Inflation hitting hard
As one of the previous reviewers mentioned, inflation has hit Palomino hard with over 60 bucks as the entry fee, and just about everything else (drinks, dances, etc) moving up in price. After you burn the two drink tickets, cocktails are in the 12-15 dollar range, domestic beers were 9 if I recall correctly.
The setup here is fairly standard, large main stage encircled by a tip rail, a smaller side stage (not in use on a Friday night when I was there, despite there being plenty of dancers in the building), the bar is kind of off to the side.
The hustle here from dancers has gone up significantly since the last time I was here. I was approached multiple times within the first fifteen minutes with the hard push for the VIP fantasy rooms. I would also rate that the quality of dancers has gone up. Last time I was here (pre-pandemic) I would put most in the 4-6 range, with a few 7's, now there may be a few 5's, a solid core of 6-7's and a handful of 9's walking around. Like in most clubs, the hotter the dancer, the less effort they put on stage and when trying to sell you.
Finally landed on a very cute blonde, early 30's, with a huge rack and went upstairs. The first attempt was to sell the VIP room at 3,000 for the hour plus another 500 for champagne. Unless that comes with a late 90's Honda Accord, there is no way an hour of time is worth that much. If you've got 3,500 to burn, book yourself a round trip ticket to Germany, get laid for a week straight, and then figure out what you're going to spend the last 1,500 on.
But i digress. We ended up just going with "standard" couch dances. Mileage was average (Note, I am from Detroit so my definition of average might be skewed...), but she was enthusiastic and a good hang. Dances were 3 for $100 on the couches. I went a couple rounds up there then showed myself out to catch a flight. Overall, quality has increased here but price has increased at a higher rate. I will probably check out some smaller clubs next time I'm in town.