Nudity in German Hotel spas!!!
Oct 30, 2016, 1:38 pm
#121
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School shower, sports showers etc in France were all undivided as well but they were gender specific as, I believe, in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. I think that what surprises many people about nudity in German saunas is the nudity, but I do not know anyone personally who actually had a problem with it when they tried it, be they German, French, British, or anything else.
Conversely, topless is perfectly normal in much of Europe as are naturist beaches, and as is changing "publically" in non naturist beach (ie taking off your clothes to put your swimming gear on before swimming and vice versa afterwards). All those are just as common in France or Scandinavia as they are in the Netherlands, but for instance, on the beach in Barcelona, we are not talking about naturist beaches but about (very many) people being entirely naked on the regular public beach. This exists in a number of other places as well (and indeed, people could be naked in any part of many German parks and not just in parts that concentrate most naturists) but not, to my knowledge, in the Netherlands where I believe that being naked on a non-naturist beach would actually raise some eyebrows and even in all likelihood some criticism or complaints.
I would also avoid generalisations about supposedly prudish Brits. Quite frankly, young Brits (and in fact even young Americans) are just as likely to go topless on Nice's beaches as their French, Dutch, or German peers, and there are also plenty of Brits in German saunas who accept the local rules without issues.
As an aside, I realise that people who want to look at etiquette issues with German saunas mostly focus on people trying to "avoid" the nudity rule, but quite frankly, the thing that actually annoys me most are foreigners who are very loud in saunas, whilst the unspoken Germanic etiquette is that saunas is that they are places to relax where people would typically remain silent or speak at a very low volume if they must. So if anyone is going to try this part of German culture for the first time, do not just drop your swimtrunks or bikini bottoms, but also kindly drop your tone of voice!
It does not make the Netherlands prudish, but just more so, from that point of view, than Barcelona.
Conversely, topless is perfectly normal in much of Europe as are naturist beaches, and as is changing "publically" in non naturist beach (ie taking off your clothes to put your swimming gear on before swimming and vice versa afterwards). All those are just as common in France or Scandinavia as they are in the Netherlands, but for instance, on the beach in Barcelona, we are not talking about naturist beaches but about (very many) people being entirely naked on the regular public beach. This exists in a number of other places as well (and indeed, people could be naked in any part of many German parks and not just in parts that concentrate most naturists) but not, to my knowledge, in the Netherlands where I believe that being naked on a non-naturist beach would actually raise some eyebrows and even in all likelihood some criticism or complaints.
I would also avoid generalisations about supposedly prudish Brits. Quite frankly, young Brits (and in fact even young Americans) are just as likely to go topless on Nice's beaches as their French, Dutch, or German peers, and there are also plenty of Brits in German saunas who accept the local rules without issues.
As an aside, I realise that people who want to look at etiquette issues with German saunas mostly focus on people trying to "avoid" the nudity rule, but quite frankly, the thing that actually annoys me most are foreigners who are very loud in saunas, whilst the unspoken Germanic etiquette is that saunas is that they are places to relax where people would typically remain silent or speak at a very low volume if they must. So if anyone is going to try this part of German culture for the first time, do not just drop your swimtrunks or bikini bottoms, but also kindly drop your tone of voice!
It does not make the Netherlands prudish, but just more so, from that point of view, than Barcelona.
And yes the showers without the dividers are always sex-divided . Saunas are not though I dont think.
However I rarely use a sauna in the netherlands.
Oct 31, 2016, 12:36 am
#122
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If you go to a typical health club in the NL, the locker rooms are separate. But no shower stalls.
Oct 31, 2016, 1:55 pm
#123
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Maybe even more so. I was reading some French survey and it would seem younger French women are (much) less likely to go topless than older generations. Anecdotally, that was evident at a Corsican beach a year ago where the only women gong topless were those who had their adult or older teenaged daughters with them who were more than covered up.
Oct 31, 2016, 5:01 pm
#124
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Maybe even more so. I was reading some French survey and it would seem younger French women are (much) less likely to go topless than older generations. Anecdotally, that was evident at a Corsican beach a year ago where the only women gong topless were those who had their adult or older teenaged daughters with them who were more than covered up.
By the 1990s and 2000s, it had become very much an old person's thing (the same people who were young in the 1960s/70s while young women would never consider it).
Right now, toplessness has become significantly more popular with young women again than it was about 5-10 years ago and a bit less so with middle aged women than before, though young women will be less likely to do it if they go to the beach with men they know (I suppose that it creates more fear of being judged or of it changing the dynamics than with strangers). Even with this caveat, it really is not true any more that propensity to go topless increases with age any more. Incidentally, a totally unscientific impression of mine is that a factor that does matter, however, is season, with less toplessness in July and August and more in mid-season (May-June, September-October) when beaches are more quiet. It is also more the norm in some regions than in others.
From that point of view, Corsica is a bit of an odd example and might be different from much of the country. It is still extremely traditional and socially conservative in some ways compared to the rest of France and it also attracts some fairly specific types of tourists vis-a-vis other regions, notably unusually large proportions with some Corsican family roots. At the risk of sounding caricatural, in a nutshell, many a Corsican father would probably go ballistic if his daughter went topless on the beach while he wouldn't have much of a say over what his wife does.
Jan 29, 2017, 3:00 am
#126
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All hotels in...
Netherlands
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Norway
Germany
and hotels in South Africa that cater to the Dutch.
With a few exceptions here and there.
Jan 29, 2017, 3:06 am
#127
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Jan 29, 2017, 3:13 am
#128
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Jan 29, 2017, 1:32 pm
#131
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But, honestly, it'd be a lot less stress to accept that in many (most?) spas around the world, that clotheslessness is the norm (Japan and China also come to mind), and wearing clothes is spas is an exception (if not an aberration).
Jan 30, 2017, 7:40 am
#133
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I wouldn't be so sure about all of that. It's definitely not been that naked, co-ed way at all hotels in Sweden.
Aug 22, 2017, 12:50 am
#135
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(Apologies as thread is from a few months ago but this one came up on search)
Question: is it really common practice in the United States to enter a sauna after a workout wearing workout attire ie spandex, leggings, shoes, etc?
Today again I had the experience of what sounded like an American male entering a (mixed) German sauna fully dressed, in shoes. Meaning not just the wellness area, which was clearly signaged, but also the actual sauna cabin. Fortunately the wellness attendant chased him out immediately, but this is a somewhat regular experience to me using chain hotels in Europe frequented by Americans. (and Brits, and both seem to frequently bring their mobiles, such as the young lady snap chatting last week in the sauna
)
And I must say that having taken up swimming as a regular fitness routine while travelling, the lack of showers in American pools really puts me off.
Question: is it really common practice in the United States to enter a sauna after a workout wearing workout attire ie spandex, leggings, shoes, etc?
Today again I had the experience of what sounded like an American male entering a (mixed) German sauna fully dressed, in shoes. Meaning not just the wellness area, which was clearly signaged, but also the actual sauna cabin. Fortunately the wellness attendant chased him out immediately, but this is a somewhat regular experience to me using chain hotels in Europe frequented by Americans. (and Brits, and both seem to frequently bring their mobiles, such as the young lady snap chatting last week in the sauna
)And I must say that having taken up swimming as a regular fitness routine while travelling, the lack of showers in American pools really puts me off.