Pleasuredome Sauna London

Whilst the gay sauna reviews in this blog focus on Very Rich Megacity and other Asian cities, a reader sent his observations of Pleasuredome in London, The Nanny Kingdom.

The reader was motivated to do so having read FuelMix's post, Just Dying To Play.  That post mentioned the suspicious but unexplained deaths of 2 customers in Pleasuredome.

For clarity, FuelMix added side headings:

Hi FuelMix,

I hope you had a great Christmas.  

I know your blog is primarily intended to publish reviews of Asian saunas, but I thought I would send you [a] few thoughts on Pleasuredome in London as you have mentioned it on your blog previously. As I was back in the Nanny Kingdom for the festive period I thought I would pay the place a visit last week for old times sake. Despite hailing from London, I'm slightly ashamed to say that Pleasuredome is the only London sauna I have ever been to, so I do have a certain awkward affinity with the place.

Pleasuredome’s Publicity 

As many of your readers will know, Pleasuredome made national (in the UK) headlines in November of this year after two sauna- goers were found dead at the premises in the early hours of the morning. As these deaths were almost certainly drug related (although I couldn't find this subsequently confirmed online I'm afraid), I was interested to see if the sauna had reacted in any way to this (presumably) completely unwanted attention. 


Warning Signs and Staff Patrols 

At the entrance, I saw the first signs of response to the November deaths. There is a large, prominently placed sign warning sauna goers that they should not bring illegal drugs inside (they specifically mention the two likely culprits of GHB and GBL), and that patrons would be subject to random searches by the staff. I myself was not searched but the guy in front of me was.

Inside the sauna itself, I certainly noticed the presence of the staff a lot more than I had before. They seemed to be constantly walking around, and there seemed to be a lot more thorough cleaning going on than there had been before. Inside, there were also more notices warning of the dangers of party drugs. I know these measures are hardly revolutionary, but to be fair to Pleasuredome, I'm not sure what more they can do on this and still remain a viable business. I guess they are hoping that more screening / searching of customers, more patrolling by the staff and more literature inside the venue will go some of the way to prevent tragedies occurring on their premises again. Inside the venue I didn't see anyone obviously drug fucked but then please bear in mind that I was visiting from 6pm-8pm on a Thursday evening…..hardly party central. 


Gay Rape And Sexual Assault 

As an aside, I do have to give Pleasuredome credit for several notices inside the venue concerning rape and sexual assault. To my mind, this is one of the most taboo subjects on the gay scene (perhaps you could write about this separately FuelMix...just a thought). The notices informed customers that there had been several allegations of rape and sexual assault in the sauna within the last year, and that the staff - and police- took these complaints very seriously. I was impressed with the honesty and lack of bullshit in the notices on such an unglamorous subject. 


Clientele 

As for the sauna itself; I continue to find it a strange venue. It is certainly large, and, as mentioned, relatively clean. The quality of the patrons really does run from the sublime (there always seems to be at least two or three stunningly attractive men there) to the frankly horrific. I would certainly recommend the readers of the blog to at least check it out if they are in central London and they have the time. As there is such a wide divergence of ethnicity, age, body types etc on the London sauna scene, you are bound to see something you like.

Love,
T 


FuelMix says: 

1.   Warning signs in gay saunas prohibiting drug use are nothing new. Any gay sauna would (in theory) lose its license and its managers prosecuted if it knowingly allowed its premises for the trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs.  Does that stop fags? No.  They'd simply front up at another sauna. 

2.   Further, it is well known that Front Desk Staff in gay saunas either facilitate or are complicit in chem trafficking for cash under the table.  The grim reality of urban faggotry is that its chronic behavioural code is embedded in, or is on the fringes of, illegality. It's all part of the (frequently sucidal) hedonistic party "ethic" for which one can thank Lamestream Gay Media - and the average idiot fag for being too stupid to see the game in which they're being manipulated for profit. 

3.   Gay Rape and Sexual Assault in gay saunas is not mentioned in Lamestream Gay Media (although it shows up in gay porn literature, particularly the stuff written in the 1970s). Anecdotally, FuelMix has heard that allegations of gay rape are frequently made in the context of drug use (GHB being a massive favourite).  Given that the victim and the perpetrators are usually drug-fucked, it's an open question how credible their statements to the Police would be or how they would handle cross-examination. Could the victim and the perpetrator actually handle the publicity without becoming a laughing stock?  The public perception would be.........a  gay sauna is what it is.............a gay sauna.

4.   Not to be cynical, but it would not be surprising if a gay sauna's  management pressured the victim into silience. Since gay rape and drug use tend to go together, the investigation would open a can of worms that could potentially implicate staff.

5.   Thanks for writing in.