by JaNeLLe Q. on
Just to get things straight here... Yes, Saturday nights are "Asian night" at EXLA since multiple Asian-interest promoting groups (Opium, GO Productions, Whisper Entertainment, Visionshock, Friction, + Kiramas) have collaborated to promote for this venue on that night for the time being. That being said... yes, over a thousand club-goers descend upon the streets of downtown LA so of course it will be crowded, harder to get in, + more prone to drunken fights in the street afterwards since the club doesn't close until 3am. It happens. But at the same time, this makes for an even crazier club experience in such a beautiful + large venue as Exchange LA, which still has the words Los Angeles Stock Exchange engraved on the front by the grand doorway. I went on one of these such crazy Saturdays ... but let's keep this review to the point. =P Location - the newly renovated historic Los Angeles Stock Exchange building, Downtown LA, Spring St between 6th + 7th Parking - plenty of parking lots around downtown LA, ranging in price depending on how far you're willing to walk + what night you go. assume $20 just in case. Venue - HUGE + BEAUTIFUL decor full of sleek marble http://www.rateclubs.com/bi..., high ceilings + grand staircases reminiscent of its, historic 1920's past. Entering in on ground level, there's a hallway to the only bathrooms, + then up the first grand staircase leads to the huge dance floor surrounded by tables + go-go's on a middle platform http://www.rateclubs.com/bi.... Further upstairs is the DJ booth, more tables + a walkway surrounding, overlooking the dance floor. There's a total of 4 bars, but 2/4 are limited to just beer + a few hards. The lighting effects on the ceiling are pretty awesome http://www.rateclubs.com/bi..., but what's even cooler is that there's places to sit without having to get bottle service! Cleanliness - Considering it just reopened a few months ago, it better be clean! Sure the floor was wet in some spots where people spilled drinks, but otherwise, it was well-kept. Some drunk guy even knocked over a podium into a glass table down by the front entrance, + they had that whole area swept up in no time. Crowd - With 6 Asian-interest promoting groups, of course you can expect at least 1,000 Asian party-goers of the whole mixed bag of fobs, skanky-dress chicks, guys who think it's cool to wear those ugly flannel shirts to a club, middle-aged voyeurs, + everything in-between. I'd say most are pretty good-looking, though. =P The guy/girl ratio is decent, + expect the venue to be packed by midnight. http://www.rateclubs.com/bi...By 2am, the place nearly clears out since most can't handle partying through to when the club closes at 3am. Music - Katy Perry, Usher, Lady Gaga, Far East Movement + everything else in the top hits category you'd hear on the radio. The sound system + set-up with the DJ booth is pretty awesome considering the size of the venue. http://www.rateclubs.com/bi... Bar - As I mentioned there's 4 of them. The 2 biggest ones are on the left + right of the dance floor; then there's a small 1 upstairs + another small 1 outside the dance floor near the top of the stairs. I don't remember the bartenders being particularly attractive or anything. Drinks - To be honest, I haven't yet had to pay for a my own drink here... but I calculate it's about $5 for a beer, $10+ for anything else hard or mixed. Not overly strong + ice overload, but that's just how things are now of days. The vodka they were featuring the night I was there recently was poured out of a skull-shaped bottle... *shrug* Bathroom - On ground level near the outdoor smoking patio is the only bathroom, but it's pretty large. There's an attendant with the paper towels who keeps everything clean + stocked so that's always nice. No complaints. Price - We arrived a good while after 10:30 when guestlist closes, but I got in free with the rest of the girls despite the very long line anyways since we have our hook-ups. =P The guys in our group, however, had to pay $30 for this perk. Last words are to get on guestlist + arrive EARLY before the hoards unless you have hook-ups with a promoter +/or are a hot female. Then again, that's pretty much common knowledge by now. I'll be back... ;)
by Merle Tupick on
i didn't eat here, so i can't speak to the food. however, when we arrived around 2 am on a tues night, we were accomodated w/ drinks. the decor is really pretty, and this place is gigantic. from the reviews, it looks like drinks are the way to go here.
by Norberto Shelvin on
The fire place earns this lounge a 5-star. Whoever designed this place is a genius. and I'm glad the world hasn't discovered his or her ingenuity. We arrived at 9pm, there was only a couple other people upstairs. There's nothing quite like sitting upstairs to enjoy the first two Guinesses of the night. Those small, rounded windows looked awesome, but tipsy passers-by tend to ram into them and sweat off some of their blood alcohol (OK, that was me at one point). It never got really crowded by the time we left (around 10pm) for The Cellar next door. My buddy and I sat downstairs away from the group for some guy talk and babe watch, while sipping on our $5 beers. No cover, no extra charge to enjoy the upper level exclusivity, yet no shortage of eye candies (is it too pompous to say that that applies to the ladies too?) This is as good a place to start a long partying night as it is an excellent choice to bring a first date. Two thumbs up!