Sonthert Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 Who goes to lounges and how often? What stops you from going more often? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmexx Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 I go quite often. What stops me is the ability to smoke at home. Recently I've had to take a break from the home smoking and smoke either at a friends house or the lounge.Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjt486 Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 I rarely go out, because of price, dissapointment with the service at my hookah bars, and much more confortable at home (put on some nice music or a movie, sit in my own comfortable chair or lie in bed, etc.)The lounge I went to had some horrible seating for me, stools/benches that were about 18 inches up and I am 6'4" so its quite uncomfortable there.Not to mention I like to have complete control over my surroundings. People were acting way too hyper at the lounge, and when Im trying to smoke hookah I just want to relax and mellow out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 I go once a week to my local cafe. Usually I meet friends there before going to the local SCA meeting. What keeps me from going more often is simply I don't smoke much more than 2 times a week... 3 sometimes if i have friends over... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yashman19 Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 I think a major factor would be the cost. Why should I pay 10 bucks per head which can only be used for 2 people per hookah when I can smoke for nearly free at home, where I have my own type of music/tvs/movies at my convenience. Yes hookah lounges provide an experience and atmosphere which people really prefer, but for me personally, I like the convenience of being in my own home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 [quote name='tjt486']The lounge I went to had some horrible seating for me, stools/benches that were about 18 inches up and I am 6'4" so its quite uncomfortable there.[/quote]Yeah... I'm 6'5" and weigh in around 400 pounds...I know discomfort. The secret is, we don't want you too be too comfortable...we have to keep turning seats over. (They do, anyways). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzing Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 discomfort with surroundings and seating is the reason i don't go to my cafe, as well as the price (although i'd be inclined to pay more if the atmosphere was better.) the thing about turning over seats is an excellent point , however.the best hookah lounge i've ever been to was a giant room (they even had room for live bands in one corner) with old, fairly uncomfortable but very atmospheric furniture and beaded curtains, decorations, and coffee tables for the hookahs (bad etiquette maybe, but effective because the tables were very large and stable - and old). the atmosphere was incredible, especially with a band playing (generally countless varieties of laid-back improvisational music). the prices were also pretty reasonable, probably because they PACKED that place NIGHTLY. turnover wasn't a problem becauseA: uncomfortable furniture helped the turnover rate even though the furniture looked nice and didn't hurt the atmosphere one bit.B: more importantly, the place was HUGE.it was called Tall Shiva located in State College, PA (home of penn state university). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartvarg1 Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 i just prefer to smoke at home...easy, cheaper, more control... but wehn i go out to eat, its always great to enjoy a bowl or two with your food. good food is what brings me to the bars. without that, id probably never go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 The turn over issue is the same reason you're hookah in a lounge probably doesn't last nearly as long as it does at home... I've only been to the cafe here in Raleigh, so I have nothing to compare it to..so I'll ask: how long does your bowl last when you go to a bar/lounge? Do they replace the coals? I think we've toouched on this before...while back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 They employ, similar to what crummy bars do with shotglasses, the cheater heads...exceptionally small. Ironically, the reason the heads are smaller isn't to save money on tobacco, the value of moving people faster is something like three times greater than the amount of money you save on the tobacco. That's why they don't last as long...to move you along faster. Then people stopped getting the hint and kept smoking the stuff until they got tired of burnt charcoal flavor and went home. So then lounges started metering how much charcoal was the right amount so they could stop "burning" the hoses and the pipes. Moooo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Well, business is business.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavlakos_politakos Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 i dont know where you guys go but the lounges here in NYC are great.great food,great shi sha(not small heads and only 5$),good atmosphere(comfyas well).when i go i stay for 3 -5 hours(still smoking the same shi sha)with a small group of friends.we have a great time and i have to say that i prefer the lounge over home.maybe its the experience at the lounge or maybe theres just too many damn kids running about in my house and my moms always yelling.lol ------------------------------------------------------------ -- ELLAS!!! HOORAH FOR NARGHILEH!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logan91 Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 the places i like to smoke start at 14.99 for one bowl, and i have to get a drink, so its a lot, rather than always splitting the bill, either me or my smoking buddy pay, which means i could lose like 25 bucks in one night, i realized i could just buy one of my own and smoke it 10 times more for the money, which shows you guys the kinds of profit these places are making, the reason i go to the lounge is because its all ready made, thers good food (beef kooobeedeh!!!!), theres a lot of people, we hang out for like 4 hours, and most importantly, beautiful girls. what stops me is the money and times when my smoking buddy doesnt want to go, none of my other friends smoke so i have to buy one of my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 I was banned to enter my local hookah lounge (local = the only lounge in the country) because after giving me a really bad and burnt pipe (burnt nakhla mixed apple instead of the usual semi burnt double apple) I gave him a piece of my mind. He didn't take the criticism to well.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjt486 Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 I cant complain about the duration at mine, the tobacco lasted as long as I would care for, and they put some new coals on when we asked for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HookahDuck Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Dizzing- Haha thats funny you mentioned that place. I was visiting my Ex G/f who goes to penn state, and I stopped and smoked a few bowls. Nice place, but the owner is a dick = Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeans Posted December 30, 2005 Share Posted December 30, 2005 I go to lounges probably about three times a month, and with friends. We don't smoke hookah at the dorms for two reasons: 1) the smoke alarms go off really easily, and 2) we don't have one. If we had one, we would probably be more inclined to go smoke out on the grass. I like going to a hookah lounge for the atmosphere, but sometimes the atmosphere is the only thing a hookah place has going for it ($17-21 per head? And it burns out about 15 minutes in? no thanks!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted December 30, 2005 Share Posted December 30, 2005 17-21 per head?? holy cow...! Go buy a junior modern for 30 bucks and split the cost... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HookahDuck Posted December 30, 2005 Share Posted December 30, 2005 17 bucks per bowl!??? Thats insane! I guess supply and demand with the college crowd... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted December 30, 2005 Author Share Posted December 30, 2005 I've heard tale told of a lounge in Orange County where the white whales pay $40 for a hookah! Arrgh! At Sinbad, in San Diego, you can get the double-hookah watermelon special, where they stretch a watermelon across 2 hookahs, use the watermelon as a head for watermelon flavored maasel and charge you $50.Its not uncommon to see lounges charging $15-$20 in San Diego, at all. ITS stupid! The prices WILL moderate with increased competition.Hookahs don't set off smoke alarms, generally. Its not smoke, its vaporized glycerine. Optic-sensor smoke alarms will, on the other had, be set off by hookah smoking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeans Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Well, we've had troubles with hookahs in other parts of the building setting off fire alarms, and everyone hates getting out of bed at 3:30 because that person was too lazy to either a) put a towel over the alarm or go outside. Yeah, the prices ARE crazy, but the atmosphere is so nice at this lounge, which is why many people go back. They don't realize that the ma'assel is utter crap, they just like all the pillows and such. I think they get a lot of repeat customers because people don't educate themselves about what they are smoking, they just think "oh cool, they have blueberry." That's one of the reasons why I sought out this board, so I could at least learn a little bit ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavlakos_politakos Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 good move dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmexx Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 When I was in NYC a lounge there wanted to charge 40$US! 15$US for a refill.It was so incredible that I laughed and left. I guess it's because it's in NYC but still, it's a little much.Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted January 2, 2006 Author Share Posted January 2, 2006 I think Jeans is a dude-ette. Thats why we're all so nice to her-m...?When I was a kid, my father used to make his own wine. It was awful...lots of people did it (it was the 70s, we used to dance naked in the rain!) though. I collect fine liquors (mainly single-malt scotches and bourbons), I used to bartend, and I am am knowledgeable about alcoholic beverages... the crap they serve in 95+% of bars is so god-awful...and people pay absurd amounts of money for it! The quality of the well-bottles is so poor, you can't even buy it retail...seriously, its worse than the grocery stores "generic-label" brands. Same thing is true for hookah lounges, to some degree, I am awed at the expereience of so many people on this site but, we are the fine-wine "snobs" of hookahs (don't take that negatively, please!). The huge majority of people don't care, they want to do something edgy with the beautiful people and be in public. They want it now, they don't care much and they don't care how good it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HookahDuck Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Very true Tangiers. I always feel that way when im at a party with multiple hookahs. I'll take a drag on someone elses hose, and it will be harsh and taste like sh*t. When this happens, I immidiatly ask who's hookah that is, and try to instruct them while I load my next bowl. Most of the responces I get(which are generally semi-intoxicated in these situations), are "Whatever man! Who gives a sh*t! Just load it up and smoke it!" meanwhile they have about 50g's of Sultan vomit flavor stuffed into a tiny little bowl, and the tin foil cupped over it in a mound to cover the fruit.I often feel like the "hookah snob" simply because I wont settle for anything other than a perfect session. If the bowl isnt packed right, I'll re do it. If the water level isnt perfect, I'll change it, ect. ect.Most of my friends appreciate it though, and without fail all of them have told me that hookah at my house tastes better than anywhere they have ever smoked(including lounges) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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