Nice empty space; not worth $20 cover

I showed up around 10 to Archibald's, and they charged a $20 cover. I went up the stairs and place was empty. One customer at a table; maybe two at the bar. About 7 girls sitting around; 2 bartenders. The space looks very nice, though small -- it's like a row home, where it's a long, relatively narrow space. Bar is in the back, and you walk by a stage with a hoop seat thing that some of the girls use while dancing. Tables and long sofas around as well. Now after paying a $20 cover this could go one of two ways: Couple hot girls and you have a great time without anyone else taking up there time, or...this night. The girls were 5s/6s -- a little too much belly and thighs for my taste. To be fair, there was one petite girl who was quite pretty, and the bartenders were hotter than the dancers. I sat at the bar and ordered a drink and one of the girls sat down almost immediately. I get that it's slow, but it was a bit too quick (..and she was a solid 5, so that didn't help things). She started pushing their VIP rooms. I've never done that here before, and she offered to give me a tour. I think she thought she had made a sale, because she told the bartender to close my tab. We went upstairs to the VIP rooms and she showed me around. A number of rooms divided up by curtains, with leather couches and a stage in them. I should have counted how many, but didn't. Maybe 8-9? There was a bar way in the back -- with a couple stools -- but the dancer said customers weren't allowed to sit there. Okay, now to pricing -- I wasn't interested in going with this girl, and so I didn't push to see if there were discounts or if there were minimum drinks purchases that they tack on -- she said it was $500 for 30 minutes, and $1000 for 60 minutes (but she would throw in an "extra 15 minutes" if I got the hour...no kidding, it was dead downstairs!). That is a complete ripoff, IMO, for this place and this quality of girls. She said they danced totally nude and did lap dances, but for lap dances, they had to wear pasties and underwear. I've been around the block, and no what this about -- a way to waste time in the room! So it seems lap dances are now theoretically possible in DC, but it'll cost an arm and a leg, and not be worth it. I went back to the bar and sat around for 2 drinks waiting to see if the place got busier. Around 11 a couple more customers showed up (and I spotted one more dancer, who was a 6/7 (body 6, face 7)). But still very empty. I asked the bartender and a dancer, and they both said it gets busy around 1am, when people at clubs strike out and want to go to the strip club. I feel sorry for those blokes.