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fusey_oct22
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I visited some bathhouses in London this week and struggled to find info before going so thought I’d share some thoughts. Not massively experienced with sex venues, just some other bathhouses in Barcelona and Paris. Please add any thoughts or questions
About me: 26, white, kinda hairy, bearded, carry some weight but not loads, well hung, stick to oral at these places
Sweatbox
Overall -
I had a good time, place is big with lots of places to cruise, although entry is confusing and not many chill places, but still hung around for an hour and a half. Guys here are mainly mid twenties to forties and fit. If you can get action here it’s definitely the best in London.
Basic info -
Entry was £20 for 24 hours but you need to ask if you want to return otherwise you don’t get the card. You put all the valuables you want to access during your stay in a red lock box and get a key and a towel (you can get another later which we definitely needed). You go upstairs and drop your stuff in lockers before entering the bar area. To enter the main area you have to exchange your key for a wristband that lets your through the turnstile.
Facilities -
Meant to be a foam party on Wednesday but didn’t happen because of the lack of staff. Going from top to bottom. The changing room is small but fine, the hairdryer is really good. You go down stairs to the bar (no alcohol btw) which has a bunch of seats to sit and a fairly large Jacuzzi (which was closed for cleaning during my stay). This area is in front of the staff so no cruising really happens here (that I saw). There are 2 places to go from here, either down to the gym that you need to be clothed to enter (I was not ) or through the turnstile. There are 2 floors you can access via the turnstile the first has a small corridor with showers (sensor on the side of the soap to work) and mirrors. Off the showers are a steam room maze with 2 entrances. The maze is very narrow (like turn sideways to let someone by and a boner may be block access ) but has some rooms and seats where people got action. There is also a dry sauna with a few tile platforms and seats. The bottom floor has a shower area beyond the toilets but kinda smelled, along with a lot of rooms. The rooms ranged from a lot, some where completely private, one or two had mesh walls so you could prep through, some were very open and one area just had latex sheets people would pull aside. There were also 3 slings and 3 posh cabins. A lot of the rooms in the corridors had rubber mattresses and some had pools of liquid on them, looked to be water. Water fountains were throughout. I would say I did struggle with heat regulation a bit as the sauna areas were so warm compared to the basement and without the pool there was no where to just chill beyond the chairs by the bar. The place seemed very clean although I saw no cleaners. There are also no hooks to hang your towel anywhere
The men -
There was one man I saw who may have been under 20, by far the majority were between 25 and 40, although older people were there, the oldest I saw was probably mid 50s but was quite fit and very hung. I saw a number of East Asian and South Asian men, although I didn’t see as many black men, but the majority was still white. Body hair varied a lot from smooth to very furry. In terms of size I saw men who were very muscular, very thin and quite fat, but most men were quite averagely built, although I did see more abs then you would probably see in a random section of the general populace. Most people were looking but would interact if you locked eyes and they thought you were fit. Bar one guy everyone who I turned down would leave and not push it.
Action -
Before the turnstile and the in the dry sauna I saw nothing happening. In the showers by the steam room I saw a lot of looks but nothing further. The steam room maze had a lot of action, there are 3 rooms in the maze and something was always happening in each of them although never beyond sucking. The seating area was also popular, a lot of guys seemed to meet here and head down. In the basement a lot was happening behind doors closed to differing degrees with a lot of guys in rooms looking for company. Guys behind the curtains were fucking and very happy for people to join. In one corner a guy was blowing anyone.
Pleasuredrome
Overall -
It was okay. The guys are a bit older and I had more than one issue with consent. The place does have a nice vibe. I was here maybe 45 mins.
Basic info -
Quite a private entrance compared to other similar places. Entry required a temperature check and was only £12 as I’m under 30. Lockers use a token that is already in them when you get the key along with 2 towels.
Facilities -
You walk downstairs and there are showers to the left. Before the showers are hooks to hang you towels and some benches. The showers are really nice and very well lit. The red ones are warm and the blue one is cold (may be obvious to you but wasn’t to me). Turning right from those stairs takes you to reception and then past that is the bar area, where you must remain clothed. Beyond the bar is the spa pool, the biggest in London although all seem to be the same size, but is defo the most private I’ve seen in London. Further along are the rinsing showers that had no hooks that I could see and were poorly lit. These lead to a corridor that ends in a small steam room but have a bigger steam room a long the way and 2 small dry saunas, as well as an area to sit and watch porn that is playing. Beyond this there are rooms upstairs but I believe none are free and all require booking. I saw a few cleaners walking around.
The men -
At 26 I was probably the youngest guy there, with most men being 40 plus. Definitely had the oldest clientele I’ve seen with one man looking to be in his 70s. Most men were white, I believe I saw a few South Asian men, but the crowd was very white. I didn’t see many men thinner than myself, a lot of the crowd was bigger. Most cocks were more of an average size. I did have a few issues with men being way too handsy and had to leave more than one area to escape men who would not stop touching me.
Action -
I did not rent a room or join anyone in a room. I did walk into the showers and find a guy on his knees sucking someone off. Beyond that all the action I saw took place in the steam rooms.
Covent Garden Health Spa
Overall -
Very chill place to hang out. Not sexy at all and I saw no cruising. I was here 20 mins.
Basic info -
The entrance is through the door and to the left of the barbers and down some stairs. £10 because I’m under £30.
Facilities -
Changing rooms are to the left and are okay. They have a weak hairdryer and some hair gel etc for you to use. Turning right takes you to the bar. Past the bar is a big pool. By the pool is a corridor that leads to the toilets and has a sauna and the showers off it. Near the pool are also some cubicle and a steam room, which had no visibility. There was also more space but was locked off. The place was cleaned a lot and staff kept moving about but it is very open plan so kinda unavoidable.
The men -
The clientele was older than me, I would say average age about 40, and a bit overweight. A lot of daddies and bears. People kept to themselves for the most part, although I saw one guy grab someone else and call him good boy.
Action -
I saw and experienced none.
Great post. I wish I'd read something like this before I went to Sweatbox last Halloween. While I've been there before that, it was the first time I thought of going again within the 24 hour period, only to find I couldn't because I had to have asked for the card the night before. No-one ever told me this. I only saw it on the receipt after it was too late. The whole thing seems like a con to offer 24 hours and leave a lot of people unable to use it. If you have the receipt, there should be no need for anything else.
My experience there is much the same as yours. The jacuzzi has been open every time I've been there since they refurbished (couple of times in early 2020, then the aforementioned trip in 2022) and there's certainly been some friskyness in there. However, it's more a case of cruising guys and then leaving while trying to hide an erection, than anything sexual going on in there. The size of it means it's not as good for cruising as more intimate ones at other saunas though.
I guess they don't really market it heavily as a sauna, which is good, because I feel that relaxation side of it is really lacking. It's great if you get lots of action there. It's terrible if you end up wandering about, because there's nowhere you can really just go and chill for a bit. Everything is either too warm or too damp or both. I ended up in the jacuzzi mainly because it was the coolest place to go and sit, and you could remove the rather useless towels they hand out!
I did go there a number of times before they refurbished it. I guess that's why it still seemed quite clean, as it only reopened in about 2019. Comparing the two is like comparing two different saunas. Originally, all the saunas, steam rooms, jacuzzi and showers were altogether, as you'd expect in most saunas, and also more secluded rather than being near the entrance and bar, which seems an awful idea.
The very first time I went I remember there was a room in the basement part showing porn, which is a reliable, cool place to chill out in many saunas. Sadly, a lot of them seem to be getting rid of this kind of area, which tends to be one of the best places to actually meet guys rather than just wandering around. Not only is the one in Sweatbox a thing of the past, but when I went back to Manchester's Basement recently, theirs had gone too.
What time did you visit the saunas? My visits to London saunas have always tended to be a late night thing, often after being out somewhere first. I first ended up in Chariots years ago because it was a cheap and convenient place to get a shower & freshen up before getting a train home, with no intention of anything sexual. Over the years, it was a pretty regular thing that people would be in there after the clubs had closed, waiting for the first tube trains to start (and the proximity to the line in Vauxhall meant you could hear them when they were running!)
I've only been to Pleasuredrome the once years ago, and that was as a place to get it on, having already met someone! I think I might have been to the spa when it was under a different name for a private party. Good to know there are still a few options in London, as it's certainly diminished from when I first starting visiting around 15 years ago. I hope you enjoyed your time there.
fusey_oct22
Expert Member
I didn't start quite that early, sadly, but I also miss those days. Chariots Vauxhall was my first sauna around the time things were starting to change towards the apps (2007) and, yeah, things have never been as good as those years, and not just because I was in my early 20s then.
Grindr, especially these days, is just full of timewasters. I've only really had success with it when I'm away in some major city (e.g. London, Toronto), both due to the proximity of lots of guys and that I don't have to worry about someone wanting to come back to mine.
Saunas and other cruise venues are just so much better. You can see what people actually look like, for a start, so no-one trying to catfish you by pretending to be a 20-year old twink when they're actually an overweight & middle-aged (not that there's anything against either, it's the deception that's the issue). If you start getting it on with someone and it isn't working out as you'd like, you can quickly move on and try your luck with someone else, rather than trying to escape an awkward situation you've given up your evening to be in. But, best of all is the opportunity for all sorts of spontaneous group sex that I can't imagine how to arrange on apps. Getting one person to show up is hard enough!
There's also something special but hard to describe about such places. It's somewhere you can let your desires show. Where making eyes at another guy is encouraged, not something likely to get you beat up. For those who've never felt the need to be closeted, that's probably not a big thing, but for many, it's like entering a different world where you can be yourself.
Last time I was there was a year a bit. I had 3 different guys cum on my chest. I felt really dirty. Would love to do it again some time. Haven't had a cock since
luck you. i always find that nobody wants to shoot their load. they just want to go around edging all night long
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Yeah, heading down to those places and getting laid again and again felt like being a member of an elite club, or a parallel universe where all the men had sexual superpowers.
The noughties were a sweet spot for sauna cruising (And also sex clubs like Hard-on). Like many posters here I loved Chariots and it was a bitch when I learnt it had closed. I went to Sweatbox once or twice and recall a hotter than normal clientele and mindbogglingly complex rules and details.
I'm not sure the "Sauna industry" (If there even is such a thing) can survive COVID long term. I also suspect men have turned to sites like Grindr due to lack of alternatives (With so many younger people house sharing or living with parents longer, I can't work out how people host, though). Chariots closed a few years before COVID when the site was sold for a hotel development. Saunas are often in marginal urban sites, so are vulnerable to "Gentrification". There are so many I can think of that are under arches in railway lands and these must be especially vulnerable because the Department of Transport recently started selling it's commercial proper estate that was a hold over from British Rail. Rents had been below commercial rates for many years, so new owners will probably knock up costs.
I met very few men on hook up sites because they were still shit then but got to know some great guys from sucking and fucking in saunas and I met my partner in a leather club. This year will be our tenth anniversary, so I owe a lot to those places.
The convenience of saunas is the major reason I visit them, so while your entire post is excellent, this particular point stood out to me. Finding someone who could host was the biggest challenge when I first started using Grindr because I didn't have the luxury of inviting folks back to my place.
My experiences in saunas have been mixed; sometimes I enjoy myself and feel desired, but other times I find myself wandering aimlessly for long periods of time while feeling my self-esteem ebbing away. Saunas are the only locations where I can truly let my guard down, socialise with other queer men, and explore the sexuality I conceal in normal life, so I'm delighted they exist and I'd hate for places like Sweatbox to close.
fusey_oct22
Expert Member
Heh, well, yeah that part when things are going well. Generally, it's just being able to openly look at attractive guys and not be worried about getting on the wrong side of a homophobe. I've also had all sorts of conversations about sex with guys in there, even if we're not actually engaging in any ourselves.
I'm glad I caught the back end of it. What was left of Chariots by the end (basically the Vauxhall one) was very clearly inferior to Sweatbox, so I'm not surprised it didn't come out of the other end of the pandemic. I've been to Sweatbox both before and after it was renovated, and I can't even connect the two places in my head. It's like two different saunas, but yes, both have a few too many rules and don't seem to work as saunas. Honestly, the place survives because it's popular enough for there to be action most of the time (goodness knows how much they pay for such a central location, the gym side probably helps a lot). When nothing is happening, there's not really anywhere to chill. Last time I went, the jacuzzi was too cool and this infra-red sauna they have now is uncomfortable to actually sit and relax in.
It wasn't great before, but the sauna side was better before they renovated. There were two regular dry saunas, a more private jacuzzi rather than being right next to the bar(!) and a wet room which worked pretty well for group sex. The first time I went, they also had a room with porn, but that seemed to be the first thing to go. Now it seems, you're meant to spend time in the bar watching trash TV.
Sadly, I think you're right, with the main victims being the city-based ones that aim for the younger crowd. The ones that are a bit more remote and tend to attract older closeted guys will last longer, because they are less likely to use the apps (more risk, nowhere to hook up if the wife's at home).
I think there were about half a dozen Chariots venues when I first started going to London, and they slowly all closed down. The main ones I used were the Vauxhall one and the one near Liverpool Street station with the pool. I think the latter closed in 2016 or 2017, while the Vauxhall one was still going when I last went in February 2020. It closed during the pandemic. The others I think all went earlier. I'm actually surprised they lasted that long. I remember being in one of the smaller ones on a Friday night to meet somewhere there and it was dead. If I hadn't been hooking up with the guy there, I'd have had no action at all.
Strangely, up here in Sheffield, we've had two saunas open here in the last decade. When I first discovered saunas down in London in 2007, the only offering in Sheffield was a rundown place called the Bronx, which I was warned away from by other locals. I think I tried it maybe twice. One of those times it was already closed when it was still supposed to be open. When I did actually get to go in, the best way to describe it is as somewhere where you left feeling dirtier than when you went in (and not because of any sexual activities). In 2015, it was taken over by a guy who already ran a sauna called the Boiler Room in Hove, and he reopened it as another one in Sheffield. It did pretty well to begin with, but has got progressively quieter over the years and still hasn't recovered from COVID. That one is pretty out of the way; you have to know it's there and basically be going to that area just for the sauna. In 2019, someone finally did what I wanted to see back in 2007, which is open one near the clubs as I'd experienced in Vauxhall. Sadly, I think by the time it was 2019, the market for it had gone. That, combined with the people running it clearly thinking they were running a bar where people wear towels rather than a sauna, meant it had gone again less than a year later. Had it not, it would have doubtless been brought to an end by COVID two months later. They had to close it during the summer before as it was.
I'm not sure how people manage to find places to hook up on Grindr. I don't even like doing it as someone who has their own place, because I don't really want to be inviting random strangers over. Another great thing about saunas is if something does go awry with the person you're with, there's plenty of ways to get away from them, maybe even get them thrown out in the worst case. You're pretty much on your own if they come over to your place and won't leave. Back when I was living with parents, I ended up booking a few cheeky stays in the cheapest hotels we could find. There's also the car option if someone drives, or various public cruising sites. I think the getting naked part may put some off saunas, especially given younger guys seem to be much more reluctant these days to even get changed in a locker room. The idea that all those guys they block on Grindr will be able to ogle them in the nude is likely a big turn-off. Hookups are a much more private affair, so it's likely only those involved know it happened, while a sauna can mean sharing your sexual interests with more people than you'd care to. That said, I've been surprised over the years at how popular naked events in bars have been, and how guys will go to a sauna with their mates.
I don't think they are any better now. If anything, Grindr and the like are worse because they only tell you about local guys. I guess that's fine if you just want a hookup, but, of the three relationships I've had, none of them were local. One of the guys I met in a bar in London, while the other two were both online (one a dating site, the other Twitter)
fusey_oct22
Expert Member
Same. As I say in my other post, I still don't fancy doing it even having the luxury. My early sauna visits not only provided somewhere to do it, but in a remote location where I wasn't going to run into anyone I knew and the sauna could double as a hotel with extras after a night out.
On that note, most of the times Grindr has worked for me has been when I've been on vacation somewhere. Not only am I in a more central location surrounded by more people, but I don't have the same qualms about inviting someone back to my hotel room.
Exactly. But then, I guess if are lucky enough to be able to do that in your normal life, you don't need the sauna so much.
Saunas do provide a good example of how your mind can play tricks with your memories. You can spend three hours wandering around a sauna aimlessly, but, if you have half an hour of great fun with someone, that's the bit you'll remember. I have great memories of times in some saunas, but the actual time it took to make those memories is a tiny fraction of how much time I've spent in them.
But, equally, I can easily waste just as much time trying to chat to people on Grindr and end up with nothing at the end. At least in most saunas, you can use the facilities if nothing else!
Hey! Looking to try out a london sauna for the first time this week.
Any recommendations on the best place/time for fit/muscular guys as they are my type?
Any recommendations on the best place/time for fit/muscular guys as they are my type?
jamesb94
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If anyone is looking for a plus one to go to one of these places this week, please hmu. Total novice here but I'm really interested
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