Eucalyptus towels, sleek locker rooms and lavish Le Labo toiletries – it’s all part of the ultra-luxe Equinox experience.
But there’s a particular allure that has a swathe of gym bunnies hightailing it to some of the chic fitness chain branches: the steam rooms, albeit for a very different kind of sweat session.
Under the veil of the dense locker room fog, some steam rooms have become an infamous hotbed for equally steamy hook-ups, according to multiple Equinox members.
‘I’ve seen guys having sex in the showers,’ one 34-year-old gay male Equinox member told the Daily Mail, while asking to remain anonymous. ‘From bl*w jobs to j**king off to actual sex… but no kissing, because that’s too much.’
There is, he said, a secret language to indicate interest in getting hot and heavy: ‘Eye contact normally seems to set it off but there are also signals, like a little towel readjustment, that seem to be the current trend.’
But the Equinox member, who frequents the Hudson Yards location in New York City, said that the extracurricular activities in the locker room can sometimes create friction between gym goers, especially when steamy liaisons disrupt someone else’s shower time.
‘I have heard of a straight guy getting furious when they’ve caught gays in the act,’ he said. ‘So, lots of the action has moved to the steam rooms.’
Now, the behavior is so prevalent that the steam room is often crowded, claimed another Equinox member, a 42-year-old gay man who mostly goes to the gym’s Williamsburg, Brooklyn, location.
There’s a particular allure that has some gym enthusiasts high tailing it to some of the chic fitness chain: the steam rooms, albeit for a different kind of sweat session
‘I’ve seen guys having sex in the showers,’ one 34-year-old gay male Equinox member told the Daily Mail, while asking to remain anonymous
‘I heard that a number of guys got kicked out [banned] for having sex in the showers,’ he told the Daily Mail, on the condition of anonymity. ‘The Williamsburg steam room seems to be too small. I have heard of signals being made to go to the showers to engage with one another.’
Though, he quipped, ‘I’m still trying to crack the signal codes.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Equinox for comment.
In the nearly four decades since Equinox opened its first location in New York City, the claims about what goes on in the locker rooms have become as much a part of its lore as its opulent approach to health.
Members are prepared to pay handsomely for access to all that the exclusive establishments have to offer, with packages for single club membership starting around $250 per month and ‘destination’ loctions such as New York’s Hudson Yards charging up to $450 per month.
Now, there are Reddit forums dedicated to which locations have the best steam rooms for cruising, and Grindr, the gay dating app, has cheekily referenced the illicit activity online in jokes posted to TikTok.
But it is also part of a long lineage of communal baths being used as a place for community or connection for gay or bisexual men. While public baths have existed since the Neolithic Age, gay bathhouses as clandestine spaces for intimate encounters emerged in the early 20th century, peaking in popularity in the 70s but declining in later years due to the AIDS crisis.
It should be noted that Equinox has adamantly distanced itself from any such hook-up culture, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for ‘inappropriate conduct’ and laying down ground rules for members.
Equinox did not respond to multiple requests for comment but, on their website, there is a section dedicated to steam room and sauna etiquette.
‘Be respectful of other members and keep these spaces free from phones, food, grooming products, electronics, workout shoes and workout clothes,’ it reads. ‘Inappropriate activity of any kind will result in immediate and permanent termination of your membership.’
There is a secret language to indicate interest in getting hot and heavy. One member said: ‘Eye contact normally seems to set it off but there are also signals, like a little towel readjustment, that seem to be the current trend’
Now, there are Reddit forums dedicated to what locations have the best steam rooms for cruising, and Grindr, the LGBTQ+ dating app, has cheekily referenced the illicit activity online in jokes posted to TikTok
One Equinox member, who spoke to the Daily Mail on condition of anonymity, said: ‘The Williamsburg steam room seems to be too small. I have heard of signals being made to go to the showers to engage with one another’
Yet despite this, Equinox has faced multiple lawsuits over the years related to steam room sexual activities. They include an ongoing 2018 lawsuit, in which 11 people alleged that they were victims of ‘indecent exposure, sexual harassment, lewd acts, and/or sexual assault in the steam rooms.’
The lawsuit, filed in New York’s Supreme court, and seen by the Daily Mail, alleges that the fitness chain routinely ignored ‘reprehensible conduct’ and allowed orgies to happen in their gyms’ steam rooms, and even capitalized on their sexually charged notoriety with provocative advertising.
Marc Held, founding partner of Held & Hines LLP and attorney for the alleged victims, told the Daily Mail in a written quote: ‘For nearly 20 years, Equinox has turned a blind eye and allowed its gyms and steam rooms to be used for illicit sexual activity, assaults, and other wrongful conduct without consequence. We intend to protect the victims and hold Equinox fully accountable.’
Equinox has denied any wrongdoing. The Daily Mail reached out to them for comment on this case.
For Anthony Festa, a Connecticut-based influencer, Equinox was his first brush with such bathhouse culture.
‘I know it’s common at a lot of gyms, but I had never really experienced steam and sauna culture until I joined Equinox,’ Festa, 31, told the Daily Mail.
He didn’t see steam room escapades at his local Equinox, but that quickly changed once he started using other locations in both Connecticut and New York City.
‘When I went to other locations, it was very much immediate,’ he said. ‘And not only right away, but like any time of day that I would go, there was always somebody down to try and do something.’
For Festa, who is openly gay, going to locations like the Equinox in Rockefeller Center was an eye-opening experience. During his first time there, he said he got so overwhelmed by what was happening in the locker rooms, that he stopped going for a month.
He said: ‘It’s definitely more aggressive in the city. I was a little spooked at first, some people were just kind of following me around. There are a lot more gay men, at least at 30 Rock, so it was much more in the open and loosey goosey.
Anthony Festa pictured in an Equinox locker room told the Daily Mail: ‘I had never really experienced steam and sauna culture until I joined Equinox’
Festa pictured working out at Equinox. He told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s definitely more aggressive in the city. I was a little spooked at first, some people were just kind of following me around’
‘Whereas in Connecticut, it’s much more underground – everyone is either married or low-key, but definitely still active.’
Festa has previously claimed that a married man once made passes at him in a Connecticut Equinox steam room.
In a TikTok video last year, the gym enthusiast said that the man, who had a wife, signaled his interest by adjusting his towel but feelings were not reciprocated.
Such behavior holds no appeal for Festa. To him the gym is a sacred space. ‘I would never risk [getting banned] because the gym means too much to me,’ he said.
Besides, as far as Festa is concerned there are far more practical places to exercise one’s carnal urges should they strike. He said: ‘I’m not trying to freak off with you in the steam room when I live close by and we could get on my bed.’