Norwegian or Scandinavian hot tubs are more and more frequently featured in the gardens of luxurious accommodations, and they are a great way to relax after a day hiking on the mountain paths or zooming down the ski pistes. But these wood fired hot tubs are even more enjoyable when they are installed in the middle of awe-inspiring natural scenery! This unique experience is what we can offer you in the Southern French Alps.
What is a wood fired hot tub?
The principle of a wood fired hot tub is very simple: a big wooden bucket, large and comfortable enough to sit a family or a group of friends of up to 8, filled with water heated by a wood fired stove located under the structure. There is no electricity required so they can be placed anywhere in the mountain wilderness!
How does it work?
The installation we use in the Champsaur Valley consists of three hot tubs, scattered amidst the tall and majestic trees of the Chauffarel forest, as well as a plunge pool filled with cooler water and a small sauna. A wood fired hot tub session lasts up to 3 hours: plenty of time to enjoy your hot tub fully, come out to vivify your body and get back in when you’re cold – a perfect way to rejuvenate!
A big tent is used as a changing room, where you’ll be able to leave your clothes and jump into your bathing suit. Towels are available for hire, and the nearby Gîte de Chauffarel offers drinks and dinners to complete the picture.
The baths are big enough for a party of 8 and whatever your party size, you have exclusive use of your hot tub! The environment around you, the hot water, the smell of the wood fire crackling under the tub and the candle light if you choose the evening session, makes for a perfect romantic moment!
Hygiene without chlorine
Hélène and Léopold, the couple who set up this structure, had one main objective (beside their clients’ pleasure!): make the whole experience as natural and environment-friendly as possible. All the larch wood needed to build the tubs is provided by a local sawmill that operates a few kilometres away from the site, no treatment whatsoever is used in the process, and the wood that gets burnt in the stoves below the tubs also comes from the area’s forests.
As for the water that fills these tubs, it is changed after each session to guarantee a perfect hygiene, and the way the baths are built (the wood allows an interior-exterior flux of air and steam) ensures that the water’s qualities are preserved. This unique characteristic means that no chlorine or other such not-so-natural chemicals are ever needed to purify the water you’ll bathe in.
An all-season activity
Summer or winter, spending a few hours in a wood fired hot tub is always an extremely pleasant experience. But when you top it up with a stunning scenery and the silence of an alpine valley, it becomes a memorable adventure, which we highly recommend!