Claim only Asian people are being reprimanded for elite Saint Haven ‘joke of a no phones policy’
Billionaire Christopher Shao claims property mogul Tim Gurner’s private Saint Haven wellness clubs are racially profiling members, and that as an Asian man he can “smell” discrimination “from miles away”.
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A furious Melbourne richlister has erupted on property developer Tim Gurner’s famed Saint Haven, saying the private wellness clubs and staff are racially profiling their Asian members.
Entrepreneur Christopher Shao, who has a platinum membership costing around $499 per week at Melbourne’s most “elite” and pricey gym, has boiled over at staff treating his mother in a “condescending tone”, saying only Asian people were being reprimanded for the clubs “joke of a no phones policy.”
Shao told the Herald Sun he has been contacted by many other members of the club since he went public, who also say they have been treated unfairly due to their race.
He added he and his lawyers are meeting with Saint Haven senior management later this week.
In an furious email to the private wellness health club titled “Racism at Saint Haven”, Shao wrote:
“Out of all the places I cannot believe I felt racism at Saint Haven.”
The 29-year-old former Geelong Grammar student went on to say as “an Asian male” coming to Australia more than 20 years ago, he has encountered “hundreds of accounts of racism through school and society” and can “smell it from miles away.”
Outraged he then detailed how his mother had visited the South Yarra bathhouse on Thursday May 29.
He said that despite staff carrying laptops and other bathhouse members having their phones nearby, he and his mother were singled out for having electronics.
“The only time I’ve ever seen a staff telling someone off was at Collingwood when a staff was telling an Asian FEMALE member off and today.”
“I felt extreme discrimination. Please explain what else it is if its not racism?”
“Why didn’t the staff go in to the sauna and tell the rest of the members off regarding their phones?
“Telling off an Asian member for being on their phones when there are white members all around taking Insta stories and listening to headphones.
“I need an apology and an explanation. P.S the sauna smelt like burnt plastic today and the hot plunge was cold,”
The Melbourne Maserati driving billionaire signed off “your sincere Asian member, Christopher Shao.”
It was only after Shao received a message from Saint Haven general manager Susie Hill, who wrote back to say he had misinterpreted the staff and that “there was no racial intent behind the conversation” that he decided to go public.
“We take immense pride in creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all our members,” Hill wrote.
“It is common practice for us to issue reminders about phone usage in the bathhouse … We strive to maintain a phone-free zone, though it can be an ongoing challenge.”
Hill said the staff member acknowledged he could have spoken to other members also using their phones “rather than addressing it in the manner he did.”
She added they were also aware of the sauna smell as well as the hot plunge temperature.
Unlike the exclusive hot plunge pool, it is Shao who is boiling over now.
The Melbourne businessman, who broke real estate records for selling a penthouse Toorak apartment in 2021 for $15 million, says he has been contacted by several members claiming to have been treated unfairly for their race.
When contacted by the Herald Sun, Saint Haven general manager Hill said she “did not want to speak about the matter.”
Biohacker Gurner’s much hyped wellness Saint Haven private clubs offer everything from cryotherapy chambers, meditation caves, intravenous treatments, an ‘elixir’ bar, hot and cold plunge pool bathhouses and filtered water from the “fountain of youth’.
First opening in Collingwood, the “waiting list” luxury clubs have now expanded to South Yarra, Toorak, St Kilda and South Melbourne — with talks of a yet to be opened Bondi Beach.
Originally published as Claim only Asian people are being reprimanded for elite Saint Haven ‘joke of a no phones policy’
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