«This plot is not a dot on a map. It is land my great-grandfather and my grandfather passed from hand to hand. Avraam Vasilyevich left it to me personally — as an inheritance and as trust.»
My name is Pavel. I meet most guests personally — it matters to me to talk with everyone who comes to us. Our team is ten people: a manager, a cook, a fire-keeper, a waiter, four steam masters (two permanent and two per shift), a therapist and a housekeeper. We have worked together for more than ten years.
БАНЬСКЪ never tried to become just another fashionable spot in Krasnaya Polyana. It is its very essence and soul. And I hope it will always stay exactly that way.
The spine of this story is the union of the Bunin and Xandinov families. Pontic Greeks whose roots lie in historical Pontus (the Trebizond area); the family's path ran through the Stavropol Governorate to Krasnaya Polyana, where in 1878 Greek families founded the village.
On the plot where БАНЬСКЪ stands today, Pavel's grandfather — Avraam Vasilyevich Xandinov, great-grandson of Murat Xandinov, a founder of Krasnaya Polyana — kept the household from 1992. They kept horses, cattle, goats and hens. In summer it smelled of grass and fresh hay; in winter, of woodsmoke and damp logs.
Pavel grew up in this. He helped his grandfather carry water, split firewood, tend the animals and build the first cattle shed. For ten whole years grandfather and grandson built a house together on this plot — and it is on this home ground that БАНЬСКЪ now stands.
Back then none of it felt special — just ordinary life. But it is exactly such moments that stay longest in memory.
Archive · Avraam Vasilyevich, late 1990s
In 2016, on the same land where his grandfather had kept horses and cows, Pavel built a banya. Not as a business project — as a continuation. No grand plans, no investors. Just the wish to make a place where one would want to spend time.
Much of it took shape slowly. Some parts were rebuilt several times. What mattered was the feeling, not the picture: wood that smelled of wood; a stove fed by real logs, not «for atmosphere»; a place where someone from the noisy city could, finally, exhale.
БАНЬСКЪ never tried to look perfect. Perhaps that is why people began to come — there is no manufactured quality here. Over ten years, hundreds of guests have walked through these gates — Olympic champions, and those who simply wanted silence.
They return not for status. For an atmosphere that cannot be invented: the crackle of wood, the hush after fresh snow, the smell of timber and steam. And for the people who have been here since the first day.
During your visit the entire estate closes to others. No overlap with strangers. Gated grounds, a dedicated team, your own pace.
Both steaming rituals are included in the rate — a gift, not an add-on. It has been this way from the start.
Temperature, intensity and length are tuned by the master to how you feel that day.
The estate's signature ritual. Four-handed steaming, contrast cooling with mineral water, honey-and-salt rub with citrus, soap wash, pool rest, and a juniper-besom scalp massage to close.
Book this ritual →Aromatic warming of the steam room with natural herbs and essential oils. Soft, enveloping steam for the whole company — up to five guests.
Book this ritual →Three passes: honey-and-salt steaming, citrus rub, soap wash, mineral-water cool-down, pool relaxation.
Book this ritual →Intense heat-work by two masters in tandem at high temperatures. For those who know what they want.
Book this ritual →Gentle warming, honey rub, scenting with aromatic salt. Deep cleanse and skin renewal.
Book this ritual →Cleansing with a birch besom and dense lather. Old school, no compromise.
Book this ritual →Soft, besom-led warming at mild-to-medium heat. The right place to start.
Book this ritual →A virtual walk through the entire estate: steam room, pool, fire-pit cauldron, kitchen, lounge. So you know what you are coming to.
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Our menu is built on local produce and select delicacies. We use farmer's meat and poultry from local partners, and trout from the legendary Adler trout-breeding farm — the No.1 trout farm in Russia, operating since 1967. Seafood lovers can order boiled crayfish and Magadan shrimp. And the main rule of the БАНЬСКЪ kitchen — nothing frozen.
Olympic champions, performers, statesmen, founders — and those whose names we will never speak. They return not for status, but for what cannot be found in open places.
Since the very opening, for more than ten years, one close-knit team of ten people has worked here: a manager, a cook, a fire-keeper, a waiter, four steam masters (two permanent and two per shift), a therapist and a housekeeper — all of us together from day one. Each has their own character and unmistakable touch, but together we are one family that carefully keeps the traditions, warmth and atmosphere of this place.
9 Vodopadnaya St · Krasnaya Polyana · Sochi · Krasnodar Krai · Russia
Gift a day at БАНЬСКЪ, or step into Pavel’s private circle of guests — with members-only evenings and early access.
Give a day at БАНЬСКЪ — the whole estate or a signature ritual. We issue a personalised certificate for any amount, beautifully wrapped.
Order a certificateAnnouncements of private gatherings, special dates, closed events and a loyalty system for our closest guests. Membership — by personal invitation from Pavel only.