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Which Bowls And Hoses Are Hookah Lounges Using?


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theres a big clay bowl in my profile that two lounges are using, they dont fully pack it. They want it to look like theres alot of tobacco in the bowl to make you think you're getting a good deal.
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most lounges i go to use standard egyptian clay bowls with mya hoses. i go to a place that uses kms, temsaahs, MZs and other standard egyptians but sticks an old, filthy mya hose on there. i don't get it.

i really wish someone would use aliens, good hookahs and larger sized hoses. i would be willing to pay more for it, too (and i think most other people would).
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[quote name='mushrat' timestamp='1288123336' post='486430']
I used standard Mya's. Lasted a few months each of heavy use. Don't forget to have designated hoses for flavours that ghost.
[/quote]

only ONE lounge that i know of has designated hoses...thankfully now he's using mya wides, which are decent.

the other places have standard mya hoses that are ages old. i'm talking they're patched up and held together with duct tape.
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[quote name='dizzbizz' timestamp='1288134464' post='486465']
I actually went to a lounge that used KM hookahs and also used the KM hoses. It was great.
[/quote]

holy rabdargab. that sounds awesome. i would pay decent money for that...i know all of my friends that smoke would, too
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At the lounges I've been to:

One in Memphis uses Sahara Smoke hookahs with crappy Chinese hoses. -Oasis Hookah Lounge

One here in Murfreesboro uses generic Egyptians with REALLY crappy Chinese hoses. -Samiii's Hookah Lounge

The other one here in Murfreesboro uses KMs and Mya hoses. -House of Hummus/Roma Pizza
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[quote name='antouwan' timestamp='1288151325' post='486495']
[quote name='dizzbizz' timestamp='1288134464' post='486465']
I actually went to a lounge that used KM hookahs and also used the KM hoses. It was great.
[/quote]

holy rabdargab. that sounds awesome. i would pay decent money for that...i know all of my friends that smoke would, too
[/quote]

And I did pay decent money. Haha. It was pretty pricey, but well worth it, we also got a mixed fruit shisha in a pineapple bowl. It was the best lounge experience I've had to date. Hubbly Bubbly was the lounge if you're ever in Phoenix, AZ.
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As I've mentioned before in other threads, at my lounge we have three tiers of hookahs that break down like this"

"Standard" - Mya QT, small Egyptian bowl (~20g), Mya hose (soon to be replaced with small Nammor's or NuHoses since Mya hoses are TERRIBLE)

"Premium" - KM Amer, standard Egyptian bowl (~35-40g), Razan Washable hose

"Elite" - KM Pearl, small Tangiers phunnel (~35-40g), Razan/Nammor/Grand Caravan hose


My idea of pricing according to a "tier" system allows my customers to be able to enjoy any flavor/brand on my menu (excluding Tangies Noir and Romman) at whatever price point they're comfortable with. I've tried to outfit my hookahs so that each tier represents a significant improvement over the previous one.

I'm not trying to brag, but out of all the hookah bars/lounges I've been to and/or heard about, I like the way we do it the best. People respond really well to it. Our prices are $12/$16/$20, and in spite of what you might assume, our top seller is our Premium followed by our Elite size then the Standard.

We also have two four-hose "Party Hookahs" that we used to serve with a large Tangiers phunnel until we realized it was a waste of tobacco and switched to a small. The cost of a party hookah is $25.
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By the way, the way I pack my bowls at the lounge is the way I pack my bowls at home. Sure I use more tobacco, but we all know when you go to a lounge you generally pay $12-20 for at most a couple bucks of shisha. I think it's only fair that when I pack a bowl for a customer, I PACK their bowl, dig? :)

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Thanks for the replies, guys.

I ask because my good friend wants to start a hookah lounge and wants me to be part of it. So for the sake of R&D I went and got a hookah and pimped it out and have been trying to learn everything I can about the art of preparing hookah and the culture surrounding hookah here in the US.

Anyway, my idea was to use small phunnel type bowls(IMO, from what I've tried. the experience is simply better with phunnel type bowls) and Nammor hoses, which I'm in love with. I'm wondering if Nammor hoses would be a good idea for a lounge because they are washable and seem durable. I'm envisioning people would looking at and smoking on the Nammor hoses and thinking "Nicer hookahs here than at _____" and hopefully they wouldn't need replacing as often. Edited by Yasseah
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Now you must consider the prices of these nice things. The hoses WILL wear out, washable or not. The dandles will pull out, people will burn holes in them, etc. Replacing good stuff will cost more. Same with the Hookahs. I used QT's in my lounge and even skeptics were impressed. They were smaller so you could have a bunch set up for the same group and they could still see each other, they had a low center of gravity, and they were inexpensive to buy and replace. Also, since they were relitivly cheap, a lot of people smoked one and asked how much a hookah cost to buy. I'd point to the one they were smoking and say that one is $45 bucks. Sold a lot that way. Make sure you sell what your use.
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I'm a huge fan of the QT and tried using them exclusively for a while in my lounge. Let me just say the response I got was far from positive (YMMV).

It's all about percieved value. If you charge $5 a hookah, you could probably get away with serving QT's. As you raise the price, and you will need to if you have any sort of overhead, people will expect more for their money. Honestly, most people would be way more impressed with a 40" crappy chinese hookah than a 13" Mya or even a 28" KM. All they're going off of is how it looks based on what they've seen in the media. So when you hand them a QT they're like WTF? At least that was my experience.

I like having washable hoses at my lounge. Sure they fall apart and get burned but still you'll get, on average, 3-4 months out of each washable hose (Razans at least. The other brands don't hold up as well). Mya hoses will last you maybe a month if you take care not to wash them. That said, you're looking at buying at least 3-4 Mya hoses in the lifespan of one Razan which will cost you more in the long run. In addition, people are much more likely to buy the product if they can try the product. If you serve washable hoses and also sell them in your shop, you'll sell a lot more than if they were just hanging on your wall somewhere.

Just my $0.02.

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The lounge I used to go to in Seattle used KM hoses (75% of the pipes they has were KMs too) and just the standard egyptian bowls. I have no idea how long the hoses lasted them, but they looked pretty hammered. I doubt they change them out very often.
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