NOTE: I will try to simplify for the sake of brevity and argument. I'm not trying to BASH nightclubs but rather want to give my honest opinion of my observation.
I have traveled around in Las Vegas, LA, and NYC and I find it that most nightclubs are scammy for men.
Many of my friends have wanted to go to nightclubs since: 1-They believe they can have good conversations with girls, thereby, improving their social skills. 2-They want to at least get physical with a girl(it can range from getting to dance with her to even getting a kiss.) 3-They believe they can get laid.
Whenever or not my friends are misguided about pursuing these goals at the nightclub, the nightclubs seem to have no issue letting them believe whatever they want. When I was talking with the doorman at the club he said the nightclub's goal only goal was the make money by selling drinks.
The nightclub lets the women in for free and the women draw the guy's in. Like Tupac said, "Rap for the women, not the men, if you rap for the woman, the woman will buy your records and the men want what the women want."Of course Tupac said it in less flattering terms, however, the message remains.
This is a simplified model, however, what I will often see is: 1-First floor you have a 80% of guys and 20% of girls. It's a complete sausage fest and you have most of the guys buying girls drinks. Most of the girl's are in large groups with other guys in their group. 2-Second floor you have the private area, sometimes restricted where you have promoters, VIP hosts or ballers. Usually the ratio is flipped and you have 80% of girls and 20% of guys. Most people do not leave their table.
My argument is that unless you are a promoter, a friend of a promoter, or you can pay your way into the vip section or a host is not worth going to the nightclub for goals 1,2, and 3. Since the average man he will have to deal with a sausage fest, most guys will try cockblock, most girls will try to cockblock you as well, the venue is way too loud to talk to anyone. Usually, since there are far fewer girls most girls will not treat the guys nicely(hence a lot of bitter guys online) of course if a woman is being approached by tons of guys she will have turn most of them down.
In contrast, most strip clubs are the complete opposite at least for the average guy is a much more pleasant experience. Moreover, you can fulfill the first two goals and potentially even the third depending on either your money or your game.
I used to have a regular in a strip club that was very attractive. I told her one time she looked like a young Elizabeth Taylor and she didn't know who that was because Taylor was an actress before this girl was even born. I asked her one time if she goes to clubs. I had never been to one. She said not usually because she isn't interested in the guys there but sometimes when she is feeling a little down or depressed she would go to one because all the attention would give her an ego boost. I think the clubs would be filled with a lot of girls like that. Since they aren't looking for sex your chances with them are low. You would either have to be in the top twenty percent of guys or be willing to go home with a below average girl to have a good chance.
Many guys don't really get this aspect of women. They don't get an ego boost just from a female being friendly. I've heard this referred to as being put in the "friend zone" and this is seen as an undesirable place to be for men. Younger men have to learn ways to avoid giving women what they want without getting anything back in return. You need to learn to eject from a situation quickly if it appears you are being exploited. If a girl is actually interesting maybe she might be worth talking to at a club but just talking to a girl or buying her drinks in hopes of sex is probably a waste of time. It sounds like you have correctly identified the situation in clubs where there are a lot of guys being friendly and a few girls not making an effort to be friendly as a place to stay away from.