So, here's another topic that can hopefully be discussed "maturely."

So, I'm in the Hyatt Regency in Chicago this week, as many of you will be for the Chicago do next weekend, and lo and behold, what do I see on the "adult" movies list, but gay porn!

There were 10 selections total on the adult list, 4 of them were identified as "Eros:" followed by the title, 4 of them (4!) were identified as "Man-on-Man:" followed by the title, and 2 were identified as "Woman-on-Woman:" followed by the title.

Now, I had a firend who used to work for OnCommand who told me that they have had gay titles for a long time, but few hotels request them, so I have always peeked at the adult list to see if I'm in a progressive enough hotel to have this.

I was quite surprised to see it in the Hyatt Regency, of all places, and wonder if anyone knows if this is temporary because of IML weekend this weekend, or something more permanent.

I wonder how one would draft a letter that says "Thanks for the porn." Anybody have any ideas?

[This message has been edited by robb (edited 05-22-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by robb:
I wonder how one would draft a letter that says "Thanks for the porn." Anybody have any ideas?</font>

One can vote with their wallet and rent the movies. Revenue often speaks louder than letters.

And you are in Chicago NOW?

Re: hotel porn: I couldn't agree more, Robb. It's about time. I would also like to see some gay rags at airport newstands next to Penthouse and Playboy. These folks wrap "Out" in a dark plastic wrapper - if they even sell it - pathetic.

Re: Chicago: are you staying for the weekend?

This is interesting Robb. The way you monitor this board, not to mention your little lecture about the dangers of internet sex made me think you were quite conservative. Now I see you are "pleased with the porn."

This is not a flame. I'm just pleased to see you are a complicated person, full of contradictions. Looking forward to meeting you.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I'm just pleased to see you are a complicated person, full of contradictions.</font>

Aren't we all? That's what makes human beings so darn fascinating. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I'll comment on the way Robb monitors this forum: I think he is doing a great job. This forum is perhaps being watched and read more closely than some of you may think. There were no special guidelines put forth when the forum was created other than adherence to FT's T.O.S., which is how it should be, and the encouragement to "stay on topic".

Well, the topic here is "Share your tips, recommendations, and advice on gay travel" which could include just about anything - I mean, some people consider a trip to the supermarket "gay travel". http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

Moderating a topic as general as "gay travel" is problematic and requires a lot of judgement calls. I think Robb has made some judgement calls that some may consider "conservative" because he has taken into consideration the very long discussion we all had about this forum before it was created. A major concern voiced by some was that the GLBT forum would become a dating service or a "pick up" place - remember the thread that was locked in FT Community which was started by someone who wondered if there were any other gay male FTers who were similar to his profile?

I am not trying to rehash old threads or start a new discussion of what this forum should or should not be and what is right or wrong to post. The forum is here, let's use it. I am merely suggesting that Robb does not always have an easy job in trying to keep the forum "on topic" and, as I see it, he is trying to do so in the context of the discussions that took place before (and a few after) it was set up (these discussions being the only precedent, per se, for any kind of moderating standards).

As for gay adult movies in hotel rooms: I'm with Comicwoman, vote with your wallet. I don't watch any kind of films in hotels, but I assume the hotel/vendor are interested mainly in one thing and that is the bottom line.

Edited for spelling.

[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 05-23-2002).]

That's amusing...

I really don't use the TV all that much when I am in a hotel room. On my trip to Puerto Rico my friends and I were amused by the spanish game shows, but that's a far cry from "Adult" entertainment.

Ooops.

[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 05-23-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ILuvParis:
The way you monitor this board, not to mention your little lecture about the dangers of internet sex made me think you were quite conservative. </font>

Warning people about having sex with strangers and encouraging them to watch porn in their hotel rooms is perfectly consistent in my book http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Robb,

Thanks for the info - I had not checked the "Adult" selections lately in hotels as just assumed they would be the usual Str8 films.

The only other place I have seen this was in a hotel in Amsterdam, I believe it was the Intercontinental.

Agree with the title of the thread - it IS about time. I have sort of infrequently checked during my travels to see if any gay adult movies were available and have NEVER found any be it in the US, Germany, other European countries or Australia.

The only place that had them was Turtle Cove in Australia, which is a gay resort. There they were not pay movies, but just piped into the room free. Trust me there is nothing more disconcerting than turning on your TV to look for the Australian Open coverage and be suddenly confronted with a gay adult movie in mid-film. Not against it per se, but a bit of a shock nevertheless. We ended up bursting out laughing everytime we turned on the TV!

Perhaps we can all vote with our wallets when we're at the ORD do next wknd and staying at the Hyatt.

Speaking of which, how many of "us" are staying at the Hyatt Regency next wknd.

I am. Perhaps we can do a little roll call here.

I'm at the Hyatt.

Blair... a trip to the supermarket is "gay travel"? I had to laugh at that... we have two major supermarket chains here in Western NY... Wegmans and Tops.... go figure... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Robb, the infamous $25 W Hotel in Times Square had DVD's you could rent... and that included a gay selection.

William

I must say I, too, am surprised you found these at the Hyatt.

Other than all the W Hotels I've stayed at and a few misc. places in Europe, I've never seen any "family" videos in hotels. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by wharvey:
Blair... a trip to the supermarket is "gay travel"? I had to laugh at that... we have two major supermarket chains here in Western NY... Wegmans and Tops.... go figure... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif
</font>

Ahem, rumors have it that an exec of one of those chains is "family".

LOL. A trip to Pavilions in West Hollywood or to Safeway on Market in San Francisco qualifies as Gay Travel in my book.

Safeway on Market would qualify more as an adventure excursion. Cala Foods on 18th would be gay travel. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I'll comment on the way Robb monitors this forum: I think he is doing a great job.</font>

I agree with this statement, and with everything else BVH wrote. Couldn't have put it better myself.

The W Union Square had a selection of, er, training videos when we were there in April. Like robb said, about time.

Hyatt Regency for the ORD Do.

LOL on Safeway, Cala and Pavilions! And the Berkeley Bowl for the East Bay crowd.

Wow! I log in again and was surprised to see this one with 18 replies! But I honestly thought the same thing that voting with the wallet was important, but I also have to add that the Hyatt needs to work on the volume control on the TV's, since turning it to 3 has no sound whatsoever, and 4 sounds like everyone on the floor can listen along with you!

Alas, I am not in Chicago anymore, I was supposed to leave Wednesday night, but extended my stay until tonight, but just got home a little while ago and am trying to wind down.

Re: My being conservative, I'm really anything but. While I haven't happened to do the whole internet thing, lots of friends have, and I've done just about anything else. I threw that in, because (a) regardless of what we're willing to do, someone should say that it's dangerous and that doesn't mean a lot of us aren't willing to accept the risk, and (b) I honestly didn't want to close the thread, but wasn't sure what could be said that wouldn't be worthy of closing the thread.

Sex is a part of travel for lots of people, gay or straight, but particularly gay. I don't think that should be disregarded or swept under the rug. We just have to have our conversations in the context of what flyertalk is all about, and it isn't about much detail where sex is concerned, so it's a fine line. There's no reason why a post about a city shouldn't include the name of a good bathhouse, it just shouldn't describe your last evening there.

Another one here at the Hyatt for the Chicago Do.

I forgot to add on the subject of voting with your dollars that I am also the kind of person who has occasionally buys Out or the Advocate when I see them in an unusual place (like College Station, for example!). I already subscribe to these magazines, but figure that there's no better way to encourage them to keep selling the magazines than to have them actually sold!

Same difference, so, even if you're not a fan, see if you can pretend priceline gave you a $57 rate instead of $47 and encourage them to cater to gay travelers.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Same difference, so, even if you're not a fan, see if you can pretend priceline gave you a $57 rate instead of $47 and encourage them to cater to gay travelers.</font>

The sacrifices I sometimes make for a worthy cause ... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

How was the Hyatt, by the way? Any truth to the rumor that there are major room renovations going on?

I was actually upgraded to a junior suite (but I checked in way early, so they may not have had many rooms ready yet) on the 32nd floor.

It was clearly unrenovated, as the decorating was dated, and they must have been doing some renovations on that floor, as the hallway carpet was covered with plastic, but I wasn't disturbed in any way, and certainly feel that I got far more than $50 worth of room.

My only big complaint was no minibar (it did have a wetbar in the suite, but an empty refrigerator), and room service was out of coca-cola, so I had to go to Walgreens and buy a 12-pack.

Will also be staying at the Hyatt for the Chicago do...

Earlier discussions of finding gay porn in unexpected places reminded me of the in-flight movie on a recent flight. Seems that the aircraft had originated in Europe, and the cassette for the scheduled film was defective. The replacement they found turned out to be an unedited, European-release version of American Pie II...

Wasn't really paying much attention to the film until they got to the kissing/handjob scenes between the guys..."It's About Time", indeed!

There was a large religious group onboard, heading to some convention, and they had a fit! So they stopped the movie, apologized and refunded everyone's money. Options for voting with $s were somewhat limited...had to settle for accepting a refund, even though i had never purchased headsets!




[This message has been edited by FlyByNight (edited 05-25-2002).]

you know, i somehow don't think that the "woman-on-woman" (why does that just sound weird?) bit is full of quality Fatale or Tigress titles. *snicker*

sorry, had to. it's the wine. really. though i will never understand why "mainstream" porn is so in love of the high heels thing. well, that and three feet of makeup, but i go to school in NJ; i'm desensitized to that now. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Ian Schrager's hotels also typically offer quite a robust selection of entertainment for all teams. But then again, generally that is quite obvious based on the clientele that can be usually found lounging around the public areas of his hotels. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Just to bump this back up. I think this must now be something instituted system wide. A recent week-long trip that included the Hyatt La Jolla, Hyatt Los Angeles, Park Hyatt San Francisco and Hyatt Denver all revealed "alternative" adult male titles on the movies list. Seemed to alternate between two different movies depending on the hotel.

I was amused to spot that the W Times Square has gay porn, but the Westin Times Square doesn't.... same owners, both recent hotels, market differentiation...

Just to add, during my last couple of trips to Sitges before moving here, both the Calipolis and the Melia had HARDCORE gay porn on the TV - and after about 1AM it was free (I suspect this was a case of serendipity). These weren't the "chauffer's butt and lots of moaning" R-rated crap they show in the US, but hard-core, close-up, penetration-shot, pornography. I'm still blushing.

And FWIW, BVH, where I live ANY trip to the supermarket is Gay Travel. Can't wait to see you and yours for Si-Do. Maybe we'll have a group adventure shopping for chorizo?



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-alan in sitges, home of Si-Do (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/003150.html)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by wharvey:
Blair... a trip to the supermarket is "gay travel"? I had to laugh at that... we have two major supermarket chains here in Western NY... Wegmans and Tops.... go figure... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

William</font>

There's a Rainbow supermarket in Uptown Minneapolis... (ok, they're everywhere in the Twin Cities) -- but a trip to the Rainbow in Uptown Mpls could be considered "gay travel" http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

Best,

SDF_Traveler


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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

Just thought I'd chime in:

bvh: well said, as always.

robb: keep up the good work.

FlyLots: we had exactly the same experience at Turtle Cove - though I usually find porn (gay or straight) pretty amusing; it's the soundtracks that really make me laugh.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by alanw:
And FWIW, BVH, where I live ANY trip to the supermarket is Gay Travel. Can't wait to see you and yours for Si-Do. Maybe we'll have a group adventure shopping for chorizo?</font>

A man with a plan! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

mad_atta: good to see you! UA just isn't the same anymore ... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by blairvanhorn:
mad_atta: good to see you! UA just isn't the same anymore ... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif</font>

I'm too sensitive a soul to hang around the UA forum these days! (Actually, when UA went Chapter 11 I burned my miles and ran to (of all airlines to pick) Air Canada - d'oh! I sure can pick 'em... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif Ever the optimist, I'm gunning for Star Gold this year courtesy of those generous folk at Aeroplan.)

I noticed that the Hyatt New Orleans had a few "all male" titles on the adult PPV menu the last time I stayed there (New Years 02/03). This was a change from the last time I was there and perused the video selections, either May and/or August '02. I was delighted to see that option now exists, although I wasn't sure if it was only availabile in select cities known to attract a high proportion of gay travelers or chain wide. I didn't vote with my wallet however, because let's face it there are many more "live" distractions available to a single gay man in the big sleazy http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Reminds me of a consultant friend of mine who would send email movie reviews of the "Adult" movies from the hotel. It would go something like this "Firehouse 69" was a cute little movie.... Then he would end every review with "Of couse I only saw the first ten minutes of the film"

MrMan