Remington's

[Guest YFSC]

Not that I am abandoning Montreal, but I am visiting Toronto and have been scoping out the talent at Remington's. A lot of changes there too, with more in the works. In a few days I will post more information about that. Also about things in Montreal and the post-Adonis developments so far.

[jamier]

The rennovations they've almost completed upstairs at Remingtons look great. Right now, just the downstairs is open, complete with 70s style decor, flashing red lights and mirrors everywhere. Everywhere!

 

Plans are to move everyone upstairs while they rennovate downstairs soon. The plans sound good for downstairs with some booth-style seating areas and podiums for dancers as well as the stage.

 

There was a nice mix of dancers at Remingtons last week. All those I chatted with were friendly. All those I did lap dances with were also friendly, and honest and awesome

 

Also... check out Goodhandy's on Wednesdays in Toronto for more dancers go-go style - more info. on their website - http://www.goodhandys.com/ - and a fun interactive show from Amanda Taylor - Mandy Goodhandy! A good time was had by all

[Guest YFSC]

Remington's in Toronto

 

Not that I am abandoning Montreal, but I am visiting Toronto and have been scoping out the talent at Remington's. A lot of changes there too, with more in the works. In a few days I will post more information about that. Also about things in Montreal and the post-Adonis developments so far.

 

Sorry that circumstances intervened and kept me from posting at the time when I promised (“in a few days”) and expected to be able to. I am only just now able to get back to it.

 

I had been intending to post more about the Adonis demise and rebirth, and about the scene in Montreal as I found it, after the Taboo purges, and then after the Adonis demise, and with the scattering of ex-Taboo and ex-Adonis personnel. I see that in the meantime some others have taken up the slack and have made very informative contributions – particular thanks to DanseurMTL. They cover my observations, which date back to the first half of July, and also have the benefit of being updated beyond that time, so I will not repeat any of that.

 

But very little has been said about Toronto/Remington’s, and so I will post what I was intending to, or at least as much of it as I can remember, even though it is now much later, and there must be fresher news since then (mid-July). And I have not been in Toronto since then, so I don’t know how much has happened or changed in the meantime. This is a report of what was projected for September as of mid-July.

 

Remington’s, like Taboo but for different reasons, was a once-thriving strip bar which has experienced a sharp decline in its reputation and patronage. (Unlike in Montreal, where there are or have been at various times 3 or 4 or 5 male strip bars, in Toronto for the most part there has been only Remington’s. At times there have been very limited attempts at getting another club going, but of a different sort -- more like the new JP's in Montreal -- and not very successful. Remington’s is the only Montreal-style club.) The explanation for the decline of Remington’s is somewhat controversial, and, like with Taboo, it depends on which side you are on. Since I’m not on either side, and don’t know enough about either side to make a judgement, I won’t repeat any of the gossip here.

 

The information and plans below come from a fairly authoritative source. Getting close to a year ago, Remington’s came under new management, a group of three young guys who bought a large but not complete interest in the club. They have since then been trying to revive the club and upgrade its image. The upstairs, which had been closed most of the time for a long time (except for the VIP booths, of course), was remodeled and was finished by mid-July. Plans were to close the downstairs for remodeling next, and to operate from the upstairs during the remodeling of the downstairs. (The upstairs has a bar and a stage and a customer area about the same size as the downstairs, and used to be open on weekend nights and special occasions, when the number of customers would be much larger. In the glory days both the downstairs and the upstairs would be packed.) The work was to be completed in time for a Grand Opening on Labour Day. (Labour Day comes out on the same day as Labor Day, i.e., tomorrow). The club was to reopen under a new name (a secret which I couldn’t pry out of my source), in a rebranding effort to shed whatever negative image had overtaken Remington’s. It was to be more upscale, with more of a club atmosphere (as opposed to a bar atmosphere), and with plans in the works for a variety of special events scheduled throughout the year, such as (an actual example that was cited) a BJ seminar.

 

Whether this has come to pass, now that Labour Day is upon us, I can’t say, since I am not in Toronto and have not been since mid-July. Maybe a Toronto-based (or other Canadian, or other non-Canadian who is or has been in Toronto recently) poster can shed some light on the situation. I can find no reference to it on the web, and the Remington’s website is woefully out of date, advertising the holiday hours for Christmas 2008 and New Year’s 2009. And there is nothing about the spring/summer activity or fall plans on the website. Not an encouraging sign. Most of the rest of the website is also out of date. There are pictures of only 7 dancers, none of whom I saw during several days when I was there. Likewise, there is a page with pictures of staff, and I did not see any of those faces either. On the other hand, there were other dancers there, many very hot (and one in particular who provided some extremely enjoyable and worthwhile experiences, both in and out of the bar ), and also friendly and personable staff, many of those also hot.

 

There has been one ladies’ night, on Sunday, though I get the impression that in the new “more upscale” club it is likely that there will be more, but I don’t think the intention is to transform Remington’s into the same kind of mixed-patronage place as the new JP’s (ex-Adonis) in Montreal. There was a bachelorette party in the newly-remodeled upstairs when I was there, but it was entirely separate, visually and otherwise, from the bar downstairs; patrons in the bar would not have known it was going on; and I remember events like that happening even in the past. And, of course, “more upscale” is often a code word for “more expensive.” There has been a cover charge of $5.00, originally after 9:00 PM, but in the last several years that was moved earlier to after 8:00 PM; there was a rumour that the cover charge would go up to $10.00 in the newly-christened club, and that the drink prices would be increased. The use of the VIP area (upstairs), which years ago was free, had long since had a charge of $2.00, paid by the customer upon entry; in the last couple of years that had gone up to $5.00. While I understand the bar’s need for revenue, especially since the customer traffic was way down from what it had been, I always thought of that as an imposition. However, I was astonished to find out this time that the $5.00 charge is only half of what the bar collects: the customer pays $5.00 on the way in, and the dancer pays $5.00 on the way out, each time he goes up there. I don’t know how long that second part has been going on; I never noticed it before, but it may have been there. I think it’s even more of an imposition to hit the dancers with that charge, especially since many times customers go up for only one dance ($20.00).

 

Well, that’s about what I can contribute at this stage. If anyone has more recent or current information on Remington’s, and whether it is indeed reopening under a new name this week, please post it.