[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-post-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”|600|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#dd1881″ header_font_size=”44px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”intro-wrap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Abel||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Journalist Mel Fallowfield thought she\u2019d seen it all, until she went to a swingers’ hotel for the night<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-593706905-e1712847692491.jpg” title_text=”Flirting couple playing footsie” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
The hotel was often rented by the makers of adult films<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
As a virgin to the swinging world I was filled with trepidation when I was invited to a hotel in Blackpool catering to lovers of group sex. I imagined a room full of predatory people, dressed up to the nines in saucy underwear, ready to pounce on a newbie like me. I was imagining glamorous red velvet sofas, strawberries dipped in chocolate and the whole place geared up for sex.
The reality was a million miles from that. I turned up to a very ordinary looking hotel, with a functional bar and people in couples or on their own, not in the first flush of youth, sitting around chatting and drinking \u2013 fully clothed in very ordinary garb! \u00a0There was a very beige looking buffet, of sausage rolls and garlic baguettes and it smelt of beer \u2013 just like an old-fashioned pub. There were playrooms \u2013 with huge beds where the action was destined to take place. There were mirrors everywhere, even on the ceiling, and windows where curtains could be drawn across for privacy or left open should anyone have exhibitionist tendencies and want to watch from outside. But rather than being seductive they were functional.
The owner, Sue, told me that the rooms were often hired out to people making adult films. She explained, \u201cWhenever they were filming we\u2019d find little sachets of Gaviscon littering the place. I couldn\u2019t work out why, until I asked the producer why and he explained that sometimes it was used to simulate a \u2018money shot\u2019 in the films.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-200025260-002.jpg” title_text=”Intimate couple, man kissing woman’s neck, close-up” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Everyone was achingly polite<\/p>\n
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She then showed me to my bedroom, it was small and the d\u00e9cor was a little tired, and I couldn\u2019t help but look at the chest of drawers and decide I would put it against the door should it all get too much for me later on.
But that was my first surprise far from being predatory, everyone there was achingly polite and very keen to make it clear that the first rule of swinging was consent and that you were more likely to be groped in an ordinary nightclub. Happily that was proven to be right, at no time did I feel concerned for my safety.
I made it clear I was there for an article and didn\u2019t want to take part in anything and everyone was cool with that and happy to tell me their stories.
There was a woman there who was so open with her son that they ended up going to swinging clubs together \u2013 though they made sure never to be in the same playroom as they drew the line at seeing each other getting hot and sweaty. They were so ordinary in every way, she worked in a shop and he worked in a bar, I\u2019d never have guessed they were secret swingers. I\u2019m not sure what I expected, perhaps a more seductive look, or a naughty expression.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-91498311.jpg” title_text=”Close up of couple about to kiss” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
One woman went to swingers parties with her adult son…<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Then there was a woman in her 40s, she was a full-time mum to three children, and admitted she\u2019d conceived her son at a swingers party and had no idea who the father was. And the married man who was there with his girlfriend, he explained that his wife wasn\u2019t into group sex, so he had a girlfriend to go to parties with behind his wife\u2019s back. He then showed me photos of his extremely swollen and infected eye, that he\u2019d got through an STD. Though he did say that he now stuck to the usual swinging rule of absolutely no action without condoms.
The extraordinary thing was that about an hour after I arrived it was as if there was a secret signal that it was time for the action to start. One moment everyone was sitting around chatting and the next people were peeling off to go into the playrooms in groups of three or four.
I mostly stayed in the bar area and waited for people to come back. One woman returned \u00a0and told me that she\u2019d given a man manual stimulation\u2026and then proceeded to pass me some garlic bread without washing her hands. I politely declined.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/Unknown.jpeg” title_text=”Unknown” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”3px|8px|3px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Mel will never eat a garlic baguette again<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Rather than being an atmosphere of seduction it all seemed very matter of fact and businesslike. People would disappear off and then come back to drink their pints and chat again, there was no signs of affection or after-play in the bar area. And a quick walk past the four playrooms, yielded no moans of pleasure, it was all strangely silent.
After an hour or so I\u2019d got the gist \u2013 and decided to make my excuses and go to bed. I wasn\u2019t the first to leave, but I most certainly wasn\u2019t the last \u2013 the action normally carries on until the early hours of the morning.
Once tucked up in bed I thought over the night\u2019s events. It was nothing like I expected it to be \u2013 it all felt very functional rather than sexy, as if everyone there had got bored of playing Monopoly so started on sex games instead. The people were very ordinary, working in everything from manual labour to the legal profession \u2013 it made me look at my friends with new eyes\u2026anyone could be indulging in group sex and I\u2019d never guess. And I haven\u2019t eaten a garlic baguette since.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Aboreto|||on|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
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discovered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-life"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"closermag","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2490,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479\/revisions\/2490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Read 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