mid-January visit to Penthouse Club Detroit
I was in the Detroit metro area visiting a buddy, but found myself solo on a late Saturday afternoon while he attended a function for his high school aged daughter. I was originally planning to attend, but he offered the use of a semi-experimental car (he's a long time auto company engineer), and I figured I would take the opportunity to pay a visit to one of the higher profile clubs in the area. Just as I was setting the alarm system at his house, his oldest son pulled into the driveway. While we're actually not related by blood, he's always called me uncle Sam, and I was happy to catch up with him.
He crossed the 21 barrier last year and suggested that he take me out for a beer. Given the fact that he is a second year medical student, I offered that in light of our present comparative financial positions, I would subsidize the financial transactions, but joked that he would give me a discount on a liver transplant if it became necessary in the future. We ended up taking the nicer of the two available rides, and soon we were off. When I suggested we drop by the Penthouse Club, he hesitated for a second and then beamed, "Hell yes!" I advanced him $200, and advised him to spend it wisely. Wink, wink.
By the time we had valeted the car, checked our coats, took our booth, and ordered our first drink, my wallet was about $100 lighter. I'd estimate the club was only 25% full at that point, but there were probably 15 -18 girls on hand and my "nephew's" head drifted back and forth like a security camera in a high risk zone. The overall dancer appearance was lower than I had expected, based on a summary of reports on this and other forums. IMHO there was only one 9, with a couple 8's, and the bulk of the rest were 7's. I was surprised at the number of girls with heavy ink displays, and the average age was a bit younger (25?) than I expected for this club.
Our waitress was very attractive and very attentive, and I would have happily paid for a trip to the VIP with her. We weren't approached by anyone at first, but before too long a 20-something with bolt-ons came and sat next to me. She completely ignored my younger companion, and was clearly pushing for a quick sale. She suggested we could have a lot of fun for $500 in VIP, and I suggested she should move on without making a counter offer. Just as I was about to go tip someone, two dancers piled in next to us. They one next to me was 30-ish, blonde, and vaguely reminiscent of a younger Heather Locklear. The other was in her early 20's and immediately began a distinctly private conversation with my nephew as she pushed her tongue into his left ear. "Heather" slowly reached in my trouser pocket as we chatted about nothing, and soon we reviewed a menu together. One thing about being a bit older is that you have the advantage of knowing what you like. "Heather" and I agreed the half and half selection was fairly priced, and that she would finish with a sampling of French cuisine. Soon I was handing the upstairs bouncer a picture of President Jackson, to round out $200 for my upstairs trip.
About 25 minutes later I returned downstairs to find my nephew missing, so I sat and ordered a soft drink. About 10 minutes later he returned looking like he had just finished the first half of a football game, complete with "helmet head". I bought him a beer and he related that negotiations failed to produce an accord with the first girl. For a few minutes he waited and then went to the bar and ended up talking up an eastern European girl that he ended up taking to the VIP area. While there was no surprise that he ended up with nothing left in his wallet (250), he was definitely a happy camper, and I have been nominated for uncle of the year. We returned back to my buddy's place just in time for us to clean up prior to other people arriving home.
Overall, my takeaway impression of the the club is that it merits the "upscale" tag. The dancers on this visit were less attractive than I expected however, and given that there are multiple other options in the Detroit metro area, I probably won't return immediately to the Penthouse Club.