SolaceSoul

Your assumption that the kinds of garotos that you like are the same type that most well-paying clients visit saunas to spend money on is simply just wildly off the mark. Just as Twitter activity is not very reflective of real life, the avid BoyToy posters who gush over barely legal skinny twinks and think that anything that doesn’t resemble that look is “old” or “bad looking” are also NOT reflective of the bread and butter of the most successful saunas in existence. 117 is now the premier pay sauna in Brazil because it steadily and reliably features masculine, well-built MEN — not average, run of the mill Joes off the street or twinkie boys that look barely legal — the type honestly, you can find at any bar bar in Anytown, North America on a Friday night. It’s known for garotos that are masculine, well built, nicely endowed, and look like they came off the latest Calvin Klein ad — and those are always the busiest garotos in the sauna. On any given day, the ones that you describe as your preferred type are much less likely to be booked, with their backs to the wall trolling for clients (and they’re also, by no coincidence, less expensive). Lagoa made its name the very same way, if not more so than 117 did. Sauna Thermas in Barcelona, the very same. Point 202 in its most heyday and the old Rogers — the very same. It’s by no coincidence that the saunas that feature the barely legal, average Joes with common, regular builds and features are also the saunas that are no longer in business, or are on their last leg. On the hétero side, Centaurus is known worldwide for its most beautiful women with outstanding bodies. Straight men flock there, not to see the seemingly physically unattainable, not to see the kind of little girl that they can see around the block. And judging a success by its first few days of business would be unwise. Not to suggest that Lagoa will be closing shop sometime soon like another twink farm / average boy sauna, Meio Mundo did, and soon to be Fragata will — because right now, Lagoa is the only game in town. But there are arguably more well-paying clients that will dislike the restrictions being placed than ones like you that consider them just dandy for your tastes.

On Wednesday night, the same friend of a friend from before who is a regular at Lagoa went back to the new Espaço Lagoa. While he was talking with Rodolfo about the new restriction of garotos 30 years old or over, Rodolfo also said that he has now made an exception to this rule for "old" garotos that he personally knew and who were still, in his view, “good-looking” — provided that they are “hugely hung”. Anyone who is familiar enough with Rodolfo can attest that with this new restrictions, there will only be a few garotos that will fit into his “exceptions” category. Then, Rodolfo proceeded to tell my friend’s friend that his (Rodolfo’s) priority is to solve the overcrowding of the small sauna. Therefore, he has yet another genius, Brainiac restriction. His new restriction: any very young garoto that does not look or act masculine cannot work at the new Espaço Lagoa sauna. If the garoto appears to be even slightly effeminate, they are evicted. Once again, like “good looking” and “old”, “masculine” and “feminine” appearing will be at the sole discretion of the business and marketing genius of Rodolfo. Thus, there are now two groups that are not allowed to work at the new, smaller Espaço Lagoa sauna: (1) garotos who are very young and effeminate or not masculine enough (according to Rodolfo), and (2) garotos who are 30 years of age and more — unless they are still “good-looking”, according only to Rodolfo, and only if he previously knew them, and he can confirm that they have very big dicks. Is he running a client-driven business, or his personal playground?

There’s a saying: “when you’re in a hole, stop digging.”

File this one under: “self-serving statements”!

Then, you think wrong. “Interest in” and “peak physical athletic development” are two different things. The very thought that there are men already at or near retirement age who are actually defending this ludicrous age restriction, and equating over 30 with “old” and “bad looking”, is quite disturbing, to say the least. But I can’t say that I am surprised at what lurks in this forum.

The bad reports on the new Espaço Lagoa just keep coming. A friend of a very close friend of mine went to the new Espaço Lagoa again last night. While there, he said he was again not comfortable with the multi-level sauna, the small crowded spaces, and the incessant stairs. He also commented on the porn room. He said this room can only hold about six people. But wait! It gets even worse! Then, he said that Rodolfo told him that he had a “solution” to the crowding of the new, smaller Lagoa. Rodolfo’s Brainiac business solution is that he is now prohibiting all garotos 30 years old and above from working at Espaço Lagoa. Needless to say, this friend of a friend — who prefers more masculine garotos with athletic builds — was shocked and very disappointed at Rodolfo's decision. I and most of the clients I associate with think that this age restriction is absolutely ridiculous, and that it will be the death knell of what was once a premier, if not the premier, sauna. Especially for us clients that exclusively want masculine and muscular garotos, our needs and interests would no longer be met at this new Lagoa For example, most competitive athletic physiques — the type that I would often find a few years ago at the old Lagoa — don’t peak until after 30! Most of the muscular, built, masculine garotos that I met there were over 30, or very close to it. Rodolfo seems to want only twinks and the clients who want them. If that’s the case, then Lagoa has immediately lost its reputation as a sauna with top-shelf garotos. He seems to be making quite a number of poor business decisions with this sauna as of late. Hopefully, someone will talk some sense into him about this stupid “no garotos over 30” age restriction, before it’s too late.

The sad irony is the kind of person that would attempt something like this with little to no experience or skill set is the same kind of poster who will later come here to post about how he was a “victim” of violence in a “homophobic” country where he was “targeted”.

Ok, then bless his heart. And bless your heart for doubting even for one nanosecond that this situation with the twentysomething brasileiro and your sexagenarian Brit friend is any more than it actually is.

Oh, bless your heart.

The saunas with the working guys will not care much if the client is 21 or 91. It’s all about the money and your ability to come to an agreement with your worker of choice. However, at saunas without payboys — where patrons play with each other and select their playmates by physical not monetary attraction — age, looks, build and other physical attributes are kings.

Jesus Fucking Christ. Comments at the board like this are not only just incredibly racist, but also very self-serving. It presumes that the sex tourist is doing the local Latino a sexual favor because the Latino is the one who wants the sex, not the tourist — when the harsh truth is the local is interested in the economic benefit, not the sexual aspect of it.

How sad that you have to use an alternate account just to pretend you have fans. Nice try, Jan.

Too bad you were never taught not to contribute to a thread if you have no updated information.

This homen is MUCH older, and more common at the Brazilian saunas.

A reliable source close to Fragata mentioned that the location will shutter its doors as a sauna by February 1 or earlier.

These photos of the inside of the new Espaço Lagoa were taken yesterday (Friday) afternoon by a friend of a friend. As someone who has experience rehabbing some old properties for market, this to me looks like it might not be ready In time for the late November opening. It also looks less like a relaxing sauna and more like a generic remote office space like WeWork or Industrious.

I recently mentioned in the previous Lagoa thread that there are three Metro stops that are about an 8-10 minute walk away from this new Lagoa: Consolação, Higienópolis-Mackenzie, and Estação Paulista.

I, for one, love the sauna model and the sauna culture. For me, it being a sauna and social club is a necessary part of the attraction. Sex — more specifically, sex for pay — is an integral part of the sauna culture, of course, but I find saunas relaxing and sometimes exhilarating. The showers, the near nudity, the cleanliness, the sexual energy, the freedom, the openness, the bars, the socialization — it’s all part of what I enjoy. Otherwise, if I just wanted a nut, I’d just go on a hookup app or call an escort from an ad. I get that there are some clients or would-be clients who would rather NOT be in a towel, or use sauna facilities, or be in a private club around others. And that’s fine. But there are plenty of us who love sauna culture. There are many clients — local and tourist — that do not have a place to hookup with another guy (paid or free). Sure, there are also love motels, but that’s another step after finding the one you want for a short time. And then what if it’s a bust? Back to step 1.The ease and convenience of choice are available at saunas, whereas online ads or club / street hookups require a two-step process in these cases: finding the prospect, then booking a safe place to take him. Most brasileiros that I know (straight or gay) do not dare take dates (especially not pay dates) back to their homes, and will not go to an unknown pay dates address for a hookup. So, it’s either love motels or saunas. Regarding privacy, a very successful argument could be made that working at a sauna is far more private than advertising services on social media. What could be happening is would be sauna garotos simply do not openly advertise online and just the passive requests through PMs, DMs, etc. This, however, is probably not very stable, steady income — and regarding privacy, what’s to stop an unscrupulous or vengeful social media user from taking screen shots of the private messages proving this IG model is offering sex work and making it public? My takeaway is that the better saunas are just as active as ever, but the problem is not really the size of the client base or the number of garotos that are wiling to work there. The bigger problems are for sauna owners and operators: rental prices and operation costs may be increasingly too high. It’s definitely cheaper to operate a website or web page.

It really makes no sense for a metropolitan area of over 21.5 million people to have so few saunas with working garotos. There are 3 in Rio, 4 in Salvador, 3 in Recife, 2 in Fortaleza. That’s a big business waiting for the right investor. Hopefully, the relocated, downscaled, cozier Lagoa will thrive, so that there can at least still be two.

There actually are EEO laws in Brazil, and they do apply to independent contractors and temporary workers like sauna garotos. But ethnic diversity issues aside, I wouldn’t be interested at all (as an employee or as a client) if this is going to be yet another twink sauna. They couldn’t pay me enough. Sorry. @floridarob, you may be joking, but Ibwas discussing the possibility and viability of a sauna investment — except the city that needs another one isn’t Rio. It’s São Paulo.

Hmmm. If only someone would’ve revealed photos of this exact location a week ago...

De nada. The Charles Townsend Agency only hires the best... and the best looking! (I think this building has been vacant for some time. Not sure what it was before, but it was not a sauna or anything like it.)

This photo of the new Thermas Lagoa location (soon to be “Espaço Lagoa”) was just taken by a Brazilian friend of a friend, who is very familiar with the inner workings of the place. It is exactly where I said it would be, on a small one-block side street, Rua Pedro Taques, right off the landmark Consolação cemetery, almost equidistant from the three nearby Metro stations {Estação Paulista, Consolação, Higienópolis- MacKenzie). It’s two buildings away from the corner of Rua Bela Cintra, near the end of the street. The other end of the street is the large Rua da Consolação, and the cemetery. By comparison, here’s a street view capture from Google Maps, which also has the approximate street address. “Cozy”, indeed.

I was just there for about a week, and my estimate is that around 2/3 of the working guys were Brazilian. The others that I met (whether just casually or for actual sessions) were from Colombia, Cuba, Romania, Cameroon, Panama, Venezuela, and Egypt. This also includes even the ones that would not be on my sexual radar. I don’t know how our estimates could be so vastly different.

This all depends on: — the dancer / stripper / gogo boy — how much game you have / how smooth and discreet you can be — how much you’re willing to pay Two different clients can approach the very same guy and get two very different answers.