Review: Shape House in Los Angeles, CA

I’ve shared my love for infrared sauna’s on Instagram and on here as well, and Shape House is another spot in Los Angeles that’s always intrigued me but I hadn’t been able to try until recently. Once I saw that I could book a sweat through my ClassPass membership, I booked one for a few days later at the Studio City location and had the best experience! If you’ve been wondering what an ‘urban sweat lodge’ is, I’m here to clue you in.

After filling out a quick waiver, one of the front desk associates handed me a 100% cotton long sleeve top and matching pants, plus a pair of compression socks to change into before showing me to my room and helping me get settled into my bed.

Once I was tucked into the bed and had my headphones on, I watched a two minute informational video from Sophie Chiche, founder of Shape House (listen to her on IGNTD, one of my favorite podcasts, for more about Shape House!), before I switched over to Netflix (they are logged into all the top streaming platforms so you can watch your favorite shows for the next 45 minutes!

After a check-in at 5-ish minutes to make sure everything was going well, it was time to sweat! My face definitely felt sweaty, but compared to saunas (which I love), where I usually feel squirmy, because you’re contained in the bed, you can’t do much moving around. I had enough wiggle room to get my right arm out for water, and there’s also the option of pressing a button should you need anything, but they do an additional check at the 20 minute mark as well.

Once your sweat is over, an attendant brings you into the relaxation room for more water, tea and orange slices. Something I found interesting compared to saunas, is that they recommend you not take a shower for an hour or two after your sweat is over, and at first I thought ew, but it actually felt nice to continue feeling warm for a while before showering when I headed home.

Overall, what I think sets Shape House apart from other fitness and wellness studios in Los Angeles (and trust me, I’ve been to a lot of them) is the attention to detail from their associates, who were extremely polite and attentive from start to finish.