ĭomenico Cresti, Bathers at San Niccolò, 1600 Many gay bathhouses, for legal reasons, explicitly prohibit or discourage prostitution and ban known prostitutes. Sexual activity, if it occurs, is not provided by staff of the establishment, but is between customers with no money exchanged. Unlike brothels, customers pay only for the use of the facilities.

In some countries, bathhouses are 'membership only' (for legal reasons) though membership is generally open to any adult who seeks it, usually after paying a small fee. Most have a steam room (or wet sauna), dry sauna, showers, lockers, and small private rooms. Some, such as Hawks PDX, offer so-called 'bisexual' nights, where anyone is welcome regardless of gender.īathhouses vary considerably in size and amenities-from small establishments with 10 or 20 rooms and a handful of lockers to multi-story saunas with a variety of room styles or sizes and several steam baths, hot tubs, and sometimes swimming pools. īathhouses offering similar services for women are rare, but some men's bathhouses occasionally have a ' lesbian' or 'women only' night. In general, a gay bath is used for having sexual activity rather than only bathing. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just 'the baths', 'the sauna', or 'the tubs'.

A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath (uncommonly known as a gay spa), is a commercial space for gay, bisexual, and other men to have sex with men.