Gym With Sauna Since 1977: Bay Club San Francisco

Bay Club San Francisco, at 150 Greenwich Street, has dry saunas in both the men's and women's locker rooms, a steam room next to them and pools that stay open year-round. It is a members-first club, with adult memberships listed from $350 a month, and visitors come in on a booked club visit or as a member's guest. Weekday hours run 5am to 10pm Monday through Thursday, so an early sweat before work is easy.

Bay Club traces its company story to this address. The official site says the club opened in 1977, and a May 2026 Club Solutions report calls it one of California's first coed athletic clubs. That softer wording is the safer one to repeat, since the company's own pages also use the bolder claim of the nation's first co-ed gym.

The same report explains why the club feels settled in for the long haul. Bay Club bought the entire city block it sits on for $65 million from LaSalle Investment Management. The block is bounded by Sansome, Battery, Greenwich and Lombard streets and includes the 130-year-old brick building on the Lombard side, about 75,000 square feet, along with the roughly 45,000-square-foot club building itself.

Bay Club's sauna page states that both the men's and women's locker rooms at this club feature dry saunas, and the club's own amenity list adds a steam room and a recovery area. Pair that with the pools and you have a proper hot-and-cold circuit: a few lengths in the pool, ten minutes in the dry heat, a cool shower, then the steam room for a softer finish.

Recovery has a studio of its own now. The club announced a recently completed renovation that added 15,000 square feet to the fitness floor, along with elevated group exercise and recovery studios. If you are touring, ask to see the locker rooms first, because the sauna is the reason most people pick this location over the Financial District club a short walk away.

Squash is the club's quiet signature. The official description talks about a renowned squash program, and the glass-backed courts tend to book up in the early evening with league players. Beyond squash, the amenity list includes basketball, cycling, GlideFit, barre and IGNITE classes, and yoga and Pilates run out of a Mind and Body Center.

The crowd is a mix of long-time members who joined decades ago, Financial District workers who walk over at lunch and families on weekends. The unwritten rule is simple: book courts and classes in the app well ahead, because walk-up court time at 6pm almost never exists. A midday visit between 1pm and 4pm is the calmest window for the sauna.

This club rewards people who use three or four things a week: a swim on Monday, squash on Wednesday, a Pilates class on Saturday, and the sauna after each. Members who live on Russian Hill or in North Beach often walk down the hill, train, and walk back up, which turns the steps into part of the workout.

Skip it if you mainly lift heavy and want a sauna afterward. The platforms and racks here share space with a busy class schedule, and a dedicated lifting gym with a dry sauna, such as the Castro's Fitness SF, gives you more barbell time for much less money. Bay Club is the better pick when the pools and courts matter as much as the heat.

Bay Club's membership page lists a primary member starting at $350 a month per adult. That is a brand-wide starting figure, not a price for this club alone, and the final rate depends on the club and the add-ons you choose. There is no public day pass. The official routes in are booking a club visit or tour, or arriving as a member's guest.

Guest rules are clear. Guests may use the facilities or play a sport only when accompanied by a member, and each guest is limited to up to two visits per month. If you just want an occasional sauna, a Fitness SF day pass across the city will cost far less, so this club only makes sense if the squash, pools and parking will get regular use.

The club is open Monday through Thursday 5am to 10pm, Friday 5am to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday 7am to 7pm. Bay Club says its clubs are open 364 days a year and close only on Christmas Day. Free onsite parking is one of the selling points here, which is rare on the northeast waterfront.

Weekday mornings from 6am to 8am are the busy pre-work rush, and the sauna fills with people who swam first. Late Sunday afternoon is the opposite. Because Sunday closes at 7pm, leave the final hour for a full sauna round and a shower before the staff start closing the locker rooms.

The club sits at the foot of Telegraph Hill, so the obvious post-sauna walk is up. The Filbert Steps climb through gardens to Coit Tower, and the wooden stairs are steep enough to count as a cool-down rather than a stroll. Take water, and go slowly if you have just come out of the heat.

For something flatter, Levi's Plaza is a few minutes south, with lawns and a fountain that office workers use at lunch. The F-Market and Wharves streetcar runs along The Embarcadero at Greenwich, which is the simplest way back toward the Ferry Building or Fisherman's Wharf without walking the whole waterfront.

Address: 150 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, CA 94111. Hours: Monday to Thursday 5am to 10pm, Friday 5am to 9pm, Saturday and Sunday 7am to 7pm. Membership from $350 a month per adult. No public day pass. Guests must be accompanied by a member, up to two visits a month. Free onsite parking.

Use the Karpo APP to plan a morning here around a Coit Tower climb, a coffee near Levi's Plaza and a streetcar ride back, so the sauna becomes the middle of a good waterfront morning.