The Best Gay Resorts in the US: Where to Stay in 2026
Palm Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Provincetown, Key West and more — 34 gay resorts and guesthouses, property by property, including the clothing-optional men's resorts.
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A gay resort is a specific thing, and it isn't just a hotel that flies a rainbow flag in June. It's a property where the pool is the social center, the clientele is gay men (or predominantly so), clothing is often optional, and you can walk from your room to a happy hour without ever leaving the grounds. Some are eight-room compounds behind a hedge. Some are 100-room complexes with three bars and a nightclub.
This guide covers 34 of them, property by property, across the US destinations where the format actually thrives. Every one is a real, currently-operating resort — not a "gay-friendly" chain hotel padding out a listicle.
What makes a gay resort different from a gay friendly hotel
Three things, mostly.
- The pool is the point. At a resort, the pool deck is where the day happens — from mid-morning coffee through afternoon cocktails into the evening. At a hotel, the pool is an amenity you visit.
- Clothing-optional is common, not universal. Most of the men's resorts in Palm Springs and several Fort Lauderdale guesthouses are clothing-optional on the deck. Larger and mixed properties usually aren't. It's always stated on the property's site, and it's the single most useful thing to check before booking.
- Adults-only and often men-only. Many of these properties are 18+ or 21+ and restrict guests to men. Others welcome all genders. Neither is better; they're different trips.
Pro Tip
If you're deciding between a resort and a hotel, ask yourself whether you want to spend the day *at* the property or *in* the city. Resorts reward the first. Palm Springs in particular is a place people book for four days and barely leave the deck.
Palm Springs — the densest concentration in the country
No other US city comes close on count. Palm Springs has more gay men's resorts per square mile than anywhere in the country, concentrated in the Warm Sands neighborhood a few minutes from downtown. Nearly all are clothing-optional, adults-only, men-only compounds built around a pool and a jacuzzi, in mid-century buildings that were doing this before it was a trend.
The season matters more here than anywhere else. October through May is peak — daytime highs in the 70s and 80s, every deck full. July and August routinely break 110°F, and rates drop accordingly.
CCBC Resort Hotel
One of the largest Palm Springs men's resorts, and the one first-timers usually hear about first. CCBC runs a big clothing-optional pool complex with a cafe, a bar, and a gym on-site, which means you genuinely never have to leave. The crowd skews social and mixes ages more than the smaller properties.
INNdulge Palm Springs
A 24-room clothing-optional men's resort in Warm Sands with a large heated pool and a 24-hour jacuzzi. INNdulge has a reputation for being the friendliest of the bunch — the kind of place where the morning coffee service turns into conversation and you end up with dinner plans.
Vista Grande Resort
A clothing-optional men's resort with one of the better pool-and-mountain-view combinations in Warm Sands. Rooms are larger than the neighborhood average and several have kitchenettes, which makes it a good pick for longer stays.
Santiago Resort
Santiago leans more design-hotel than party-compound — a clothing-optional men's resort with a manicured mid-century look, a saltwater pool, and a quieter, more grown-up feel. Breakfast and afternoon cocktails are included.
Descanso Resort
A small clothing-optional men's resort built for actual rest — under 20 rooms, a heated pool, a jacuzzi, and a deliberately low-key atmosphere. Good choice if the larger properties feel like too much.
The rest of Warm Sands
Four more clothing-optional men's resorts worth knowing, all within walking distance of each other:
- El Mirasol Villas — built by Howard Hughes in 1947 and later owned by Bob Hope, it reopened in 1975 as the first gay hotel in Palm Springs and has run as a men's resort since.
- The Hacienda at Warm Sands — a higher-end, service-forward property with a strong repeat clientele.
- Desert Paradise Resort Hotel — straightforward, well-kept, and one of the better value picks in the neighborhood.
- Triangle Inn — a compact, mid-century, adults-only compound with a loyal following.
Pro Tip
Book Palm Springs early for the big weekends — White Party in spring, Palm Springs Pride in early November, and Modernism Week in February all sell the Warm Sands resorts out months ahead.
Planning the trip in more detail? See our full LGBTQ+ guide to Palm Springs and Palm Springs venue listings.
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Fort Lauderdale — a guesthouse city, not a resort city
Fort Lauderdale does something different from Palm Springs. Instead of a handful of large compounds, it has dozens of small gay guesthouses — eight to twenty rooms each — clustered around Victoria Park and Wilton Manors, most with a clothing-optional pool and a heated jacuzzi. The beach is a few minutes away, and Wilton Manors' bar strip is one of the densest in the country.
The Grand Resort and Spa
The best-known gay resort in Fort Lauderdale and one of the largest. A full spa, a clothing-optional pool deck, on-site dining, and enough rooms that there's always someone around.
Cabanas Guesthouse & Spa
An adults-only men's guesthouse with a clothing-optional pool, a cedar sauna, and a genuinely good breakfast. Cabanas is one of the properties people rebook year after year.
Inn Leather Guest House & Resort
Exactly what the name suggests — a men's guesthouse with a leather-and-kink-friendly clientele, a clothing-optional pool, and a play space on site. Direct about what it is, which regulars appreciate.
Coral Reef Guesthouse
A small, tropical, adults-only men's guesthouse in Victoria Park with a clothing-optional pool and a quiet garden. Walkable to Wilton Manors nightlife without being in the middle of it.
More Fort Lauderdale guesthouses
- Pineapple Point Guest House — spread across several buildings and gardens, and one of the most consistently well-reviewed in the category.
- The Big Coconut Guesthouse — a small men's guesthouse with a clothing-optional pool and a loyal, low-drama crowd.
- Ed Lugo Resort — restored 1920s buildings in Wilton Manors proper, steps from the bars.
- Calypso Inn — a compact, budget-friendlier men's guesthouse with a heated pool.
More on the city in our LGBTQ+ guide to Fort Lauderdale and best gay bars in Fort Lauderdale.
Provincetown — where the season is the whole story
P-town runs on a calendar. From Memorial Day through October the town is one of the densest gay destinations in the world; in February it's a quiet fishing village. Lodging is mostly guesthouses and inns rather than resorts in the Palm Springs sense, but a few properties function as full resorts with bars, decks and programming attached.
The Crown & Anchor
Not just lodging — the Crown & Anchor is a hotel, a pool, a cabaret theater, a leather bar, a dance club and a piano bar in one building on Commercial Street. If you want to stay inside the action rather than near it, this is the address.
Boatslip Resort & Beach Club
Home of P-town's best-known tea dance. The Boatslip's afternoon deck party is an institution, and staying on site means you're upstairs from it. Harborfront, with a pool and a beach club.
Gifford House
A long-running gay guesthouse with a bar, a porch that functions as a neighborhood living room, and rooms at a range of price points. Central, social, and reliably fun.
More P-town stays
- Crew's Quarters Boarding House — a men-only guesthouse above the Gifford House complex, simple rooms, unbeatable location.
- The Red Inn — the high-end waterfront option, with a well-regarded restaurant attached.
- Land's End Inn — perched on Gull Hill, with some of the widest harbour views in town.
- The Brass Key Guesthouse — the polished, adults-only choice with a heated pool and courtyard.
Pro Tip
P-town's theme weeks — Bear Week in July, Carnival in August, Women's Week in October — sell out lodging up to a year out and carry minimum-stay requirements. If you have a specific week in mind, book it the previous season.
See also our LGBTQ+ guide to Provincetown.
Key West — a guesthouse scene running since the 1970s
Key West has been a gay destination since the 1970s, and many of its guesthouses have operated continuously ever since. Properties here are Conch-style houses with pools tucked behind privacy fencing in Old Town, most within walking distance of Duval Street.
Island House Key West
The largest gay men's resort in Key West — clothing-optional throughout, adults-only, men-only, with a pool, cafe, gym, sauna and spa. It functions as a self-contained resort in a way few Key West properties do.
Alexander's Guesthouse
A long-running gay guesthouse in Old Town with three pools across a compound of restored Conch houses, and a clothing-optional deck. Welcomes all genders, which distinguishes it from Island House.
New Orleans House
A men-only guesthouse sitting directly above the Bourbon Street Pub complex — about as central as gay lodging in Key West gets, with a clothing-optional pool deck. You will hear the bar. That's the trade.
La Te Da
Short for La Terraza de Martí, La Te Da is a historic hotel, restaurant and cabaret with a pool — home to the long-running drag shows in the Crystal Room and one of the more mixed crowds in town.
More in our LGBTQ+ guide to Key West.
Saugatuck — the Midwest's resort town
Two hours from Chicago on the Lake Michigan shore, Saugatuck and neighboring Douglas have been a Midwest gay getaway since the 1950s. The season runs roughly May through October.
The Dunes Resort
The anchor of the entire region and the largest gay resort in the Midwest by room count and acreage — a sprawling property with multiple bars, a nightclub, a large pool, a clothing-optional area, and lodging from motel rooms to cottages. If you're going to Saugatuck, you are probably going here.
Campit Outdoor Resort
A gay campground and RV resort near Saugatuck with tent sites, RV hookups, cabins, a pool and a clothing-optional area — one of the few properties in this guide that isn't a hotel at all.
Also in Saugatuck
- The Saugatuck Retro Resort — a mid-century motor lodge redone with a pool and a sharp design eye.
- Hidden Garden Cottages & Suites — private cottages for couples who want quiet rather than the Dunes.
Two more worth knowing
Hôtel Gaythering — Miami Beach
The one dedicated gay hotel in Miami Beach — an adults-only, men-focused property a few blocks off Lincoln Road with a men's sauna and steam room, a gym, and a bar that draws locals as well as guests. Not a pool resort, but the most resort-like gay stay in the city.
Rehoboth Guest House — Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
A long-running gay guesthouse in Rehoboth, a Victorian on Baltimore Avenue a block from the boardwalk, with wraparound porches and a long-standing wine-and-cheese happy hour. Rehoboth is the summer destination for D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.
What about all-inclusive gay resorts and gay cruises?
Worth clearing up, because the search terms get mixed together. The Caribbean-style all-inclusive — one price, all food and drink included — is essentially absent from the US gay resort market. What exists instead:
- Buyout weeks — operators like Atlantis Events and VACAYA charter entire resorts (usually in Mexico or the Caribbean) for gay-only weeks. That's the closest thing to an all-inclusive gay resort, and it's a charter rather than a permanent property.
- Inclusive-ish US resorts — several Palm Springs properties include breakfast and an afternoon cocktail hour in the rate. Santiago and The Hacienda are the usual examples.
- Gay cruises — a different product entirely. See our guide to the best gay cruises.
What to know before you book a gay resort
- Confirm the clothing policy. Clothing-optional, clothing-required, and "optional after dark" are three different experiences. Every property states it plainly on its own site.
- Check whether it's men-only. Many Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdale properties are. Alexander's in Key West and the larger P-town hotels generally aren't.
- Understand the season. Palm Springs is a winter destination, P-town and Saugatuck are summer destinations, and Florida is best November through April. Booking against the season saves real money and costs you the atmosphere.
- Expect minimum stays on event weekends. Pride, White Party, Bear Week and Carnival all carry three- to four-night minimums.
- Look at room count. Under 20 rooms means you'll know everyone by day two. Over 50 means you can be anonymous. Pick deliberately.
Pro Tip
Shoulder season is the real value play. Palm Springs in late May or early October still hits the 90s on the deck at a fraction of the January rate, and P-town in late September is warm, uncrowded and about half the July price.
Frequently asked questions about gay resorts
What is the best gay resort in the US?
For scale and facilities, Island House in Key West and CCBC in Palm Springs are the two most frequently named. For a design-led, quieter stay, Santiago Resort in Palm Springs. For being inside the nightlife rather than near it, The Crown & Anchor in Provincetown. There's no single answer — the right property depends on whether you want a party, a rest, or a base.
Are gay resorts clothing-optional?
Many are, but not all. Nearly every gay men's resort in the Warm Sands district of Palm Springs is clothing-optional, as are Island House in Key West and a number of Fort Lauderdale guesthouses. Larger, mixed-gender properties usually are not. Always check the property's own site before booking.
Are gay resorts men-only?
Often, yes. Most Palm Springs men's resorts and several Fort Lauderdale guesthouses are men-only and adults-only. Others — Alexander's in Key West, most Provincetown inns, The Dunes in Saugatuck — welcome all genders. The property name is a decent hint: "a gay men's resort" in the title means exactly that.
How much do gay resorts cost?
As a rough planning guide, shoulder-season rates at a Palm Springs or Fort Lauderdale men's resort commonly land around $150 to $300 a night, rising to $300 to $600 during peak season and event weekends. Check the property directly — rates move a lot. Provincetown in July and Key West in high season sit at the top of that range. Small guesthouses in the off-season can drop below $130.
Where is the gay resort capital of the US?
Palm Springs, without much argument. The Warm Sands neighborhood alone holds a dozen gay men's resorts within walking distance of one another — a concentration no other American city comes close to.
Are there gay resorts outside of Florida and California?
Yes, though the list is short. The Dunes Resort in Saugatuck, Michigan is the largest in the Midwest, Rehoboth Beach in Delaware serves the mid-Atlantic, Provincetown anchors New England, and Asbury Park in New Jersey has a growing scene. Beyond those, most of the country runs on gay friendly hotels rather than dedicated resorts.
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Robbie S.
I'm Robbie, the founder of Out x Out. I'm from Minneapolis, though I'm spending 2026 building this community from the road — somewhere between South America and Asia. The idea for Out x Out came from a trip to Berlin, where the gay nightlife calendar was years ahead of ours: you could see not just where to go out, but which night to go — so naturally I wanted that kind of insider info for every city in the US (and beyond... eventually). I'm more of a behind-the-scenes type, but the whole point of this is connection: I'd take one real one over a hundred surface-level ones, and I'm trying to build that for the community, city by city.
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