Saunas in Republic of Ireland

Don't forget....Dublin is only about £8 away as a foot passenger from Holyhead. And there are more gay saunas than gay pubs!

The Boilerhouse	Dublin	(00 353 1) 679 5128
Rating 5/5	12 Crane Lane, Off Dame Street Temple Bar area	Opens: phone

	Facilities	Sauna Boxes Steam Cabins Jacuzzi Public Rest Room Food and Drink Available TV Sat Video Private Rest Rooms Darkroom
	Comments	A user writes" Wow, what a place! delightful Irish men and a few tourists. Clean, thoughtfully decorated (minimalist) with everything you could possibly want (except the sling). Mainly young clientele (but something for everyone). Ground floor - nice coffee and juice bar with the ubiquitous MTV playing, and some locker rooms. Two staircases up to the Gym (closed when we were there - probably open earlier), Well equipped toilets (hot douches!) and more lockers. Two staircases up to: Second floor - Great dimly-lit steam room with a very dark area off to the back and round a corner. I'd been in there five minutes before I spotted people disappearing into the shadows. Brightly-lit showers, hot and powerful, a few lockable rooms (but people on this floor tended to advertise their wares), a good-sized Jacuzzi and a sauna. More locker rooms. Two staircases up to: Third floor - Dark showers, which disappeared round a corner into a darker still shower area, and the main cubicle area. About a dozen lockable rooms off a circular corridor, each with a TV screen showing good movies. Fourth floor - two adjacent mini cinemas showing continual hot movies. Four more lockable rooms and a large darkroom which was busy. I seem to have lost a floor somewhere, but I was a bit drunk (but not too drunk to enjoy myself) so I might have been ever so slightly confused. All in all one of the most exciting places I've been to. I got back to my room at 8.30 am, so that's an indication of the attractions of the place. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Dublin. In fact I'd go there just to visit the place again. " More..."Went to Dublin recently and visited Boilerhouse Sauna, mainly on your recommendation. Was pleased with your description of it, except when I went (Thurdsay pm) it was mostly full of the more mature men! Still there were one or two younger men, who were very well equipped and let me have my fun! Apparently Boilerhouse is the most expensive of the four saunas in Dublin - 10 IR£ as opposed to 5 IR£ for the others. Still it was definately worthwhile, although not necessarily the easiest of places to find!

Incognito Sauna	Dublin	(00 353 1) 478 3504
Rating	1-2 Bow Lane East	Opens: phone

	Facilities	Sauna Box Steam Cabin Jacuzzi Public Rest Room TV Sat Food and Drink Available Private Rest Rooms
	Comments	A user writes "Happy to report that Incognito is alive and well, probably the cleanest, best run sauna in Dublin, friendly staff and management (Tommy Lee from New Mexico). Ideal place to meet young willing Irish men of all ages. £i 8.00 entry, no membership fee, soft drinks bar, etc., etc., etc. Well known and respected guest house, The Horse and Carriage, attached; free entry to Incognito to patrons of guest house. Nice place to stay in Dublin for gay tourist." More..."I found the rooms to be less than comfortable. The sauna in the basement was very hazardous with lot's of sharp edges and unsecured seats. A much older clientele than I expected from its reviews. I was scolded for not shutting the front door tightly like a teenager arriving after curfew." And another..."Quite exciting and fairly busy throughout the night with a range of guys there. The layout is fairly good, on three levels. The lowest level has a few rooms which are lockable, but with bars on the upper part of the doors (like a dungeon), so even if you lock the door, others can watch what's going on. That was interesting. Also on this level is a bigger room with a sling which, unfortunately, wasn't used while we were there. The street level has coffee bar, free water, temperamental showers, sauna room (tiny) and a dark steam room. The steam room didn't have a lot of steam and the walls were slimy (yuck). The upper floor was where most of the action took place, with about ten lockable rooms and one with swing doors. Two of the lockable rooms have a hole in the wall between them about three feet square, which was a nice surprise. There are TV screens dotted around the place which were showing various porno flicks and MTV in the bar. All in all it was OK, comparable to your average UK sauna, and I stayed there until 5.00 am. "