Exploring Bali's Cheap Brothels: The X Houses of Sanur – Hit and Miss

In my previous post, I shared my experience at the luxurious River View Spa in Bali. This time, I’m telling a very different story, about the cheap brothels in Sanur, known as "X houses," that cater mostly to local Indonesian men.

These places are called "X houses" because each building has a hand-painted number followed by an "X" (like 67X, 889X, or 99X) on the front gate or wall. It’s a discreet way to signal that the place is a brothel, subtle enough to avoid attention from authorities or passersby but clear to locals and those in the know.

It's not clearly marked on Google Maps, so just look for this Circle K, then go into the alley on its left.

The yellow star is where 67X is.

Before visiting, I read on a forum that pimps might try to charge foreigners more. The advice was to walk in confidently and ask, “400k, right?” to set the price. So, that’s what I did. When I approached the pimp, I said, “400k, right?” He hesitated for a moment before saying, “Only for you, bro.” I knew 400,000 IDR was probably still higher than what locals paid, but I went with it.

Next to where the pimp and I stood was a large room with about 30 girls sitting inside, visible through a glass window. Most of them were young, but only three or four caught my eye. I chose a girl with a slim body and a cute face, paid the pimp, and she led me to a room.

The room wasn’t as dirty as some online reviews had warned, but it was old and basic. The shower room had just a hose for washing, no soap. We took turns cleaning up with just water, then got undressed and onto the bed. She gave me a covered blowjob for a while before lying down, signaling me to start. I started with missionary, then switched positions a few times, but when I asked her to stand against the mirror wall for me, she flat-out refused. As we were having sex, I could hear people outside playing guitar and singing, which added a weird but kind of fun vibe to the moment. When we finished, she asked for a tip. I gave her 50,000 IDR, and she seemed satisfied. Maybe I could’ve given less, but it felt fair.

Overall, my first visit wasn’t bad. The experience was average but dirt cheap, so I decided to return to the X houses the next day, hoping to find a better experience. Spoiler alert: I didn’t.

The next day, I went to 67X again. The pimp was an older guy this time. I walked up to him and tried to pull the same trick, “400k, right?” I said. He replied, “550k.” I argued, “It was 400k last night,” but he acted like he barely understood English and insisted on 550,000 IDR. We went back and forth a few times, but I eventually gave in. The girls looked better this time, so I thought, “Whatever, it’s still cheap.”

I picked a girl with a nice figure and long, straight hair, paid the pimp, and went to the same room as the night before. But once we got inside, she demanded an extra 400,000 IDR tip for sex, claiming it was “the rule.” I knew it was bullshit. I told her there was no way I'm paying that, and I considered going outside and complaining to the pimp, but I doubted it would help. After some back-and-forth, I negotiated her down to an extra 100,000 IDR.

We started having sex, but I’d already had sex at a spa earlier that day, so it was taking me a bit longer to finish. She kept rushing me, saying “no time” repeatedly. Her demanding a tip upfront had already annoyed me, and the rushing completely ruined the mood. I lost my erection and couldn’t continue. Frustrated, I gave up and left.

Looking back, I should’ve walked out when she demanded the extra tip. It would’ve at least saved me 100,000 IDR and a lot of irritation. Experiences like this are common in tourism, especially sex tourism, where some locals try to take advantage of foreigners. It just shows how important it is to do your research beforehand.

If you fool around with prostitutes as much as I do, chances are, you will have a few bad experiences leaving a sour taste in your mouth. But that's okay. Just accept that's how the world works. And instead, you should appreciate it more when the girls are actually nice to you, and be grateful when they give you a good time.