Inside the luxury wellness club with meditation cave and a 20,000 person waitlist

There’s a meditation cave and cryotherapy chambers. Vitamin-infused IV drips and oxygen-rich air pods. A personal nutritionist, sound therapist and spiritual healer. And don’t miss the kava ceremony.

Since opening in Collingwood in 2023, Saint Haven has established itself as the Rolls-Royce of private wellness clubs, with venues now also in South Yarra and Toorak.

The creation of property developer Tim Gurner, they are secretive – the number of members is confidential, with a “very long” waiting list that once reached 20,000. They’re also exclusive. Tiered memberships are rumoured to cost from $150 a week to more than $1000 and require a referral from an existing member, followed by an interview. It’s like the Melbourne Club for biohackers.

For Gurner, Saint Haven cherry-picks from his favourite wellness destinations and members’ clubs around the globe, from Chiva-Som in Thailand to London’s Soho House and Gwinganna in the Gold Coast hinterland.

“I used to spend four months burning myself out, go to Chiva-Som for a week, come back feeling amazing and then four months later, I was burnt out again,” he says. “I wanted to create something where you can maintain your wellness throughout, bringing all the best of all of it into one place.”

The high-tech fitness and wellness infrastructure is only part of the Saint story. Instead of charging off after their Pilates session or cold plunge, members typically use the facilities for three to six hours a day. “They’ll train first thing in the morning. They’ll have breakfast, they’ll have a meeting, they’ll co-work. They might do a recovery session in a hyperbaric [chamber], so people are there for hours, and they’re able to be insanely efficient.”

Launched in St Kilda last year, the spin-off Saint private social club skews to a younger demographic (25 to 40, as opposed to around 30 to 70), as the DJ sets in the basement probably attest. Upon entering, guests are greeted by an immersive cube. Hit the white light and you’ll be guided by a relaxing sound and sight montage to the healing floor. Opt for the black light to fire up a high-energy sweat session in the “wellness nightclub”.

St Kilda member Corey Ahearne is a convert to the wellness cause, Saint-style. For the 39-year-old co-founder of media start-up TEER, the club’s sociability and up-tempo vibe are as attractive as the classes he attends almost daily.

“What attracted me was that in addition to being able to train, there’s a real emphasis on recovery and health,” he says. “I tend to go in the morning and do a breath work class or a sauna and a cold plunge, and then I might work from there for a few hours and then head out to a meeting.”

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Friday nights are a Saintly scene. There are lion’s mane mushroom drinks for the alcohol-free and top-shelf tequila for those throwing caution to the wind.

“It typically kicks off around four for drinks and nibbles. I think it’s an amazing place to meet people and connect. I can call a number of members and even staff there friends now,” Ahearne says.

The Saint’s new South Melbourne location has just been announced ahead of its July opening. Time to get on that waiting list.