Stammbar in Brussels is one of the city’s well-known LGBTQIA+ cruising bars and nightlife spots, located in the heart of Brussels on Rue du Marché au Charbon, close to the Grand Place. It has built a reputation as a meeting place for party lovers, adventurous personalities and visitors seeking a memorable night out in a modern, relaxed setting with an industrial style and social atmosphere. Stammbar operates both as a daytime bar and a cruising venue, hosting exhibitions, themed evenings and DJ-led music selections. It draws a diverse mix of locals and visitors and is part of Brussels’ lively LGBTQ+ nightlife scene.
Address:
Stammbar
Rue du Marché au Charbon (Kolenmarkt) 114
1000 Bruxelles
Belgium
Phone:
+32 471 80 14 39
Email:
info@stammbarbxl.com
Website:
https://stammbarbxl.com
Went to this cruising bar for naked Sunday and it was absolutelly great ! The stuff are very friendly ,the people and the atmosphere are very welcoming. Entrance is 5 euro and a small beer is less than 3 euros, a bargain for a sweaty Sunday in this amazing cruising bar. Thank you very much!
It’s a hot and and steamy cruise bar. Have a drink. Have some fun. You won’t be disappointed with all the hot guys for every taste. Only one negative. It’s too hot to even breathe in several areas.
You all should definitely train your bar on the definitely of unconscious bias. Two starts because I don’t think your bartenders are directly racist. But when serving 7 white patrons before a person of color. I think the excuse needs to be a little better than “the bar is busy”, despite the person of color standing there the entire time. Drinks were strong nonetheless.
Rules regarding recording are not clearly communicated. Over the years, I have never seen any clearly visible sign at the entrance or inside the venue stating that photos or videos are forbidden in the bar or on the dance floor. The only exception has always been for naked parties, where the rule is clearly and repeatedly displayed, which is appropriate. Outside of that context, recording the general atmosphere has never been an issue in the past.
During a non-naked party, I was told in a raised and aggressive manner by a staff member (a DJ) to stop filming and to delete a short video of the general atmosphere, despite not having seen any visible signage. I was told the rule was posted at the entrance, but this was something I had never noticed in years of coming to the venue.
The way this was handled relied on authority and intimidation rather than respectful communication. The interaction felt unnecessarily hostile and reflected a clear lack of basic communication competence. A calm explanation would have been sufficient.
Reading other reviews afterward, I noticed that similar remarks about rude, dismissive, or authority-driven staff behaviour appear repeatedly, suggesting this is not an isolated experience.
Separately, and again in line with numerous other reviews, hygiene is a recurring issue. Based on multiple visits:
there is no regular cleaning of the toilets during parties,
toilet paper and hand paper are often missing,
strong and persistent odours are common in the toilets,
darkrooms are dirty and frequently smell strongly,
darkroom areas lack basic amenities such as water points.
Compared with similar venues in other European cities, hygiene and maintenance standards feel noticeably lower.
Finally, during naked parties, I have personally experienced or observed staff behaviour that felt sexually intrusive and overly familiar, again relying on their position of authority rather than explicit consent or appropriate professional boundaries. Given that these staff members also control access to the venue, this creates an uncomfortable power dynamic. Other reviews describe similar discomfort.
The venue can be socially enjoyable, but unclear rules, reliance on authority over respectful communication, recurring hygiene problems, and boundary issues significantly detract from the experience. These points recur across independent reviews and deserve to be addressed.
As is often the case, one can already anticipate the kind of generic or defensive response this review may receive — which, in itself, may say something about how such feedback is handled.
As a first-time visitor to both Brussels and Stammbar, I was deeply disappointed by my experience. After purchasing three drinks, I simply requested a glass of tap water, which is a basic human right, especially in a public space where customers are already spending money. To my shock, I was denied this simple request.
Instead, I had no choice but to go to the toilets and drink water directly from the tap there, which was utterly humiliating and unacceptable. It’s astounding that in 2025, a bar would refuse a customer something as basic as water—something that should be freely available, particularly when I was already a paying customer.
This treatment left me so appalled that I chose not to buy any further drinks and ultimately left the venue. Denying customers access to water not only shows a lack of basic hospitality but also reflects poorly on the establishment’s values. I came to Stammbar to enjoy the night, but this experience had the opposite effect, and I left feeling disrespected and unwelcome.
I sincerely hope the management reevaluates their policies on tap water, as I will not be returning unless this changes. It’s hard to imagine why any bar would want to deny such a basic necessity to their patrons.