Oct 16, 2010

The Playroom: a new blue bar/bathhouse

Last October 1, The Playroom had its soft opening. This is a new blue bar/bathhouse PLU establishment and is located at #35 West Avenue in Quezon City.

If you’ve been to the July or September parties thrown by the Fabcasters, then you’ve already been to the place since it is co-owned by one of the six Fabcasters. And if you’ve seen the movie Heavenly Touch, then you’ve also seen the place as well. The fictitious Heavenly Touch Spa in the movie is actually the Spartacus Spa in real life. Two-thirds of the building in which Spartacus is located was given up and now we have The Playroom.

If I’m not mistaken, The Playroom’s concept of a hybrid blue bar and bathhouse is the first of its kind. (Then again, both Epitome and Fahrenheit do have a bar area separate from the bathhouse proper, but unless there are events, these areas are almost always devoid of people which doesn’t make them blue bars.) Like a blue bar, The Playroom’s main feature is a bar where members can mingle and socialize and like other blue bars, there is a “backroom” area where guests can be more intimate with each other. In The Playroom’s case, the backroom is on the second floor and is effectively a bathhouse, where members are given towels and there are rooms and shower areas.

This post is just a preliminary peek but my first big beef about the establishment is that the layout is all wrong. For those who have availed of lockers instead of rooms, the bar area separates the lockers from the second floor, which may mean that patrons cross the bar area in their towels. Not good.

On the other hand, one thing I really love about the place is its location. The building that houses Spartacus and The Playroom is located in an inner driveway/courtyard away from the street. Since the address is at West Avenue, the vicinity is not seedy at all, but because the place is tucked inside, it’s quite discreet. I guess the only problem is that the masseurs (I think) of Spartacus often hang out at the driveway’s entrance which may unnerve some people.

20 comments:

Anonymous wrote on October 17, 2010 at 12:21 AM:

Should we expect more posts about this new place? With clear location map, layout, registration procedures, thorough review, and newbie guide just like your previous bathhouse posts? :D

 
Anonymous wrote on October 18, 2010 at 2:56 AM:

does this establishment has permit? how safe is this from raids?

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on October 18, 2010 at 11:23 PM:

@LM, yup, but I'll wait for a few months to let the Playroom establish itself first before I blog guide articles about it. In the meantime, I plan to blog about Fahrenheit.

@Anon, yes it has a business permit and other legal stuff like that. The problem is, when the police decides to be corrupt and wants to go on an extortion spree, there's very little you can do to prevent it. :-(

 
Anonymous wrote on October 19, 2010 at 9:40 AM:

do they have masseurs or macho dancing shows? if they do, that would be scary. queeriosity place's case, as per the police, was human trafficking.
i hope you could feature more of the newest bathhouse in the future. :)

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on October 20, 2010 at 1:02 AM:

@Anon, I don't think they need masseurs since Spartacus Spa is just next door. Make of that what you will. Also, there's hardly any space in the place for a stage.

 
Anonymous wrote on October 25, 2010 at 3:40 PM:

i tried it last nite,ok naman, maliit lng nga. ok kaya dun sa spartacus, gusto ko sana i try e,
nga pala me namboboso samen nung nag 3some kame sa isang room, bale nsa kabilang room yung namboboso, tumuntong yata sa bed, sad. hehe

 
jason_mkt wrote on October 26, 2010 at 10:32 PM:

is epitome still open? (posted 26 oct 2010)

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on October 30, 2010 at 1:16 PM:

@jason_mkt, yes, Epitome is still open.

 
Anonymous wrote on November 2, 2010 at 3:07 PM:

if it's from the same owner, most likely it will be raided too.

wala naman nangyari dun sa Q incident na planong kaso raw. If PLAYROOM gets raided too, nothing will happen too.

Won't try my luck here.

 
Anonymous wrote on December 18, 2010 at 10:35 PM:

is the playroom a friendlier place as compared to farenheit. farenheit is very judgmental when it comes to looks. meaning pag mas chubby ka ba hindi ka rin papasukin dito sa the playroom?

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on December 20, 2010 at 12:27 AM:

@Anon (Dec 18), it seems friendlier. But then again, I'm not a good judge of that.

 
Anonymous wrote on January 9, 2011 at 1:06 PM:

punta sana ko sa playroom kagabi. may police car na nagbaba ng 2 masseurs ng sparta spa. at maraming tao dun sa may labas ng playroom. Why kaya? Katatapos lang ba ma raid? di na ko tumuloy.

 
horcurx wrote on January 30, 2011 at 4:55 AM:

So meron pa palang Spartacus Spa.. All I thought nagsara na sila... pinalitan na ng PlayRoom... so magkaiba pala yun.. will try Spartacus next time :)

 
Anonymous wrote on January 6, 2012 at 11:51 PM:

Does anyone have the number of Spartacus now? Wanna call sana. Thanks!

 
Gerard wrote on October 22, 2012 at 3:38 PM:

Is playroom still open? Been going to F and wanna try somewhere new. Tnx in advance.

 
Anonymous wrote on February 12, 2013 at 6:02 PM:

HI there I ask if meron pa bang Boathouse maliban sa F or the Mantion thanks

 
Anonymous wrote on February 20, 2013 at 8:10 AM:

how much is their rate?

 
Anonymous wrote on April 7, 2013 at 3:50 PM:

I want to trt the bathhouse where is is at I went the 35 west ave but. Couldn't find the bathhouse do I go inside the driveway if so which door

 
Anonymous wrote on July 9, 2013 at 3:57 PM:

Sa Mansion guys meron pang Bathhouse if u want to go there just txt me at mag eenjoy talaga kayo don sobra heres my number 09465433944

 
Anonymous wrote on January 16, 2015 at 6:29 PM:

i've been going to fahrenheit and club bath. may iba pa bang bath houses dito?

is play room still open?