Dress code fails to curb nudity in hotel health clubs

01 July 2006

Dubai: Nudity in public is prohibited in the UAE but people getting fully undressed in health clubs run by luxury hotels is a bare fact.

Notices in health clubs telling guests not to cast off their clothes completely in common areas often go unheeded, Gulf News has learnt.

This practice is wide-spread in locker rooms, health club users say.

"While some remove their clothes in the process of changing, there are also those who stand naked for minutes and indulge in trivial activities like spraying cologne under their armpits," said one person.

UAE lawyer Mohammad Al Rokn says it is a punishable offence to "undress fully in a public place in front of others whether male or female."

"A person doing so can be jailed for not less than six months under the UAE penal code," he told Gulf News.

While most hotels allow common use of gyms and swimming pools, other facilities like locker room, steam room, sauna and jacuzzi are located in separate sections for men and women.

"These are all public places. In some cultures public nudity may be acceptable but it is against UAE traditions, customs and the Sharia law," Al Rokn said.

The lawyer himself once complained to the management of a health club about the problem and asked the hotel to put up a notice warning people against undressing in public areas.

An official at Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), the organisation that regulates the city's hotel industry, confirmed the law.

"Surely it is illegal. We will take action if we receive any official complaint," he said.

Most health clubs do have notices that advise people to 'dress appropriately,' but they do not state clearly that nudity violates the law.

One notice displayed in a health club reads: "It is not permitted to stay completely undressed in any open part of the changing area, locker room [and] leisure area, including the jacuzzi, steam room and sauna."

Barely two yards away from the spot, a couple of men stood naked.

When pointed out why the hotel instructions were not being followed, a front desk assistant shrugged.

"There are always some people who just don't listen. We cannot do much about that. It's the same story in the ladies' section," she said.

When a few Arab women complained about nudity in the women's section, they were told by a Russian woman that it was not their problem whether she was dressed in the locker room or not.

"Westerners usually do not listen," said the attendant. But the problem seems to cover all ethnic and cultural groups.

"They have all dropped their inhibitions. You can hear them talking in Hindi, Farsi and Arabic," said a regular at a health club.