Way back in March I wrote a review of Rio Spa in Macau. In that review I said that Rio Spa is one of the most well known saunas in Macau. That is certainly true. Today I’ll review Eighteen Sauna, another one of the most well known establishments in the Special Administrative Region.
Eighteen Sauna (also occasionally listed as “18 Sauna”) is located on the sixth floor of the Golden Dragon Hotel. The place is as easy to find as walking into the hotel and entering the elevator which is adorned with pictures of scantly clad Asian models advertising the sauna.
Once on the sixth floor things go pretty much the same way they do at any other sauna in Macau. Regular readers will know the protocol by now. The customer heads to the locker room and undresses while an attendant gives him a wrist band with a number on it to track purchases. The punter then heads in to the wet area where he can either shower himself or have one of the scantly clad Vietnamese attendants do it for him (though only if he’s not shy since the staffed showers are right out in the open). This soap up involves a bit of a jacking but doesn’t lead to anything else. After the shower the punter heads into the main lounge area where he he chooses a chair and sits down.
The lounge is much like the others around town too. It isn’t incredibly large or terribly small. It just is. At this point you may start to wonder why Eighteen is so well known. I sort of wonder the same thing and I don’t really have any answer. I can only guess that perhaps Eighteen has a great public relations team even though I found out about the place through word of mouth.
Eighteen Sauna has all the usual floor attendants. The women who provide services “from the waist up” (in their words) wear sexy short skirts but tend to be on the older side. The women who do foot massages and things like pedicures are mostly middle-aged Vietnamese gals who don’t appear to have received any professional training at all. The women who do the special “inner thigh massages” which take place under a big towel right on the main floor are mostly average looking women from Vietnam in their 20’s or early 30’s. The rates for all of these services tend to be higher than they are at most other saunas and the time limits appear to be shorter too. Worst of all these attendants and the floor attendants who get towels, free food and drinks and otherwise are meant to help customers are amongst the most unfriendly at any similar establishment in the city. There are always exceptions and bright spots but for the purposes of a review like this the overall view is what matters most.
This promo picture must be a VIP room since it looks nothing like the regular quarters.
Certainly the best aspect of 18 is the team of full service ladies. There are always plenty of gals on staff. Most of the women come from mainland China but a few other countries are also represented.
The vast majority of the full service women could be described as beautiful. That’s especially true for the Chinese ladies. Lineups happen fairly regularly with some of the women even giving punters a glimpse of the goods. Customers are under no obligation to chose a service provider until they are ready and some customers will view a few lineups before making a selection.
Once a punter chooses a gal she will guide him to one of the rooms. While the quarters aren’t all that important they are something that needs to be considered. Most all saunas have very nice rooms with many being specially designed for the purpose.
At Eighteen Sauna the standard room leaves a lot to be desired. It’s small and cramped, the sheets look like they’ve seen better days and the towels are obviously worn to the point of having holes in them. This is simply unacceptable in a sauna like this. Much lesser priced saunas are able to keep bright new linens in stock without issue.
What about the price? At Eighteen the price for a standard round of full service is 2500 HKD ($323 US) which is on the high end of the spectrum. What’s worse is the way they nickle and dime the customer, going as far as to charge 140 HKD ($18 US) for a condom. Customers have no choice but to give in to this extortion since it’s impossible for them to bring in their own condoms and unprotected activity is simply out of the question.
The level of service is on average good. While many of the women who work the full service gig at Eighteen are very beautiful and some are quite friendly, there’s nothing going on in the sauna that justifies the higher prices and little add on items that are thrown in.
Once things are done the punter is taken back to the lounge where the woman bids him farewell (at least until the next line up). He can either lay around some more, take up some other services (like a mediocre full body scrub) or head back to the locker rooms to get dressed and settle his bill.
In my learned opinion Eighteen Sauna is one of the worst saunas in all of Macau. The actual establishment is just okay, the prices are relatively high and the management seems unconcerned with the enjoyment of the customers. Little annoyances like charging extra for a rubber and lacking free wireless internet only make things worse. If Eighteen Sauna was located in some city where it was the only establishment of its kind I would possibly score it much higher. Since it’s located in walking distance of so many excellent venues like Famile Nobre and Emperor that provide more for less money I’m giving it a star-and-a-half.
Eighteen Sauna, Sixth Floor of the Golden Dragon Hotel, 17 – 103 Rua de Malaca, Macau. Open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Phone: 02835 1777. Click here for a map of men’s entertainment venues in Macau.