how do you feel about valet parking at a strip club? i am very hesitant to give the keys to my car to someone just standing out in front of the club. recent thefts in the ATL area have only heightened my concern. what are chances that your car disappears or is damaged? had a friend of mine whose car was stolen from valet parking at hotel in Cleveland so this taints my opinion.
My regular club in the Detroit area seems pretty safe. I also go during the afternoon, so never had any problems with parking. The valet guys have been there a long time which helps with the feeling of security.
Most all visits to clubs these days are on my bike (no one but me rides it!!!), or my company car (no one but me drives it!!!), so there you go! Either they let me park my vehicle, or I go elsewhere. Easy to do in South Florida with so many choices. In a local with very limited choices, clubs sort of have you locked in.
Don't get me started! I detest this fee. Security concerns or personal intrusion don't bother me. I don't love any of my vehicles and insurance takes care of loss or damage. I JUST HATE THE FUCKING FEE ITSELF !! It is so penny-ante on the club owner's behalf.
I am not a cheap guy. I have been known to spend $3k a night on booze, lap dances, and any other delight I can purchase inside the club. I am just so annoyed to have the owner's greedy paw inside my wallet before I even enter the club.
Art, you shouldn't be so reticent about expressing your opinion. If you keep holding it in like, something's going to burst. Tell us how you *really* feel. :)
I just had a conversation about this last night with a dancer at Follies in Atlanta. I told her on message boards, most guys HATE the Valet fees. I keep thinking the guy with the Valet guy with the dreadlocks in Follies' lot must get a lot of grief. She agreed most guys hate it, and said she'd seen some of the posts. And on occasion, some dancers even have to pay it. Is there no justice?
Anyway, I handle it two ways:
1) I'll pay their fee, but ask to park my own car and keep my keys. At Follies, they're cool with that. It also worked recently at Fight Club near Detroit.
2) I look at the Valet fee as just part of the overall entrance fee. For example, would I feel better/worse if the Spearmint Rhino in Vegas charged $10 for parking and lowered their door fee to $20, versus their current free parking w/$30 door fee? I'm not sure. I might actually prefer it, as it would allow me to walk up and save the $10. In any case, I just lump it all together and consider the sum of the two as the price of entry.
The two tactics seem to work for me. I mostly just want to enter the club, forget about the outside world for a while, and enjoy the nude women. Anything that helps to keep my mind free of clutter and angst, is a good thing.
I will never use or pay for vallet. My vehicle is a work van with lots of stuff in it and the contents are not covered by insurance. I will not turn it opvr to someone zI don't know. Saw an undercover special on TV about the way valet drivers mistreat vehicles and their contents. It is a stupid fee and I will not contribute to the nonsense. Fortunately the clubs I go to do not have valet parking.
Can't it be avoided by parking nearby and walking, or are there clubs that you use where this isn't possible? Farmerart, hope your blood pressure is back to normal :-)
The top ranked club in Michigan is Penthouse Club in Detroit. They have mandatory $7 valet parking. I was not going to go, but I met up with TUSCL buddy vincemichaels while in Detroit and he gave me a ride over there from my motel. Thanks to him, I was able to enjoy the best club in Detroit. I saw the valets and they seemed responsible and safe. The second night when I went to Penthouse I went alone and took my chance with the valet.
I will say though that the parking lot valet area seemed small and cramped, and seemed pretty easy for a valet to have your car scratched or bumped especially during the busy times..but I took my chances.
It is also possible to park nearby and walk in but you are taking your chances. Side street parking in parts of Detroit is not safe at night. Also if you arrive and do not have a valet ticket they will not let you enter but you can get lucky because sometimes they are so busy they don't have anyone available to check because they are busy valeting cars.
Another option is to have a taxi give you a ride to the club assuming it is not too far away. You will spend more money on the taxi then you would on the valet but at least you know your safe is safely parked back at the motel.
Just another way for the club to dig in your wallet. Anything else I'd have to say about it was covered by the other guys. If you really want to go to that club, you'll just have to fork over the cash. samsung1 is correct about Penthouse, in the last few months, I'll take my chances during the day parking on the side street and take a chance walking in for free. Oh well, the price of pleasure can be a pain at times.
I got off (I-75 north) the wrong direction on 8 Mile Rd., going east instead of west. As a result, I pulled into Tycoon's (which was on my list for the evening) but asked the valets (two guys walked up) for directions to The Penthouse Club. They wer very nice in pointing me the other way without any beef. I did come back to Tycoon's later in the evning though, so I did give them some business!
I'm also a daytime clubber so usually forced valet parking isn't too much of an issue. One club in my rotation is so money hungry that they try to force a valet fee of $4.50 to self park on weekday afternoons! I can see having a valet option on weekend nights....but during the day on a Tuesday? I pissed & moaned about it enough that they just let me park w/o charging me so they don't have to hear me bitch about it again. Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease!
they probably went easy on you lopaw because you are a woman...us men don't get the grease as easily!
I wonder if these clubs also require their dancers to use the valet parking? I doubt it but who knows. Some of these clubs get really greedy with house fees and tip outs.
I do know one dancer told me she has to tip $5 just to have the bouncer walk her to her car. The club claims they do this for safety but they also want to make sure she is not going home with any customers for prostitution.
I hate valet fees and there is no way I'm going to let someone else drive my car. I'll park it myself or park half a mile away before I let someone else drive it. A hotel I stayed at recently did not let you bring up your luggage without using the bell hop. I thought that was for the birds. That was the Patricia Grande at Myrtle Beach. They had multiple problems wrong with their hotel room and I do not plan on ever staying there again. Even more annoying than carrying my own luggage when leaving because they didn't allow visitors to use baggage carriers was that if you use a corded electric razor, their plugs were way too loose and you had to hold it in with one hand while shaving with the other and all their plugs were on the wrong side if you're right handed. I enjoyed the beach but the hotel left a lot to be desired.
For the most part I agree with you sharkhunter. There are clubs (money hungry bastards, I agree, that do have some really hot babes dancing as Penthouse Club here in Detroit does. For the most part if you wish to partake, you pay for Valet, unless you have the savvy to pull a fast one on the club. It helps to be ballsy, too. LOL. I don't recommend parking on a side street in Detroit at night, I grew up and lived in the city of Detroit. I know my hometown well. I've never had any problem there, (one unfortunate soul did get killed there a few years back) So, there is a legitimate safety issue here, and $7 for Valet Parking is not a ripoff, IMO. It's a cost of business. To each, their own.
Seems like this was just discussed on another topic. Having said that, I will not let a valet park my car. It's enough that the fee pisses me off like farmerart but I will not take any chances with my new car. I will walk another 40 yards at the grocery store to park where some ass hole is not going to bang a shopping cart into it.
rod, I have been to Follies twice in the last few months. I guess that valet parking only applys at night because it was not there during the afternoon, that I could see.
snowtime. I saw that report. Scary.Racing with the customers cars, stealing, etc. I'm NOt going to hand my keys to some minimum wage earner at a strip club.
17 comments
Latest
I am not a cheap guy. I have been known to spend $3k a night on booze, lap dances, and any other delight I can purchase inside the club. I am just so annoyed to have the owner's greedy paw inside my wallet before I even enter the club.
VALET FEES REALLY REALLY PISS ME OFF !!
Anyway, I handle it two ways:
1) I'll pay their fee, but ask to park my own car and keep my keys. At Follies, they're cool with that. It also worked recently at Fight Club near Detroit.
2) I look at the Valet fee as just part of the overall entrance fee. For example, would I feel better/worse if the Spearmint Rhino in Vegas charged $10 for parking and lowered their door fee to $20, versus their current free parking w/$30 door fee? I'm not sure. I might actually prefer it, as it would allow me to walk up and save the $10. In any case, I just lump it all together and consider the sum of the two as the price of entry.
The two tactics seem to work for me. I mostly just want to enter the club, forget about the outside world for a while, and enjoy the nude women. Anything that helps to keep my mind free of clutter and angst, is a good thing.
I will say though that the parking lot valet area seemed small and cramped, and seemed pretty easy for a valet to have your car scratched or bumped especially during the busy times..but I took my chances.
It is also possible to park nearby and walk in but you are taking your chances. Side street parking in parts of Detroit is not safe at night. Also if you arrive and do not have a valet ticket they will not let you enter but you can get lucky because sometimes they are so busy they don't have anyone available to check because they are busy valeting cars.
Another option is to have a taxi give you a ride to the club assuming it is not too far away. You will spend more money on the taxi then you would on the valet but at least you know your safe is safely parked back at the motel.
I wonder if these clubs also require their dancers to use the valet parking? I doubt it but who knows. Some of these clubs get really greedy with house fees and tip outs.
I do know one dancer told me she has to tip $5 just to have the bouncer walk her to her car. The club claims they do this for safety but they also want to make sure she is not going home with any customers for prostitution.
rod, I have been to Follies twice in the last few months. I guess that valet parking only applys at night because it was not there during the afternoon, that I could see.
snowtime. I saw that report. Scary.Racing with the customers cars, stealing, etc. I'm NOt going to hand my keys to some minimum wage earner at a strip club.