Circle Wellness Brings Private Thermal Spa Experience to Seattle

Circle Wellness is betting that Seattle’s cold-plunge crowd will pay for more than a tub and a timer. Its first U.S. location is slated for 1326 N Northlake Way, near Gas Works Park, where the Vancouver brand plans to sell a private thermal circuit built for one or two guests at a time, with 90-minute and 120-minute sessions.

That is the real difference between Circle and the standard gym or spa recovery setup. Instead of a shared plunge pool or a quick post-workout stop, the experience is structured as a fully reset private sequence: an open-air shower, cedar soaking tub, multi-sensory sauna, cold plunge and heated riverstones. Sound, lighting and sensory details are part of the pitch, turning the cold plunge into one station in a larger ritual rather than the whole story.

The company’s Seattle expansion carries the kind of numbers that make the premium segment hard to ignore. Circle began in Vancouver in 2020 as an outdoor showroom that later became an Airbnb Experience, then opened its Granville Island flagship in 2023. That location drew a reported waitlist of 20,000 people, a sign that the brand’s mix of hospitality, spa design and recovery culture has already found an audience willing to book well ahead.

Granville Island’s directory describes Circle as a private self-guided thermal wellness experience, with six private circuits inspired by Korean, Japanese and European wellness cultures. A 2024 Vancouver magazine piece described the space as having a date-night vibe, with dark, lush, moody private circuit rooms. That is the lane Circle is now bringing to Seattle: less gym-adjacent recovery, more boutique hospitality built around contrast therapy, design and intimacy.

The Seattle site is listed in project records as a one-story building with parking for 25 vehicles. Permits were issued on September 9, 2025, and site work reportedly began in late November 2025. Reservations are expected to open about a month before the summer debut, giving Circle a runway to sell the idea before the doors open.

Scott Emslie, the company’s co-founder and CEO, has framed Seattle as the right next chapter because of the city’s wellness, nature and innovation culture. That matters for the ice-bath world because it shows where the category is moving: upmarket, reservation-based and experience-led. Circle is not just adding another cold plunge to the map. It is testing whether Seattle will pay for the full thermal circuit, not just the cold shock.