| I've been to this club a few times. I've refrained from reviewing, or weighing in on the negative reviews. There have been issues but the potential is great, and I wanted to give a new club the benefit of the doubt.
Last night however was the end of me giving it the benefit of the doubt. Nothing has changed and have in fact gotten worse.
On arrival at the club (we got there at opening time), we went in and up to the bar. We were asked if we had tickets, and said no - we're not able to purchase on the website without being a member. We paid for our tickets and bought drinks. We weren't asked for ID, shown a privacy policy, or asked if we'd been before. Staff may have recognised me from previous visits, but not the point - club rules and etiquette should be explained at every visit - then there's no issue with people saying they didn't know.
The club was was freezing cold last night, hardly conducive to taking your clothes off. I sat next to a radiator...that was switched off.
A quick look around the venue to see who was there (bearing in mind we arrived about 15 mins after opening time). It was like student night in wetherspoons. There was a large group of young people upstairs. It looked liked alternative night at the student union. There were also couple of older guys in tracksuits and trainers.
This group were loud. You could hear them all over the venue shrieking. Their normal conversation was shouting.
Lots of messing about in the bar which bar staff and security were joining in. IT didn't appear professional in any way.
About an hour into the evening there were about 4 or 5 scene couples and a couple of single guys. It was still freezing, and still loud.
We went into the dungeon to play. There was no dungeon etiquette at all. People were wandering in and talking loudly. Not even about what was going on - just general social chit To the point mid scene I asked a group of guys to leave because they were having a social chat right beside us (I could literally recount their conversation).
We got in the pool to warm up because it was so cold. There was another couple there, and we were chatting quietly. A couple of lads, an older guy and shrieking girl got in, and were just shouting at each other. Not even reasonable conversation, just talking about bantering with each other, and needing more alcohol. Its not so much the content of the conversation that was the issue, but the ear splitting volume.
To add insult to injury, the girl announces that her and her friends got in free to the club. The rest of us (mugs) had paid.
Because it was so cold, I hired a robe for when i got out of the pool. Put it on and it was tiny, it may as well have been for a child. Might as well not bothered.
We decided to leave. Neither of us could relax enough to play, or even hear each other talking. We took another tour of the club, in case there was anyone we knew. Upstairs on the corridor 2 or 3 lads were shouting through a closed door at the people inside, and another group were shrieking at the glory holes.
At this point, WT is less of a swingers club, and more of a drinking venue for a young 'trendy' crowd.
They're website and social media posts are trying to portray them as an established venue, but its still in its infancy, and given that the same issues keep arising, and a lack of door policy, its never going to be a 'premier swinging venue'. Its high price points for a new venue are turning away established players, so they seem to be opening their doors to anyone who walks past in order to make the bar sales.
As an aside, this club charges a membership fee of £20 per month for a single person. You can't see the social side of the website, or book event tickets online without being a member. Conversations with the owners over the last few months is their website is still under construction.
The membership fee of £240 a year does not give you many benefits that a regular person is going to need/want/use, and is certainly not worth the small discount off event night tickets.
Drinks are highly priced. That doesn't bother me so much. Appreciate they need to turn a profit, but gouging patrons on a membership, ticket price and then drinks is not a way to guarantee repeat business.
All in all, I've given this club a fair shake since August, attending on a variety of nights and I will be very unlikely to go again. Which is a shame, because the potential is there. However, I don't expect anything to change. I, and many others have fed back in person to the owners about concerns and issues.
Date: 6 November 2021
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