My first visit to the Detroit...

My first visit to the Detroit Penthouse Club (fairly late on a Tuesday night) was a mixed experience. It has all the trappings of an upscale club: glitzy exterior, valet parking guys in tux shirts (even though the poor sods had to stand in the rain), etc. The interior isn't as big as you'd expect, judging from the outside. The stage takes up almost the entire center of the long, narrow room; small tables are crowded around it, and a slightly elevated area behind the tables is lined with booths. The bar is along one of the short ends of the room. The entire stage can be easily seen from anywhere in the room, except when the fog machine is running. There is no no-smoking area.

Dress was upscale: more coats and ties than not; jeans and T-shirt would definitely be out of place. Maybe the fact that I wore an open neck dress shirt instead of suit and tie had something to do with my experience. But why would anyone wear something requiring dry cleaning to get a lap dance?

My reception was odd. The bouncer took my ticket, and asked if I would like to sit at the bar. I told him I'd never been there before, and asked what he would recommend. He simply disappeared! The place was almost full, and I wandered around for about 20 minutes looking for a place to sit, before a friendly if overworked waitress pointed me to a vacant chair. The resulting waif-like feeling was not conducive to settling in and spending money.