Austin's gay bathhouse, the Midtowne Spa (5815 Airport Blvd., 512-302-9696), is located a 15-minute drive north of downtown, near Highland shopping mall and just north of the Hyde Park neighborhood. The sizable facility that's part of one of the nation's largest gay-bathhouse chains (with branches in Dallas, Denver, Hollywood, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Wilmington, CT) is pretty popular and draws a pretty good mix of ages and types, including some students from nearby University of Texas. Midtowne Spa is well-designed, clean, and nicely maintained, with a secure and discreet parking area and back entrance set well away from the road.
Open 24/7, this favorite cruise-joint of Austin guys has extensive indoor workout areas and steam rooms, plus an outdoor section with a hot tub with a fenced in sunning area. Members ($25 for six months) get patrons pretty good discounts (about 30%) off daily rates, which range from $13 for a simple locker to $43 for a top-of-the-line suite (rates are for eight-hour intervals).
