Intro:
I’ve seen a lot of posters here, here who tend to denigrate the strip clubs in Costa Rica, primarily as rip off joints for tourists. Yes, this is the case in many cases, though I have found that for the most part you will be informed about the prices of all items on the menu before hand. Also, as someone who lives down here in Costa Rica (I have lived here for the last 6 months), I find that I will occasionally enjoy the atmosphere of a strip club, and I’d thought I’d pass on some of my thoughts about how I get the most enjoyment out of them, and which clubs that I enjoy the best, as well as which clubs I’d recommend avoiding.

Some General Notes:
The strip club prices in Costa Rica by and large, are very expensive. If you are down here on a budget, or want to get laid as much for as little as possible, then generally speaking, the strip clubs here aren’t for you. Note, please don’t think I’m criticizing this, or taking some kind of warped moral high road. My philosophy is; you do whatever you want, and as long as it doesn’t hurt someone, more power to you, enjoy yourself.

As with many things in Costa Rica, if you speak a little bit of Spanish, things will be a lot easier and generally a lot more enjoyable for you. You’ll find most girls in strip clubs speak a little bit of English, a very few will speak a lot. This is mainly because most of these girls (especially at the higher end clubs) earn enough to pay for English lessons. However, they’ll all appreciate you trying to speak a little Spanish, especially the chicas who’ve had a long day, and are tired and who have to struggle to speak english.

In most strip clubs, the girl will sit with you for a while, then ask you to buy her a copa (drink), generally an overpriced glass of ‘champagne’ which is generally likely to be gassed up, watered down wine. The price for one of these small glasses for the girl is usually about 6,000 colones. Out of this, the girl will get a small portion, the amount depending on the club. For buying her a drink, the girl will sit on your lap and drink her copa. The amount of action you’ll get from the girl at this point will depend on you, the girl, etc, your milage will vary.
You can then get a lapdance at the table, or a private dance, again, your milage will vary. I’ve found it tends to vary more with the girl you’re with than in the actual club.

Most clubs will allow you to take the girl out, but you’ll have to pay a very large bar fine. The bar fine generally drops after 2am (the clubs usually close at 4am). It’s usually much easier and economical to just arrange to meet the chica on your/her own time if you’re so inclined.

In some clubs, there is a definite amount of “drink pressure”, this will vary with the club, as well as the girl you’re with. I’ve found the best way to alleviate this pressure is really to be friendly to the staff at the bar. Say hello the guy at the door as you walk in, ask him how he’s doing, when your waiter comes to you, do the same thing, and just casually mention that you’re here for a good time, and you’ve got no problem spending money, but you’d prefer not being pestered about buying drinks all the time, let him know you’ll signal when you want another round. When a chica comes to you, talk to her for a bit, if you like her, sure buy her a drink. When she finishes it, if your chemistry is good, and she asks for another one, if you say, just hold on a few minutes, she won’t mind that much. Ask her to give you a table, dance, as a little preview of what a private dance would be.

The opinions below are mine, developed from my experiences in san jose as a roughly 30 year old male who speaks basic (and I do mean basic) conversational Spanish. When I am talking about a good looking chica, one of the features that is very important to me is a very flat stomach, my opinions are generally colored by that, a *slightly* gorda girl might be an 8 to one guy but would be a 6 to me.

I’ve personally found that with one exception, the quality of chicas in a club will vary dramatically from day to day, it seems that many girls hop from club to club, and quite simply you may get lucky or you may not with your selection. In terms of busy nights, I’ve been there on a Saturday night and it’s been dead, and on a Monday night and the club will be packed. In general, the weekend nights will be busier, but this does tend to vary.

In terms of clubs being very expensive, keep in mind that they are only really over priced if you go in and buy drinks for the girls and lapdances etc etc. If you want to go in and sit around and have a few beers, watch some naked women dance and watch a show or two, you won’t end up spending that much at all. The drinks are of course, a lot more than other places, but those other places don’t have naked women dancing around poles.

One last tip, if you know the club that you want to go to, talk to the taxi driver that you’re riding with before you get into the cab, and tell him that you want to go to that club, and you don’t expect him to try to get commission out of the club for bringing you there. It’ll lesson any pressure on the staff to try to get you to spend.


Specific Clubs and Women in them:

Elite. I’ve heard other people mention this, and I will concur. Every time I’ve been here, there have been some absolutely spectacular women. This is the most expensive club that I know of in San Jose, but it by far the best. It’s clean, the seats are very comfortable, the washrooms are fine, etc etc etc. The staff here I’ve found very helpful, and they’ve never once tried to overcharge myself or my friends. Of course, with prices being this high, they may not have to. One of the reasons this place is so expensive of course, is that the women are so gorgeous. If you want to see some fantastic women, have them grind into your lap and make you feel like a god, this is the place.

Hollywood. I’ve definitely mixed feelings about this place. It’s a fair bit smaller than elites, and its furnishings are a little cheaper, but it’s still very nice. Now the girls on the other hand, seem to be very mixed. I’ve been here some nights, and it’s been great, other nights, I’ve left after half an hour because the girls have totally unenthusiastic and mopey, or just non-existent

Olympus. This is getting to be more on the seedy side, in a worse area of town, the quality here of the girls I’ve found varies a lot more. One thing I didn’t like about Olympus was the fact that I found that in the private room, the couches were quite uncomfortable. Every time I’ve been here I’ve been slightly overcharged, so I’m not a big fan of the place. This was also the *only* strip bar that I’ve been in where the servers did not explain the drink prices to me and the prices of the lap dances. I would not recommend Olympus at all.

Cheetahs. Directly across from the delray, I’ve found the quality of the girls here to vary tremendously, some nights they’ll be some cute ones, others, not at all. For a while in the December 2001-February 2002 period, they had some amazing women, but I’ve just recently been back, and it was dead empty again. You’ll find a fair number of cross over between the girls working here and ones that work the delray, (chicas will seem to switch back and forth). I’ve found the girls here usually have lower asking prices than at any of the other places, I would assume because of the competition right across the street. This club has some good shows that they’ve put on, the seats are very comfortable, and I’ve noticed that a lot of people come here just to relax, drink a few beers and watch the girls. (they’ve got a minimum of 5,000 colones which is pretty standard).

Club Las Vegas. This is about a block away from Elites, I’ve only been there once, and well the quality of the chicas was so bad I’ve no desire to go back. I was talking to one of the staff there and had asked him if it was this bad all the time, he laughed and told me yes it was a lot of the time.

Tentaciones
This is a club about a block and a half west of the delray on the same street. I went here after reading about it on the board. Though the average quality here was definitely on the low end (there were some 3s here), there were also a couple of 7s and a six. The drink hustle here is definitely a lot more low key than other strip bars, and the prices are half that. You’ll get 5,000c lap dance for 3 songs, (as opposed to 6k per song in other clubs), and a drink for a girl will cost you 3,000 colones. I’ve read reports of bbj’s during a lap dance and the like. While that didn’t happen to me, I definitely enjoyed the dance, and though the club was a little on the less classy side compared to some others, I definitely enjoyed the low key atmosphere and the economics of it, and will likely be back.


Puro Platina.
I’ve never been here myself, but a couple of my work mates went here, and they used their credit cards (stupid move). They found out the next day that each had been charged over $3,000. I can’t speak to the women working here, but I have no desire to go to a place that tries to steal from my mates.

That’s about it, hope it helps some guys out.

Mailforme,
Very informative and very accurate post on the
strip club situation in San Jose. Although
they are not places where I am going to frequent
very often, either in San Jose or the U.S. they
are just another thing that San Jose has to offer
and a good time can be had as long as you go in
with your eyes wide open, very wide open. Following the guidelines that you post is essential to not getting ripped off in these
places though.

Can anyone update me, on the latest strip clubs?

CN