L'Hyppocampe is a private libertine club on the Rue Jules Ferry in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, east of Paris inside the Marne loop. Its own strapline is sauna, hammam and jacuzzi, and it presents itself as a place for exploring and meeting rather than simply a bathhouse.

By its own account of the premises there is a salon bar, secure changing rooms, a large sauna, a hammam, a king-size jacuzzi, and 400 square metres of coins câlins spread over two levels and divided into twelve play areas — one of which, a glory hole, has a page of its own. Its own photographs bear that out: a mirrored play room under blue light, a red-lit bar with stools, pink-lit play beds.

It opens Wednesday to Sunday and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesday and Friday run an afternoon session from 13:30 as well as an evening one; Thursday and Saturday are evenings only, until two in the morning; Sunday is an afternoon, 14:00 to 20:00. Even Saturdays are announced as a privatisation of the couples' area, and the club also keeps a weekly agenda and a beginners' guide of its own. Admission is priced by session and by profile on the club's own Tarifs & Horaires page, with soft drinks or a glass included, and is not quoted here.

Browse our Île-de-France listings for the region's other clubs and venues.