Bathhouse Blog

December 30, 2011

The gay sauna, Copenhagen Gay Center, has bid a fond farewell after 40 years in operation. The building has been sold and the owners have decided to retire.

This was a combination gay sauna/cinema/sex-shop in the red-light district. Now it will be no more as Halal butcher store will be in its place.

Copenhagen Gay Center

But they had one last blowout before closing its door with a naked day party and sale to rid itself of their sex toy merchandise on December 28th, 2011. Afterwards it was good-bye to the Copenhagen Gay Center forever.

December 16, 2011

Irony among ironies as Rudolf Nureyev was known to be a patron of the baths worldwide. It seems that wherever in the world he went, he would always check out the nearest bathhouse.

In this video he is asked to participate in a skit, clad in nothing but a towel, with Miss Piggy in a Sauna! They even sing ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ no less!

One could only imagine what went through Nureyev’s mind when he was told of the skit idea. See for yourself at the video below.

December 4, 2011

The Brighton Sauna in the UK has admitted they have surveillance cameras throughout the building.

After a customer complained to PinkPaper.com, Adam Bailey, owner of Brighton Sauna, was asked about CCTV at Brighton. Baily replied that he was just complying with UK law.

The Brighton Sauna

He tells PinkPaper.com

“Our premises license stipulates a condition that we have to have CCTV ‘throughout the building, inside and out, recordable for 30 days, and made available to the Police should they need access’. We had our annual licensing inspection yesterday, coincidentally, and they looked at the whole system, and were 100% satisfied with it, and how it is set up, and where.”

“The purpose of the system, as dictated on our license, is ‘for the prevention of crime and disorder’, one of the four licensing objectives that every premises license holder has to meet throughout the UK.”

For more on this story go to Brighton Sauna quash concerns of CCTV throughout venue

October 11, 2011

The Brighton Sauna in the UK is going to be one of the first bathhouses in the world to offer rapid HIV testing. Funded by the HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), the testing will be offered once a week and will use the modern finger-prick blood tests to offer men results within one hour.

The Brighton Sauna

A fully trained staff from THT will be on hand to provide the bathhouse patrons with information and counselling before and after the test. If anyone receives a reactive result, they will be referred to a specialist clinic for further testing. THT will also provide free condoms, along with information and advice on sexual health on the premises.

For more on this story go to THT to offer rapid HIV testing at The Brighton Sauna

September 17, 2011

The police are looking into the sudden death of a 60 year old man on September 13, 2011 at 12:30 PM. He died at Number 18, Edinburgh’s busiest gay sauna.

Number 18

The police immediately secured the building and the surrounded areas for their investigation. Number 18 Spa is currently closed until further notice.

For more on this story go to Police probe into gay sauna death

January 25, 2011

Michael Musto of the Village Voice has just written a column entitled The Five Best Places To Have Gay Sex in NYC. And three bathhouses have the made the list! In order;

Brooklyn Banya
602 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

West Side Club
27 West 20th Street, New York, NY

East Side Club
227 East 56th Street, New York, NY

Not sure why Michael Musto added the Brooklyn Banya to the list as it is a straight Russian Turkish Bathhouse. But apparently they have men only nights, so I guess that is why it is on the list. You can read for yourself his reasoning at his column here.

January 20, 2011

Emperor’s Bathhouse, is a new premier Gay Sauna set to open later this month in Wellington, New Zealand. Their mission is to provide an exclusive, safe and inspiring venue for the gay community.

The entire concept of the bathhouse is to mimic the true Roman traditions of the past. The Emperor’s Bathhouse is located at 5 Wigan Street, and it’s grand opening will take place on January 28th at 4pm. Be there or be square!

You can follow The Emperor’s Bathhouse on Twitter and Facebook.

January 7, 2011

The production of Bathhouse: the Musical! is getting a transatlantic do-over and being translated into French. For a Paris edition entitled Sauna, le Musical. It will premiere early this year. The basic plot features a newbie experiencing the bathhouse scene for the first time.

Sauna, le Musical

The book and the lyrics will be adapted into French by Baptiste Delval. They even have their own YouTube channel. For those who have seen the musical already, click below to see how they fared with translating this into french!

Official Facebook Page For Sauna, le Musical