Manila, like any other large city in the world, is ever changing.  The culture of the Philippines is quite unique and full of character and color!  Please read our info if you are planning on touring the "night life Scene" of Manila and beyond, as much has changed since 2009, since I first visited here!  Updated 2-2014!

 

General Night Life!   Where all are WELCOME-

The different cities within Greater Manila that you can find clubs and bar establishments are shown below. Overall, it include Cubao - Quezon City, Oritgas - Greater Manila, and Malate/Pasay - Central Manila.   All 3 have different sub-cultures of straight and gay life in the Manila area and offer different venues.   What "scene" are you seeking?   Read on.....

 

The average bars and clubs for everyone are everywhere.  Depending on the music scene and type of club or bar you prefer.  Super DISCO?  Karaoke bar?  The list goes on.   Talk to us and we can direct you to the best of Manila, as this is ever changing monthly!

 

The different cities within Greater Manila that you can find gay establishments are shown below. Overall, it include Cubao - Quezon City, Oritgas - Greater Manila, and Malate/Pasay - Central Manila.   All 3 have different sub-cultures of gay life in the Manila area and offer different venues.   What "scene" are you seeking?   Read on.....  

 

We try to keep this info updated as much as possible.  Unlike many other sites online, I often info that is years old and find it frustrating.  So in an attepmt to better this, whenever we hear rumors, we will take the time to research or visit the location when we can to know more and share it with you all.  At minimum, we will tell you the rumor we hear.  ;)  

 

Malate Area-

While greatly advertised as the center of gay life in Manila over the last many years, Malate is sadly becoming a dying scene for the gay nightlife it once enjoyed.  O-bar and Bed Bar, (2 of the 3 major gay clubs/bars of Malate), have closed and moved operations to Ortigas. (Ortigas is near our location, by the way :) )  Hopeful, many wish to see new clubs/bars open to continue the once great scene that was, but the new bars are simply not attracting the gays of Manila anymore. For the few remaining bars of Malate, things get started around Midnight and really only on Friday and Saturday nights, and thin out around sunrise.  Peak time is 1 am to 4 am.  It is still fun for sure if on a weekend, but the choices are now more limited and there are not so many guys here anymore.  Always a popular choice for tourists as the location is overall central if staying in Makati or Malate area.  

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​Che'lu Bar

Still remains in Malate and is the favored choice of clubs/bars to go to meet guys and party the night away.  Chelu' plays a mix of house and top 40/club music.  Nothing fancy here, just a lot of happy gays drinking and dancing.  Weekend cover 350+ Php with 1 local beer included.  (rates getting higher as this is the last good bar left in Malate)   Sound system is fair, drinks are cheap and the atmosphere is party party, fun fun! Guys here are 18 up to younger 30's overall.  There are still a few smaller gay establishments and bars nearby Che'lu, but per our experience, they are overall empty even on weekends.  Che'lu hours are weekdays - 7:00pm - 04:00am (Sun-Thu), weekends - 7:00pm - 06:00am (Fri- Sat).  Expect weekends to be busy at peak times, standing room only with seveal seats and tables outside to rest from the loud boom and smoke inside.

 

While I have not been to it.....  a new bar (No name recalled by my friends) apparently has opened up where the "O'bar" was in Malate.   My friends report this bar as overall empty and void of excitement.   Maybe a good place to hang outside and sit with friends and watch the boys as the cruise by?

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As well, Malate offers many local massage parlors, that will "rub" away your stresses and more.  (Of course at the front desk, they will always say no to that offering, but most often, you will get a rub sample and whispered offering otherwise!)  Malate always in past was the favored gay spot to hang out.   Still fun but not what it was just one year ago!  Most will have female and male massuers, so make sure you specify what you want!

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And if you desire to pick up a guy there, earlier in the day, Robinson's Ermita mall, in early evening, the call boys hang out by the fountain area at the entrance.   I am told by friends (Not by personal experience LOL) that rates start at 500Php and up depending on your requested "services".  They will also be seen later at night hanging outside the Che'lu bar area.  Just posing, giving many smiles and giving that look and nod in hopes of a client approval, always negotiate up front.  If you just stand around outside a while, you will be offered ....ooooooooo ;)

 

Pasay Area (Not too far away from Malate!)

 

Club Bath Philippines, since 1977 Club Bath Philippines, the place where “The Thrill is Silence”, is the oldest and the first gay bath house in Manila, Philippines. We are a private club for gay men. Club Bath Philippines has provided men with a clean, comfortable place to meet other men, to relax, play and workout for over 29 years. it seems to have guys in their 30's and 40's overall.   Some younger, but only a few per our visits.  Club Bath provides the best atmosphere for your physical enjoyment. Soak up and Sweat in the “Steam Room”, Work-out in our "mini-gym" and then Relax in the “TV Lounge”. Make new friends or meet old ones. We have private rooms, dressing rooms, lockers, a snack bar, a "mini gym", a “TV Lounge”, a huge “shower room” and “the steam room”. So meet that pinoy hunk ... Enjoy !    Filania Staff has not been here nor verified this venue, but friends have assisted in verifying this venue.  2456 F.B. Harrison Blvd. corner Valhalla St. Pasay City, Philippines (near Pasay City Sports Complex, Cuneta Astrodome and Holiday Plaza, Libertad.)



​Ortigas Area Gay Bars and Clubs-

Now becoming the upper end gay scene of Greater Manila, with O-bar and Bed Bar offering American/European style clubs.  Good to great sound systems, lighting and more.  Go-Go dancers and drag shows.   Weekends will always be packed.  Weekdays are simply slow but still have some life.   The nights don't get going until after 1:00 AM normally, with the bars thinning out at sunrise.  O'Bar is near the Home Depot Complex while Bed Bar has not released it's secret new location until month end April 2013, but rumors are the Greenfield area.  

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​O'Bar.  The Sound system slightly below par in my opinion, for this facility as they pushing it constantly with distortion, but drag show and overall atmosphere is great.  Cover 350+ Php with free local beers included.  This is a gay bar/club, with many straights also attending.  Weekends can get quite full.... not much dancing in this bar.   More standing room only weekends and drinking, watching the Go-GO dancers and the Drag show.  Guys overall are ages mid 20's to early 40's.  Not so many effeminate gays here.  Likely best Drag show in the bars is here in my opinion in all of Manila. Also now catering to the female audience... this bar now has a couple of female Go-Go dancers.    Becoming more and more of a mixed crowd since opening.   Saturdays are soooo busy, it is almost uncomfortable.   No dancing at this bar.   Just people drinking, chatting and watching the shows and GO-GO dancers.   Open Wed - Sun  10pm to 6 am. ​

 

X Roads Bar  Just behind O'Bar (like sharing an alley!)  This little bar is good for a place to get a drink and meet a friend earlier in the evening or later when you need a break from the crowded O'Bar.   For the Gay and Lesbians!   



​Bed Bar.  In my opinion, this is likely the premium gay bar/club of Manila, although Obar is also a great venue.  No Longer in Malate. Now Bed Bar is in Greenfield District of Mandaluyong/Ortigas as of Late July 2013.)   The sound system top end with great lighting. Go-Go boys usually quite good.  (Now, the Bed bar also have have their own dancers in addition to the GOGO boys, name as a group.... 38 Degrees)    In past, when Bed was in Malate, I felt the bar was dying the last few months of 2012 to present, as less and less were attending.   The once fun dance floor filled with gays hopping around turned into a stand and watch others and Go-Go dancers.  Honestly, Bed started to get boring to me over the last half year.   The move has given new life to a different atmosphere that is more relaxed and fun.  Still, not many actually dance here, this is mostly a bar to chat, flirt and watch the shows.   No smoking inside, only outside is smoking allowed.   Soft opening for VIP memeber was mid-July 2103.  Grand formal opening was July 26, 2013.  350 Php cover with 2 local well drinks or 2 local beers.   Located by Edsa Central Public market, just southeast of Shangri-La and about one block east of Edsa. See the website at www.bed.com.ph for a map.   The new entertainment lineup is one of the best in Manila.   No one else does the shows as they do them here with rag, gogo (Men) and male dancers.   It is a place not to miss!

 

The Fort, Fort Bonificio-



Kasbah.  While Kasbah is not a true gay bar... not a full time bar/club.  It is a resto bar that according to my friends has excellent food and atmoshpere... and on Wednesday nights only....  Is a gay themed night spot to dance and flirt the night away.  Restaurant/Cafe. 7th Avenue Corner Katipunan Circle, Taguig City, Metro Manila, Philippines, 1201 Fort Bonifacio+63 2 553 4499 ... It's Wednesday Night, and it's "Time to be merry and gay!"   No idea of cover charge of time when this starts...   Maybe next week on Wed, I will go and find out!  ;)

 

Cuabo Area Gay Bars-

Cubao is a well established but less advertised gay scene online for tourists and travelers.   Likely, because it is more seedy than even Malate is.   Not easy to find if you are not familiar with the area, the bars are not all clustered together as they are in Malate.   On the other hand, if you know where to go, leave your valuables back home or in your hotel locked up safely, and this can be a place to have a true night of fun. There are several advertised gay bars and more.   Some to avoid as a tourist at all costs.  



The largest cluster of venues is near Gateway Mall Cubao.  An area of a few gay bars including Starlites, Buddhakan, Palawan and Palawan2.   Avoid the Palawan bars.  Tourists will not enjoy the local gay comedy shows in Tagalog.  As well, they are just not what most would expect of a gay scene bar.



Starlites-  Starlites is a unique gay bar/club.  I have only been on weekends, but apparently it is open nightly and busy always after midnight.   Weekends you need to go early, before 10 pm if you want a table. There will be open Videoke most of the night, a hundred to three hundred guys sitting, laughing, eyeing, drinking and singing.  On Saturday Nights, expect about 300 to 700 guys and boys!    This place is crazy on Saturday nights.   Very relaxed atmosphere.   Later in the evening they will empty the stage of singers and it will open as a true dance floor, quickly filling for an hour or 2 of boys and men dancing.   The dancing and videoke when I was there, pawned back and forth throughout the night.   Beers here are cheap!  Most of the local ordering buckets of 6 Red Horse Strong beers all night long for like 250 PHP.  Local food also fair and cheap.  (Fries good here!)  No cover when i went, but apparently sometimes when holidays a 100Php cover charged.  Sound system good overall.  Lighting not much.   Is a large and open venue.   Nothing fancy at all.  Atmosphere is relaxed and fun.



Rapture- This little place is unique!   A comedy bar on one side... with a separate room on the side with a DJ for dancing.   Cover charge always 100 PHP, with a drink.   A great walk from Starlites (8 blocks away) to go dancing in a less crowded dance floor.  A dark little dance area with overall good music and atmosphere.... take a date and dance your self the night away!   Weekends busy.   Weeknight dance bar dead.   Comedy bar typical, crossdessing queens doing comedy bits...   We do like this bar!  



Fahrenheit- Is an all-male private health club and now also a gay disco that reopened recently June 2013 renovation! (I did not see much in changes in this so called renovation!)  (Also a Gay BATH HOUSE), not open to the general public (buy a membership at anytime! ).- Guests must fill up the membership form and present any valid ID's (Drivers license, Passport, PRC, etc.)  200Php member ship fee plus entrance fee 250 php or less depending on when you arrive.  Don'f go too early, as no one is really there.  Go after 10pm per my friends.  Clean overall for a bath house.  Well established.  Dark room area (not that dark) with private rooms.  Bare inside.  Music on weekends and sometimes special events. Located at 1204 E Rodriguez street new manila Quezon City, beside intensity spa. (Male Massuers!!  :) ).  Now, they also have renovated and added a disco to the faclility!   So weekends are sure to be a blast!   The Dance club, typical of Manila...  but nice overall.   Only weekends are at all busy.  Dead on weekdays..   Like all in Manila, Saturday is teh best bet!

 

Emotion Hunks- Small, dirty GO-GO bar.  Filled with loveseats, all facing the "stage".  If you seek to watch guys strut their stuff.... show off what they have, have some drinks while watching, this may be your place.   



THE FORMULA 69O- ENTERTAINMENT BAR

Invaded Quezon City FEB 28 2012.   Supposed to be the Buff GO Go Guys of Quezon who will strut their stuff for you!  According to president and owner Wilbert Tolentino, Formula 690 aims to redefine gay entertainment gay bars and remove the stigma that they cater only for “flesh”.   LOCATED @ #27 MOTHER IGNACIA STREET QUEZON CITY BESIDE  "MOOMBA RESTAURANT"  I have not been here, so have no personal rating yet.



​GEB SUPER CLUB- :(  CLOSED  :(    Another Manila causualty !!!   as of 2-2014, when we went to spend an evening there! Opened in Nov 2012 lasted about 18 months.

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HOLLYWOOD SPA- Male massage center  Near SM city North.  Touted as a relaxing place to treat yourself to AFFORDABLE RELAXATION AND THERAPY by a male only staff!!!   I have not been here, so have no personal rating to offer.  ​Prices start at 500 Php for massage and up.  HOLLYWOOD MALE SPA .- 154 WEST AVENUE QUEZON CITY



Additional Macho Dancer Bars-  Manila’s macho dancer bars offer a different sort of experience to the go-go dance bars found in other Asian countries.   The guys in the macho dancer bars are more likely to be dancing slowly to ballad songs in a manner that many will see as being more seductive or sensual.  Macho bars are popular with both gay men and groups of women.  Many bars feature private areas or rooms for use by guests who wish to pay for a private, more intimate dance.

Popular macho dancer bars include Adonis (118 Timog Ave, Quezon City), Club One Heart (59-A Timog Ave, Quezon City), Big Papa (2315 Aurora Boulevard Pasay) and White Bird Disco and KTV, 715 Roxas Boulevard, Paranaque.



 

​TIMOG AVENUE AREA of Quezon City
It's a highly commercial street filled with various eating places, banks, KTV bars, clubs, cafes, etc. The area  starts at the GMA Network Building near EDSA and continues past the Boy Scout Rotonda, then extends up to Quezon Avenue.



​Adonis- Considered one of the more iconic gay bars in Metro Manila. It is dark and cavernous, with an elevated stage. Couches near the stage if you arrive early enough to snag one. Over 20 GoGo dancers on any given night. Mostly fair and good-looking guys, (not the typical dark-skinned, slim and exotic-looking boys and men that a lot of foreigners like). Mostly lean, buff and gym-toned guys. GoGo dancers are mostly mid twenties.  Continuous macho dancing from start to end of the night.  Location is on Timog Avenue, right in front of the GMA Network Building. If the GMA building will be to your right (a 7-11 store in front of the building). You will find Adonis to your left, beside Lydia's Lechon and East Garden Grill and Bar.  118 Timog Ave, QC.

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​Club Mankind- Typical macho dancer bar. GoGo dancers abundant. Lean to muscular bodies. Overall it is GoGo dancing the entire night, with occasional themed performances and drag queen performances. Clientele is a mix of gay men and women.  Located along Timog Avenue, go straight until you reach Amihan Restaurant at the corner of Timog Avenue and Scout Ybardolaza Street. 144 Scout Ybardlaza St.  QC.

 

Makisig Entertainment Bar and Restaurant- ​This is a  small macho GoGo bar. I can not give you a rating on this bar as I and none of my friends have been here yet.   Hope to soon and will add a rating at that time.   Supposedly small with a couple of VIP rooms for your private show.

Located along Timog Ave., near the Boy Scout Rotonda. 59 Timog Ave, QC

Mr. World-  Another GoGo dancer bar that when my friends went showed more than just their chests.  A small place, frinks were gigher priced than most small bars, most GoGo boys were buff and well fit.  Near the Boy Scout Circle on Timog Ave, Quezon, near Chowking, located inside the building "Philippine International Life Insurance Co."

 

Planet or Prince Xanadu- Another yet typical macho dancer gay bar, but interiors try to project a modern, on another planet as the name says.  GoGo guys are average looking with variety of lean, boyish, gym-toned and dark exotic-looking men. This bar is best known for their choreographed dance shows with mood lighting and lavish costumes.  Drinks are average priced.  My friends got lost going here with a taxi driver, I got these directions from a blog last year on how to get there.  At night, the Planet Xanadu signage is not lit, and you can only see a lit Burger Machine stall in front of the bar. So to get to the bar, you need to tell the taxi to go to the Puregold Supermarket or Tropical Hut grocery along Scout Borromeo, which are the closest landmarks in the area.  The bar is on the block before Tropical Hut, after seeing the Puregold sign, left on Scout Borromeo.  Once you see the Burger Machine stand, you will see the bar slightly behind the Burger Machine stand.

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GAY BARS ALONG AURORA BLVD. Area- Quezon City.
 

DreamBoys Bar and Restaurant - Quezon City

774 Aurora Boulevard, Barangay Kaunlaran, Quezon City
What to expect: Small seedy dirty old macho dancing bar. Very dark, very discreet. Most of the clientele are middle aged, middle-to-working class discreet-looking gay men.  Shows? Abundant. Most I've seen in a bar so far. Dirrrty, literally and figuratively. But sorry, no live shows. The floor managers here are the most pushy. The whole bar experience teases the customers with the idea that they can do anything they please inside the bar (no other bar dims the lights for a minute after each performance). Be sure to bring small bills; "area" is aplenty.   The men? Not-so-goodlooking for the general Filipino taste with a few notable exceptions, but may be appealing for the exotic-liking foreigner. Mix of thin young twinks barely 20s and very mature buff-to-stocky men barely 30s. The guys are quite open to meet outside for breakfast and then some.=)  What you can tell the taxi for the general location of the bar: Betty Go Belmonte LRT Station along Aurora Boulevard. That's the nearest landmark, although the bar is not exactly underneath the station. The bar will be before the LRT Station if coming from EDSA.   You know you're near when: Turning left from EDSA to Aurora Boulevard, after 5-7 minutes from the intersection, you'll see the bar to the left. It is beside a Reyes Barbecue restaurant. You will not miss this bar due to the Christmas lights decor lining the roof of its entrance.

Hotmen and Emotional Hunks - Quezon City
I've grouped these two together as they are right beside each other, at another area of Quezon City: Cubao.

Both bars: Stanford Street, Cubao, Quezon City
What to expect: Small macho dancing gay bars. Hotmen is old, while Emotion Hunks has been open since 2011. As with small bars, expect quite a lot of men who will go "quiet areas" with you after each performance. Looks? Average to Exotic-looking. Hotmen has some VIP rooms. As with small bars along Aurora Boulevard, customers have more freedom in touching the men when tabled beside you. Just choose wisely, as these men keep pestering the customers to choose them for the night.  Can you brave the dark streets of Cubao to get to those bars?   What you can tell the taxi for the general location of the bar: Say Cubao first. Then Hotel Sogo, along Aurora Boulevard, turning right from EDSA.

 

You know you're near when: Along Aurora Boulevard, you see Hotel Sogo to your right and a Mini-Stop Convenience Store to your left. The taxi will need to take a u-turn after Hotel Sogo and Mini-Stop to get to Stanford Street. You can ask to be dropped off at Mini-Stop then walk towards either gay bar, or choose to turn right at Stanford Street. Open your eyes for the lit signage of Emotion Hunks and neon signage of Hotmen (near the neon signage of Kakosa bar) to your left.   

 

Outside of Manila.   

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We will be adding more soon!   Check Back!