I am an American who has visited Amsterdam and other European cities in the past, and I should start by saying that I have yet to see a European bathhouse that measures up to the good ones in the States such as The Club in Ft. Lauderdale or the Crew Club in Washington, DC.
But we have some nastry ones too, so why complain? Among the European bathouses, Amsterdam's only one, Thermos, is rather mediocre but not as horrific as one might conclude from some of the reviews I have read above. It is true that the bathrooms get dirty, although usually from standing water as opposed to some of the comments above. The staff does not appear to clean the place during the evenings which is extremely unhygienic and unacceptable by American standards. The clients do not pick up or clean up after themselves and so "wet" mattresses (vinyl with no linens) and used condoms are the rule rather than the execption. The lube is just awful; I feel sorry for the bottoms and as a top, I can say that it makes the experience somewhat laborious as opposed to pleasurable. As is often the case in Europe, building codes are either non-existent or absurd; the stairways are hazards and a fire would be a disaster. The cabins are cantilevered which at first seems very dangerous but they somehow make them work. The lights in the cabins are not on dimmers so it's all or nothing in that regard, and you can expect to see some faces peering over the wall separating the rooms. Some pluses include the availability of free internet, fairly hospitable staff at the bar (yes, there is as usual in Europe a bar in the bathhouse), and clean showers with soap (the towels as usual here are nightmares, but that is sometimes true at home as well). The clientele (which is very hit-or-miss) seems to be very conscientious about practicing safe sex. I would point out that the Europeans still smoke a lot, but at least they have separate smoking areas. Still, their smoking and somewhat common use of cold water for washing act as a damper on their attractiveness. The smoking section would make an American hurl after 3 minutes. Inasmuch as Thermos is the only bathhouse in town, there really is no choice except to go to the bars which have backrooms which are fairly nasty. And since the Dutch are notoiously cheap, I wouldn't expect any changes anytime soon. I hope this review is helpful.
Lockable Wrist Restraints
