Have a seat gailings to listen and learn. The grown folk are about to conversate...

Let's talk about the bath houses. Talk about what is open. What is closed. The funny stories. Also, the sad ones...

Share your stories, (it's anonymous), and tell us who you saw there. The famous, not so famous, or the infamous...

Give your opinion be it good, bad, or indifferent...

What were your experiences, or those that you heard?

If you ever worked for a bath house...even better!

GO!!!

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by Anonymous

reply 62

March 23, 2018 3:29 AM

I think that are only two left in NYC. The East Side Club and the West Side Club. It seems like they are both owned by the same people. I don't think that this was always the case. I couldn't tell you who goes to them now. I think it was Koch or Guiliani that put the majority of them out of business when there was the AIDS crises.

I don't know anybody that goes to them now. I thought the internet put what was left of them out of business, but they might be making a comeback because of the risks with GRINDr and the other hook up sites. Being that two are still open somebody is going.

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by Anonymous

reply 1

May 30, 2016 10:23 PM

Bathhouse Blues by the world renowned expert of Gay Bathhouse Etiquette

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by Anonymous

reply 2

May 30, 2016 10:24 PM

You mean Wall Street Sauna, the Morris, and the ones in Queens are all gone?

by Anonymous

reply 4

May 30, 2016 10:29 PM

WOW! The YELP reviews aren't good at all;

i went yesterday, and the front staff was very friendly! i was impressed how clean the club was in all areas, and it was bear night, so that was fun. will for sure go back. for the folks that had less than pleasant experience,and posted the reviews, i would try it again!! :-) (4/16/16)

Very depressing place. The dingy corridors have mostly closed doors because no one goes here anymore, the open ones are just a parking lot of morbidly obese and sagging asses. I guess there is an exhibitionist thrill in propping your butt up for anonymous entry, personally it makes me think disease. The crowd is older than ever, it's like some Andy Warhol movie where an 88 year old queen is chasing a 60 year old queen he calls "the boy". I am sure this place deals with its share of actual heart attacks and deaths. If you see a hot guy (rare) he will be on GRINDR looking for someone outside of the club. The music is horrible loud 70s disco funk, reminds me of the only gay bar in Poughkeepsie. Why do gay men have such horrible taste in music? (6/30/14)

Had a coupon on my phone for $5. They insisted on a printed coupon which I didn't have. Asked for $33. Rip off. I wouldn't go there. As much as the reviews say this place sucks, it's worse. How rude. They really are stuck in the Middle Ages. (6/17/2014)

Depressing. I now understand why everyone hooks up online. The hostile staff doesn't help. I wish everyone well, but if this place went out of business, New York might be a bit better off. (8/4/2012)

by Anonymous

reply 5

May 30, 2016 10:29 PM

R2 The last post there is three years old.

by Anonymous

reply 6

May 30, 2016 10:31 PM

[quote]You mean Wall Street Sauna

There is a web site for the Wall Street Sauna. It DEFINITELY isn't the one I remember!

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by Anonymous

reply 7

May 30, 2016 10:39 PM

I worked for Club Baths in NYC at 1st & 1st, way back in 1981. It was a big club with several buildings combined. On student night which I think was Wen or Thur evening the boys would get a discount and the line would be down the street and around the block it was that popular, plus the guys were attractive. I usually worked the 8 AM shift to 4 PM because I wanted my nights free.

by Anonymous

reply 8

May 30, 2016 10:46 PM

I used to go to an old Jewish steam room in west Denver. Perfect. The older guys would kindly whomp you with the big sponges, scrub you up and down, suds you up and keep the funniest dialogue imaginable up while grunting with the effort. It was straight but had a healthy homoeroticism, and the relatively few gays and trolls who used it for sexual encounters were not bothered, so long as they were discreet. One very old man brought his father in - I swear, after these men spending up to 60 years regularly going to the place, they looked 30 years younger than their years.

Great massages from student masseurs.

The owner at the time, Gert, would encourage drinking beer and eating sausage sandwiches to keep one's salts and fluids up. You could go in and stay for a very long day.

I have nothing against gay bath houses, but never felt comfortable there because my interests were not primarily sexual. I did love the Lake Steam Room! It's still there, I see, but two days of ladies' hours (they had started one-day a week when I was there) and a monthly family day suggests some big changes.

I posted because of the photo the OP shared. That's a bit like my experience in Denver was.

by Anonymous

reply 9

May 30, 2016 10:48 PM

What do you remember R7? I remember the bridge and tunnel office crowd. Many married. Small place. Great sex. No S&M ( stand and model) attitude.

by Anonymous

reply 10

May 30, 2016 10:49 PM

Here's a funny story. I suppose it goes under the category of if you're an immigrant, (maybe illegal), and you need the work. This was in the East Side Club and there was this Italian plumber. HOT as all fuck!!! Seriously think COLT model material. Anyway, he was there maybe eight times that I saw him. Neither he or his work partner spoke any English, but everybody was eyeing him, but they did their work! I remember one guy walked by him and dropped his towel and just sort of stood there a couple of seconds before moving on. The plumber just laughed with his work partner and said something in Italian. I guess they were both straight.

by Anonymous

reply 11

May 30, 2016 10:55 PM

The East Side Club is right next to my office on 56th & Third. I never see anyone going in or out. I have seen a drag queen being escorted down 56th to a deli on the corner once but that was it.

The bathhouses were the 70s equivalent of GRINDR and now the bathhouses are GRINDR's victim. The bathhouse was one-stop shopping. You didn't have to follow a map 1.7 miles to a guy who turns out to be nothing like his profile.

by Anonymous

reply 12

May 30, 2016 10:56 PM

@R5 'where an 88 year old queen is chasing a 60 year old queen he calls the "boy" '

That's almost like DataLounge, and the picture threads on here featuring old homely hairy men. I always wonder how old and homely these posters must be if they find those men attractive.

by Anonymous

reply 13

May 30, 2016 10:56 PM

[quote]The bathhouses were the 70s equivalent of GRINDR and now the bathhouses are GRINDR's victim. The bathhouse was one-stop shopping. You didn't have to follow a map 1.7 miles to a guy who turns out to be nothing like his profile.

But, don't you think that might be an opportunity for them to make a comeback? There are A LOT of nuts walking the streets. These hookup apps are showing themselves to be a dangerous way to hookup. At least at a bathhouse there are other people around and you're sort of safe if some thing goes wrong. I KNOW I wouldn't just have some trick come to my house, or meet someone at theirs without a lot of questioning.

by Anonymous

reply 14

May 30, 2016 11:02 PM

A very dated article, but true:

Gone are the days when bathhouses drew crowds just by offering a discreet place for gays to meet, share saunas and, often, have sex.

"The acceptance of gays has changed the whole world. It's taken away the need to sneak into back-alley places," said Dennis Holding, 75, who owns a Miami-based bathhouse.

In the heyday of bathhouses in the late 1970s, there were nearly 200 gay bathhouses in cities across the U.S., but by 1990, the total had dropped to approximately 90, according to Damron, the publisher of an annual gay travel guide. In the last decade, bathhouses, including ones in San Diego, Syracuse, Seattle and San Antonio, have shut down and the total nationwide is less than 70. Most patrons are older.

Wow! Is Damron or that Spartacus guide still around?

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by Anonymous

reply 15

May 30, 2016 11:12 PM

[quote]What do you remember [R7]?

Not much. I remember it being a very small place. I also remember that there was a podiatrist on the floor above or below it. I remember this because I mistakenly walked into the office looking for the club. The Doctor just smiled and said you want the next such and such floor. Such a stupid kid I was. I was still trying to find myself. Total embarrassment.

by Anonymous

reply 16

May 30, 2016 11:26 PM

I still go to a bathhouse here in Toronto a couple of times a month. Depending on the day and time, there can be a nice variety of guys, lots of men I'm not necessarily interested in but more than a few that I find attractive. Prefer this setting to the hook-up apps. Far less time wasted emailing and texting back and forth. And then having to travel to his place or have him come to yours only to discover too often it's not a 'match'. I find all the towel-clad men and the sexual energy in a bathhouse exciting and immediate. And, yes...I'm over 50. Bathhouse lighting is my friend.

by Anonymous

reply 17

May 30, 2016 11:54 PM

The East Side and West Side Clubs are so dingy that they look like they've never been renovated since they opened. The clientele is definitely older nowadays. The last time I went was a year ago, and they were both depressing affairs. Embarrassing that NYC only has these sad clubs.

Chicago's Steamworks is still the best I've ever been to-- modern and clean. The men are Midwestern hot (at least they were five years ago when I went). Not sure if it has also become a home for the aged.

by Anonymous

reply 18

May 31, 2016 12:23 AM

I remember that there was a girl who worked in the West Side Club. Yes, she was a girl and she worked the floor. The stories she could probably tell.

by Anonymous

reply 19

May 31, 2016 1:19 AM

The largest gay bathhouse in the US now is in.... Cleveland.

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by Anonymous

reply 20

May 31, 2016 2:10 AM

Nick Capra does all the Flex Spas. Makes you wonder if he is an investor.

by Anonymous

reply 21

May 31, 2016 2:14 AM

[quote]But, don't you think that might be an opportunity for them to make a comeback? There are A LOT of nuts walking the streets. These hookup apps are showing themselves to be a dangerous way to hookup. At least at a bathhouse there are other people around and you're sort of safe if some thing goes wrong. I KNOW I wouldn't just have some trick come to my house, or meet someone at theirs without a lot of questioning.

I've been to Rio a few times, and in Brazil bathhouses are most definitely the way to go. Most hotels won't let strangers up into the guest's rooms, precisely for security purposes.

Granted, these bathhouses are also stuffed to the rafters with rentboys, but they go for roughly $30 a pop.

by Anonymous

reply 22

May 31, 2016 2:17 AM

---------->>>>>>>>>>>>>;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;.......................

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by Anonymous

reply 23

May 31, 2016 2:21 AM

I used to hang out with a dancer friend of mine at the old Club 20 strip club on 20th btwn 5th and 6th, which is right across the street from the West Side Club. This is going back about five years. Not to be unkind but a lot of the guys entering and exiting were at least 60 and/or had protease face. My dancer friend is straight (we were workout biddies), but I'm gay and pretty adventurous, but place just gave me the creeps.

by Anonymous

reply 24

May 31, 2016 2:23 AM

The Flex Spa was pretty big yeah R20 but is not much fun. I don't know why, maybe Cleveland as a whole is pretty depressed. It should be hopping when the RNC comes to town.

The one on Columbus was more fun. There was a cute blond who backed his delectable derrière into every cock in the steam room.

by Anonymous

reply 25

May 31, 2016 2:30 AM

They had a distinctive smell. A mixture of mold, mildew, bleach and damp carpet...but we were all too horny, drunk and tired to care.

by Anonymous

reply 26

May 31, 2016 3:27 AM

I hope bathhouses make a comeback. I enjoy going even if I don't have sex there. I like being in a private establishment where you can be with other gay guys for sex, socializing or just to get away from it all and be alone and anonymous for a few hours. And like being naked or at least semi-naked. I'm in good shape, and I'm not ancient either. And I am not going to meet someone on Grindr or other such app. It's not my thing, and I don't fell comfortable doing it. Bathhouses provide a safe, secure and non-threatening gay escape from the world and a busy and stressful schedule where you can just release and relax.

by Anonymous

reply 27

May 31, 2016 4:34 AM

[quote](we were workout biddies)

Typo of the day! (And probably Freudian slip as well.)

by Anonymous

reply 28

May 31, 2016 4:48 AM

Flex in Cleveland has made plans to add additional help during the RNC, expecting record business. The Cleveland Police Dept. has also been given instructions that there be no arrests for prostitution during the convention, lest a " name" john be implicated. isn't hypocrisy wonderful?

by Anonymous

reply 29

May 31, 2016 12:49 PM

I went to Flex in Cleveland a few times back in the late 90's, at it's former location on east 9th st. At the time, it was sort of like a gay trifecta where it was located - there was an adult book store, then next to that a gay bar called The Grid, and next to that was Flex. This was right around the time I had just came out and was in my early 20's. The first couple times I went there out of curiosity with my friends, and the last few times I stayed there were simply because I was too drunk to drive home and it was a cheap option - a room in their "dungeon" in the basement was only $12 if I recall correctly. That said, it was literally the size of a walk in closet, and all that was in the room was a plywood box with vinyl padding on it which was your "bed" and a lightbulb on the ceiling - everything was painted black - that's it. The upper floors were progressively nicer and more expensive and had different themes to them. The 3rd floor was a workout room themed, the 4th floor was more like your standard hotel, etc... You had to leave your wallet and keys at the desk when you checked in, and I think they kicked everyone out by like 5:30am or 6-ish. It was a strange place to be honest, just a bunch of guys of varying attractivness walking around naked or semi naked, and gathering in areas to jerk off to porn. What really made me uncomfortable at such a young age was that there were a couple guys there in particular who I knew were HIV+, and it just creeped me out seeing everyone hooking up with little to no protection. It was kinda fun from a voyeuristic perspective, but it was more of a look but don't touch thing for me. Only once I let a guy blow me there. Also, there were some gross moments of the few times I went there - such as one time when someone crapped in one of the hot tubs and they had to clear out the room to clean it.

by Anonymous

reply 30

May 31, 2016 1:28 PM

I don't really see the need for bathhouses these days to be honest, you can just as easily visit a gay bar to peruse guys in person if hookup apps aren't your thing.

by Anonymous

reply 31

May 31, 2016 1:41 PM

Not many gay bars left, R31. The internet and fast escalating rents are killing them too.

by Anonymous

reply 32

May 31, 2016 2:15 PM

15 reasons you should go to a bath house.

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by Anonymous

reply 33

May 31, 2016 2:46 PM

I lived in NYC during the 70's to mid-80's, was married for 13 of those years, and went to the baths, mostly during the day, with all the other men married to women. I met a number of really wonderful men in those days, and was careful enough to remain negative to this day.

Bathhouses are what you make of them. Several nowadays offer free HIV testing. I used to go to one in San Diego for years, until it closed, mostly because the weekend crowds dwindled down, and it slowly became more of a social club. I've tried the apps, and met a few hot guys, who mostly want me to host, and I've met a few clunkers, who get riled when I drive to their homes, see them, and realize I don't want to have more than conversation. Met one of those last week.

I'm not a muscle bear, but for 67 I look pretty good, and still draw interest from men of various ages. I'm surprised, and more than a little saddened, by the fact that men in the U.S. have become so homophobic and skittish that they many don't even change in locker rooms any more. Sure, gay men are, largely, more accepted, but there are still many areas in the country where rednecks rule.

Despite the current proliferation of LGBT centers, the bathhouses always did provide a haven of male homoeroticism and camaraderie for men, only. I miss them, and believe there is still a place for such establishments in our worldview.

by Anonymous

reply 34

May 31, 2016 2:59 PM

So that bath house in Cleveland... I wonder if some guy's will be putting up signs on their rooms saying "I FUCK TRUMP SUPPORTERS" or "I WANT TO BE DOMINATED BY A TRUMP SUPPORTER" or "I GIVE FACIALS TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS"... sounds like a good time.

Fucking a Trump supporter, making him grunt and hopefully squeal like that whiny bitch Donald would make me shoot a ropey load...

even if I just gagged a few with my meat while telling them what a douchbag their candidate was would be fun.

by Anonymous

reply 35

May 31, 2016 4:36 PM

[quote]At the time, it was sort of like a gay trifecta where it was located - there was an adult book store, then next to that a gay bar called The Grid, and next to that was Flex.

Sound like SE DC before they tore it down for the baseball stadium. There was a movie theater/strip club, gloryhole place, bar, and bathhouse all in the same block.

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by Anonymous

reply 36

May 31, 2016 4:39 PM

Was the glory hole place the one with the big black boxes you could move around?

by Anonymous

reply 37

May 31, 2016 4:58 PM

I'd LOVE to hear some stories from people who went to the the Mt Morris baths in Harlem!!! They HAVE to be good! I've been told that Planet Fitness and NYSC of Harlem has sort of taken its place until they closed down the steam and sauna rooms.

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by Anonymous

reply 38

May 31, 2016 5:22 PM

Well, Boston guys in desperate need of dick make the drive south to Providence, RI where the depressing Mega-Plex awaits. I think there's a second bath house in the city as well.

Any tales to tell about wandering about in a towel in Providence's bath houses?

by Anonymous

reply 39

May 31, 2016 5:37 PM

Hope that, if you trick with one of the Republican delegates, you don't end up "Feeling the Burn."

by Anonymous

reply 40

May 31, 2016 8:26 PM

I think if they marketed bathhouses differently they could make a comeback. I'm sure there are laws, but what if a bathhouse was also a gay bar that had a DJ? Themed parties, etc?

I'm not old enough,but I've heard that some bathhouses held actual shows.

by Anonymous

reply 41

May 31, 2016 8:30 PM

There are two bath houses in Fort Lauderdale: (1) The Club Fort Lauderdale where the cute boys and muscle men go and (2) the Clubhouse II, where the old geezers and fat bears hang out.

by Anonymous

reply 42

May 31, 2016 8:31 PM

I get you R42. But, here is my question; How do they keep the old geezers and fat bears out of the cute boy and muscle men club? I'm serious. We're all adults here. Can we talk?

by Anonymous

reply 43

May 31, 2016 8:38 PM

Flex in Cleveland would be wise to have a whole bunch of masks of the candidates faces ready for guys to use... there could be a guy in a Hilary mask banging a guy in a Trump mask... men in Rubio, Cruz or Paul Ryan masks could throw their legs in the air for a pounding by the guy in a Trump mask... talk about a P A R T Y!

by Anonymous

reply 44

May 31, 2016 8:38 PM

R41 Some of the ones in LA have strip and jack-off shows.

by Anonymous

reply 45

May 31, 2016 8:47 PM

I checked out one of the Providence, RI, bathhouses a couple years back, when I stayed a night in the city. It happened to be right near my hotel so decided there's a first time for everything (I was mid-30s at the time).

I don't remember what it was called but it was definitely pretty dank/smelly/gross, and the crowd was definitely older. I did stroke off for a little while in the sauna while I watched a hot mustachioed daddy go down on another older but good looking fellow.

Then I hit the shower where I let (yet another middle-aged) pocket gay suck my pecker. He wanted me to fuck him, I said no and he stomped off all huffy, so I shot a load into the shower drain and went back to my hotel.

by Anonymous

reply 46

May 31, 2016 8:54 PM

[quote]He wanted me to fuck him, I said no and he stomped off all huffy,

Now, that really just made me laugh! A frustrated bossy bottom! LOL!!!!

by Anonymous

reply 47

May 31, 2016 8:58 PM

Over a decade ago, there was a bathhouse in Boston called Safari. It was a good enough place. The cute manager would walk around in a towel and try to get fucked often.

by Anonymous

reply 48

May 31, 2016 9:05 PM

Now, if they can put on parties like this then maybe...

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by Anonymous

reply 49

May 31, 2016 9:42 PM

re r49, why is it that photo sets portraying large numbers of gay men together always manage to look so tragic? Even when the men are attractive?

by Anonymous

reply 50

May 31, 2016 9:50 PM

I've been to Providence as well... the place was dark and really dated in appearance... quality of men varied widely, but I did end up getting off and enjoyed the two or three guys I fooled around with. I'd go back when my cock makes the demand, but that won't be for months.

by Anonymous

reply 51

May 31, 2016 10:02 PM

I have a gym membership to Flex. I'll go during the convention and see if I run into Aaron.

by Anonymous

reply 52

May 31, 2016 11:23 PM

Anyone see someone famous at one of there bath houses?

by Anonymous

reply 53

May 31, 2016 11:26 PM

I don't have a problem with bath houses per se, and I'm not one to try an "out" someone who is HIV+ or I know has other STD's - ultimately it's up to you to protect yourself. But it really would anger me to see people whom I knew had STD's, freely hook up with others at these places without even attempting to let their prospective partners know in advance. Of the few times I did go to these places, part of the reason why was to see who frequented them and who I should be more cautious about.

by Anonymous

reply 54

June 1, 2016 3:34 AM

OP, you should check out a book by Donald Reuter called, "Greetings from the Gayborhood: A Look Back at the Golden Age of Gay Neighborhoods" which looks at 1978 in a variety of US cities.

by Anonymous

reply 55

June 1, 2016 3:54 AM

DOes anyone go to Steamworks in Berkeley? A friend of mine goes fairly often; usually has a great time. He's 50ish, but is told he looks younger; is in pretty good shape.

by Anonymous

reply 56

June 1, 2016 4:10 AM

There's several saunas in my city (not America). The pool at my local one is particular good, infinitely better than a council pool, and I visit it to exercise.

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by Anonymous

reply 57

June 1, 2016 4:12 AM

Isn't OP's photo (the pre-Revolution St Petersburg sauna) the sexiest thing!

Saunas are great. I love the mix of 'straight' guys and gay guys, and non-scene guys. Those wedded to apps don't know what they're missing out on. But how shocking that a city like New York only has shitty places. Some gay entrepreneurs need to lay money down and upon up some decent places, as second cities enjoy.

by Anonymous

reply 58

June 1, 2016 4:22 AM

[quote]a haven of male homoeroticism and camaraderie for men

EXACTLY. That's why they're needed more than ever! I love the lounges, especially if they're cosy and plush and one can have a good meal and catch up with a good movie. Are the two Thermos in Amsterdam still as good as they used to be? Mind you, there's more glamouress saunas elsewhere, but I like those that are also slightly seedy. There was/is (?) one in London under railway arches that was abominably seedy, but the quality of the down-to-earth working class men there was sensational. It didn't seem to attract twee professional gays like Chariots, thank God.

by Anonymous

reply 59

June 1, 2016 4:51 AM

[quote]I'm not old enough,but I've heard that some bathhouses held actual shows.

—Anonymous

oh they did dearie....they did

by Anonymous

reply 61

March 23, 2018 2:54 AM

Europe does gay baths much better than the U.S. I liked the ones in Germany, especially.

by Anonymous

reply 62

March 23, 2018 3:29 AM