There’s a thread on Stripperweb saying that their clubs are no longer allowing lap dances. It is VIP dances only. Several dancers from around the country report this and say they prefer it. They claim to be making just as much money as before.
How does this match up with your experience as customers, post CoVid ?
Haven’t been at a club that does it since COVID, but I have been at a club where lots of dancers refused to do single dances and were cabana/vip only. Because individual dances were $20/song and we were not allowed to charge higher and cabanas were like $800-1k per hour + either $180 or $350 depending on what booth the customer wanted. Definitely a huge mismatch there lol.
To be fair, a lot of this stuff coming from dancers and clubs I think is a natural consequence of the increased wealth gap in this country. (This is NOT an argument of whether the wealth gap is a problem, just acknowledging that it exists) If there is a smaller amount of people that have a LOT of money and on a good track to get even more, and more people than before who don’t have much, then it makes sense to go all-or-nothing and allow customers to filter themselves out.
It’s not my preferred MO of doing things, but I can understand why it happens.
I’m guessing there is currently an imbalance between customers ( who are rushing back to the club ) and dancers ( who are either relying on expanded unemployment or in a new job ). That could explain the take-it-or-leave-it attitude about VIP. If that’s the case, this change could temporary.
BSC in Phoenix has been VIP only for several years. They have a 7 up hiring policy which means dancers can refuse floor dances and still have customers clamoring for VIP.
Haven't seen it around here at all and I'm glad about that. It is a lot less of a risk to take a $20/song test drive before committing to a $150-250 vip session.
I have read quite a few reviews on here about clubs in some states taking this approach when they reopened post covid lockdowns. I assume it has to do with the social distancing requirements and if they allowed dances out in the open it would be too obvious that they weren't keeping 6 feet apart, or if they were 6 feet apart during a dance everyone else would notice and no one else would buy a dance.
I think some of the clubs up around Akron were only doing dances in the back room for a higher price than their old $5 barside dances for that reason but they were still allowing individual dances. Not sure if that is still the case now that all covid restrictions are gone in Ohio as of this week.
My guess it was more about the clubs being unable to get dancers back to work so they were offering them the opportunity to get bigger dollar shifts, it wasn’t happening here in Florida it’s seems to be more of a small market approach
There were substantial differences in the Florida reopen vs other parts of the US. There's a year's worth of TUSCL posts that go into all that.
It would stand to reason that parts of the US that are just reopening now would be going through a similar process to what places like Texas were doing last year. The club services were re-introduced in phases.
There are no clubs around here that have wiped out lap dances, but there are dancers who have a "VIP-only" policy (that the club appears to not care about). Though this isn't always the case, I've found that the more in-demand dancers are the ones who won't do lap dances.
The VIP only dancers aren't new. The fix for that is a "are you sure?" and a nice to meet you. If they haven't hit their numbers, they'll come back after they've seen you spend on other girls. And they have no incentive to give a lousy dance on the floor so you'll get a decent preview.
Also, this is the stripperweb thread I’m pretty sure is being referred to: stripperweb.com
Somebody claimed that she was telling customers that it was VIP only still, which implies Manhattan at least did away with that already.
Sapphire in Vegas was doing that last week but I think floor dances are supposed to be back as of today
I went to several clubs in Georgia, FL and Texas and even San Diego during covid. Only 1 had a no-floor dance policy. Ironic because that was a anything goes in VIP joint lol
It seems like a lot of clubs would be happy to phase lap dances out and are using this as an opportunity to do so. The two-tiered system of VIP for the high rollers and stage tipping only for everyone else seems to really be taking hold in some places based on the Stripperweb thread.
But I'd have to think those that enjoy LDs will look for whatever places still have them and flock there. Could be a real opportunity for some places to grow in popularity if they read the market right.
Will be keeping tabs on how Sapphire LV handles floor LDs as Vegas appears to be opening up.
Well, i have not stopped going to BSC throughout the pandemic, but i have noticed strippers act snarky if you dont buy at least 5 dances. ,They are also pushier for tips. it is a lot slower Fridays now feel like thursdays. 2 stages compared to all 3, and sometimes they still have the 2nd stage closed on a Friday afternoon. Theres a big drop in talent. They only have 1 or 2 dancers that meet my criteria now. Theres a shortage of hot dancers and good customers like me. As soon as i walk through the door i get jumped on, life is good when youre not broke.
I think its about clubs not dancers. The clubs make more money forcing vip.
Im seeing clubs only allowing customers to book sections. Bottle service only. Then like at black clubs dancers split whatever is thrown at them.
The higher cost discourages the average customer. Im seeing clubs full of young guys with a little money who won't afford to be regulars. This crowd also turns off wealthier customers.
Clubs don't care. Its like a war for them to make more than dancers. You also see it with higher house fees and packing in as many girls as they can.
As I recall, BSC is more a hybrid VIP whereby dances there are merely more expensive with no minimum time or dances. (I don't think there was admission fee involved, but club staff metered the number of people back there.) Versus the commonly "understood" version whereby customer pays for a set amount of time upfront, minimum 15 minutes or more.
Mons Venus transitioned to an all-VIP format in that they did away with the open bench, single or more dance format. All dances done in enclosed cubicles with having to now go through club staff for cubicle rental. Single dances can still be done, but they're an expensive proposition (30 to 40 bucks to dancer, $12 for 1 song cubicle rental.) There are volume discounts for multiple dance/ 15 minute plus rental packages. The $20 BSC VIP test drive much less painful than $42 - $52 Mons test drive.
I can personally hack the VIP price, but I require a certitude that certain minimum things are going to happen prior to springing for upfront 3 figure VIP price.
When the club gets a VIP fee, then obviously they want lots of VIP sessions happening. It's not a COVID precaution if close contact is allowed in one part of the club but not another, obviously.
Tell the dancer that you want the money to go to her and not to the worthless club manager. Some may respond to that by offering take-out.
"It's not a COVID precaution if close contact is allowed in one part of the club but not another, obviously."
Setting a club policy due to COVID and setting a policy to prevent COVID are two different things. We're having last year's conversations all over again halfway through 2021, but if they're interesting the more the merrier.
Welcome back, everybody! lol
My experience in the Atlanta area is that lap dances are still very much alive and I believe that they prevail because the cost of VIP has gone up a lot while the quality and quantity of dancers has not gotten back to where they were prior to Covid.
Last week I met the hottest looking dancer that I have seen this year. She had a personality to go with it. I would call her a nine. I bought 12 dances from her at $10/ea and each dance got better and better. By the sixth it was totally Follies quality. I did inquire about VIP and was told for $500 she would do whatever I wanted to do. I passed. Just way too high for 30 minutes for me.
As @whodey posted, I have read this in several reviews of clubs in certain areas around the country - it seems to more-or-less go hand-in-hand w/ how strict that particular area is w.r.t. lockdowns/social-distancing - I've read reviews of clubs were absolutely no contact/dances are allowed, VIP or o/w - but have read more reviews of clubs that are not allowing dances on the floor/open-dance-area and only allowing VIP-dances and seems it's a club, vs dancer, policy, likely as @whodey mentioned to not "make it obvious" per se in areas/cities where the powers-to-be are more-anal about Covid-restrictions.
I assume this will now mostly become a moot-point past June 1st after many areas are lifting restrictions.
I’m not taking that risk, VIP no dances, no way.