Last Saturday, after lounging with a couple of my usual SOS peeps at the Frankie's lounge, I decided to "broaden my horizon" small and hang out with a different crowd. Twist (also known as headlines) was closed. So me and my peeps go to XL. My first time. Theirs too.
Including myself, our party consists of 3 women, 1 man. We get to the entrance. There's a bouncer. I'm wearing jeans, a tank top and 3-inch heels...well, my hair is loced. My girls are both around 6 feet tall, jeans, nice tops, and one of 'em has locs as well, whilst the other has a chunky afro. But....they're both wearing flats. Understandable since they really do not need the height that the heels bring. The bouncer is not happy. Apparently to enter XL, women are required to wear heels. We're all like for real? You've got to me kidding us! We see a man entering in flip flops. Damn!
One of my girls, let's call her Kemi, asks why they have such a stupid rule. Another points out we're being discriminated against. The bouncer seems unfazed. We ask why there is no poster announcing the dresscode. Bouncer looks blankly past us. Kemi asks what else a woman can't wear to XL. Answer: round neck tops. aka t-shirts. sneakers. and other such comfortable clothing. hehe. A jamaican woman in flats also approaches only to hear the news from us. She cusses. Who is listening?
After bitching for a while, my party crowds back into our beat car, and the guy, Nduka drives us to Afro (another club in the same airport area) where us ladies got to enter free of charge. Flats and all. The time was a few minutes before 1 am. It was only my 2nd time at Afro. We order drinks, and get lost among the energetic boogeying crowd.
Personally, I'm not going back to XL. Ever. Don't need the stress. heels? tseeeeeeew.
Have you ever been bounced at a Ghana club? What can't one wear where? And what do you think of these dress requirements?
Including myself, our party consists of 3 women, 1 man. We get to the entrance. There's a bouncer. I'm wearing jeans, a tank top and 3-inch heels...well, my hair is loced. My girls are both around 6 feet tall, jeans, nice tops, and one of 'em has locs as well, whilst the other has a chunky afro. But....they're both wearing flats. Understandable since they really do not need the height that the heels bring. The bouncer is not happy. Apparently to enter XL, women are required to wear heels. We're all like for real? You've got to me kidding us! We see a man entering in flip flops. Damn!
One of my girls, let's call her Kemi, asks why they have such a stupid rule. Another points out we're being discriminated against. The bouncer seems unfazed. We ask why there is no poster announcing the dresscode. Bouncer looks blankly past us. Kemi asks what else a woman can't wear to XL. Answer: round neck tops. aka t-shirts. sneakers. and other such comfortable clothing. hehe. A jamaican woman in flats also approaches only to hear the news from us. She cusses. Who is listening?
After bitching for a while, my party crowds back into our beat car, and the guy, Nduka drives us to Afro (another club in the same airport area) where us ladies got to enter free of charge. Flats and all. The time was a few minutes before 1 am. It was only my 2nd time at Afro. We order drinks, and get lost among the energetic boogeying crowd.
Personally, I'm not going back to XL. Ever. Don't need the stress. heels? tseeeeeeew.
Have you ever been bounced at a Ghana club? What can't one wear where? And what do you think of these dress requirements?
Ok.. so this is the troublemaker in me talking.. the next time I am in Ghana, I am going to XL.. mos def.. in flats and comfortable clothing!!! If they like they should bounce me!!! If a man can enter in flip flops (I bet they were not nice ones too.. probably the blue made-in-china chalewortey you can get at makola) why can't a woman? nonsense!!! What is the point in clubbing if your feet are blistering from "nice" (aka killer) heels and clothes that don't allow any room for movement? seriously do you know how hard it is to do the "bobby brown" in heels?
ReplyDeleteEsi you know what? There must be hundreds(okay not hundreds) of clubs that are way better and that don't discriminate. Someone should make that bouncer walk in heels for just five minutes. That should make him change his mind I hope.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether they would let ladies with flip flops in.
I must go clubbing when I get to Ghana. Any suggestions?
lol @Yram "bobby brown in heels"
hahahah, this post is sooo timely, some friends and I were also talking about XL and their ridiculous bouncing policy. We agreed that the drinks at XL are overpriced and once you get in the place is not all that! As one of my friend's described it is is just "someone's living room".
ReplyDeleteYou never know from day to day whether you will be bounced when you get there or not...Our conclusion was that we were NEVER going there again. There are better options in GH!
@Yram, wish i knew the owner of the club. Does anyone? At least he could give us an explanation instead of the usual "that's our policy" you get from bouncers and waiters. You try going in flip flops. If you succeed, i'll try again:) When do you get back here anyway?
ReplyDelete@Kekeli, the way you started with your "There must be hundreds(okay not hundreds) of clubs that are way better and that don't discriminate", i was going to ask you to suggest some. Maybe Nana can tell us?
@Nana.i heard the fila about it being like someone's living room too. If they don't do something, pretty soon, no one will do. Can you suggest other options?
haha... You have to be scantily clad I suppose!KMT! So dumb! This place needs to be boycotted!
ReplyDeleteAre you guys serious?! Never heard of the place and I really wanna go now! Just to see for myself... (Esi, will call you when I get back!) This is ridiculously funny! So they want all of us in silky shiny horse hair, skinny pants (a la thunderous thighs), 6 inch-ho heels, flimsy blouses and they'd be happy? Wow. Stupid place for equally stupid people! *sorry couldn't help it*
ReplyDeleteEi! pressure be this.
ReplyDeleteSoon they'll insisit u must "xtra large" in six inches to enter lmao!
Thanks for the heads up thu.
@Maxine: seems like that. what's KMT?
ReplyDelete@Iris: yes, please give me a call when you get back.i finally moved to my own place so finally we can have girl parties. You know Nana of adventuresfrom.com started the fab feminists group? i plan to check it out. maybe we can go together. lol at thunderous thighs. You shd go to xl then tell us your experience.
@lucci: i know, right? u live in Accra? Know any good clubs?
I've been to XL once and it does look like somebody's living room. also the dj's tastes include hits like 'forget about the bad times' and Mr. Vain. You didn't miss much. The drinks are not a s bad as Rhapsody's. and yes does anyone know anyplace at all a girl-well-woman- who doesn't like dancehall can boogie?
ReplyDeletep.s. years ago-when i was still in college. i remember a friend getting bounced from boom because she wore flats. The next week one of the African- American girls went in a tracksuit she sleeps in. Charlene and I swore she'd get bounced. she didn't.
hmmm this XL place.....it is certainly overrated/overpriced and similar to someone's living room with 2 many "sugar daddys"...lol. I was there 3 or so times last year when i was in GH and i was not a big fan...thank God i did not have 2 pay each time i was there cos i would definitely have asked for a refund....the 1st time or so it was like 6 of us in a group and there were like 20 people at the door, and i guess as some sort of crowd management they wouldn't let us in, even though my friend's friend who knows the owner (who i hear is Nigerian) had called us 2 come over cos it was fun...the other time i was there with 2 guy friends after "club hopping", and they would not let one guy in because he was in a t-shirt...this guy also lives in the states and was not very happy...but after some talking and i guess bribery/knowing the right person he was finally allowed in....the music was ok...but it wasn't that spacious and the crowd was a little older...another time i had my "grandfathers old school mate" come up to me talking about he could pay my school fees when i hadn't even asked and another ask if my boobs were real...silly perverts!! after all these few stops at XL, i came to the conclusion that that the bouncer (i believe he was the same one discriminating 4 no tangible reason every time we were there) needs serious help or a change in career because his attitude is going to contribute to the demise of the establishment...please keep me posted on better places to hung out, trouble free this year!
ReplyDeleteKMT... kissing my teeth...lol.In other words mmchheeeww...!
ReplyDelete@There was a time when i wondered if all these places make money but now i'm starting to think there are not enough of them. The other day at rhapsody's the group i was with was outraged that the waiters only make 80 cedis/month. And there was talk of boycotting the bar. But all that talk won't go anywhere unless there are other options. If they didn't go to rhapsody's where would they go for good music, and people? We def. need other options.
ReplyDelete@AKNK...are your boobs real? hehe.Will let you know if we discover new places to hang. So when i went to Afro...i saw whentintin there...Mr. Graham. He come make man o!
@eish, new abbreviations! never heard of this one. good to know. good to know. One of my colleagues was asking me yesterday what BTW meant.
@All - We seriously need to list places to hang out in Gh where we can dance and have some drinks. Out of seriously limited options these are my places of choice
ReplyDelete1. The Accra Bar at Citizen Kofi during happy hour, which is 6pm -8pm. I was there last night and three of us had 8 cocktails, with unlimited home made crisps (which came with some very nice home made ginger sauce) and these tiny mini tuna rolls which were delicious. Our total bill was GHC 41
2. Sweetie's for the decor and ambiance - the music has improved but the place still lacks an "energetic" vibe. If you go with a large group you are more likely to have fun as you can create your own vibe
3. Hmm, I am really stuck on this one. I feel I have no choice but to reluctantly list Monsoon
4. Would have to be Rhapsody's
Surely there are other spots
@Esi - Perhaps you can write a blog suggesting the best places to go and chill in Ghana and we can all jump in with our suggestions on the comments
every private establishment has a right to determine its clientele. i'm sure you would do the same.
ReplyDeletePersonal Attack
ReplyDeleteYram Yawa.
Do you think all made-in-ghana goods are inferior? I think you do and its not surprising that your aptly boast the fact that you are outside Gh.
Check yourself because I can sense some personal issues ... along the lines of mental slavery, obroni my god, etc
@Anon - who is personal attacking Yram Yawa. Surely there is no need to attack someone for voicing an opinion which I think was fairly stated - she specifically named inferior goods MADE IN CHINA..she didn't say anything about Made in Ghana goods and I did not hear her/him "boast" about living outside Ghana...or did I miss a comment somewhere?
ReplyDeleteYeah, nana, I'm not sure what anonymous here is beefing with Yram about either. Talking about personal issues, obroni, living outside Ghana? Maybe anonymous was having a bad day.
ReplyDeleteXL is a members club - not for kids or poor people. Too many females and they wrongly think you are working girls!! Go to Rhaps, Afro, Office, Monsoon, Glens, Boomerang...
ReplyDeleteWent to XL once and it wasn't bad... didnt have the bouncer problem thingy
ReplyDeleteBut i guess they should ease up on the strict bouncing ....
the drinks are ridiculously expensive...
The place is kinda small though too....
Michiewwwwwwwwww! I went to the club and had a similar experience -- they would not let my cousin in even though she, as I, had seriously shaddad -- I mean on point. There is no rhyme or reason for their stupidity. It's just an inferiority complex fueled by what they think are a lack of options for Ghanaians. Check out Impulse or Citizen Kofi.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous,say that again about working girls. I went to honeysuckle one time and they wouldn't let me in without saying who i was going to see in there. Can you believe it? So basically, i needed to have a male escort to enter...because they had no way of knowing i'm not a prostitute. Like joke. Was i dressed like a prostitute? Nope. I was coming from work...wearing a conservative dress that hit my knee. Seriously.
ReplyDelete@B.O.N.T.I...talking about expensive drinks. Have you tried Rhapsody's? So so expensive. Which is why i was not happy that they only pay the waiters 80 cedis/mo.
@Anonymous, oh sorry. I can imagine really shaddering to a club and then being bounced. hehe. I like Impulse. The crowd is a lil old though, no? The last time i went there, i was with people who're in their 40s. And i felt too young. They were playing 80s music and they all knew the lyrics but i didn't. hehe.
There is geneally a lot of BS in GH when it comes to service.
ReplyDeleteIts high time all that changed......
Am happy for blogs like these who tell it as it is
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteXL is a members lounge(not a club).
We party with friends and family on fridays and saturdays between 12mid - 6am.
If you want to party at XL you need to either register as a member, come with a member or get a member to call us on +233248700252(DECONTE THOMPSON ),+233248277860 to leave your name at the gate.
For more info on dress code and membership pls call deconte thompson on (+233248700252).
However, we sincerely apologize to those that were denied access.
MANAGEMENT
I hear you complaining about discriminating against women but dont hear no whining about getting in for free and guys having to pay kmt, Its not that much to ask if he asks you to wear heels after all you need to look on point when yr goin out. I dont think i have seen anyone go clubbing in flats. You need to jam yr hype
ReplyDeleteChris
Yo @XL ,i hear ur membership is abt 6grand.
ReplyDeleteYo, Chris...try dancing all night in 3 inch heels and you won't be speaking as you are now. What's the point of heels anyway? You can't look on point on heels? Also when you're a woman and 6 ft tall, maybe you don't want to draw attention to yourself by being taller than both men and other women in the club.
ReplyDeletei have been to XL several time, there is sumthing a bout that club dat i just like , Love the music the crowed, good music , good service, i know a lot of people are slatting about it but i dont know why.. i m sorry for the people that got bounce but like seriously some girl just don know how to present themself , they looking for elegance, classe no scruffy clothing or trainers allow so let them put restriction rity remmber it is not a club it IS A MEMBER LOUNGE the security reserve right to refuse securitys some people do have a poor dressing habit...maybe the establishment assume that people wearing denim , chinos whatever u c all it tuns the normally mild manners person into a beer swilling trouble maker who has nothing else to do then start a fight and wreck the establishment , LETS NOT FORGET PEOPLE APPEARENCE COUNT
ReplyDeletei can,t wait to spend my largent @ XL...deconte thompson wacth out 4 me k cos u gonna love my heels
ReplyDeleteRhapsody is another stupid joint ...
ReplyDeleteY'all shud just tk ur tym n survey the city @ nyt, there are more interesting places to hang out.....than 2 limit urselves to XL, Rhap's n the likes where every1 feels so big n pompous that u can't feel free to hv ur fun n drinks r so expensive... The most annoying thing is da way 'bouncers' act lyk dummies when they see foreigners(whites) yet they're so hostile towards we the young ghanaians....it's bad.
ReplyDeleteThe problem Esi, is not what you were wearing but a lame excuse the bouncer gave you in order to turn you away. The same thing happened to my sisters, and some friends of theirs at XL this past christmas holidays and they were not wearing slippers, but high heels. I came to find out that one of the bouncers at the door, and the one who is responsible for entry to the club? one who goes by the name of F.M is just a jealous poor man who seems to dislike Ghanaians who live abroad. Being that he has been bounced numerous times for a visa abroad, he relishes turning expatriate Ghanaians away, for in his little mind exacting this kind of VENGEANCE is justification for him not being where or who you are. The reason most people are turned away or bounced at XL, is due to pure hatred and jealousy, and nothing else. I have also been there and refused entry because the "club was full," as this same FM guy put it, yet the club was not full when two lousy ugly wretched white females came and were let in. Frankly, I was not only surprised that my brother, a fellow Ghanaian, will refuse me entry, but that he will treat me that way in my own country, and allow these whites in at my very expense. Further, far from being a braggart I am absolutely certain that I am much more wealthier than these two low-lives, and was better dressed than they were. These are just a couple of examples cited to underscore my point, nevertheless this disrespectful, and discriminatory treatment has been meted out to most of my friends, and or acquaintances. I for one will not allow this unjustifiable ill treatment to go unchecked, and will expose this injustice and seek redress from the courts. They will hear from me, that's a PROMISE!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI know that FM guy, he used to work at Boomerang. I had just completed "Motown" and will go to "Boom" with my friends.When he was on duty, he wouldn't let me in with the excuse I was a minor.Those days you wouldn't carry identification around, it was freakn Ghana, who needed an ID to prove anything;unless it was a matter of life and death. So I brought my passport along, did you know the guy refused to look at my passport, probably because he thought I was "daddy bee", who had multiple visas...lol.
ReplyDelete