer. The pairing of cedar wood and herbal steam produces that distinctive, faintly resinous aroma that many guests describe as earthy and calming.

Cedar itself has a long place in the Russian and Siberian spa tradition, and for good reason: the wood is aromatic, resistant to moisture, and fragrant when warmed. This is not a marketing tale but a practical property of the material - cedar is a fine insulator and naturally shrugs off damp, which makes it well suited to a steam cabin in daily use. The scent, too, adds to the sense of calm even before the treatment properly begins.

Every treatment here also comes with our own line of beer cosmetics, which we make and sell at reception. The range holds exactly five products: beer shampoo, hair conditioner, body scrub, a body exfoliant, and bath salt. The body scrub from this range is often used right after the warming in the barrel at Emerald Spring, because warmed, opened skin responds better to gentle mechanical care. Specialist sources generally note that humid warmth increases blood flow to the surface layers of the skin, which is one reason warming treatments are placed at the start of longer spa rituals. The precise blend of herbal infusions we prepare on site, so the steam is always fresh.

Why you will find the phyto-sauna only in Emerald Spring

Lázně Pramen - Dejvice has four private rooms, each with its own character and capacity. The cedar phyto-sauna, however, lives in just one of them: Emerald Spring, our V.I.P. room for one or two guests. The reason is simple - the barrel is part of the longer, carefully composed premium rituals that run two and a half to three hours, and those need the space and the calm that this particular room provides.

Emerald Spring outdoes the other rooms in its fittings. Alongside the cedar cabin you will find a larch tub with a whirlpool, an electric fireplace with a quiet light effect, and a heated bed of wheat straw. It is exactly this combination that makes it possible to build a ritual in which each step flows smoothly into the next - warming, release, the bath, and rest, all in one place, with no moving about. That is something the simpler rooms cannot offer.

For comparison: Golden Spring is our most spacious room, with two oak tubs for two to four guests, and the only one where two baths can run at once. Ruby Spring is the most intimate, with a single larch tub for one or two guests. Sapphire Spring, meanwhile, is a salt cave holding ten tonnes of salt, where massages and lymphatic drainage take place but there is no tub at all. The barrel belongs to none of these rooms - it is tied strictly to the V.I.P. programmes in Emerald Spring. Prices for the V.I.P. rituals start at 293 EUR per booking and are always charged for the whole room, never per person. So if you are looking for a premium cedar phyto-sauna in Prague, this is exactly where to head.

The V.I.P. rituals that begin with the phyto-sauna

The cedar phyto-sauna opens three different premium programmes, all of them staged in Emerald Spring. Each shares the same opening frame - fifteen minutes in the cedar cabin - before they part ways, depending on whether you go for beer, wine, or the most lavish version of all.

V.I.P. Beer SPA is built for one or two guests and runs two and a half to three hours. After the barrel comes a relaxing massage or a body scrub, about thirty minutes long, then a beer bath in the whirlpool tub, and finally rest on the straw bed beside the electric fireplace. Throughout, you have unlimited light and dark craft beer, Petrovické zlato, on tap right in the room, along with a few nibbles. Prices start at 293 EUR per booking.

V.I.P. Wine SPA takes the same shape, but in place of beer comes a wine bath with grape-seed extract, vine leaves, honey, herbs, and French lavender. The programme includes a bottle of wine and a plate of fruit and cheese. This ritual, too, is for one or two guests, and starts at 326 EUR per booking.

Delux Wine SPA is our most exclusive version, and it is for a single guest only. After the cedar cabin come a wine scrub, a wine wrap, a full-body massage with grape-seed oil, and rest with a glass of wine and a cheese tartlet. It is the only one of our packages that includes a robe. The price starts at 326 EUR per booking. Whichever version you choose, it is worth knowing that the V.I.P. packages are always strictly for one or two guests - these are not programmes for large groups or corporate teams. Whoever comes to try the barrel comes for a quiet, intimate evening for two, or simply for themselves.

What to expect from the treatment and how to prepare

If you are stepping into a cedar phyto-sauna for the first time, it helps to know what lies ahead so you can enjoy it fully. The interior is humid and warm, but because your head stays outside, you never feel stifled or hot in the face. Most guests describe the sensation as an enveloping, soothing warmth that gradually loosens a stiff back and tight shoulders. Fifteen minutes is long enough for the treatment to work, and short enough to stay pleasant even for those who usually find heat hard to bear.

Before you arrive, we suggest a lighter meal with enough time to settle, and above all plenty of fluids - as with any warming treatment, it pays to be well hydrated. Come with time to spare so you are not rushed; the full V.I.P. ritual runs two and a half to three hours, and its whole purpose is to slow you down. Every room has a shower, but here comes our favourite piece of advice, and it concerns the bath that follows above all.

After a beer or wine bath, we actively recommend that you do not wash the beer or wine extract off with soap for roughly two hours. The active substances stay on the skin, and thanks to them the skin remains smoother and better nourished for a day or two after the treatment. Keep this in mind, because it is precisely what marks the difference between a good result and a great one.

• Arrive hydrated and with a light stomach.
• Set aside two and a half to three hours.
• In the cabin your head stays outside - you breathe ordinary air.
• After the bath, leave the extract on for about two hours before using soap.
• The premium rituals are for one or two guests.

If you are unsure whether the treatment is right for you, please look over our terms and conditions, where Article 9 sets out the full list of contraindications. Should you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to get in touch beforehand.

The phyto-sauna as a gift and how to book it

A V.I.P. ritual with the cedar phyto-sauna is among our most popular gift experiences, and for an obvious reason - it is an evening no one forgets, yet it asks nothing of the recipient beyond turning up and giving themselves over to being cared for. We offer digital gift vouchers valid for twelve months, and the recipient chooses both the treatment and the date themselves. That makes the voucher an ideal solution when you want to delight someone but would rather not decide for them whether they prefer the beer or the wine version.

Booking is straightforward, through the reservation form right here on our site. Simply pick a date, the number of guests, and the type of treatment. Because the barrel is tied exclusively to the V.I.P. programmes in Emerald Spring, and there is only one such room, we recommend booking well ahead, especially at weekends. We are open on weekdays from 10:00 to 22:00 and at weekends from 10:00 to 23:00. You will find us at Dejvická 255/18 in Prague 6, just a two-minute walk from Hradčanská metro station.

If you work with guests or clients - as a hotel, a guesthouse, a guide, a travel agency, a concierge, or a content creator - our partner programme is worth a mention. For every confirmed booking you earn a commission that starts at 10 % and rises with the number of confirmed bookings through the Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers, up to 25 %. Payouts are made monthly, with no minimum volume and no joining fee. You get a personal QR code, your own referral link, a clear partner dashboard with real-time tracking, and a dedicated account manager on top. Signing up takes three steps: register, share your link, earn. You will find more on the partner programme page. And if you would like to see the full range of treatments, take a look at the overview of all procedures - after that, all that remains is to book.

In short: a calm evening that begins with cedar

The cedar phyto-sauna is a small cabin of Siberian cedar in which you sit so that herbal steam warms the body while your head stays in the open air. It is not a Finnish sauna, and the name should not mislead you - the difference between a cabin with your head outside and a room you step into whole is not cosmetic but fundamental. It is precisely that difference which makes the treatment more bearable, more pleasant, and easy to chat through.

Let us gather up what we have covered. With us, the barrel always forms the opening step of a longer V.I.P. ritual that runs two and a half to three hours and takes place exclusively in Emerald Spring. After fifteen minutes in the cedar cabin come a massage or a body scrub, then a beer or wine bath, and finally a quiet rest on the heated straw bed beside the electric fireplace. You can choose between V.I.P. Beer SPA from 293 EUR, V.I.P. Wine SPA from 326 EUR, and the most exclusive Delux Wine SPA, also from 326 EUR - all charged per booking, not per person.

The cedar phyto-sauna is an experience for one or two guests who want to give themselves a slow, considered evening. If you are thinking of a gift, our gift voucher, valid for a year, leaves the choice to the recipient. And if you are ready to treat yourself, simply head to the booking page, choose a date, and leave the rest to us. The cedar phyto-sauna is the quiet, aromatic beginning of an evening followed by nothing but calm, warmth, and the sense that you have made time for yourself.