The Hague's sauna clubs live outside the centre, on the industrial fringes of Rijswijk, Zoetermeer and Ypenburg, and run on a two-part price system: an entrance fee (roughly €45–€75) covering the wellness facilities, plus a separately negotiated private fee (roughly €80–€150+) paid directly to the sex worker. Go by car or taxi, shower first, keep your phone in the locker, treat "no" as final, and expect a slower, more social evening than anything on the street downtown. Check current names, hours and prices before you go, because this corner of the scene changes quietly and often.
Sauna clubs in The Hague belong to a different side of the city’s adult scene from the red neon of Doubletstraat. They hum quietly behind frosted glass on the industrial edges of town, where steam, dim lighting and unhurried hours replace the street’s fast, transactional rhythm. The format is a long-established Dutch one, and it has its own set of rules.
What a Sauna Club Actually Is
Forget the day at the spa. A Dutch sauna club (also called a relax club or wellness club) is a licensed erotic venue built around spending a whole evening there, rather than a quick fifteen-minute encounter. You pay a single entrance fee at the door, and inside you'll find saunas, steam rooms, a jacuzzi or small pool, a lounge bar, sometimes a restaurant, and self-employed sex workers who move among the guests in bathrobes or lingerie. Nothing is hurried. You could spend an hour in the steam room, have a drink at the bar, talk for a while, and only afterwards, if you feel like it, arrange privately with someone to spend time together in one of the upstairs rooms. The mood is closer to a members' lounge than a shop window.
These clubs need a municipal licence like the windows and clubs in the centre, but the space, parking and noise they involve mean almost none of them are in the centre of The Hague itself. Expect to find them along the ring roads and on the business parks around Rijswijk, Zoetermeer, Leidschendam and the Ypenburg/Kerketuinen area, roughly a fifteen to twenty-five minute taxi or drive from Centrum. Local licensing tends to keep this kind of venue away from residential streets and tourist routes, so you won't stumble onto one on your way back from a bar in the Hofkwartier.
How the Money Actually Works
Almost every club runs a two-tier pricing model, and understanding it saves you an awkward conversation at the bar:
- Entrance fee: typically somewhere in the €45–€75 range on a weekday evening, more on Friday or Saturday. This usually includes the wellness facilities, non-alcoholic drinks, sometimes a buffet or snacks, and a towel and robe.
- Private time: negotiated directly with the sex worker of your choice and paid to her personally, not to the house. It is a separate transaction, and prices vary by duration and by the individual. Expect roughly €80 to €150+ for a standard slot, with longer bookings priced accordingly. Always agree the price and what it covers before you go to a room. Never assume, never haggle aggressively, and never try to renegotiate once you're behind the door.
Cash is still the safest bet, though some venues now take card at the front desk for entry. Service is included and tipping is optional. A small extra is decent form if you've had good company and conversation, but nobody should expect it.
The Etiquette Locals Actually Follow
A first-timer's biggest mistake is treating the place like a nightclub: loud, grabby, performative. The house rules, spoken or not, run the other way:
- Shower before you do anything else. It's expected, and it's plain good manners in a shared steam room.
- A "no" is final and immediate. The women you meet here are independent professionals choosing whom they spend time with, so rejection is normal and not up for negotiation.
- Photography is an absolute line. Phones stay in lockers, not pockets. Most clubs enforce this strictly and will show you the door, without a refund, if you break it.
- Keep your robe on in common areas until you and someone have privately agreed otherwise. Wandering the lounge fully nude and uninvited reads as clueless at best.
- Drinking is fine, being visibly drunk is not. Doormen will often refuse entry or ask you to leave, and steam rooms plus alcohol are a bad combination anyway.
Who Goes, and When
The clientele skews older and more local than at the red-light windows downtown. Expect Dutch, German and Belgian men from their thirties upward, often regulars who know the staff by name, plus some couples and a fair few solo travellers who've done their homework. Weeknights are quieter and more conversational, better if you want to relax in the sauna and take your time. Friday and Saturday get busier and livelier, and the bar area starts to feel like a proper social scene, with music and a real buffet spread at the better-run houses. Sunday afternoons are an oddly popular choice: a slow, half-empty steam room and an unhurried mood that regulars swear by.
Getting There Without the Awkwardness
Because these clubs sit outside town, you'll need a car or a taxi/Uber. Public transport rarely gets you close enough to arrive with any dignity intact, especially late at night. Most clubs have discreet, well-lit private parking, since they don't want guests' cars, or guests, loitering outside. Ring ahead if you can. Nearly all of them have websites with current opening hours, entry prices and any theme nights (some run "ladies' choice" evenings, or weekday specials to reward early arrivals). Names, owners and exact tariffs change more often than the street-level scene does, so treat any list you find online, including this one, as a starting point and check it in the week you go.
The Honest Trade-Off
What you gain in comfort and unhurried atmosphere, you give up in spontaneity and price transparency compared with the windows in the centre. A night here is a bigger commitment of money and time, and you can't pop in for twenty minutes between bars. In return you get a different kind of evening: steam, conversation, a proper drink, and the chance to talk to someone before anything else happens. For a lot of visitors, and plenty of locals, that trade is exactly the point.