What Happened?

I have to say I am quite shocked

I moved away to a Big city for a couple of years and the one thing I missed about Ottawa was the Strip Clubs. I move back and figured I'd pay a visit to the places I loved here in Ottawa. They have all turned into "The Ghetto " bars and I didn't feel safe at all. Seems the girls are all very pushy. And the music has gone to nothing but Hardcore Gangster Rap.What a turn off. Ottawa was not like this at all. Went to one South on bank Street and had to leave before getting a drink I felt very uncomfortable Any suggestions on a safe place to go that plays normal music and the girls arn't so pushy?

Well all I Can tell you is I was in Ottawa a couple weeks ago and went to Barb's and Playmate and did not notice any significant difference from when I used to go there regularly about 10 years ago...so I enjoyed my visits.

Yes Barbs, Playmate, Pigales, and NuDen all are nothing like you describe.

i recommend pigales. although I haven't been to it in well over 4 years since discovering this site :)

Hey now, let's not tar all the clubs with the same brush based on one short visit to one club. I'm even willing to bet that if you went at a different day/time, you may have had a great time at Tease.

Since others' replies have pretty well covered the clubs that have less pushy dancers and don't play rap, perhaps you could share what about Tease was so "ghetto" that it made you feel unsafe? Dancer pushiness and music preferences are totally valid reasons to dislike a club, but neither particularly contribute to safety. Was it the parking situation? Security presence? Location? If you share a bit more, maybe we can narrow down the recommendations from 4 to 1 so you don't have another bad experience.

i know barbs on saturday afternoon does 80s-90s music

pigales doesnt do rap, but there is some hip hop. more club music.

bfax does allow rap i believe.

all that said, i get the gut feeling you may just not be into popular music which is valid and ur prerogative but...hard to avoid at bars/clubs that feature dancing of any type.

for safety...i've never been to tease but i've never felt unsafe anywhere in ottawa/gat so ya i'm not sure what happened. barbs/bfax are more downtown so less "middle of nowhere" as tease. nuden is a bit isolated but has its own parking...pigale has its own parking as well and generally busy whenever i've been there so it's not like youre alone.

Was at playmate sat night around 11:00 it was exactly like you said scary!

Hey now, let's not tar all the clubs with the same brush based on one short visit to one club. I'm even willing to bet that if you went at a different day/time, you may have had a great time at Tease.

 

Since others' replies have pretty well covered the clubs that have less pushy dancers and don't play rap, perhaps you could share what about Tease was so "ghetto" that it made you feel unsafe? Dancer pushiness and music preferences are totally valid reasons to dislike a club, but neither particularly contribute to safety. Was it the parking situation? Security presence? Location? If you share a bit more, maybe we can narrow down the recommendations from 4 to 1 so you don't have another bad experience.

Great post Bridgette...

Just to emphasis your point... As noted in another thread on this site I was in Ottawa a few weeks ago and while my normal club would be Barb's (which I did visit) I was compelled head out to Playmates to see Raven Rain who I had chatted with on here. I had not been to playmates in number of years and it is sort of out of the way... well I got there had number of dances from several ladies and enjoyed myself... when I was ready to leave I realized I was missing my Wallet... I knew I had it when I got there as I used the bank machine but now it was gone and my first thought was F*** there can't be a worse place to lose a wallet... I retraced my steps in the bar...lol... checked several of the champagne room booths... spoke to the staff and dancers but ultimately left thinking cancel everything cause there was someone out there already trying to use the cards and id's... well guess what skip ahead a few days... I am home in St. John's and guess what arrives in the mail to me... my wallet with all its contents... yes I had already cancelled everything of course but getting it returned kinda reinforces my faith in the general goodness of people and certainly shows that we should not judge a book by its cover... lol.... we can be perverts at the strip club and still be good people.

Just my Opinion

^I love that story! When leaving the CR, I'll always make sure that nothing has been left behind and regularly joke that if something has been, it'll be lost forever -- I somehow managed to lose a crop top in the CR once! It's nice to know that it's mostly a joke though. ;)

^I love that story! When leaving the CR, I'll always make sure that nothing has been left behind and regularly joke that if something has been, it'll be lost forever -- I somehow managed to lose a crop top in the CR once! It's nice to know that it's mostly a joke though. ;)

Ok ok... you caught me... where should I send the crop top ;) lol

Tend to agree with most of the responses to the original post at the start of this thread.

I've not been to the 'Mate in the evenings for quite a while, but never found it "scary" (as described in a later post in the thread) in the past. Afternoons the 'Mate can seem a little quieter than one might wish for but that seems to be the nature of the place - at times it can seem like a cross between an SC and a neighbourhood bar.

Would think that Barb's is probably your best alternative (afternoons or evenings). In my experience the atmosphere at 340 is always congenial, whether on a very busy Friday/Saturday night or on a quieter afternoon visit. (As noted, Saturday afternoon music at Barb's seems to be on an 80s theme, but my sense is that the full range of 80s tunes are represented from pop fromage to LA hair farmers to new wave etc. etc.)

Haven't been to the 'Fax or others enough to really comment, but I doubt the 'Fax or 'Den would be uncomfortable - others may be more able to comment on the atmospherics at those clubs from recent experience.

I'd suggest giving Barb's a try.

With respect to music, I think that all establishments play pop or hip-hop that's mostly safe for radio. The one exception is the Nuden where you're likely to hear more rock/classic rock.

In my experience, the most of the clubs atmosphere changes between the 10pm and 2 am period. More young and greedy dancers are working, on the other hand it is also the time when the club charges them the most to be there. I was recently told the playmate is pretty dead on Tuesdays, so you should be able to have your pick of ladies, and I haven't found the afternoon girls to be overly pushy.

From my experience. Playmate is a safe place even though it is in Vanier, I started going there only this year, before that I went only once a few years ago. And most strip bars they are more relaxed and less pushy if you do not go on high times. Avoid night time on Friday night and Saturday between 9pm to 2-3am if you want to have fun.

Once I forgot my nice zipper hoody at Playmate and went back a couple of days and asked and the manager kept it for me. The bar tenders and dancers are never pushy there, just go earlier in the evening and you will have more fun. The same thing with the Barefax, avoid night time on Weekends and even Thursday night and you will have a lot of fun

I echo a lot of the previous sentiments. If you go to PM during the daytime or early in the evening on weekends (anywhere between 4 to 8pm-ish) than you should feel perfectly safe despite the neighborhood. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel in that neighborhood at night though. And as for the club itself, the staff is all top notch from what I've seen and the dancers all seem to get along well with no internal drama. If you go during the times that I've suggested than you'll find the club to have a very "chill" homestyle atmosphere.

I can't speak for the night time atmosphere as I never frequent any club during those times.

actually Hanna Ave. where the playmate is actually fairly safe. It s when you get down to Bradley Ave to Lafontaine is where the hookers are. And drugs are.

And if you read the current thread of the Playmate, people are getting, their wallets and clothing back. I forgot my glasses and got them back. would say that the servers their are very protective of the customers they know well. Anita and especially Louise are very protective of me. Even though I do not go as often.

Excellent essay, Luxe! It's always refreshing to read something from a dancer's perspective. While I am not a fan of rap, EDM, "bubble-gum pop" and the like, I certainly understand your points about ladies dancing to what they like.

One thing that attracts me to a dancer is the music she dances to. If it is music that I like, I will, more often than not, ask her for a dance. That goes doubly so if she actually, you know, DANCES and puts on a good stage show. IMHO there are far too many ladies that languidly pose and move around the stage, leaning against the pole (MAYBE doing a spin around it), without following the rhythm of the music. This, however, may be a result of the dearth of stage-tipping these days.

Just my thoughts...

I have to say I am quite shocked

I moved away to a Big city for a couple of years and the one thing I missed about Ottawa was the Strip Clubs. I move back and figured I'd pay a visit to the places I loved here in Ottawa. They have all turned into "The Ghetto " bars and I didn't feel safe at all. Seems the girls are all very pushy. And the music has gone to nothing but Hardcore Gangster Rap.What a turn off. Ottawa was not like this at all. Went to one South on bank Street and had to leave before getting a drink I felt very uncomfortable Any suggestions on a safe place to go that plays normal music and the girls arn't so pushy?

I don't think it is unsafe at the ones I have gone to: Pigale's, Bare fax and Barb's. Having lived in the US before, I have a pretty good radar for when things are safe and when you have to watch out. Ottawa is a pretty safe city.

I am in my 50s and I really enjoy rap. Prefer hiphop. Nothing is scary about it in my mind but I may have been brainwashed from "banging to the beat" with lovely ladies - outside the club...

The dancers select their own music and, as a patron of the 'Mate, it is a great deal compared to the "compressed" songs in the CR of many other clubs.

To be honest, I think I would avoid a SC that didn't allow hiphop and rap.

BTW, there are some restrictions on songs allowed - too bad, I love Tupac!

I street proofed years ago and put my wallet in my front pocket! Never been "pocketed" because of it!