Good Hot aims to make beachfront saunas and bay cold plunges welcoming to all

Going to a sauna is supposed to be a relaxing experience. But for queer and trans folks and people of color, not all such spaces feel welcoming.

Creating a spa experience that explicitly welcomes everyone was a primary goal of A Louie and Cooper Rogers, co-founders of Good Hot, a small, rustic sauna business on Point San Pablo beach that opened in 2021.

Good Hot’s private saunas feature natural lighting and decks for lounging with San Francisco Bay views. Most fit up to six people, with two accommodating up to eight guests. The facility is also accessible to wheelchair users.

Saunas are heated by locally sourced propane made in Richmond. Louie and Cooper eventually want to transition from fossil fuels to electric heating.

After warming up in the sauna, guests can take a cold plunge in the bay or relax on the beach. There are outdoor showers for rinsing off.

“We wanted to center the experience and comfort of queer, BIPOC and bathers of different abilities,” Louie said. “We believe that for a bathhouse to serve everyone, it must first and foremost welcome those that are often excluded from similar spaces because of narratives about who deserves leisure, unnecessary gendering of the space or the experience, or unattainable pricing.”

For Louie, personal experience was a big motivator in creating Good Hot with Cooper.

“I know what it feels like to go somewhere for the first time — whether that’s a bathhouse or a business of some sort — and to feel uncomfortable or unsure about whether I am welcomed there, as a non-binary person of color,” they said.

One example of its effort to feel welcoming is posted signage of its community guidelines, that say, in part:

“Our COMMUNITY: no hate speech or harassment of any kind, including racism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, ableism” as well as asking visitors that they “don’t assume others’ identities, backgrounds, or pronouns. Be aware of the energy you bring into the space and the impact it has.”

Louie noted that Good Hot promotes accessibility not just for QTBIPOC bathers, but also for those on a budget.

 “It would be one thing to just include marginalized people in our marketing or language, without understanding that because of our larger economic and political context, those very people are often struggling financially,” they said.

To that end, Good Hot offers 50% off, no-questions-asked coupons to low-income LQBTQ/BIPOC bathers. 

“It’s very important to us, in everything we do, to push back the stereotype of leisure and joy as a luxury or something out-of-reach for our friends and neighbors,” Louie said.

The sauna also offers reimbursement of up to $40 per round trip for visitors who can only get there via a paid car service or taxi. The location isn’t reachable by public transit.

To address the needs of QT visitors, Good Hot hosts “BUBBLES” events once or twice a month. One this month for example, featured a hands-on fabric activity run by transmissions, a local project that makes quilts for trans people. They also let artists create flags that are flown at the beach. The flags are later raffled off, with all profits donated to an organization or mutual aid fund of the artist’s choice.

Good Hot’s welcoming atmosphere drew the attention of Grace Anderson, an Oakland resident and founder of the Lupine Collaborative, a group seeking to advance environmental and climate justice, especially for Black women, non-binary and transgender people.

 “Every time I visit Good Hot I think, ‘How is this real?’ – it’s such a sweet, deliberate, and refreshing place to be,” Anderson told Richmondside.

She appreciates how thoughtful and deliberate each aspect of Good Hot is, from the sauna window cutouts that offer bay views, to the post-sauna tea. What really stands out, she said, is “the warm and genuine welcome from everyone working there.”

Anderson has visited Good Hot several times and regards it as not just as a sauna, but as a community gathering space. She goes by herself and with friends and hosted a birthday party there a few years ago.

“Good Hot has become a much-needed space of respite.” She said it’s a place she can go to as a Black queer person and feel “welcomed, celebrated, and able to relax.”

Another fan is Albany resident Corrina Hui, who appreciates that the staff upholds “a culture of safety and inclusion so I feel comfortable. The facilities are always clean. The saunas are built beautifully, with reclaimed wood. The skylights and windows are perfectly positioned so you can enjoy the views of the water and sky while seated inside.”

To date, Hui has visited Good Hot more than 50 times, sometimes making reservations three or four times a month. She keeps coming back because, she said, “Good Hot is unique. I value it as a sacred space for healing and maintaining well-being. Lou and Cooper designed the space intentionally, and my mind, spirit, and body all benefit.”

Indeed, Anderson describes Good Hot as “a radical and liberating experience to be among other Black, people of color, queer, and bodies of all sizes in a spa/sauna setting that is operated by people who genuinely want you there.”