by Nikole D. on Everyone talks so highly of this club and I wanted to check it out. I went full out VIP on Friday night with a few friends so, this is from just one experience. I got a room at the W, so I didn't have to drink and drive. I live in Laguna Beach, and that's a long taxi drive home. My suite was huge and cost me $230 for the nite. But definitely an amazing room... Bliss products and huge bar selection. Flavored Vodka and premium wine! Yay! Gotta love the W...but Drais is very separate. First of all someone from Drais came to "check us out" in the Lobby to make sure we dressed properly (said we looked hot so we got the go ahead). Next we were led to the front of the lines. Long, long lines at 12pm, so definitely go early if you're not getting a table or VIP. Got one of those beds with two bottles for about $600 i think... I hear that beautiful people come here, but evidently they were not there that night. Felt like the cast of Jersey Shore was having a party with all their guido friends. I was really trying to find one hot guy or girl and it was not happening no matter how many Vodka Cranberries I drank. Some sleezy old business type guys cornered me on the dance floor. How did they get in? Money, obviously. Uh-oh, here comes another douche bag with a cheesy line. And then another "The Situation" looking guy followed me to the bathroom...help! These guys must know some one at the door. Finally made my way to the bathroom..long lines and not very clean. I must say this: Money talks at Drais. If you mention "bottle of" or "table service" you get treated really well. There were definitely more (douchey) guys to girl ratio the night I went. Left around 1:30 and it was not even packed. Not sure what the long lines were about, but fill the club people! Guess it depends on the night you go? Great DJ though! And like I said, I went VIP style so service was pretty ok but not over the top memorable. Definitely not the service you get in Vegas. I give 3 out of 5 stars. I was not that impressed.
by Tammie Mccartha on Can I sue this place for deceptive trade practices? Our friend found Austin 300 online and thought it would be comparable to the upper end bowling alley, "Lucky Strikes" in Seattle. I should have known the place was going to be ghetto, because well, how can I say this... oh to hell with being PC...It IS in the ghetto. When we arrived we couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles when we spotted the security officer who was dressed like a ninja turtle complete with skull cap, gloves and many empty belts around his waist that did not sport a gun. (Maybe we should have actually been worried, I've never seen a security guard at a bowling alley, come to think of it). Anyway, we entered to be greeted by the smell of stale smoke, though no one was smoking? We were told it would be a 45 minute wait and were directed to the lounge for drinks and food. Mind you, the website makes it look like an upscale lounge/bistro. It felt more like a rec center. So we waited for a waitress. And waited. And waited some more. Then we went to the bar and waited. Finally the one bartender took our order. We had spring rolls, sliders and potato trio which consisted of fries, sweet potato chips and hand cut waffle fries. When the food finally arrived the sliders were grey and tasteless and the sweet potato chips were burned to a crisp. Our waitress pronounced the Aioli (Ah-eye-oh-lie). The spring rolls were so losely rolled they could have been an omelette. After almost an hour we were called to our lane which we were told was located in the farthest right lane. When we arrived we were greeted by about 10 matching blond sorority girls with bags and various items of shoes and sweaters and dirty plates strewn all over the area. There was a handicap ramp where our seats should have been. WTF?????? We noticed a black curtain behind the ramp and peered behind it to find rows of empty booths, so we set up shop there. Within minutes the manager, a man in his late 20's bedecked in a cheap black suit and sporting product laden spiky hair, came flying from behind the curtain with the teenage mutant ninja turtle in tow. Here's what happened: Manager:" This isn't your row, this is a private area, you have to go back to your row now!" Us: "Yeah, about that, there's a RAMP where our seats are". Mgr: "That's why we pulled up extra tables near the lane". Us: "Well the Pi Phis over there seem to think that the entire area belongs to them, we really don't see what the big deal is about sitting here". Mgr: "Well if you want to pay $1,500 an hour you can sit here". Us: "Well can we get some sort of a discount for the inconvenience? So far we are horribly unimpressed". Mgr: "The rate is $6 per person per game after 8pm- enjoy your game, your attendant will be with you shortly." Then he and the turtle bopped off to the back office to likely blow some more coke (He was kind of on the edgy/aggressive side if you get my drift). So since we drove almost to South Dallas to come to this ghetto blaster, we decided to make the most of it. And endured horrible hip-hop, Brittney Spears crap and a lane that had no slide to it as I'm sure the wax isn't good for wheelchairs. The ramp did make a nice runway though. Oh yes, and did I mention we waited for 30 minutes before we had to flag down a waitress to take a drink order?? We decided to leave when a family of TWELVE (I counted) crammed into the lane beside us after the the Pi Phi's left. They ranged from 6 months to 80 years old and just took over the place. Who brings a baby out at 9pm? The type of people who frequent this dive- that's who. This whole adventure cost us close to $100. I'll stick to good old Dartbowl next time.
