Save. Our. Bathouses.

[Guest PozGoat]

(perhaps some of this should have been posted in the "your last load" forum)..

 

My last load taken is still brewing in my gut, from last night. I hit a local bath and met up with a hot toxic unmedded pig. He rented a large fetish room with a sling and other fetish/restraint gear. Fuckbenches, a rimchair, St Andrews cross etc. Its the biggest room that this BH rents. Could have a full sex party with several guys inside this room, complete with slings and all the fun sex gear. It's just one of the things that I love about bathhouses. The rooms, the layout. The play places, dark rooms, dark corners and all the places where guys fuck.

 

To me, BH's are safe, relaxing places to play at any pace. I can be an aggressive pig, or relax in the hottub for awhile. I love the energy of the place when I walk into a BH. My heart gets going as the smells of the place enter my nose. The anticipation to get inside, get naked, don my towel, or throw it over my shoulder and freeball and go cruising. The debauchery that awaits.

 

Few things get me revved up more than walking into a bathhouse. I never leave disappointed.

 

Lastnight,

The crowd wasn't bad, but kinda moderate for a friday night. Years ago, bathhouses were packed on weekend nights. Rooms would be fully rented out with waiting lists.

 

Online cruising and a bad global economy have changed that in recent years. BH crowds have shrunk but there is still plenty of action to be found at the tubs. As the economy slowly improves, I've seen BH crowds rebound in the past couple of years but the crowds aren't as big as they were in years past.

 

Online cruising still plays a major role.

 

Most BH's today are struggling to stay open with smaller crowds/fewer customers. Once they close, we lose these gay treasures for good. New bathouses rarely open these days.

 

There is a recent thread here on BZ about the legendary Thermos BH in Amsterdam going bankrupt.

Sad.

 

I feel that it is time to call on fellow gay men to do something to stop this trend of losing these gay treasures. We, gay/bi men, are the only ones who can save these businesses from going out of business, and vanishing, forever.

 

Simply put,

We need to start patronizing bathouses more frequently or we are going to lose them forever.

 

I understand if money is tight and times are tough, economically. Most BH's are quite cheap compared to any other form of entertainment.

 

How can we save baths? Spread the word! Encourage other gay men to start hitting the baths.

 

Bathouses are some of the best places to plan a sex party. Forget the hotels, next time you want to plan a BBRT sex party, do it at a bathhouse. The room rental is often cheaper than a hotel room and most baths have large 'party' themed rooms for rent, with fetish gear, slings etc.

 

If you are new to bathhouses and are a bit nervous about going, put your fears at rest. You have nothing to fear at a BH. They are safe places and you'll usually see just how laid back and easy-going that the crowds really are. BH's offer lockboxes etc to safely lock up your valuables.

 

If you have any fears, ask here.

 

In closing, please think about it like this..

 

Are you tired of the never-ending flake-outs that you have to deal with when online cruising? BH's make that problem go away.

 

Online cruising became stale to me years ago. BH's are my real love.

 

To save our baths, those of us in the gay community need a man-to-man word of mouth type of campaign to encourage each other to save our bathouses.

 

Bring a buddy.

 

Tonight is a great night to hit a local bath. I'm about to start douching..

[NLbear]

I posted the thread about Thermos in Amsterdam. I don't go to BH's anymore simply because they are too far away from where I live right now but I would love to go. The smell, the atmosphere, the excitement, thumping music (I'll always remember a certain fuck at Thermos Night when a House remix of Bjork's Human Behaviour played) . I miss that.

Thermos may have gone bankrupt but a new one opened in Amsterdam a while ago which is pretty popular if I believe messages that I read about it. It's about keeping up with the times and maintaining the place.

 

I think bathhouses won't go away altogether. The better ones will survive. Guys like cruising in a safe environment despite internet hookups. Even when I didn't get fucked I liked the experience. Hearing guys fucking in a room or seeing guys getting fucked made it OK even if I didn't get some that night..I used to stay until 6am and then take the train home. Too old for that now.

 

I had some of the best sex at a BH in Rome, Italy (Mediterraneo sauna). Burly, hairy men. No twinks. God, these Italian guys are horny!!! When they find out you are a foreigner they all want to fuck you. LOL. Loved to hear them talk to you in Italian (which I don't speak) when they are drilling your hole with their big salamis.

[Guest PozGoat]

I posted the thread about Thermos in Amsterdam. I don't go to BH's anymore simply because they are too far away from where I live right now but I would love to go. The smell, the atmosphere, the excitement, thumping music (I'll always remember a certain fuck at Thermos Night when a House remix of Bjork's Human Behaviour played) . I miss that.

Thermos may have gone bankrupt but a new one opened in Amsterdam a while ago which is pretty popular if I believe messages that I read about it. It's about keeping up with the times and maintaining the place.

 

I think bathhouses won't go away altogether. The better ones will survive. Guys like cruising in a safe environment despite internet hookups. Even when I didn't get fucked I liked the experience. Hearing guys fucking in a room or seeing guys getting fucked made it OK even if I didn't get some that night..I used to stay until 6am and then take the train home. Too old for that now.

 

I had some of the best sex at a BH in Rome, Italy (Mediterraneo sauna). Burly, hairy men. No twinks. God, these Italian guys are horny!!! When they find out you are a foreigner they all want to fuck you. LOL. Loved to hear them talk to you in Italian (which I don't speak) when they are drilling your hole with their big salamis.

Thanks for the informed reply. Nice to hear opinion from the scene in Europe. Very good to hear that another tub opened in Amsterdam. It was rather sad to read your post about Thermos closing. You're very correct about maintaining the place or disrepair can make crowds dwindle leading to bankrupt tub that closes down for good. I've seen it happen to Man's World in Chicago. Closed and tore down in 2006.

 

Disrepair and lousy ownership wrecked a once thriving BH.

 

I agree with everything you said. Well managed BH's can thrive and I am seeing bigger crowds in the past couple of years.

 

Thanks for the perspective.

Oink!

 

 

ps

The visual of you describing the scene while at those Italian tubs left me with a dripping boner, so thank you for that!

[Guest PozGoat]

To NL, another tidbit about Man's World..

Man's World was once owned by a great owner, gay. He knew how to run the place and it was a hot place with busy crowds, thriving scene. It was located a couple blocks south of the legendary Mans Country bath in Chicago.

 

The gay owner died and he willed the business to his straight brother or son(or some very close family member). The straight 'brother' ran it into the ground, clueless as to how to run a bathhouse. He lost it in due to unpaid taxes and bankruptcy.

[Bttm2go]

I agree, we need to save the bathhouses. I always have a lot of fun there. There is so much fun to be had. Usually spend 3 to 4 hours giving and taking. I have even met guys there to hook up when neither of us can host. It would be ashame to lose them.

[Whitebutt]

I so miss Mt. Morris in Harlem

[FelchingPisser]

I spent three hours this Sunday afternoon showing a newbie the delights of a good bathhouse.  I fucked him in public at the crowded slurp ramp.  He had a cock in his mouth and I slipped my raw dick into his ass.  The look on his face was like he'd just "come home."

 

I agree that I don't think we will lose them completely, but we have to support them.

[Guest PozGoat]

I spent three hours this Sunday afternoon showing a newbie the delights of a good bathhouse.  I fucked him in public at the crowded slurp ramp.  He had a cock in his mouth and I slipped my raw dick into his ass.  The look on his face was like he'd just "come home."

 

I agree that I don't think we will lose them completely, but we have to support them.

Awww, what a lucky newb! To get properly trained and whored by an experienced pigdad must've been an honor for him.

 

A salute to you, good Sir! For training and showing the next gen of young pigs how we really fucking roll. Pigstyle.

 

Sounds like you trained him properly. Good job, Sir!

 

Oink!

[seaguy]

In places like Seattle, and San Francisco where property values are skyrocketing along with rents bathhouses face those factors as well.  Here in Seattle both are in the Pike Pine neighborhood where they just opened the Starbucks roasters across from Club Z.   As I understand it the building Club Z is in is owned by some little old lady who has not wanted to sell it or redevelop it so far but the building is old and rumors of the Z's closing seem to float every few years or so.  I suspect that this lady is getting up there in the years now and with the convention center expanding just a couple blocks away there will be increased pressure on her to sell and the buyer would take a wrecking ball to the current building without a doubt.   That would leave Seattle with just Steamworks which seems like it is in a location less likely to be developed thought I am not sure if they own the building or not. But Seattle used to have three bathhouses not that many years ago.  I don't see Club Z reopening if they are closed down at the current location rents in the neighborhood are too high.  But I hope the "Z" stays open as long as it can because it cracks me up when I think if the tourists snapping photos across the street at Starbucks roasters only knew what kind of club it is and what goes on behind those walls they would not know what to do . lol