Club 3000 features wet and dry saunas, a whirlpool, a variety of slings, darkrooms and video cabins. Credit: Courtesy club3000.net
Socialize on the rooftop deck at Club 3000. Credit: Courtesy club3000.net
The shower area at Oasis. Credit: Courtesy oasis-sauna.be
Opened originally as a leather bar, The Duq’s dress code has become quite lax in recent years. Credit: Courtesy The Duq
Located between Paris, London and Amsterdam, Brussels provides extensive options for cruising action.
Le Duquesnoy — or Le Duq, as locals call it — is the city’s main cruise bar. More than 30 years old, it opened originally as a leather bar, though the dress code has become quite lax in recent years. Buzz in at an unmarked door and you’ll be welcomed to the main floor, where you’ll find the bar, as well as a rotating collection of erotic photography. On the upper floors are glory holes, private cabins, a darkroom and two slings. Sundays feature special afternoon events, including naked/underwear parties and piss, fisting and SM workshops. On a practical level, the rickety stairs that connect the club’s five levels can be a challenge to navigate; proceed with caution. The darkroom has a habit of attracting pickpockets, so leave your valuables at the coat check on the second floor before you dive into the fray.
Club 3000 bills itself as a sauna and video club in one, though the video club (which is cheaper to enter) allows only restricted access to the sauna. It’s better to pay the full price, as most of the action happens on the sauna side. Located right across from Gare du Midi train station, it’s open 24 hours, though it’s rarely very busy. Featuring both wet and dry saunas, a whirlpool, a variety of slings, darkrooms and video cabins, the club has certainly seen better days. The dingy maze of hallways leads you up and down tiled staircases, with doors marked as exits that open onto closets and screams from the (mostly) hetero porn films filtering through cracks in the walls. The space has a slightly nightmarish feel to it, but maybe you’re into that?
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Macho Sauna, a squeaky-clean facility located right in the city centre. Featuring all the usual amenities, as well as an indoor pool, sun terrace and full-service bar, the space is probably the city’s busiest. Commuters pack in at the end of the workday, for a drink and a fuck, before catching their trains back to the suburbs. The space offers a good mix of guys and occasionally hosts special events, for which it stays open late.
It’s not often you’d describe a sauna as “elegant,” but it’s an appropriate adjective for Oasis. Built in a period house and full of oil paintings, chandeliers and floral displays, it caters to a mixed clientele but favours a mostly bear crowd. It features an all-you-can-eat buffet four days a week and an à la carte menu the rest of the time (not an unusual quirk in Belgium, where most saunas offer a buffet at least one day a week). Spend a few hours lounging in the sauna, whirlpool or indoor pool, then cruise the TV rooms before you head to the upper floor for dinner. With probably the friendliest clientele in the city, it’s a great stop for newcomers looking to meet longtime residents and get tips on other attractions in the city.
For the most up-to-date travel information on gay Brussels, see our City Guide, Listings Guide, Events Guide and Activities Guide.
Le Duquesnoy
Rue Duquesnoy 12
Mon–Thurs, 9pm–3am; Fri & Sat, 9pm–5am; Sun, 3pm–3am
No cover
Club 3000
Blvd Jamar 9
Open 24 hours
Video club, €12; sauna, €14; under 26, €8
Macho Sauna
Rue Marché au Charbon 106
Noon–midnight, every day
€18; Thurs, €12; 18–25, €12
Oasis Sauna
Rue Van Orley 10
11:30am–midnight, every day
€18; Tues & Fri, €12; students and under 30, €12; after 7pm, €12
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