I have spent many a weekend at Joy Eslava [in Madrid]. It was a great club in the early to mid 80's. I lived in Alcala, Spain for 3 years. My husband was in the Air Force. Another great club was Titanics [now its name is Kapital]. I don't know if it is still there. It was 3 stories high and you could go up on the roof and enjoy the view and have drinks. Good luck on your trip. I envy you!

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 05-16-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 05-16-2000).]

Hi Tam131 and welcome to the group!

While I've never visited the famed Madrid nightclub Joy Eslava, I have been to Berlin Cabaret. This place seems to have been there forever! They played great music and would have periodic, every 2 hours, intermissions for a cabaret show. It was VERY cool as I'd never seen anything like anything like this before.

Madrid and Barcelona certainly have some of the worlds BEST nightclubs, that's for sure. I'm not much for discos, really, I prefer the pubs/bars/terrazas (terraces), but if you like to dance there are ALWAYS plenty of choices in Spain.

Saludos, MadridMan

I clubbed alot in my younger years. I was all of 19 when I got to Spain, so was full of energy and did the disco's quite a bit. Often until dawn. Can't say I have the energy or the interest to do that now. Just a note: They play the music in these clubs very very loud, and after 3 years of clubbing on the weekends, I have permanent hearing loss. Bummer.

Hi,

We - Spaniards - prefer to go to bars as MadridMan said. You don't have to pay to enter and they also have music.

Furthermore, we enjoy going from one place to another. We don't stay at the same place all night.

Some well-known areas are:

Moncloa, Argüelles, Bilbao, Alonso Martinez, Malasaña, Huertas.

Regards,

Antonio

By the way, to those of you who are coming to my hostal, I have vouchers with 20% off for Joy - though it is still very expensive - and 25% off for Kapital.

------------------
The best tips from your favourite hostal in Madrid.
Hostal Chelo at http://www.chelo.com

A good point was made by Antonio who noted that folks prefer bars because they are cheaper. Nightclubs were expensive too. Of course, I didn't find any of this out until I went to Madrid with my husband. As a single woman in Madrid, I was fortunate enough to have most of my drinks paid for by the gentleman in my circle of friends. Boy was I shocked when I found out the price of drinks in those night clubs! I will have to phone those boys and thank them!

My personal favorite area at night was Alonso Martinez. The most popular bars are always changing but there is always a fun bar or club somewhere nearby. Does anyone know of Capote or Honky Tonk? Those were two of my fave clubs and I wondered if they were still around (I havent been to Madrid since my honeymoon, exactly 5 years ago!)
Of course in the summertime, there is nothing like the Castellana!
Is Oh, Madrid still around? That was my favorite disco from back when I went to school in Madrid. Oh and last time I went we had many a good time at a disco/club called Sirocco! No, that was the second to last time...Anyhoo
Well, it's so nice to reminisce about Madrid.
Thanks for listening
Carmen

[This message has been edited by carmie (edited 05-21-2000).]

[This message has been edited by carmie (edited 05-21-2000).]

I lived near Madrid, in Alcala, from Nov. 83 til March 86. Things must have really gotten expensive since then. I thought it was reasonable to go out clubbing. The peseta rate was high, as it is now, and you got alot for your money. If things are as expensive as Carnie and others have indicated, then I too would skip the clubs and "tasca hop". Hope that is spelled correctly. I speak very very little Spanish. Just to give an idea of how cheap things were then, we had a 3 bedroom, one bath, fully furnish apartment, right down to the dishes, and it ran about 300 american dollars a month. The peseta rate was between 160 and 190 the whole time we were there.

Wow! Just got back from Madrid on 5/30. Had a great time. Unfortunately I only got to go clubbin' one night but after the hangover I woke up with, one night was probably enough. We went to Joy Eslava and I can tell you it's still a very happning club. After paying about a 10 dollar cover, the drinks were free. The music was excellent, and the people were very friendly. I highly recommend it!

Its nice to hear that Joy's has survived. I really miss enjoying the night life. I must admit being in my early 20's then, I am sure it is much easier to keep up than now that I am in my mid 30's. BTW My husband works at Citibank too, here in Tampa. Do they still have shows there? There used to be a male and female dancer. They were very good.

The only true "night club" I ever visited in Madrid is called Berlin Cabaret and it still exists. In fact, it's been around for about 20 years so far.

They play popular music for dancing on the average-to-small dance floor and every hour or so they have an entertainment intermission where some kind of cabaret show is presented. This lasts about 20 minutes and then it's back to dancing.

The show we saw was a transvestite (man in drag/women's clothing) singing songs and dancing around the stage. It was great fun and he/she was quite attractive... but HIS feet were HUGE! Hahahaha..

We got there around midnight, just after our 10pm dinner, and danced for at least 3 hours. Upon leaving at 3 a.m., there was a lonnnng line of others who were waiting to enter!! They SURE know how to party in Spain!

I hope to someday experience the Joy Eslava in Madrid and see for myself how great it seems to be.

Saludos, MadridMan

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 06-01-2000).]

Berlin Cabaret is great- you've seen a good one MadridMan. One of my other personal favorites is El Sol located off of calle Montera.