Czech entrepreneur builds CZK 200m hot tub business, Spahouse

Spahouse co-founder Michael Boymel started out selling erotic goods online, and today, together with partners Petr Svoboda and Ladislav Šefl, he supplies Czechs with Nordic hot tubs, swim spas, saunas and bioclimatic pergolas. Over thirteen years the firm has grown to a turnover of more than CZK 200 million and is preparing to open its fourth branch.

Boymel’s path into business started back in university. First he and a friend photographed people at music festivals and printed the pictures onto keychains, then he tried to open an online shop for photographic equipment — but there wasn’t enough money to buy the expensive gear. So they switched to a product that’s easy to store and that people prefer to order anonymously: erotic accessories. “That’s the business where I learned how the internet works and how a customer thinks,” the entrepreneur recalls.

He ended up in the wellness sector by accident: at first he started making custom saunas together with another friend who had just returned from Australia. But enthusiasm outran the numbers — the business turned out to be harder than it looked. On the other hand, customers kept asking about hot tubs more and more often, and the partners seized on the idea. They couldn’t find a reliable supplier in Czechia, so Boymel toured the trade fairs in the field and eventually found partners in Scandinavia. Demand for hot tubs grew, and the product gradually became the company’s main line of business.

The business proved extremely sensitive to the economic climate. In autumn 2022, after the Covid boom, energy prices spiked — sales fell 50% in a single month. Instead of laying off staff, the partners cut their own salaries to the minimum to keep the team together. “We have an amazing team, people live for this business. That’s what got us through the hard period,” says Boymel.

Over thirteen years, hot tub prices have barely risen, yet the product has become more accessible: today the price range runs from CZK 100,000 to CZK 350,000–400,000, depending on size, the number of massage zones, the jet configuration and the acrylic used. With good insulation, monthly running costs come to around CZK 1,600–1,700 even with use three times a week. “A hot tub has stopped being a symbol of luxury. The typical customer today is an ordinary Czech family,” Boymel stresses. “People come to us in suits and in work overalls alike, and we treat them exactly the same.”