The Velvet Rope re-opens as Dubai
Troubled club the Velvet Rope re-opened a couple of weeks ago under a new name, Dubai, which must rank as the second worst bar/club name in Baltimore behind Garbo.
Management is eager to disassociate themselves from the Velvet Rope brand that had become so well known in headlines. When I tried to get a greenlight for our photographer to stop by, the club's attorney, Paul Gardner II, agreed to, but only if the name "Velvet Rope" didn't appear in the story.
We declined the offer.*
I still snuck in Saturday for the review in tomorrow's Live section. Here's the top:
Last Saturday, I went to Dubai. No, not the glitzy metropolis in the United Arab Emirates. But the club on 200 E. Redwood Street, which opened in late January under a new name after two years as the troubled Velvet Rope.
With the change, the owners hope to distance themselves from tarnished old name and associate themselves with the luxury that the word Dubai brings to mind.
But those might be too lofty aspirations.If rebranding was all that a bad reputation needed, Hosni Mubarak might still be in power. And while in popular culture, Dubai might be linked to unlimited decadence, it's now a city burdened with a not-so-sexy $80 billion debt and a collapsed real estate market.
Dubai's owners might as well have called theirs Club Countrywide or Lehman Brothers VIP Lounge.
The club benefits from its still handsome historic location, and what seems to be improved security, but its insistence on passing itself off as an upscale club in a city that seems to be allergic to them raises doubts about its longevity.
The rest of the review is here.
Photo*: Colby Ware photographed the club from outside.
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
shoulda hit me up eric; i've got all-access
Posted by: shawn | February 17, 2011 3:31 PM
Over/under on the first shooting or stabbing? Four weeks?
Posted by: FHT | February 18, 2011 8:08 AM
@FHT - tough call if the weather continue to stay warm I'll take the under
Posted by: Foo | February 18, 2011 9:13 AM
The Baltimore nightclub game of musical chairs continues. I swear that place has been at least 4-6 names. Wasn't there already a club named Dubai in the area at one point?
I find it fascinating that people are intent on taking over that spot and the other one on Charles time and time again despite their consistent history of failure. What missteps did they make? Product of market forces?
Posted by: Sucio410 | February 18, 2011 9:51 AM
@Socio what other one on Charles? Do you mean Calvert?
Posted by: Tif | February 18, 2011 10:01 AM
Sorry, maybe Calvert. It was Club X or something last I remember. That one probably has Redwood Trust beat on the name changes.
Posted by: Sucio410 | February 18, 2011 10:05 AM
Too big for the lack of parking and accessibility in the city. You can do a club but it has to be 4-6k square foot or the ability to shut down some of the area to make it look a tad bit smaller. Nobody wants go walk through a metal detector to go drinking. A few clubs that get if are
the Get Down Lounge
Red Maple
Mosaic,
they market very well and there demographics aren't causing too many extreme problems, to my knowledge.
Tit, thoughts?
Posted by: anon;) | February 18, 2011 10:10 AM
@anon I agree with the space- if your’e not going to be a concert hall that space is way too big just like that beautiful Gardel's building. When you have that much space and overhead you tend to attract the wrong crowd, and by wrong I don't mean a certain demographic, I mean mixing too many demographics is the wrong crowd. I partially agree about the other clubs, they attract a certain clientele, but the Get Down may be getting a lil down continually.
@Sucio, I can remember Illusions, X, Ten, Xanadu, and I forget a few others. If I recall correctly it was called Redwood [Something] before the redwood Trust opened across the street. I think even Hasim Rahman owned it in one iteration.
Posted by: Tif | February 18, 2011 11:47 AM
@tif @sucio: Xanadu and Club Ten Ultra Lounge were all at 10 Calvert, right nearby. It's in fact where the first Dubai, sister to Palma, was located also.
Posted by: Maza | February 18, 2011 12:26 PM
@Maza & Tif: You jogged my memory. Add Estadios (under Rahman's ownership) and Redwood Grille. I think there's been a couple others.
I'm out of the loop, what is it called now? Is it still open?
Posted by: Sucio410 | February 18, 2011 1:01 PM
Gardels- what a beautiful building, but huge and hard to get to, oddly enough.
Posted by: anon;) | February 18, 2011 1:21 PM
@Sucio I think it's called LUX now- the last invite I got was 7/10
Also a search for the address brought up a Bed Room Lounge @ 7 S. Calvert for a party a few weeks ago- What is that???
Posted by: Tif | February 18, 2011 1:48 PM
Gardels- what a beautiful building, but huge and hard to get to, oddly enough.
Posted by: anon;) | February 18, 2011 5:34 PM
Where r u anon? Dunno where I am going
Posted by: Tif | February 18, 2011 6:13 PM
Where r u anon? Dunno where I am going
Posted by: Tif | February 18, 2011 6:13 PM
nice Segway Tif, thanks for stopping by.
Posted by: anon;) | February 18, 2011 11:24 PM
no problem, I'll be down that way more as the weather subsides. You guys in the bars yesterday missed a beautiful moon last night
Posted by: Tif | February 19, 2011 11:15 AM