On a gloomy January evening, I walked from Hyde Park Corner, heading in the direction of Sloane Square. This is embassy territory and, in quick succession, I passed grand mansions that house the diplomats of Belgium, Argentina, Portugal, Ghana and Norway. On Chesham Place, the Spanish embassy sits almost opposite the German one, with Lesotho just along the street.
Next door, the flags of the European Union and Finland fluttered outside number 38, where a BMW with number plate FIN 1 waited at the kerb.
I rang the bell. A sturdy wrought-iron door swung open and Jukka Siukosaari, the Finnish ambassador to the UK, greeted me with a smile and a firm handshake. We went inside the striking five-storey building and descended to the basement, past a robust bank vault. “It’s where we keep the rubber ducks,” an aide remarked as he noticed me eyeing it. Here there’s also a kitchen, a small living room, showers and, most importantly, a sauna, upgraded during the pandemic. When it comes to promoting tourism and flexing its “soft power”, Finland is turning up the heat.
It’s estimated there are 3mn saunas in the nation of 5.5mn people. Tour operators and tourism boards are turning to sauna culture as an increasingly important year-round draw for visitors — at the World Sauna Forum in Tampere last summer, a Finnish minister told delegates that “sauna” was the most used online search term by tourists interested in visiting. So it’s perhaps not surprising that the ambassador now has one here at the embassy in Belgravia (and another at his imposing residence in Kensington), a venue for formality-free meetings with potential trade partners, diplomats and journalists.
“Sauna is part of the Finnish way of life and, through the interest that creates, we want to attract people to visit the country and learn about us. There’s something incredibly special about being in one at midnight in summer, when it’s still light, enjoying time with family and friends, and then maybe a dip in the sea or a lake afterwards,” the 56-year-old remarked, wistfully. “Would you like a beer before we start?”
It felt rather incongruous to be stark naked within such a grand building but we took small towels to sit on and entered. The ambassador was easy company. As we started to perspire, conversation covered life in London, previous postings in Buenos Aires and Tokyo, and the war in Ukraine.
Periodically he ladled water on to the heating element, which sent steam bouncing off the roof and cascading around the intimate space, which can seat four people. There were showers but no romp in the grounds to cool down. He wouldn’t want neighbours to be offended, he says, but in any case, no one should feel pressured to freeze themselves, although “rolling in snow is lovely when it’s totally fresh, feels like cotton and melts on your skin”.
No beating with birch twigs today either, which is a tradition from the days before soap. “May and early June are the best time for birch, when the leaves are green and firm. I put the branches in water then lay them on the stove . . . the smell is heavenly.”
London is not alone. Many Finnish embassies around the world have saunas, not just for tourism promotion but sometimes serious diplomacy. In Washington, the Finnish embassy’s Diplomatic Sauna Society has been engaged in semi-naked networking for years. One cherished story is that in 1960, Finland’s cold war leader Urho Kekkonen kept the visiting Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev in a sauna session until 5am, apparently convincing him to allow Finland’s strengthening relationship with the west.
Siukosaari admits that the relaxed ambience can be a useful tool to grease cogs in negotiations. And back in cold war days, the heat and humidity meant bugging equipment wouldn’t work.
If you don’t have a friendly Finnish diplomat in your address book, London does provide other options for you to warm up on cold winter days. The Akasha spa and sauna at the Hotel Café Royal, for example, is free for staying guests, but day passes can be bought by members of the public for £95. The infinity pool, gym and sauna at the Shangri-La hotel are 52 storeys above London, with fantastic views when it’s not cloudy (a day pass costs from £141 but includes a £50 credit towards lunch in Ting restaurant). A cheaper option is the historic Porchester Spa near Royal Oak tube, recently refurbished and with two steam rooms, Turkish baths, a sauna, plunge pool and relaxation lounge (£25.70).
This experience is not to be rushed. We ladled, sweated, showered, chatted on the sofa, and repeated the process three times. Siukosaari told me he has friends at home who can drag the ritual out for 12 hours with pauses in between for drinks and dinner. Is that why Finns are regularly at the top of “happiest nation” lists? “I don’t think it’s dancing-on-roses happiness,” he mused. “Rather, it’s contentment.”
And that contentment — with a connection to nature and friends — is something Finland is keen to push to the world. We exited and clinked beers to exchange a last kippis (cheers) in the sitting room next door, before dressing and saying goodbye.
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Will Hide was a guest of the Finnish embassy in London; see visitfinland.com
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