Project Overview
Tovi offers private, self-service saunas and stays in natural settings. Customers book a slot online, unlock the sauna with a digital code and use it without staff on site. The saunas are available for individuals, couples and small groups, open year-round.
The Problem Statement
City dwellers want regular time in nature and in the sauna, yet quiet, nature-surrounded saunas are rare near the city and most offerings are crowded.
Without a simple, repeatable format, good intentions fade, and the benefits for stress and recovery only come with regular visits.
Opportunity
Tovi fills the gap between the occasional escape and the everyday routine: a private sauna in nature that is close, simple and affordable enough to visit week after week.
Easy, online bookable slots fit into a normal week and visit bundles reward regularity. The same sauna, booking and access system can be repeated at new sites, first around Helsinki, then across Finland and beyond.
Location
Site types: natural settings near the city: peaceful outdoor areas, private seaside or lakeside plots, farms and recreation areas.
Setting: every sauna sits in a close-to-nature environment, without traffic or other disturbances nearby.
Water point: Each site is situated in a natural setting near water, offering the opportunity for a refreshing dip in cold water.
Access: close enough to city, preferably reachable by public transport too.
Parking: may be further away than the sauna, so a short walk sets the nature mood.
Heating: Wood-fired or electric and automated, depending on the site.
Site partnerships
Tovi owns the sauna, the brand and the booking system. Landowners such as private lands, farms, campsites and municipalities provide the site, and share in the revenue from every booking.
The sauna is mobile, so a site can be tested first and left if it does not work.
How it works
Saunas are self-service from booking to departure.
1. Book and pay online: The guest picks a site and a time slot for up to four people. Every slot is private.
2. Receive instructions and a code: The booking creates a time-limited door code and a guide with the route, parking, the sauna and the departure steps. The code works offline, so the site needs no Wi-Fi.
3. Arrive: Before the slot, a welcome message confirms that everything is ready. At wood-fired sites, the guest can arrive 30 minutes early to light the stove when nobody has booked before.
4. Sauna: The sauna is already hot (or guests heat the sauna), enjoy the löyly and cool off in the nature around.
5. Leave: The guest does the basic cleaning, follows the departure steps and the code expires. A thank-you message and a feedback request follow.
Prices vary by season, weekday and time of day, with quieter slots cheaper. Visit bundles reward regular guests.
Branding
Not cool. Simple saunas and cabins in nature, where you can slow down, warm up and take the time you need.
The name comes from the Finnish word tovi, a good while that no one measures. Repeated stays turn into a habit of taking one, until a stay in nature becomes a familiar way to spend a while.
Mission
Our mission is to help people spend time in nature regularly, without tracking it.
Tovi is time outdoors with no goals and no metrics. Step outside, take a breath and notice the world around you.
Vision
To make slowing down in nature a regular habit for city dwellers: private saunas and stays in nature that feel like everyday basics, less than an hour away and open all year round.
Values
- Wellbeing: care for both mind and body, from a hot evening sauna to a good night’s sleep.
- Rhythm: small, regular visits make a lasting difference. We design for coming back.
- Disconnect: leave the screen behind, step outside and take the time you need.
- Authenticity: real nature, wood fire and a view that needs no filter.
Unique Value Proposition
A wood-heated sauna with a view – it’s as easy as booking a table at a restaurant.
Voice & Visuals
The voice is warm, relaxed and a little playful, with short sentences, everyday language and the occasional Finnish word. It invites guests and leaves them room to take the time they need: “take a tovi.”
Target Groups and Personas
1. Solo: the city dweller who saunas alone
Aino, 32, lives in the city. Works at a screen all day, spends her free time unwinding with her phone, and wants to get outdoors more.
Needs: An easy, simple nature and wellbeing experience that needs no planning, no group and no full day.
Pain points: A cabin trip needs a car, a companion and a weekend. Urban saunas are crowded and lack nature. A shared sauna also means strangers and noise.
What she wants from Tovi: A private slot booked in a minute, a sauna in nature less than an hour away, and a calm hour for herself or with a friend or partner, with no staff or strangers around.
Booking pattern: Weekly or every other week, after work or on a weekend morning. She books the same slot again once a visit becomes a habit.
2. Couple: seeking comfort and peace
Mikko and Sara, 36 and 34, live in the city. They spend most weekdays in different places and want quality time together without screens.
Needs: A shared experience in nature that feels comfortable and peaceful, with time to be alone together.
Pain points: Romantic getaways cost a lot and happen rarely. Public saunas rarely feel private.
What they want from Tovi: A couple of hours of their own, in a private sauna in nature, with no staff or strangers around.
Booking pattern: Every two weeks or monthly, a private slot that is easy to repeat. They also book it for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.
3. Group: friends who sauna together (max 4)
A group of four friends in their thirties. They want to spend time together doing something more meaningful than an evening at a bar or café.
Needs: A private, relaxed place where they can chat, laugh and unwind freely.
Pain points: Booking a group-sized sauna in nature is hard and expensive. Public slots offer no privacy for a group.
What they want from Tovi: A private slot with their own sauna and the water to cool down in.
Booking pattern: Monthly, with a fixed recurring slot such as the first Friday of the month.
Summary
Tovi Away is a hospitality brand that turns time in nature into a regural habit. It offers small private saunas for up to 4 people in natural settings near the city, such as a lake shore, a sea shore or a forest clearing with a water point. More remote locations and small off-grid cabins can be added later.
The case began from a simple observation. City dwellers want nature and sauna, yet quiet, nature surrounded options close to the city are rare or crowded and good intentions fade without an easy, repeatable format.
Tovi responds by making the visit small enough to repeat: slots of one to three hours that fit into a normal week, prices that vary by time and reward regular visits, and bundles that bring guests back.
The experience is designed around three guest types: solo, couple and group. Operations are built for scale. Guests book online and receive a time-limited code that works offline.
The next steps
- Test demand: concept landing page, price and waitlist.
- Find the first site: water, power, permits and a landowner deal.
- Find the sauna builder: quotes in parallel with the site search.
- Set up company, permits and insurance.
- Build the MVP booking site: off-the-shelf booking system and smart lock.
- Run a pilot: 8–12 weeks pop-up, measuring promise vs. delivery, retention and referrals.
- Decide: continue, expand or stop, based on utilisation, repeat visits and referrals.