From: Tor Subject: ASSC: AFTSD Vancouver Retrospective (Part 1) Date: Tue, 02 Dec 1997 19:32:33 -0800 In honor of AFTSD I decided to catch up on what was going on here in our fair city - Vancouver, B.C., Canada. For this review I visited 7 different strip clubs over the last 3 weekends to get an updated look at what is happening & not happening. Things have changed in the last few years. Just 3 years ago there was no private dancing at all except for the Paramount. Now almost all clubs have it in one form or another. One thing is immediately apparent. Generally this town sucks big time when it comes to contact between the dancers & the customers. This always has been & still is to a large extent a stage dancing city where yous pays your money & yous watch the gals take off their clothes. No touchy. The stages are still the main focus & selling booze is still the main income generator. Anyway on with the reviews: Club:MoonDancer Pub In: Barnet Hotel City:Port Moody Cover: $0 Private Dance: $20.00 Avg. Drink (Alcohol) $5.00 Atmosphere: Can get rowdy Location: About 30-45 minutes from downtown Vancouver This is a bit of a dive of a pub. It is a fair size with a smallish stage set against the back wall. The stage is well lit but the dancers are marginal at best. The shows are boorrrrinnggg!!!! There is a V.I.P. room that is very private off to the side. It has a large stage with stools along the front. This is where the private dances take place. I didn't try one or see one happen so I am only surmising here. But I imagine this is one of those pussy in the face private dances with the dancer on stage & you sitting in one of the stools. No contact. Could get hot tho if you like that type of thing. (I do but I prefer contact these days). Club: North Burnaby Inn In: North Burnaby Inn City:Burnaby Cover: $0 Private Dance: $20.00 Avg. Drink (Alcohol) $5.00 Atmosphere: Club is well kept the customers enthusiastic but not rowdy usually. Recently renovated Location: About 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver The stage is a large square affair smack in the middle of the pub. Not very well situated as there is posts at each corner that tend to inhibit the view. The stage is a little dark so eat lots of carrots. This is a large club that is always packed so get there early esp. on the weekends. They have a very poor set-up for the private dances. There are 2 booths against the wall with a raised bench for the dancer to sit/dance/stand on & a chair for the customer. She dances he watches. No contact. Not really enough light to see anything either. I wasn't silly enough to spend any money on this rip-off.  Not recommended here. Club: The Paramount City:New Westminster Cover: $5 - Look for coupon in Monday's Province Newspaper Private Dance: $25.00 Avg. Drink (Non-Alcohol) $5.00 Atmosphere: Swimming with the pirannahs Location: About 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver This is the club that comes closest to the American lap dancing model. They call it Texas couch dancing. This used to be a movie theatre complete with sloping floor. They put levels in following the slope of the floor with couchs on each level & the stage at the bottom. The stage shows are just for the dancers to strut & aren't really worth talking about. Be prepared to be hustled big time in this place. The dancers will sit down at your table without so much as a by your leave & the waitress will be there within seconds asking if you want to buy a drink for the dancer ($10.00). They can be very persistent. The couch dancing is mostly non-contact but YMMV. Try to fend off the sharks long enough to check out who is doing what & choose your dancer carefully. You can blow a lot of money on nothing if you don't. They have theme nights & 2 for 1 on Sundays & 3-4 & 8-9 the rest of the time. If you catch it right you can get pretty good value. I would go in there just before the 2 for begins scope out the dancer & pick the one you want. Then keep her busy for the entire hour. You can have a very good time in here with the right girl (and lots & lots of money). Club: The Drake In: The Drake Hotel City: Vancouver Cover: $5 Private Dance: $15.00 Avg. Drink (Alcohol) $6.00 Atmosphere: Club is well kept the customers enthusiastic but not rowdy usually. Location: About 10 minutes from downtown Vancouver This is one of those clubs where you feel like you should be wearing a suit & tie to go into. It is kept absolutely spotless all of the time. The customers are very mixed however from you business types to bikers & everything in-between. In my opinion this is one of the worst places to watch a stage show. The stage is so big & spread out the dancer always seems to be some place else. There are lots of stage seats but none of them are good. The stage is shaped like a '+' with the main stage & shower on one arm & poles at end of the other. They have a V.I.P. lounge where the dancers take you for private dances. The dancers dance in a raised booth with the shmoe in a chair seperated by a little tiny table. There is absolutely no contact. This can get hot it you get the right dancer but unfortunately it is hard to tell which is the right dancer since it if very difficult to see into the V.I.P. lounge to see who is doing what. I had a great little blonde dance for me on this trip & she did a very hot show. She has a gorgeous pussy a did some good finger work.  I knew her from other clubs so was pretty sure she would do a good show. I was right. That's about as good as it gets in here. They also have a ticket stage where you pay $2 per dance. The bouncer comes around & punches your ticket each dance. This is very lame & not worth it. The waitresses dance in here as well as on the main stage in-between the features. To be continued in part 2...