Disappointing Report From Indianapolis

[ErosWired]

I just returned from a CumUnion weekend at The Works bathhouse in Indianapolis. This is a 6-hour round-trip drive for me, but I have been going up there ever since CumUnion started there in the years before the pandemic. It has always been my practice to arrive at 8am, take a 12-hour room, and extend my time through 1am or so to take in the party. I have always preferred The Works for the steamroom, which has been the best of any bathhouse I’ve been to.

That was then.

After the pandemic, the place changed ownership. When I was there in February, things seemed more or less the same, but the vibe was off…and the steam room was much too hot. Their solution was to open the door to the room until it cooled down. I didn’t have as much luck then, but I wrote it off to chance.

This time, I got up there, headed out, and noticed on their website that their hours were now listed as 10am-midnight.

Fuck.

I pulled into their lot, expecting to have to wait a couple of hours. The sign said ‘Open’. In fact, their website is, and I quote from the staff, “A clusterfuck.” But there’s nothing they can do about it. I take a 12-hour room, and re-up for a six-month membership. I get set up, strip down, and happily head for the steamroom.

Or rather, the scalding-room.

The steam is so hot that you can barely touch the walls, and if you were to take a deep breath, you would scald your lungs. I went to the desk to report the situation.

”Nothing we can do until the manager gets here at 4:00,” I was told.

”It’s a safety hazard,” I said. “Can I open the door?”

”We can’t do that.”

An hour later someone came by my room to tell me a calk had been put in to the manager. Five hours later, the room had cooled - because they had turned off the steam. The walks were now dry, but still radiating heat because they had been so hot. Steam would not return until around 5:30pm, meaning that for 9 of the 12 hours in which I paid for use of a steam room, there was no steam room. Which meant that, for 9 of the 12 hours, I was unable to position myself in one of the most likely places to get a cock shoved up my ass.

Fast forward to 8pm. The 12 hour room is about up, so I go down to re-up the room for the usual additional five hours for the CumUnion party, an additional $20.

”I’d like to extend my room, please.”

”That I cannot do.”

“What?”

”On party nights, we can’t extend rooms.”

”I’ve been doing this for years. When did this happen?”

”Last week.”

So I go back up, get dressed, gather my things, strip the linens, and go down to check out, as I am being kicked out.

As I hand in the key, I ask, “So, how long would a person have to exit the building before he could come back in and you would let him have a room again?”

“Oh, he doesn’t have to leave, he can do it standing right there, as soon as he checks out.”

!   !!

”I’ve just checked out,” I said. “May I please have an extension on my time?”

”That I cannot do.”

!!  !!!

”May I please have another room?”

”Sure. Three hours for the party, that’s $30.”

Jesus. Christ.

They force you to check out before you can check back in again, and for their party - note this - where you once got five hours for $20, you now pay $30 for three. That’s a 250% hourly rate increase!

When I was finished with my three hours and checked out - again - the guy said, “Next time you come in your membership card will be here at the desk.”

 I replied, “That’s okay, I don’t believe I’ll be coming back.”

It’s simply no longer worth a 6-hour round-trip, and I’ll be damned If I pay double-and-a-half for incompetence.

For all the places elsewhere in the forum where I’ve recommended this bathhouse in the past - disregard. It’s absolutely not what it once was.

[TwinkChaserSlut]

13 minutes ago, ErosWired said:

I just returned from a CumUnion weekend at The Works bathhouse in Indianapolis. This is a 6-hour round-trip drive for me, but I have been going up there ever since CumUnion started there in the years before the pandemic. It has always been my practice to arrive at 8am, take a 12-hour room, and extend my time through 1am or so to take in the party. I have always preferred The Works for the steamroom, which has been the best of any bathhouse I’ve been to.

That was then.

After the pandemic, the place changed ownership. When I was there in February, things seemed more or less the same, but the vibe was off…and the steam room was much too hot. Their solution was to open the door to the room until it cooled down. I didn’t have as much luck then, but I wrote it off to chance.

This time, I got up there, headed out, and noticed on their website that their hours were now listed as 10am-midnight.

Fuck.

I pulled into their lot, expecting to have to wait a couple of hours. The sign said ‘Open’. In fact, their website is, and I quote from the staff, “A clusterfuck.” But there’s nothing they can do about it. I take a 12-hour room, and re-up for a six-month membership. I get set up, strip down, and happily head for the steamroom.

Or rather, the scalding-room.

The steam is so hot that you can barely touch the walls, and if you were to take a deep breath, you would scald your lungs. I went to the desk to report the situation.

”Nothing we can do until the manager gets here at 4:00,” I was told.

”It’s a safety hazard,” I said. “Can I open the door?”

”We can’t do that.”

An hour later someone came by my room to tell me a calk had been put in to the manager. Five hours later, the room had cooled - because they had turned off the steam. The walks were now dry, but still radiating heat because they had been so hot. Steam would not return until around 5:30pm, meaning that for 9 of the 12 hours in which I paid for use of a steam room, there was no steam room. Which meant that, for 9 of the 12 hours, I was unable to position myself in one of the most likely places to get a cock shoved up my ass.

Fast forward to 8pm. The 12 hour room is about up, so I go down to re-up the room for the usual additional five hours for the CumUnion party, an additional $20.

”I’d like to extend my room, please.”

”That I cannot do.”

“What?”

”On party nights, we can’t extend rooms.”

”I’ve been doing this for years. When did this happen?”

”Last week.”

So I go back up, get dressed, gather my things, strip the linens, and go down to check out, as I am being kicked out.

As I hand in the key, I ask, “So, how long would a person have to exit the building before he could come back in and you would let him have a room again?”

“Oh, he doesn’t have to leave, he can do it standing right there, as soon as he checks out.”

!   !!

”I’ve just checked out,” I said. “May I please have an extension on my time?”

”That I cannot do.”

!!  !!!

”May I please have another room?”

”Sure. Three hours for the party, that’s $30.”

Jesus. Christ.

They force you to check out before you can check back in again, and for their party - note this - where you once got five hours for $20, you now pay $30 for three. That’s a 250% hourly rate increase!

When I was finished with my three hours and checked out - again - the guy said, “Next time you come in your membership card will be here at the desk.”

 I replied, “That’s okay, I don’t believe I’ll be coming back.”

It’s simply no longer worth a 6-hour round-trip, and I’ll be damned If I pay double-and-a-half for incompetence.

For all the places elsewhere in the forum where I’ve recommended this bathhouse in the past - disregard. It’s absolutely not what it once was.

This is terrible but I sure appreciate you giving us a heads up on this place. What a "clusterfuck" indeed.

[FunCheerSlut]

New-lows

Sad. I have a feeling a lot more stories like this will unfold in the years to come.

I am finding it difficult to adapt to global incompetence.

 

[Kayne]

even with all that... and it is straight up trash. its better than NYC.  sadly. 

[Guest]

bathhouses are dying. that's the facts. rundown. simple fixes not done. amenities removed. plus people have other options. lots of other options.

even the most popular one in fort lauderdale had the sauna not working properly for months a year or so ago. months!!!!!!

fortunately the folks at cumunion are looking at other venues. i was just at tokyo valentino in atlanta a few weeks ago for cumunion. well that was a surprise. best time at a cumunion event ever.

[FelchingPisser]

16 hours ago, ErosWired said:

...For all the places elsewhere in the forum where I’ve recommended this bathhouse in the past - disregard. It’s absolutely not what it once was.

This saddens me.  I loved this place in the 1990's.  I had hoped the new owners would help...

[ErosWired]

2 hours ago, CumdumpDad said:

plus people have other options. lots of other options.

What options are those? This option was the closest option of its type and quality to me, and it still took three hours’ drive to get there. The only ABS within 50 miles of me was closed down a few months ago. In some places there are no options at all, and now some people are finding even their access to smut online restricted.

I don’t make the decision to turn my back on this place lightly - I don’t have an alternative I can turn to that is anything close to what this was, and the nearest CumUnion party aside from this is in Atlanta - 6 hours one way.

There are no sex clubs in this part of the continent. This is a place where old church ladies holding Bibles will go into the back rooms of an ABS and stare down everyone who walks through the door (true story). There are no easily cruisy parks, and if a place were to become popular, there would be a crackdown, because Jesus.

So, if there are options I’m somehow overlooking, I would be delighted to know of them. Unless they’re only available in major metropolitan areas in more liberal parts of the world, in which case they don’t apply to most of us stuck in Buttfucking Egypt.

Edited July 12, 2023 by ErosWired

[meetme]

A bathhouse is a business, anywhere. And things change all the time. Living in NY when gay became chic, they were everywhere. Now we have one, and it is hostile, and expensive, and  very often disappointing.  Why don’t we have Steamworks in New York City? I don’t know, but if people stop going or think it’s not as good as it was, you can be sure, it will not exist anymore.

[NWUSHorny]

49 minutes ago, ErosWired said:

What options are those? This option was the closest option of its type and quality to me, and it still took three hours’ drive to get there. The only ABS within 50 miles of me was closed down a few months ago. In some places there are no options at all, and now some people are finding even their access to smut online restricted.

I don’t make the decision to turn my back on this place lightly - I don’t have an alternative I can turn to that is anything close to what this was, and the nearest CumUnion party aside from this is in Atlanta - 6 hours one way.

There are no sex clubs in this part of the continent. This is a place where old church ladies holding Bibles will go into the back rooms of an ABS and stare down everyone who walks through the door (true story). There are no easily cruisy parks, and if a place were to become popular, there would be a crackdown, because Jesus.

So, if there are options I’m somehow overlooking, I would be delighted to know of them. Unless they’re only available in major metropolitan areas in more liberal parts of the world, in which case they don’t apply to most of us stuck in Buttfucking Egypt.

I'm not really sure moving to a more liberal accepting place will necessarily help. At least in the PNW being liberal and accepting translates to you can go out openly in whatever outlandish fetish gear you want, you can eve get a buddy to walk you through a public park on a leash in broad daylight while dressed in your most outlandish fetish gear, just don't ask anyone to have penetrative sex with you and if you do "hookup" with someone there is only a 50/50 chance that they will even want to touch your cock or let you touch theirs. I frequently joked during the COVID lockdown that social distancing really had no impact on cruising and casual hookups here, but to be fair you can't cuddle at 6 feet. The better than thou enlightened flamboyantly gay cockblockers at the ABS, park and bathhouses are just as effective as stopping gay sex act as the bible banging holy rollers. They both are determined to prove their point, and both are getting their way. I know there are better places, I just came back from one, but it definitely feels like there are fewer of them.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, ErosWired said:

What options are those? This option was the closest option of its type and quality to me, and it still took three hours’ drive to get

Well for starters I find it easier just to get a room at a local hotel/motel with easy access and just be a cumdump. I've ranged form 8 - 18 loads. You're also not dealing with the attitude that sometimes comes at the bathhouses with people looking for the prettiest, hottest, youngest, most muscular etc. And all the other bottom. hahahahaha. So in this particular case.........maybe find a motel room in INdy, get your ass up, leave the door open and take those loads.

But also other options.............BBRT parties (but can be hit or miss) Fornication events, people with backyards and pools hosting fuckfests. Just might have to search them out or start one somewhere.

I get that you're looking for that bathhouse environ, but they're getting worse and worse as time passes. Plan accordingly

 

[ErosWired]

1 hour ago, CumdumpDad said:

maybe find a motel room in INdy, get your ass up, leave the door open and take those loads.

That, in fact, is what I have done in Indy the night before every bathhouse visit. There is no comparability between the two experiences, and taking a hotel room for a night is always a greater expense than visiting a bathhouse for an equivalent number of hours.

But hotel hosting isn’t an option to replace a bathhouse or a sex club or an ABS in any case because the paradigm is not the same. The hotel room is not a venue where you can go to cruise. You have to go and work to attract men to your room, usually on an individual basis, and unless, again, you’re in a populated area, you’re usually S.O.L.

I already hotel host regularly because it’s my only other option. It’s a poor second, and I have to travel an hour minimum for even a marginal return in this part of the world. Getting 8-18 loads in a hosting night is not realistic here. I average 5-12, and I do quite well compared to others locally. The Tops just aren’t here in enough number.

Fornication events? People with backyards and pools hosting fuckfests? You might have access to such things where you are, but there are great swaths if the country where there’s no such thing within reach. You might as well be suggesting I try my luck on the Moon.

[hntnhole]

21 hours ago, ErosWired said:

It’s absolutely not what it once was.

I'm guessing that the new owner was/is completely at sea trying to run the business, is losing money, and trying to hang on by wringing every last dollar out of the clientele.  Obviously, that's the last thing he should be doing, and I hope some new owner with a bit of competence turns up.  

[ErosWired]

50 minutes ago, hntnhole said:

I'm guessing that the new owner was/is completely at sea trying to run the business, is losing money, and trying to hang on by wringing every last dollar out of the clientele.  Obviously, that's the last thing he should be doing, and I hope some new owner with a bit of competence turns up.  

Frankly, I’ve never understood how a city the size of Indianapolis could sustain two bathhouses in the first place. Club Indy is not that far away in town. They just don’t have CumUnion, and I’ve never cared much for their steamroom, or found their rooms as comfortable.

[Shotsfired]

One of the things effecting our bathhouses is the destruction of gay neighborhoods and communities by gentrification and a lack of passing down tradition from old gaurd to the new.  The younger crowd are foregoing the tradition of the cruise for takeout Grindr, and gay assimililators are abandoning the safety of queer spaces on a fools journey to appease a heteronormaltive society that doesn't deserve the consideration. 

Another issue is that the pioneers of those businesses are dying and leaving their Gay Adult Themed Businesses to their straight children who have no idea the importance these adult halls of rebellion and liberation of our community. They sell them to corporate interests. They close them down piecemeal. Or worse yet like the Boystown Leather Store turned into an ABS for straight people. Straight people are increasingly infringing on traditionally gay spaces. Nothing against them, but can't they just be comfortable in the other 90% of everything they control? I don't want to fuck your wife.  I will play a board game with her but nope. Adult Friend Finder and Doublist. 

If we want to save our landmarks, we need to form coops/coalitions that swoop in when an owner dies and buys it from the inheriters. That's how we save our play spaces.  That and we need to set some healthy boundaries with straight world.

Our cruising trails are probably gone. The art of the cruise is dying.  And with the Ninth Circuit Court's recent ruling our parks and public spaces in Oregon are unsafe for cruising due to not only an increase in violent crime, but a rise in homeless populstion that camp in our parks that we cannot legally do anything about. Last year a cross dresser, nice person from Texas, was murdered in the park by my house.  The police think the killer is a man who's been living in his car and flies into homophobic rages occasiobally. And some cruisers have been robbed on the paths. And its really unsafe for the homeless as well.  

My solution was to covert one of the buildings on my property into a play space with rim chair, full sling, half sling, rubber sheeted mattress, fuck bench, play pit,  and fuck machine. Its great for medium sized get togethers. But I'm concerned about venues running out for things like Cum Union,  Fist Fest, Bears Bath and Beyond, and Mare and Stallion Events. 

Chicago is one of the kinkiest cities, but the loss of venues is devestating. First we lost The Eagle through mismanagement, then Mandhandler (amazing backroom), then the iconic Bijou Theatre shuttered, and right before I moved they closed my beloved sleazy Man's Country. I first got there after the water maze had closed,  the steamroom smelled of mildew, and you just accepted you were gonna be laying in someone else's come at some point. But the darkroom, the stage area, and the murals should have been preserved instead of becoming a hum drum Giordanos. And when Club Portland became yet another McMenamins Pub and Hotel the only solace I had was knowing how many men squirted in the hot tub, which still remains, and suburban familes soak in it.

Rooster Rock State Park, Oregon is still awesome. 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by Shotsfired
Spelling

[Kayne]

19 hours ago, meetme said:

  Why don’t we have Steamworks in New York City? 

I know why.  There are several separate reasons  why NYC doesn't have anything like  Steamworks here, and many of them branch off from the same Source. Former Mayor R. Giuliani.

1.a ) The first reason predates him. HIV/ AIDS caused the NYC Department of health to act. and In so acting, Many of the places that were highly accessible for Queer People to play were quite literally snuffed out of existence. Many of the draconian laws put on the books still remain and are enforced today. You wouldn't expect the NYPD Vice, to go looking  for condom use in a sex club. but yeah, they do. This included bars, clubs. gender specific SRO hotels and and saunas. 

1.b)  Prostitution.

2.) n line with the preceeding reason,  Gender specific health clubs were more or less flat out banned. Steam rooms/ Saunas often were classified as fitness centers and by closing "male only" spaces, ot was hoped that transmission of the "Gay Disease" would be halted.  a double standard kept chain owned corporate places like Lucille Robert's or Livingston Well Lady Open.

3.) Organized Crime. Many of the venues / spaces, that housed sex related businesses as well as the businesses themselves were connected with Organized Crime, and cutting off their revenue, made the Organizations weaker.

4) Rudy Giuliani.  As Mayor of New York hevwas responsible for the over regulation of sex based businesses and "nightlife" in an attempt to sanitize the city for "families" this was done by

I. Rezoning and modifying how far away businesses like Peep Shows, ABS, Saunas could operate from schools, , government installations, and each other.

II. Getting Rid of the Homeless

III. Enforcing "Vice Crimes/ Broken Windows Doctorine"

IV. Further Erasure of "Queer" Spaces in the Name of Health

V. A personal Christian Conservative Vendetta against Night Life  personalities like Peter Gaiten

VI. The Virtual Sale of Broadway/Times Square to Disney in an "Effort to Bring Broadway Back"

VII. The steep Rise of NYC Property and Business Taxes.

XI. Early Smoking Bans in The entire country started here, under Giuliani, targeted at these spaces. they would later be picked up strengthened and expanded to what they are today.

These are the reasons that what we had went away and why it its likely not worth the hassle to bring such spaces back to NYC. 

Newer reasons include Covid, economic downturn, trans backlash.