Gay Sauna Write Off List 4 - June 2017

1.  As at June 2017, here is the list of gay saunas in Hong Kong that FuelMix in a subjective overall assessment pursuant to his published reviews (and input from GAM-Throats-On-The-Street) has written off as a waste of time and money:

• Alexander (closed 30 November 2016);
• Arena (opened 10 September 2016);
• Big Top;
• Birds (opened 27 February 2016);
• Central Escalator;
• Chaps;
• Colony;
• Galaxy;
• Gateway;
• QQ Fitness;

2.  Readers can show up at those venues, draw their own conclusions and submit a review.

3.  Readers are referred to the following for additional observations:
 Why Did We Write Off Some Saunas..?  
Gay Sauna Write Off List - January 2017
Gay Sauna Write Off List 2 - January 2017 
Gay Sauna Write Off List 3 - January 2017

4.  Readers are also referred to Talking To Adam 14 for an overall view of the saunas in Hong Kong. 

5.  "But..FuelMix..!!" the readers whine, "one by one you're writing off the saunas in Hong Kong..!!  WTF..??!!"  

6.  OK, we'll tell you:

• We've made it clear that our reviews are subjective;
• We think they are comprehensive and accurate.  Some readers agree with us;
• We suspect there has been false self-promotion of Hong Kong saunas online.  In our reviews, we call it like we see it;
• We think there is an unhealthy complacency in gay men when it comes to looking at gay businesses and asking, "Am I getting my money's worth..?" 
• If you're happy to get your information from Gayasia, Utopia and TravelGayAsia, stick with it.  That's your choice;
• Gay magazines in this town are dependent on gay advertising.  By definition, that breeds commercial censorship.  This blog is independent;
• Our reviews are dynamic.  They are updated by FuelMix and the readers.  But there comes a point where FuelMix has to look at a sauna and say, "Enough is enough.  This place is a waste of my time and money. I will write this place off".
• Gay customers are entitled to know what they might expect before they put their money down;
• We've made it clear that customers can visit the saunas we have personally written off (or any other sauna in this town) decide for themselves and submit a review;

• Readers may submit reviews of gay saunas in any Asian city;
• We reserve the right NOT to publish reviews we deem suspicious, inaccurate or self-serving;
• FuelMix no longer gives personalized sauna advice; 

Copyright © 2006 – 2017 FuelMix All Rights Reserved
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Gay Sauna Write Off List 3

Received from a reader 2 days ago who also contributed to Part 2 of this series ( Minor editing, formatting and incidental comments in square brackets and blue italics by FuelMix): 

Hi FuelMix 

I'd like to create a list of gay saunas in HK that are successful and unsuccessful. This topic might interest you.

My personal opinion:   

1.  Hutong - although it's notorious for its alleged door policy, I have to say, unfortunately it's probably the most successful sauna at the moment in HK. That is  to say that the door policy and discrimination work on the people of HK. 

[reports circulating for some time from those who've been there over the past few months that door policy scrapped and hotness factor crashing. Fat Fugly Mainland Chinese invading from Alexander.  Customer Stand-And-Model attitude continues to be rancid. - FuelMix] 

2.  My Way - seems the HK Island counterpart of Hutong without door policy. [Just to be clear:  My Way in Wanchai and Jungle in Yau Ma Tei are under the same ownership and are both open 24 hours - FuelMix] It seems it's gaining increasing popularity on the locals especially those live in HK Island [and college boys from all over town - FuelMix] The reason might be they consider it a more 'pure' local sauna. There might be more office crowd as well [yeah and good looking ones - FuelMix]

[Good looking gym guys showing up from twink, college student to mature.  No problem getting customers in the door.  Lots of customer attitude, can take a while to get action, lots of space to play, near total absence of whites who prefer to stick to Central Escalator.  Local foreigners and Asian tourists regularly show up.  We are told that  word about My Way getting around Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines.  Can get very crowded on Fridays and Saturdays -FuelMix].

3.  Galaxy - according to your reviews, it seems quite successful albeit your writing-off this sauna. I suppose, the lowest admission and non-discriminatory environment are their biggest winning points.

[+ the crappy state of their premises.  Latest feedback is that Galaxy staff openly admit that customer numbers have fallen.  Also people are leaving earlier on weekdays, sometimes by 7:30pm - FuelMix]

4. Central Escalator - one of the most miserable phenomenon. Although it's small, basic and expensive, it's one of the oldest still operating saunas in town [since 1991 - FuelMix] The secret might be its niche market targeting [or that which it attracts by default namely, fat whites, tattoo covered whites, some really queeny whites, professional whites fleeing the office for a couple of hours, dazed and disappointed white tourists, Bananas from the West Coast regretting they weren't born white, skinny attitudinal GAMs looking for "White Daddy" or  "White Boyfriend Daddy", British-born Indians pretending to be str8 most of the week, ugly Indonesians in groups, grinning Filipinos looking to suck cock and...Mainland Chinese.  We will agree that it attracts an international crowd, which is actually CE's marketing point - FuelMix]    right location and, maybe mostly importantly that the property is owned..? [No idea about that last point - FuelMix] 


The most unsuccessful ones: 

1.  Arena -   totally wrong deco and over-priced admission. It's a big disappointment from the legendary ABC-Gateway group.

[Not sure why ABC-Gateway group should be described as "legendary".  Agree that Arena is jaw-droppingly disappointing and over-priced, even though it is open 24 hours and located in Tsim Sha Tsui.  Really not sure what the future holds for this one.  We think that the closure of ABC, also in Tsim Sha Tsui, was a strategic mistake.  If they needed to move, they should have replicated it in new premises in Tsim Sha Tsui and kept that open 24 hours -  rather than creating the highly claustrophobic Arena - FuelMix] 

2.  Alexander - I am sure many must be surprised when this flagship of ABC-Gateway group announced its closure. And yet it's not so surprising given the sauna performance of its last year. It used to be one of the best saunas in town and could've well secured this honour for a longer time. It might be bad management that led to its eventual failure.

[The decline and crash of Alexander was annoying to watch.  Something had gone very wrong for a sauna that opened with so much potential - FuelMix] 

Thanks for writing in. 

• Readers may submit reviews of gay saunas in any Asian city;
• We reserve the right NOT to publish reviews we deem suspicious, inaccurate or self-serving;
• FuelMix no longer gives personalized sauna advice;

Copyright © 2006 – 2017 FuelMix All Rights Reserved      

Gay Sauna Write Off List 2

Sent in by a reader yesterday.  Minor editing by FuelMix:

Hi FuelMix

How are you ? I have been following your blog for a long time now and some of your recent articles raised my interest, for examples: Why Did We Write Off Some Saunas ? & Talking To Adam 14 .

I would like to share some of my opinions with you.

First Why Did We Write Off Some Saunas ?

It was directed from your other comments of Gay Sauna Write Off List. I have to agree with you.  HK gay saunas used to be better value for money and more fun than they are now. The quality of the clientele also seemed to be better.  There are a few reasons from my point of view that caused the deterioration of the saunas:

1. Mostly importantly, the invention of the gay dating and mating apps. In the past, gay sauna was the most straightforward way of meeting other gay guys and it had significant advantages : it's safer than to meet someone at home or a hostel; it's much more time saving than internet dating sites; it gave the opportunity to meet more than one guy at a time; it provides health and relaxation benefits; price was more affordable....  Now the gay app is the most direct and economical way to know other gay guys, especially for the hot stand-and- models, there's no need for them to be "taken advantage' and 'wasted money' in the gay saunas. Their attitude probably suits the gay apps better anyway.   

2. The cost of running a sauna increased dramatically, therefore they can't but charge a higher admission in order to balance the profit. As you know, HK is one of the most expensive cities in the world and this is particular true for the rental. The competition among saunas is fierce as there were once 18 gay saunas in Hong Kong. In order to attract more desirable or regular customers, most saunas have to 'subsidize' these customers and charge higher fees for the less preferable ones or visitors. 

3. Tastes. Hong Kong has a very short span when it comes to taste. That's why gay saunas seem not to invest too much in maintaining the facilities. When their rent lease expires they would rather just find another location and start again with another name.  Examples such as: Double to Hutong and the more recent ABC to Arena.  However, the number of gay saunas is still balanced at around 15. 

4.  In terms of the points which Adam14 makes about the saunas, I don't think some of his suggestions would work. Most  saunas in Hong Kong are there the locals and  their interests. Unfortunately, those kinky European style facilities wont work in HK.  Apparently Arena seems an example of such failure.

5.  At the end, my verdict is that gay saunas in HK in the future will be further polarized. There will be more smaller ones and those with the wrong marketing strategies will shut down and the flow of customers will conjunct into the surviving saunas. Such as what is probably happening now Alexander to Hutong, ABC to Galaxy. 

I hope you like my comments.
Regards
Your Loyal Reader 

FuelMix says:

1.   Your comments are generally correct. We like them.  We would not be surprised if more shut down.

2.   We have been hearing that since the closure of Alexander at the end of November 2016, its clientele of fat, Fugly Mainland Chinese have been showing up at Hutong.

3.  Disagree that customers of ABC are going to Galaxy.  We initially saw them in Arena, very pissed off with the place.  Not sure where they've gone now but not getting reports they are in Galaxy.

4.  Gay apps also have a high failure rate for hookups.  The "Silent Treatment" and ignoring people who make contact is very widespread.  From what we hear, the frustration rate is as high as online ads and higher than cruising around in the sauna.

5.  While the gay apps may be free, we don't use them for security reasons. A customer has much more personal control when they are in a safe space like a sauna.  Our friendly GAM-Throats-On-The-Street let us watch them while they scroll through Grindr, Jack'd, Scruff etc looking for hookups.

6.  We have seen no evidence that the local guys in the gay apps are hotter than the guys in the saunas.  If anything, we've repeatedly spotted the same people on the apps and in the saunas.

Thanks for writing in.

• Readers may submit reviews of gay saunas in any Asian city;
• We reserve the right NOT to publish reviews we deem suspicious, inaccurate or self-serving;
• FuelMix no longer gives personalized sauna advice;

Copyright © 2006 – 2017 FuelMix All Rights Reserved  

Gay Sauna Write Off List

1.   As at January 2017, here is the list of gay saunas in Hong Kong that FuelMix, in a subjective overall assessment pursuant to his published reviews (and input from GAM-Throats-On-The-Street), has written off as a waste of time and money.

• Alexander (closed 30 November 2016);
• Arena (opened 10 September 2016);
• Birds (opened 27 February 2016);
• Galaxy;
• Central Escalator;
• Chaps;
• Colony;
• QQ Fitness; 

2.   Readers can show up at those venues, draw their own conclusions and submit a review.

3.  Readers should see Why Did We Write Off Some Saunas?  for additional observations.

4.  Readers are also referred to  Talking To Adam 14 for an overall view of the saunas in Hong Kong.

5.  The surprising conclusion from our assessments is that all 3 saunas located in the prime downtown tourist and shopping area of Tsim Sha Tsui - Arena, Birds and Galaxy - are write offs.  

• Readers may submit reviews of gay saunas in any Asian city;
• We reserve the right NOT to publish reviews we deem suspicious, inaccurate or self-serving;
• FuelMix no longer gives personalized sauna advice; 

 © Copyright 2006-2017 FuelMix All Rights Reserved