Listing stuff is what we do best! We are, after all, a listings magazine. And lists are very on trend at the moment. That’s why Buzzfeed’s got millions and millions and millions of pounds.
But we don’t do lists of cute cats and Holly Willoughby’s latest range of olive oils. So sir, no ma’am. We’re way more debauched and ridiculous than that. We do lists of SAUNAS and DILDOS and stuff. We once did a list of peripheral characters from Sex & The City. That was a bit of a hungover Monday. We phoned it in, if we’re honest.
But this one’s not phoned in! It’s well researched and accurated! We know our saunas, so we do. So here it is, the definitive sauna list.
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
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
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
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
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
Sauna-Bar Bournemouth
Sauna Bar is Bournemouth’s premier men’s spa! Why a sauna in Bournemouth, you ask? Well Bournemouth’s lovely. An affluent seaside town, the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of London living. Sauna Bar has got a great clean, modern vibe with lots of ambient light fittings and sparkling tiles. They’ve got a licensed bar, as well as a lounge with a pool table, music, movies, magazines, free wifi and complimentary tea and biscuits! How civilized.
Open 7 days a week, 12 midday until late.
140 Commercial Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5LU
Base and Basement Saunas
If you’d rather head oop North than dahhn Sarf, then look no further than Base and Basement Saunas, a salaciously successful chain of steamy venues across Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle. All three cities have brilliant and/or burgeoning gay scenes, and all four venues enjoy lots of traffic from all sorts of guys wanting to take a load off (insert “load” joke here).
Basement Manchester is at 18 Tariff Street, Manchester M1 2FN
Base Manchester is at 38 Sackville Street, Manchester M1 3WA
Base Leeds is at Arch 7, Heaton Court, Leeds LS1 4LJ. www.base-leeds.com
Base Newcastle is at 85-89 Blandford Street, Newcastle NE1 3PZ
Locker Room Sauna
This ready-for-action little South of the river sauna is known for its chilled vibes and personable crowd. They won a Travel Gay Europe Award last year as one of the best saunas in London, as voted for by international patrons! So it’s gotta be good! They’re equipped with a sauna, steam rooms, private cabins, free wi-fi and internet, and free coffee, tea and juice. Perfect if you’re looking for somewhere a little less posey.
8 Cleaver Street, SE11 4DP
