Why Did We Write Off Some Saunas ?

Received from a reader today.  We've reproduced our response to him since it appears to be relevant to other readers:


Dear FM

Thanks so much for your enlightened, enlightening and entertaining blog. 

You write a lot these days about saunas you consider "off-limits." Are there any left to recommend? I used to go to Towel Club while in HK and then afterwards to Action but finally settled on Galaxy -- and that for three reasons. (1) As a GWM I always felt welcome there. (2) There were always some really hot guys to be found among the plain and geriatric crowd. And (3) Those guys were always ready to go; they were not there to posture for hours.  So, what do you say?

Best
H


FuelMix's Response (underlining and bold print in the blog only):

Hello

I stopped giving personal sauna recommendations several years ago (as I pointed out in red at the bottom of each sauna review).  I was getting emails from readers saying they were too busy to read the reviews and wanted to save time by asking me directly.  Some sent their stats and naked pics and specifically requested a sauna to fit their body type and the guys they were looking for. 

To be frank, it pissed me off.  I wrote back and told them to read the reviews.   It wasn't my job to arrange a hookup.

The reason I wrote off certain saunas was because I call it like I see it.  I don't claim to have the definitive answer to anything and made it clear that writing off a sauna was entirely subjective. Having given a number of reviews, I felt it was necessary to draw the line and say which ones had become a waste of time and money.  I fully expect people will disagree with me and that's fine.

I agree that Towel Club was the best and have said as much in the blog.

I wrote off several saunas because the HK sauna scene is in a state of flux.  There are 3 reasons for this: 

1. The sad reality is that the city is being infested with Mainland Chinese and the Ugliness Meter reading is off the charts;
2. A lot of local and white guys in town are using mobile apps like Grindr, Scruff and Jackd to find guys.  They are also using Grindr in the bars as virtual cruising. They may be hooking up in their apartments or heading to an hourly hotel.
3. I hear that gay guys in town are forming social and sports groups on Meetup.com.  That's another way of hooking up with guys.
   

I am surprised how bad the local sauna scene has become over the last year.  It has gone downhill very quickly.  In order to balance out my reviews, you will note that I upload conversations about saunas from people I run into on the street.  As it turns out, their observations are similar to mine.

Regards
FM