Gay bar with dark room in london

For hundreds of years, Soho has been a haven for male lover Londoners, full of packed pubs and late night drinking dens even before the decriminalisation of homosexuality. In these enlightened times, Homosexual city dwellers have got a plethora of options all across the city. But gay elderly Soho still holds a particular place in London's LGBTQ scene and remains most visitors' first port of call, whether for drag nights or mingling. It's centred around Old Compton Avenue, where you can spend a raucous night at the enduringly trendy G-A-Y bar or down unpretentious drinks at pubs like The Admiral Duncan. Here's our pick of the best gay bars and clubs in Soho.

RECOMMENDED: Venture further afield with London's best gay bars and gay clubs.

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The allure of a dark room lies in its lighting – it should be dark, but not too dim. Ideally, you won&#;t recognise the cashier from your local Tesco Metro, but you will be able to build out a sweaty throng of bodies in positions you&#;d normally only notice on OnlyFans. Obscure rooms have been a draw in queer spaces for decades and last de rigueur in other, friskier parts of Europe. Lay it this way: It&#;s a rookie error to wear your best shoes to Berlin’s famously bohemian superclub Berghain, because you&#;ll just have to chuck them away after you leave seven hours later.

But now, dark rooms are enjoying a drawn-out overdue boom in the UK, especially among MSM (men who have sex with men). &#;Essentially, the reason they&#;re becoming popular again is a supply and demand issue,&#; says Ian Howley, CEO of health and wellbeing help LGBT HERO. &#;Gay men want a place where they can have entertaining, and a dim room in a club can be the perfect place to let move of your inhibitions and be sexually free.&#;

This new wave of gay sex-positivity is being fuelled partly by post-pandemic carpe diem

No sex please, we're Londoners

Pivotal in Vauxhall’s gay scene is Eagle London, one of the city’s most vibrant and much-loved LGBTQI venues. Both boozey and cruisey – with a distinctly male (often muscly) clientele – it’s a huge, clubby pub that’s been a mainstay of queer London for more than a decade now. Yet what always distinguished it from other venues was its sex entertainment licence. For the past decade, the venue has held a licence permitting sexual activity on the premises. Eagle London’s owner, Label Oakley, spent years functional with Lambeth Council to create ‘a very strict code of conduct’ which made the venue’s shadowy room a safe hook-up space for gay men, and one regularly monitored by local police. But in a sign of how London’s nightlife scene is changing in , Eagle London has decided it no longer wants to make use of its council-awarded sex business licence – as Oakley seeks to secure the venue’s future by attracting a new and more diverse crowd. It may be too strong to call it ge

Vault

Area: North London
Address: Whitfield Street, London, W1T 5EN
Telephone: +44 20
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London&#;s longest running gay cruise bar, Vault is nothing less than an institution in Primary London.

For well over a decade Vault has been a destination for lgbtq+, bi and curious men looking for mischievously fine time.

Tucked away near Warren Street in the refined area of Fitzrovia, you&#;d never know that behind those doors is a sexy, dark vibe where anything can happen &#; and often does!

A weekly roster of events includes Stripped (Mon-Thu) where guys are encouraged to strip down; to Underwear nighttime on Wednesdays and Sunday; All or Nothing on Saturdays with DJs; and Cruise throughout the week.

7 days a week. 1pm &#; 1am

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Vault

Area: North London
Whitfield Street, London, W1T 5EN
Undergound & Trains: Warren Road, Euston Square, Euston, Goodge Street
Buses: 24, 29

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&#; Main photo: Vault