Worst service of ANY sauna I have been (and I have been to a lot)
One just doesn't expect to feel being actively insulted by the staff in a gay sauna, does one? Even as there should be little inactions between them and us clients, this place has managed remarkably well to make one feels unwelcome.
I have been a (reluctant) supporter of this place since it opened. It is new and clean, which I like sometimes more than the crowd. So I kept coming back despite the marked decline in the quality of their clients (mostly refugees from two nearby saunas specialized in really chubby and older guys), and many a times I have brought friends with me. I am sure the owners and their staff "noticed" my patronage, but while I don't expect to be treated differently, one just can't get over with their constant unpleasant attitudes.
Incidents include - one time I was just standing in front of the wet area chatting with a friend. The space is wild enough for people to pass by but us being there obviously upset this one staff member so much he went all the way to come and scold us for "blocking the way". When I said "scold" I don't mean a polite reminder at all.
Another time I brought a friend visiting from overseas with me, and while just hanging out in the TV room I gave him a can of soda I happened to have in my backpack to drink. (This place doesn't service free drinks like a few others) I haven't noticed any sign that said no outside drinks/foods were allowed. When he finished we walked out and just sat another corner chatting, forgetting the can and leaving it on the coffee table.
Then that same guy I mentioned above picked up the empty, walked toward us and holding the can up and said, "is that yours?" in the most condescending way and with such attitude that I just had to laugh.
Then came this weekend. Now I would only go for "dates" that I have arranged as I had no expectation of picking anyone hot up anymore. At the reception was another young cub full of attitudes who took your money like you owed him. He mumbled something about being "nude day" and no towel, big or small, was allowed in any area except the shower. Which if you think about it it just freaking defies common sense since we all know how messy it can get during and after playful times in the rooms sometimes when tissue papers are just not enough, especially with the low quality ones they provide.
In any case I stripped and headed to the bathroom as I wanted to use it before taking a shower. Since it was occupied I retreated to the TV room with my small towel to wait. This very "dutiful" young cub immediately got on my case, stood in front of me and with his prissy attitudes in full force, "no towel is allowed here." I would bother and explain I was just waiting to use the bathroom if he wasn't sounding like Faye Dunaway playing Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest. I gave him a hard stare and he immediately shot back, "you either put this towel back or throw it into the towel basket."
At this point if I wasn't expecting a friend I would have just walked. While I stood up and walked toward the locker room I heard him , "you don't need to come back here you know" in Cantonese. And that needs to be the most abusive and insulting thing any customer services staff can say to a patron, in particularly a regular.
No not really, not with this place that the only selling point remains is its "cleanliness". I won't even say "value" anymore as the constant price cutting reflects the sad fact that the clients they have been trying to attract - beefy, muscled men and bears like me - are bailing and all you get mostly are a gang of sauna rejects that have nowhere else left to go.
I wish them luck and I shall never return.