What is the Best Bathhouse in America?

I had a lovely afternoon at Club Dallas this week. Nice and clean facility, great mix of guys, and I had a couple of hot connections. I was impressed. But which one is the best in the country?

• [quote]I had a couple of hot connections. Translation: you're a whore, darlin'.

  Cristal%20C.

• Define best? Biggest? Most Clean? Hottest Crowd? Largest number of guys who are into you?(literally I expect) What does best mean to you?

• Ew. How vile. People still go there?

• Could we have best - and worst as well please? For me: hands down the best one I've been to on the USA was steamworks in Chicago. It has great facilities - and is easy to get to - and is very busy! Something for everybody. Staff seemed mostly helpful - and some were friendly - with a few exceptions. Great venue. Worst: Man's Country - also in Chicago. Polar opposite. Small and poky, very basic facilities! Not very many men there at all the times I visited - but would have overlooked all that if only the staff hadn't been so surly and unhelpful. Just rude pigs really. Went there twice after visiting friends who lived nearby - and the staff were awful both times. Also went to one of the two(?) remaining spa/bathhouses in NYC when I was there a few years ago - can't remember now if it was club eastside or westside. It was a complete waste of time. I think public health regulations there have fucked it up. It's really not a great atmosphere when official fun police are prowling the corridors to prevent any hanky-panky. Felt like I'd wandered into a 'straight' sauna in London back in the early eighties... Nostalgia isn't always a good thing.

• While I would say it was the 'best' - agree with steamworks in Chicago poster! - I think crew club in DC is pretty good as well. Reasonably large facility. Nice atmosphere. Convenient location. Lots of players when i've been there - and perfectly nice staffers. Good experience! Opposite of that was a night at 'the works' (i'm pretty sure that's the place) which seemed to be miles from downtown - and altho reasonably large with ok facilities, the atmosphere is kinda dull. Night I was there it was near deserted - which obviously had a lot to do with that. I realize it was only one visit - and I lucked out and got an off night! - but in spite of the many-starred reviews on some websites, lots of the comments say it's very quiet at night. Was a big waste of two expensive cabfares there and back. Not worth the effort for an out-of-towner...

• Bathhouses are so much better and a more efficient use of your time than the trying to hook-up via the Internet.

• What goes on at a bathhouse? do you walk in alone? with friends? does a DJ play? are men waiting in steamy rooms and then you just go in, and start having sex? This is from a lesbian, who is sick of her gay men friends asking "How do lesbians have sex?" (really)

• Can anyone recommend clean ones on the east coast? Atlanta? d.c? Florida? NYC? T I A

• Ask John Travolta- he's been to them all. Believe me.

  Kelly%20P.

• NYC has no gay baths as you might know them...AIDS too big a problem in the Big Apple.

• Sorry! R5 here again - 'the works' - the not terribly good bathhouse I bagged - was in Indianapolis. Didn't specify the location- duh!

• Steamworks, Chicago, GAVEL DOWN.

• This sounds like an Eldergay thread. Please...... tell us again, about how things were so much better in the 1970s. =/

• The one in Ft. Lauderdale is decent. Relatively new. Big, clean. Outdoor pool. I think it's called "the club" -- not to be confused with "the clubhouse" or something like that which was really waaaaay past its prime.

• Best or worst, as it applies to anything, not just bath houses, means different things to different people, so to deem anything as such is patently ridiculous.

• NYSC 23rd & 8th, hands down.

• "Lovely afternoon" = Big Bottom

• R10 is wrong. NYC has two baths, as you know them. East side and West Side clubs. The crowd is mostly senior and pozzed out however.

• The Pines

• This is why they hate us.

• Steamworks in Chi-town Used to be the best. No longer

• "NYSC 23rd & 8th, hands down." Still? I heard the steam room there is now only open on weekdays, and closed on weeknights and weekends.

• You can get HIV just from reading this thread.

  Ewwwwwwwww...

• Sex is dirty!

  The%20%22Sex%20is%20Dirty%22%20Troll%2C%20on%20a%20comeback%20tour

• They are all great for catching an STD....or something worse. If you're hooking up at a bathhouse, you are living in denial. They were fun in the 70's-now......yuchhhhh.

• Club Houston is just as good as Chicago Steamworks. Chicago has the great indoor hot tub, but Houston has a great outdoor pool for nude sunbathing. The guys at Club Houston tend to be a little hotter, too.

• If you play safe, how is it possible to pick up an STD?

• Exactly, r27, these prisspots have dirty minds.

• Bath Houses are the gay equivalents to the Legions. Same age demographic too.

• [quote]If you play safe, how is it possible to pick up an STD? Condoms are tremendously efficient against the transmission of HIV, but their efficacy against other STDs is not certain. HPV, herpes and syphilis can be transmitted by contact with skin not covered by a condom. Herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis can be spread via oral sex if a condom is not used. You can get hepatitis A by fingering someone or handling their condom after anal sex. Those are the diseases we're aware of, who knows whether the next AIDS is silently incubating somewhere?

• R25, it was Less dangerous in the 70s than now?

• The Vulcan in San Diego may not be the best; I don't have a lot of other places to which to compare, but it's clean, safe and pleasant respite when you want to escape the world.

• The Club in St. Louis is quite nice. Friendly staff, outdoor pool with free food on weekends during the summer, decent gym. However, it is located in a desolate, bombed out neighborhood (it is St. Louis, after all) and the chances of your car being broken into are quite high and don't even think of walking in the immediate neighborhood, unless of course you're looking to get robbed and/or shot.

• Steamworks in Berkeley.

• I've been to about a dozen in the US and Steamworks Chicago is the best I've seen. Clean; convenient; safe neighborhood; diverse demographics (race, age, body type); always busy when you expect it to be and often surprisingly so when you don't expect it (afternoons, early evenings); always "fresh meat" coming through because of tourists and business travelers.

• To answer the inquiring lesbian friend... On the surface, the bathhouse is basically a spa. Naked men in towels, taking showers, using the steam, sauna, jacuzzi, and gym facilities. There is often a dark back room with a glory hole maze involved. Through that, you find ways to make contact with guys. Guys can be choosy in this environment as they need. Men of all sorts go to the bathhouse, hot ones and lesser so. You go and try to hook up with guys you think are hot, don't take it personally if you are rejected, and don't feel bad about rejecting an advance you don't like. People mostly go by themselves. It's sexier than going with a group of your buddies, because let's face it: four queens descending on a bathhouse is a dick wilter, because there is going to be all manner of chatter and whisper and fear of doing something sexual in front of your friends. Often times, couples will go there in order to spice up their sex lives a bit. There are many screens showing porn. There is usually a DJ (sometimes a very good one). Sometimes it's just a CD player that may or may not be well monitored by staff. You pay a membership fee to the Club (which gets you around the legality of 'public sex'...since you are paying for 'private membership'). Usually $12 for 6 months or something. Then you also pay a fee for use for the day. You can choose a room or a locker. Lockers are cheaper. If you get a room, then you can lay on the bed and hope for guys to come into your room. If you get a locker, you must walk around and look to get laid either in the facilities, or in someone's room. The rooms are only big enough for a small platformed mattress and access thereto. There are sometimes TVs in the rooms playing porn. Some bathhouses have big TV rooms playing porn. Others have a big open area where anything can happen...like a massive orgy. Orgies also happen in steam rooms (if everyone can handle the steam level for that long). Jacuzzis usually don't have sexy time - and that's often enforced by the staff. I like to just go and relax in the jacuzzi first, unwind a bit, and see who is wandering around. Then i shower up and look around some more. More often than not, I have a great time with hot guys.

• The riskiest thing I do in bathouses (and with anyone I don't know well) is give and receive bjs. Mostly it's handjobs and making out. I've never had an STD. Anyone who believes "bathhouse-goer" = "riddled with disease" is an idiot. You can seroconvert anywhere. Quite a few have done it at home in bed with a trusted partner. Meanwhile what goes on in bathhouses between any two partners can be quite tame; for some of us it's just a quick, nearly fail-proof way to have a little (a **little**) fun with a stranger.

• [italic]Condoms are tremendously efficient against the transmission of HIV, but their efficacy against other STDs is not certain. HPV, herpes and syphilis can be transmitted by contact with skin not covered by a condom. Herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis can be spread via oral sex if a condom is not used. You can get hepatitis A by fingering someone or handling their condom after anal sex. Those are the diseases we're aware of, who knows whether the next AIDS is silently incubating somewhere?[/italic] Of course, you can get any of the above anywhere, including your bedroom. So, the answer is...don't have sex, ever. If you touch another guy you'll get chlamydia, aids, herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis, typhoid fever, dengue, shingles, peritonitis, scabies, trichomoniasis, giardia, HPV, amoebas, shigellosis, and halitosis. It's best to move to the remotest part of Montana and avoid human contact whatsoever.

  Concerned%20Women%20of%20America%20

• Thank you, R36.

  your%20lesbian%20friend

• r38 you can make fun of r30 all you want, but it doesn't change the disease vectors. r36 thanks for the description. It sounds kind of sad though, do you ever actually talk to the guys you have sex with?

• In the 80s, they had one for gals in Oakland. Most gals are too embarrassed to go to such places. It's really a guy thing -- maybe the last guy thing.

• Easy... I've been to dozens, and the best by far was "Steamworks" in Chicago. I hear the one in SF is also good, but have never been there.

• I'm not R36, but I'll answer the question about conversation with sex partners at the baths. The answer for most guys is "sometimes." Conversation before sex is not the norm. If there's any talking at all before, it's usually only to establish whether there's mutual interest in a hook up. I think for most guys, one of the biggest advantages of the baths is that you can skip the rituals of the bars and other "real world" settings and get straight to the point. If you hook up and don't enjoy yourself, there's not a lot of incentive to stay and chat afterwards. But when you really click sexually with someone, it's a pretty good conversation starter. So afterwards, especially if you're in a private room, it's very common for guys to talk for a few minutes. It's also pretty common for guys who click with each other to exchange contact info and get together outside the baths. Usually, the intent is just a booty call, but I've dated guys I met at the baths, including my current partner of 5 years. If you're a regular at the same place, there might be other regulars who you hook up with on many occasions over time. That tends to lead to some talking as well. If sexual contact happens in a setting/situation that isn't conducive to conversation (e.g. standing up in a steamroom or in a glory hole area with a partial barrier between you and your sex partner), there's probably not going to be talking unless there is a conscious effort to move to a location where conversation is more convenient and appropriate. There is a subset of bathhouse goers who either do not or rarely talk. Most of these types seem to specifically get off on the anonymity and/or the wham-bam-thank-you-man potential of sex at the baths. I can think of two guys who I had sex with on a number of occasions at the baths (and who always approached me, by the way) who conspicuously avoided me after the one time I had the temerity to say anything beyond "thanks" to them afterwards.

• I love talking with the tricks in the baths, you can fantasize and say all kinds of things that you might be to embarrassed to say to a longterm lover

• Steamworks in Chicago was once called the Unicorn and it has the best facilities. Man's Country can be nice if you are into dark, ethnic trade, more down low black and Latin types go there. Steamworks attracts the lily white Halsted St. rejects. I had a good time at Club Orleans on Toulouse St. in New Orleans. Much better than either in terms of men and the facilities are really good.

• R36 nailed it on the (dick)head. I also go to the one closest to me (Club Columbus) because they have a heated pool that's open April to October and I can swim or lay out, nude if I so desire, on those hot days before and after the regular pool season. It's a good place for voyeurs, too, who might not wish to indulge 100% or take a turn in the sling! LOL

• R45, when did you go? I was there (in New orleans) at midnight on a Friday or Saturday, and the place was deserted. Five floors, and maybe five people in it. Sad. I left after half an hour.

• I second that about club Orleans, very very slow.

• Club Houston has the hottest guys.

• New Orleans is HORIBLE -- dead as a swatted fly. Chicage Steamworks is America's best. However, I went to Babylon lsat night here in Bangkok and it blew my mind and quite a bit more. Damn. We're talking set-up, men, service, cleaniness, talk or no talk. I don't get guys who put others down. If your life ended in the '80's, well, I'm living now with total safety, joy and gymnastics. Why on DL. Waiting for a flight.

• I do, R40. I've met some sweet guys in bathhouses. And I assure you it's not sad for everyone.

• i have a related question a creative type guy that is straight follows me on twitter and the other day i looked at who else he followed and buried among the hundreds of people and places he follows is a bath house. Even i as a gay dude dont follow any such type of establishments. Can i safely assume that he is not completely straight but rather bisexual? by the way its Midtowne Spa in L.A.

  he%20is%20super%20hot

• The guys at Club Houston are hotter than at Steamworks Chicago, and better hung in my experience. And you have a wider variety of ethnicities in Houston.

• R52 it is pretty obvious.

• I don't know about the bathhouses in America, but I really recomend Sauna Paraiso in Madrid. Fan-fucking-tastic

• 45 here I don't know I had great time w about 5 different guys (inc a nice Latin twink) in Club Orleans, this was last week - depends on YOUR mood too. One guy even invited me back to his loft where I met a hot daddy type who fucked me into oblivion.

• 45 again- The bath in Amsterdam (with the pool inside and the bar on the 1st floor) was nice, a very sweet German guy took me out for a dinner date afterwards. sweet. Better than Steamworks anyday.

• Any recommendations on actual bath houses? Good sauna, steam room, spa bath, etc. I loved some of the public baths in Japan when I was living there. So relaxing.

• Does the Schvitz still exist in Detroit? Went there once, interesting and kinky. Fun with who I was dating adventurous at the time for someone usually meek as I was....but fun.

  Anonymous

• I miss the days when network tv shows like 'That's Incredible!' would easily answer questions like the OPs for American viewers.

• Pay money? To have sex in front of other men? Sorry, not getting it.

  gay%20guys%20under%2025

• Bathhouses are kind of over... killed by the internet and apps like Grindr and Scruff.

• You forgot to mention apps like Gonorrhea and Syph.

• Best one I went to was in a small town in Minnesota...filled with ass in the air closet cases.

• I like bathhouses. At least you get to see the guy in person. This bullshit of trying to hook-up online is a collosal waste of time.

• I took a younger friend to the baths soon after he came out. His reaction was the same as mine had been, looking around wide-eyed, "I've been looking for this my entire life!"

• If your into cocksucking, LA and Fort Lauderdale's Club Slammer. In Florida, check out the bathouses in Tampa. Anonymous gay sex scene there is the most versatile and energetic in Florida right now - YOUNG CROWD. Two relatively new bathhouses and a wide array of video arcade options for guys looking to chock on cock.

• I agree with R65, online is great for flirting, but nothing else

• Steamworks Chicago and Club Houston get my votes for best in US. Worst would have to be Club Body Center in Philly. Does Safari Club still exist in Boston? What about Club Flex in LA?

• Bathhouses are neutral territory. Online hookups require either letting a stranger into your home or you going to a stranger's place. I've been lucky but friends have complained about things going missing from their apartments and such.

• Wouldn't be in Dallas where the red neck pigs are always dogging gays. I was married to a Dallas cop

• Safari Club closed years ago.

• Club Body Center in Philadelphia is now closed due to fire damage. They say it will re-open.

• John Travolta's bathroom.

• My new Bathhouse website. Enjoy!

  http://www.bathhouseblues.com/

• and make your gay bathhouse Christmas plans now

  http://www.bathhouseblues.com/christmas.html

  not%20r75

• Little old Providence, RI has 2 bath houses (I guess to make up for the lack of any in the rest of New England). Megaplex and Club Body Center, and they are both very gross now. Megaplex used to actually have hot guys there, and a good night out would end up at the Plex where you could hook up with the hottie you saw out at the clubs earlier. Now, sadly, Mega has fallen into total disrepair, facilities like sauna don't work, and the area it is in is really really crime ridden. If you park there, your car WILL get vandalized. The smell... oh god the smell. The place smells nasty, theres a dark back maze for groping and whatever. Club Body Center, recently renamed to something else, has always been for the older crowd (as well as the homeless who take advantage of the facilities to sleep and shower). Disgusting would be a compliment to describe this place. Seriously, I went, there was some kind of coupon I had, walked in and walked out. I think the baths are actually better than the online / app things - less bullshit, no pretense. You aren't looking for "friends" if you are at a bath house at 3am. Been to a couple in Texas also Midtown Spa in Austin and ACI in San Antonio. Midtown gets a good mix of people (mostly older, but some youngin's wander) in and nice sling room for pervs. ACI is kinda gross, but so is the rest of San Antonio. The clientele is representative of the area - latino, mexican, tons of foreskin.

• I didn't know bathhouses still existed, but I suppose it's a nice convenience for the poors that still lack indoor plumbing.

• We have no idea.

  Every%20gay%20guy%2030%20and%20under

• Your mom.

  In%20my%20cups.

• There are just as many under 30s interested in baths and sex clubs as there always has been, but they don't talk about it with friends who are judgmental about it. Given how the Wedding Industrial Complex has sunk its claws into the development of youngergays, it's even harder to be honest about their behaviors when their friends only talk about monogamy and husbands, which they think they HAVE to talk about.

• The Vulcan in San Diego...decent place near Little Italy downtown; slightly older crowd, but some young guys. Clean, safe, lowkey. Not always busy but steady crwod; a decent place to just be for a few hours and just escape from the world. I like the outdoor patio where you can lay out naked on a sunny day. Club San Diego...an okay place, but rather tacky and just plain icky place to be. But more younger guys go there since it's located in the gay neighborhood of Hillcrest. The horribly blasting disco music is annoying as hell. The steam room can be fun when there are a lot of people in there if you can stand the heat for a while.

• The ones where "Glee's" Blaine is performing showtunes.

• But of course, The Continental Baths, NYC.

  Bette Midler and Barry Manilow

• Sadly, the only comperable experience for women is jail and prison. But noone's 'hot,' beause hot chicks don't have any use for risky and illicit crime. But cholas are notorious for having chicks on the side even in the real world so casual sex for them while incarcerated is standard procedure.

• [quote] Sadly, the only comperable experience for women is jail and prison. Oh, dear.

  PPSM%2C%20working%20overtime%20tonight

• Mega-Plex is Providence RI is the only bathouse I've ever visited and what R77 is somewhat true unfortunately. It hasn't been updated in years... the locker room in particular is ugly and seems dirty. However, I've had some great sex there. Over the years I've visited may be eight times and usually leave having gotten some excellent head or fucking some willing guy. These weren't trolls at all, but good looking, beefy men who liked to play. I lucked out once with a former Marine in the locker room as I was getting undressed: he showed up to get dressed and leave, saw my cock and was on his knees like a missionary in church - damn he wanted dick. Best was he stayed and would drop to his knees when we crossed paths. insatiable and an exhibitionist. I've shot my load all over a muscle bear once... he was incredibly sexy. I told him to leave the room we were in and walk to the showers naked wearing my jizz. The man strutted out and down the hall. I followed, marveling at his ass, which I played with in the shower. Mega-Plex may not have much in the looks department, but some of the men are hot and looking to play. My car has never been vandalized.

• I thought the one in Cleveland was supposed to be "The Largest in the World" and one we were all supposed to visit in 2014 when we go to the Gay Games.

• Davey Wavy goes to a bathhouse

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DzyFBfgmWlaY

• Davey Wavey with his little girl voice ruins everything.

• Davey Wavey is so gross.

• Has anyone heard of any for lesbians?

• This is an incredibly alien concept to me.

  Twentysomething

• I lovea nice bath house, they are such a great fraternal connecting spot.

• Another lesbian here. Thanks for the detailed descriptions of what goes on in the bathhouses. I think young gay man are foolish to turn up their noses at this outlet and should take advantage of it while they can. Wish gay women had something like it to satisfy urges, but women in general are just different - you can learn a lot about the genders by looking at same-sex interaction.

• The Safari Club in Boston is long gone. But, god love em, they tried having a session for lesbians on Saturday mornings. Naturally, straight men showed up. The same guy from Safari Club owns the Crew Club in DC. He was always very willing to have outreach workers and testing done on premises. The last two times I was at Megaplex (about a year and a half between visits) I ended up with crabs. The first time I had sex with a couple furry guys and these things sometimes happen and it's annoying but you deal with it. The next time I visited I wore gym shorts and as it happened, I didn't meet anybody I wanted to engage. I just hung out and watched some porn and showered and left. I never made physical contact with anybody. I felt the crabs within a few days. I realized I had been given the same room both times. It was room ten, for people who know the place. I have never returned.

• For the lesbians, one operational detail that I don't think anyone's mentioned: When you check in, you receive a room key attached to a spiraly keychain. Because there are no pockets! Most everyone wanders around dressed in a white towel around the waist . . . and these fashionable little bracelets :-) At some locations, upon check-in, you can also put your wallet, mobile phone, etc., in a little safety deposit box at the front desk--and there's a key for this as well on the bracelet. At these places that makes for lots of jingling queens roaming the corridors.

  http://i.ebayimg.com/t/NEW-SPIRAL-WRIST-COIL-KEY-CHAIN-KEY-RING-HOLDER-STRETCHABLE-6-COLOR-AVAILABLE-/00/s/MTAyNFgxMDI0/%24%28KGrHqZHJBcE63Vg1UzyBO6CO%21Ilzg%7E%7E60_12.JPG

• The Midtowne Spa in downtown LA has strip and jackoff shows.

• The latest scourge of bathhouses is bed bugs. Not only do you get syphilis, gonorrhea, anal warts, herpes and AIDS but you wind up taking home the bed bugs.

• You could check into the Waldorf-Astoria and get bed bugs, R99. What's your point?

  I think we all know R99's thinly veiled point.

• I went to The Club Ft Lauderdale yesterday afternoon. The age range was good. I plan on going back today for the lunch buffet. It is very clean and busy.

• I just can't eat buffet food in a bathhouse.

• Mans Country in Chicago is disgusting. Was hot 30 yrs ago before Unicorn now Steamworks. I remember someone went to MC and saw a turd floating in the jacuzzi! Lovely.

• I'd never claim that Mega-Plex in Providence, RI is the best bathhouse, but man, I had a good time there last Saturday night. Two bear-ish guys stopped to watch me get a good blowjob that evening and decided to join the fun. They were dressed, getting ready to leave, but stuck around for some play. Damn - the hairy ass on one was fucking incredible and he liked to fuck face with his stiff dick. How I wish they were able to stick around for a longer session of cock sucking and more. Luckily I ended up getting a great blow job later and shot my load all over the man's pecs in the lock room. he had to take a walk to the showers showing off my cum dump to all he passed. Oh yea.

• R81 says it well.