Local reference : New Orleans
An imported venue (piece-by-piece from Paris, supposedly) placed in downtown New Orleans to host everything from swing-dance-lessons to to live bands, all while operating as a dance club throughout the late night.
When I visited, spring of 2001, the venue was trying to raise revenues by acting as a half dance-club, half-lounge. Cheaply dressed "upscale" bouncers initially turned me away because of my shoes ($140 Nikes) but once inside the clash of scenes almost hurt. The dancefloor is surrounded by tables, which is again surrounded by a lowered level of couches and longer coffeetables. The problem with this, of course, is that the same music must cater to the lounge area as well as the dancefloor, making conversation and general "chilling" near impossible. Hardly anyone was dancing; the place was filled with college boys smoking cigars like Hot-dogs, struggling to make themselves a part of this, to blend in with the velvet upholstry. Girls in platform shoes and bellbottoms did two-steps, oogled by boys and fourty-year old men in turtlenecks, either gyrating on the floor or drooling from the tables, over their spouses shoulders.
The music changes on the hour from House to Top Ten rap, again making the formation of any sort of atmosphere nearly impossible. Beer runs $3.50 for a small bottle, drinks are $4.50 and watered down and the cover charge that night (Friday) was $10.