 | This is the first time we've visited Chameleons. We'd heard a lot about the place and seen that it was rated No1 in the country by the Sex in the Cities guide book. With the great things we'd heard about the place it could have easily set us up for disappointment. The website doesn't give much information with only a small selection of pictures.
Our other favourite club is La Chambre at Sheffield. In our view a high standard to beat. We will probably now have difficulty choosing which is best.
The reality of the place totally blew us away right from the start. We had heard that the venue is large and has comprehensive selection of facilities. It is easily the largest club we have ever been to and the variety of rooms and facilities beats nearly every other club.
We turned up late Saturday afternoon. It appeared to be fairly quiet, but largely this is due to its size. There was in reality already around 30 people there. At the peak of the evening there was probably in excess of 200 people in the venue, and still it was just pleasantly busy.
A great time was had on the Saturday, thanks partly, as always the case in clubs, made so by the great people we met and played with. A special thanks to all.
We enjoyed it so much we decided to return on the Sunday for the beach party. We had heard it was likely to be busy. We got there for the opening at 2pm and there was already a queue to get in.
Being a mixed session there was the inevitable uncomfortableness created by some single guys. From that point of view one major criticism of the club is the lack of couples only areas. We would like to see a "single by invite room" and the ideal room would be at the top of the "Dungeon Staircase"; on the Sunday until we left this room had been underused. Admittedly, we left early on the Sunday, about 7pm, as we had to get home, so we have no idea how busy this room may have been later.
An arrangement would be good where singles can watch from a distance, but from behind a barrier, perhaps. Single guys can then be invited to join a couple rather than the irritation of a slow creep forward until they are off-putting. It works in other clubs, so with a club of this size it could work well too. The trouble is, the most pushy guys are not generally the ones we are interested in.
We did find a great single coloured guy who we liked, and luckily we found a lockable room. Thanks to him for his chilled and friendly nature.
Summary of what we liked:
Large and complex layout; we like exploring and even after spending around a total of 16 hours at the club we were only just getting the place sussed.
Separate singles and couples changing rooms and a ladies only powder room. More clubs should do this. Not everyone is hardcore full on swingers, and even us, who are well on the way, but still learning, like to be able to find privacy.
Overall level of cleanliness and decor is the best we've seen in any club. The Jacuzzi area is especially good.
Large secluded outdoor area. This is another unique feature in our experience.
Friendly and helpful staff. There very much seems to be a correlation between the very best clubs and the quality of the staff. Without exception every member of staff we met was brilliant.
Things we think could be improved:
Couples only with singles by invite areas.
The dungeon is quite small and would benefit from being larger.
We think there are insufficient lockable play rooms. They seemed to be in use most of the time. It is a great dampener if you hit it off with someone but can't find a place to get away, if that's what you want to do.
Date: 27 August 2012
|
