Maybe somebody’s already mentioned it, but it’s really cold outside. Not in a cutesy, ‘Baby, it’s cold outside’, H&M advert kinda way, but a feel-it-through-your-jeans, dinner-under-a-quilt, perhaps-we-should-turn-the-heating-on, outright chilliness.
So, why not warm yourself up at one of London’s saunas? Call it prudishness, call it whatever, but saunas are rarely written about and we thought that should change. What’s not to like?! They’ve usually got a diverse crowd of men, a refreshing lack of attitude, plus how many strangers’ flats in zone 2/3 actually have a steam room? Exactly. So, de-robe yourself and wrap up in a white towel, here are the best saunas London has to offer!
The Stable
Amidst all the boutique shops and garish street performers of Covent Garden lies a stable where the men are hung like horses. They’ve got a load of health club facilities, like a big ol’ spa pool and masseuses to work out that tense knot…just…there. Of course, there’s plenty of dark spaces and video rooms as well, where you can get your rocks off. Or on. Whatever it is you’re into.
29 Endell Street, WC2H 9BA
Chariots
Head over to London’s Roman themed saunas and feel like that old Pepsi advert where Beyoncé, Britney Spears and (two in the) P!nk are in the middle of the coliseum and get the crowd so pumped up that Enrique Iglesias’ box of Pepsi cans falls into the middle (truly the golden age of advertising). One’s in Waterloo and the other is in gay party central, Vauxhall. Both are located next to tube stations on the night-tube line, these are the saunas that never sleep.
Waterloo: 101 Lower Marsh, SE1 7AB
Vauxhall: Rail Arches 63-64, Albert Embankment, SE1 7TP
Sweatbox
Located a locker key’s throw from Soho’s gaybourhood, Sweatbox attracts a younger crowd who pour out of the bars every weekend come closing time. On Mondays and Thursdays, under 25’s can get in for free, plus Wednesday and Saturday night you can lose yourself at their foam parties. They’ve got a well-equipped and rarely crowded gym upstairs, plus massages on tap as well. It’s the perfect place to work up a sweat, however you that may be.
1-2 Ramilles Street, W1F 7LN
Sailors Sauna
Come and get your man-sails hoisted and your scuttle well and truly jibbed. Yeah, that’s right. We bet you love a good jibbing, you filthy minx. You can find Sailors Sauna bobbing around in the serene waters of Limehouse. It’s on the cosier side, but has a bubbly spa pool and plenty of spaces to get acquainted with other seamen. There’s plenty of themed nights offering discounts for Latinos, students and those that are big-n-cuddly. Plus, there’s a buffet on a Friday evening. Fill your plate.
570-574 Commercial Road, E14 7JD
Pleasuredrome
Welcome to the Pleasuredrome! Relax, don’t do it, when you want to go to it, etc. Open all day, e’rry day, this is one of London’s most popular saunas, attracting 15,000 guys a month, or roughly 500 a day, depending on how your big your appetite is. It’s got all your mod-cons, from saunas, to steam rooms, to a cruisey maze of private rooms, plus a café-bar open 24/7, for when all you need is a break and a cheese sandwich. They’ve even got deluxe pods that can be rented for 2-8 hours, with controllable lighting, charge points, a flat screen TV and door entry control. Very James Bond!
124 Cornwall Road, SE1 8XE
More: The QX Definitive London Gay Sauna Guide
