About 6 months ago, Xtasia was taken over by the current owners, Paul & Flirt.
At the time, I posted a thread which drew lots of responses asking what people would want from the new owners and what they'd want to change about the club.
I wrote it as a current member of the club and as someone who liked Xtasia but was finding it harder to justify going because of falling numbers.
I thought it might be interesting to invite people to look again at the club to see if people are aware of whats happening there and indeed has any opinions changed.
At the time the biggest call out was to clean the club up and to have showers that worked, this was done within a couple of weeks. Then there was lots of talk about structural changes to the club, and the first part of that was delivered in a conversion of the old couples room into a smaller couples only room, a maze, a camera room, a shadow room and the red room of pain which had some BDSM gear aimed I suspect at the playful end of that scene rather than the hardcore end. The upstairs area was planned to be a chill out area with it's own bar, though when I last visited that part wasn't open properly, it would be interesting to know if thats changed.
They introduced several new groups to the club like "Exchangists" for example and retained some old favorites like the BMFC nights. They also introduced a totally new website. There was all sorts of things that people wanted, probably the most extreme being a Foam Party which amazingly they actually held and have a repeat planned before Xmas. And they have opened up New Years Eve to all the club members rather than restricting it to couples only which I personally see as a positive thing to do.
Paul & Flirt posted their attendance numbers for Halloween weekend and some other info as follows:
"Numbers are now really picking up on Fridays and Saturdays from the past. This weekend we had 134 in on friday, and 176 in on Saturday as a guide for you all. It is event dependant, so look at our web site for specific info. The Tuesdays is all still new, and if looking for numbers, we'd suggest other venues, if looking to chill, chat to us about scene and plans, then you know where to find us. We've also taken the Bi bit out of the requirement for Tuesday,,,we're just open, clothed and casual."
My current thoughts on the club is that the new rooms do seem to be good, but the club seemed to be missing what I'd describe as some open playrooms enabling couples to mix in an open sexual playzone with singles (as opposed to the social side in the bar and the chill out zone). It's like it needs some rooms that are similar to the new couples room that are open to all. I have to admit that I did like the old glory hole "Feel Free" box and while the glory holes in the maze are good, I do actually think that box was a good feature of the club and I regret that that no longer seems to be there, and the darkroom seemed to be lost when I last visited even though it was there still, it just doesn't seem to fit in to where the chill zone would be. Because the club didn't have these facilities, it did feel a little bit like the club was looking to cater primarily for couples though that might be because the club plans to introduce other areas and it's slightly unbalanced at the moment. I'd also like the club to think about making the occasional Saturday night a night where couples could invite a single male, thus making that entrance group a 3some, and it would be interesting to see what other people think of that.
Overall I like this club a lot and do think that Paul & Flirt have done a good job. It's certainly made me feel comfortable enough to invite a new to clubs couple to the New Years Eve party night and I'm looking forward to the FAB social and Foam Party before Xmas.
So maybe you'd like to post your views on how The New Xtasia is progressing ..... |
Those who signed up for our new newsletter would have known we ran a Saturday once a month for invited singles. It flopped. Regular Saturday couples stayed away, and not one couple turned up with a single in tow. It won't be repeated, and with 80% reading our newletters, it wasn't for the lack of advertising, it just wasn't wanted by our members.
The obvious exception to this was NYE when we felt it was only right to offer it to single members as well, on the basis of them being fully paid members, and it wasn't a Saturday night. Interestingly, of our bookings to date, only 1 single male booking has been made, by the OP, I guess showing us how many singles can actually get out on NYE to play. An interesting statistic. 
Thanks for all the rest of the comments, will let it run and pop back to answer if needed.
Paul & Flirt
Perky