Dominatrix reveals what it's like to run a sex dungeon hotel
Running a BDSM hotel isn't all leather and sex parties - someone has to do the admin and restock the tea supply, too
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Your support makes all the difference.Madame Caramel first dabbled with BDSM sexual fetishes when she was 24-years-old. “I met a wonderful man that opened my eyes and the door of my soul,” she tells The Independent.
As she dived into the scene and became a dominatrix - adopting the alias Madame Caramel - she decided to combine her five years of experience in luxury hotel hospitality with her love of the fetish scene. “I’m a kinkster at heart,” she says.
She opened the Hoxton Dungeon Suite in the east of the capital - with its population of Londoners, city bankers and hipster-types - four years ago. Since then she has welcomed visitors from all over the world, from Russia to the Middle East and mainland Europe. The majority of her guests come in pairs - “unless i'm hosting my infamous private gatherings with friends”, she says.
Every desire (well, at least those that are legal ) is catered to at the flat in Hoxton. Beginners can start out with soft whips and eye masks. Advanced members of the BDSM scene can meanwhile test out her sensory deprivation tank or toilet box especially designed for water sports.
BDSM staples - from ropes and whips to bondage and a black rococo throne - come with the cost of the room, which starts at £450 for two weeknights. But due to misuse by previous customers, some equipment is only available under special request an additional £20 hire fee. Those include the inflatable body bags, vacuum bed - where a person crawls inside a PVC suit attached to a matress where only their mouth is visible - and electronic stimulators which are clamped to a person’s bodyparts.
"The equipment in my dungeon reflects my personality and the type of play I enjoy but I also cater from novice players or old school players. I have an extensive collection to suit all," says Madame Caramel.
But other than the niche equipment, the Hoxton Dungeon runs like any other hotel. In many respects, running a fetish hotel is pretty mundane. “We also have an iPod docking station so you can bring your own music and create your own atmosphere,” the website cheerily alerts potential guests.
Guests can also use the kitchen, which is equipped with a cooker, fridge and freezer, microwave, kettle, toaster, pots and pans, glasses, tableware, a champagne bucket and a decanter. After an intense session in the dungeon, guests can kick back with some wonderfully vanilla Champneys bath products.
Her maid, whom she only refers to as Anna, takes care of the bookings, while Madame Caramel does some of the bookkeeping and the marketing by travelling to fetish fairs to promote her apartment.
Madame Caramel and Anna give guests a run-through of equipment and special requests when they enter the apartment. But the real hard graft starts once the guests have checked out.
“Overnight stays start from 7pm and check out is at 11am. Then my cleaners enter the flat to clean and disinfect everything that was used. We know what was used because guests are instructed to place all in a box provided so we can clean it," she says. Every two months, she adds, they deep clean the flat.
And it seems to pay off. The reviews on Madame Caramel’s website are overwhelming positive. “The place was immaculate with robes, towels, flannels and quality shower gels,” wrote one reviewer. “There is a good supply of condoms and lube to be safe and clearly marked boxes to put used equipment and wipes to clean the large items after use. You really have the feeling that this place is cared for and that hygiene is important to her so you feel safe with everything you use.”
The reviewer goes on: “Since my last visit HDS now has soundproofing,” adding: “As ever she had provided a bottle of fizz on ice and crisps and chocolate in the fridge and of course tea and coffee making facilities.”
Aged almost 40 now, Madame Caramel recently hung up her PVC stockings and mouth ball gag and quit being a dominatrix to focus on her BDSM apartment - and training the next generation of dominatrices.
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