This month marks a quarter of a century since John Bellamy opened the doors to Hamilton Hall, a men-only and clothing-optional hotel in Bournemouth. As you can probably guess, this is far from your average B&B — we spoke to John about how the establishment came to be and its community-driven values.
Hi John, tell us how Hamilton Hall began.
Well, in 1985, I became an escort. I needed to earn some money fast as I was homeless. Escort work was very financially lucrative and I was eventually able to buy a house in Hammersmith. However, after 15 years and tens of thousands of clients, I knew it was time to move on and that I was destined to be more than a sex symbol! I sold my house and returned to Bournemouth, where I grew up, and took over Hamilton Hall. This had always been a boarding house or hotel, and after a complete renovation and refurb, I opened it as a sexual, self and spiritual development retreat hotel for mind, body and soul, exclusively for men.
Did you always envision you would be a hotelier?
It has felt like my destiny. I have a background in the hotel industry, starting when I left school at 15 to be a commis chef. At 17, my much older lover and I owned and ran our own hotel in Guernsey for eight years. After we split up, I moved to America where I studied bereavement counselling and relationship psychology, and even interior design. I lived the high life with my multi-millionaire lover who — groan — dumped me penniless after five years.
What makes Hamilton Hall so special?
You are welcomed and treated as friends, not customers and certainly NOT as a punter — I hate that word and concept. We have one table for meals and share dinners together, chatting and laughing. It’s so much friendlier and intimate.
John BellamyWhat sort of events do you host throughout the year?
You will rarely meet anyone with the spiritual-sexual knowledge and experiences I have, which I share in order to help guide others to be more relaxed and less stressed around sexuality.
In the past, we have offered a mixture of workshop training on massage, tantric sexuality, meditation, spiritual virgins, yoga, and integrated breathwork for inner healing. There are also some X-rated events, like our Vacuum Pumping weekends and Cock & Ball workshop. We’ve even had karaoke, a Barbra Streisand weekend and sci-fi-themed gatherings.
Twenty-five years is a huge achievement — what do you see in the future for Hamilton Hall?
The twenty-five years have flown by. There maybe won’t be another twenty-five as I’ll be 95 at that point, but I certainly look forward to many more years to come. I hope we shall be seeing you here soon.
