Playmates is tucked away in a...

Playmates is tucked away in a sleepy, seemingly safe area of Coral Gables near a high-end auto dealership. I have never had trouble parking in the nearby parking meters, both early or late in the evening. The venue is smaller than the Pink Pony, and is comparable in size to BTs. There is a long bar that sits approximately 20 patrons, and a stage area rarely fills until after midnight. The decor/atmosphere is surprisingly posh given the relative obscurity of this venue. Before 9pm, the music is quiet enough to carry a conversation, which makes this a great place to catch a sporting event. The fact that dancers are only obligated to perform on stage AFTER 9pm makes this more of a "Happy Hour" bar than a strip club until then. After 9pm, they crank up the music (which is still quieter than Tootsies), and dancers perform on rotation.

The dancers are ethnically diverse, with a solid variety of white, african-american and hispanic ladies. I've seen an average of 10 ladies a night, and as many as 20 past 2am on a weekend. They regularly approach the patrons for conversation/drinks, but don't mind being politely refused. The biggest annoyance here is that dancers personally visit every patron after a dance to request a tip ($1), even if patron is uninterested or distracted by a pay-per-view event aired on the 4+ screens. This only becomes a problem after 9pm when dancers regularly perform onstage. The onstage dances lack the energy/skill seen in venues outside of Miami. What they lack in performance, they make up for in contact...

The venue has private champagne rooms, which I have never visited, and a lapdance area at the back of the venue with 8 booths. These booths are well divided, and offer more privacy than Tootsie's. As with most strip clubs in Miami, dances are full friction, and can be fully nude at the discretion of the girl (tops are always off). The girls at Playmates are less snooty than the ones at Tootsies, and rarely upsell you to the champagne room. If you're looking for a mellow night or favor privacy over extravagance, Playmates is worth a stop.