Elamus Spa celebrates a threefold recognition: work done with heart has put the Estonian sauna on the world map

For Elamus Spa the year 2025 has brought exceptional recognition – we have been awarded the title “Best Spa 2025” at the Estonian Lifestyle Awards, been nominated in the Tallinn Entrepreneurship Awards category “Tourism Deed 2025”, and been honoured with the title Tourism Promoter of the Year 2025 within Estonia’s largest business competition, “Estonia’s best companies”. These three recognitions and moments vividly reflect Elamus Spa’s journey, in which dedication, innovation and teamwork have been woven into a single whole.

The public chose Elamus Spa as Estonia’s best spa

At the Estonian Lifestyle Awards, held for the first time, the public chose Elamus Spa as the best spa – thanks to its varied sauna world, unique children’s area and an atmosphere filled with special energy.

Elamus Spa founder Andres Tiik admitted that such recognition moves the whole team deeply: “When I heard that we had been chosen by the public into the top ten spas, there was already a warm and special feeling inside. This win is the best reward for our whole spa family. In the service sector four things have to fit together – the environment, the guests, a strong team and the shareholders. If one of them is missing, the house of cards collapses. Most of all I want to thank my spa family and my team. You shine, and that carries over to our guests too. This win belongs to you.”

In the service sector four things have to fit together – the environment, the guests, a strong team and the shareholders.

Elamus Spa manager Margit Kurn also said after the win that this award is the most direct testimony to the everyday dedication of the whole spa team. “A win like this is a really warm and good feeling, because it is the result of the work of our whole spa family. Our guests feel good, they want to come back to us again and again, and the fact that they gave us their vote is enormously great recognition for us. To our people I would like to say that I hope they keep their passion for doing what they do every day. That is how the best results come about.”

A win like this is a really warm and good feeling, because it is the result of the work of our whole spa family.

According to Kurn, Elamus Spa’s success lies above all in a passionate team and the genuine satisfaction of guests: “The fact that our people make an effort so that guests always feel good and want to come back is our greatest value. For our team this win is immensely important.”

The fact that our people make an effort so that guests always feel good and want to come back is our greatest value.

Tallinn Entrepreneurship Awards: recognition for an innovative approach

Elamus Spa, together with Elamus Bowling & Pub, was also nominated in the Tallinn Entrepreneurship Awards category Tourism Deed 2025. The submitted project “Creating Estonia’s largest bowling centre and joining the spa and bowling into a single customer area” earned recognition for bringing an entirely new quality to Tallinn’s entertainment landscape and uniting sport, relaxation and experiences under one roof.

Creating Estonia’s largest bowling centre and joining the spa and bowling into a single customer area” earned recognition for bringing an entirely new quality to Tallinn’s entertainment landscape and uniting sport, relaxation and experiences under one roof.

The aim of the competition is to highlight entrepreneurs, organisations and initiatives that develop the local business environment and bring added value to Tallinn as a tourism destination.

Tourism Promoter of the Year 2025 – Estonian sauna culture has been written onto the world map

The most recent and, at national level, the greatest recognition came in October, when Elamus Spa was chosen as Tourism Promoter of the Year 2025 at Estonia’s largest business competition, “Estonia’s best companies”. In the assessment of the competition organisers, Elamus Spa has taken Estonian sauna culture to the international arena, having been invited into the Aufguss network that unites the world’s best spas and sauna centres.

In the assessment of the competition organisers, Elamus Spa has taken Estonian sauna culture to the international arena, having been invited into the Aufguss network that unites the world’s best spas and sauna centres.

Margit Kurn said that an award like this is confirmation of years of consistent work. “It is a very proud feeling that at national level our doings have been noticed and assessed so thoroughly – from financial indicators all the way to everyday services and developments. Estonia has over a hundred spa hotels and countless providers of sauna services, which is why this recognition is enormously important to us. When we began introducing Aufguss sauna culture in Estonia, most people had not even heard of it before. The name seemed foreign and incomprehensible. Today Aufguss has become one of our strongest distinguishing features. Every day we work to show people that the sauna is a place where you can genuinely relax and calm down.”

Kurn added that in today’s fast world people increasingly need conscious rest: “Often people come to the spa, sit in a sauna for a moment and immediately go to the next one. That does not help the body or the mind relax. Thanks to Aufguss and other sauna rituals we manage to keep people in the sauna for 15–20 minutes – exactly as long as the body needs to take in the heat and calm down. When we see those satisfied faces after a ritual and hear words of thanks, we know we are doing the right thing.”

Thanks to Aufguss and other sauna rituals we manage to keep people in the sauna for 15–20 minutes – exactly as long as the body needs to take in the heat and calm down.

Andres Tiik described the recognition received as a big step in the development of Estonian sauna and experience tourism: “The Aufguss sauna is the largest in the Baltics and Scandinavia, holding 130 people. Professional sauna rituals and shows take place there every day, and they are valued internationally too. Our joining the Aufguss organisation in 2023 was a breakthrough point – it is comparable to a Michelin star in the restaurant world. It opened up the chance for us to invite world-class sauna masters to Estonia and to take part in the Aufguss world championships ourselves.”

Our joining the Aufguss organisation in 2023 was a breakthrough point – it is comparable to a Michelin star in the restaurant world.

Elamus Spa shareholder Ott Tänak stressed that every award received is a joint achievement of the whole team. “It is a great honour for me and I am very proud of our team. Great things in life come about through cooperation, and this national recognition belongs to our whole team, who during an intense time of renewals and developments have managed, with immense dedication, to offer our visitors a highly valued service.”

It is a great honour for me and I am very proud of our team.

Work done with heart, reflected in every experience

Elamus Spa’s three consecutive recognitions confirm that this is not simply one more spa, but an inspiring lifestyle centre that has successfully united traditions, innovation and passion. The Elamus Spa team confirms that every win is only the tip of the iceberg – the true award is satisfied visitors and a dedicated team. “All of this is the work and dedication of our people. For us the greatest award is every smile, every satisfied guest and every time someone says they want to come back to us,” Kurn says.

The sauna shows tell of love, of the battle between good and evil, of life and survival

Nora Katreen Harik is Elamus Spa’s newest sauna master, who has held this profession for only three months.

THE OPENING OF ELAMUS BOWLING AND PUB

Interviews

Ott Tänak

Allar Jõks

Gerd Kanter

Pille Lill

Vello Vaher

Allar Jõks and Heidi Jõks