Embassy Club @ Zeta Bar Sydney

On April 19, 2014, in Hip Hop, House, RnB, Zeta Bar, by J T

The promoters for the old popular Saturday nights at Zeta Bar called it a day, and the gap has been filled by Urban Agent et al, for tonight’s event. Let’s check it out!

11:50AM

11:50AM

Embassy @ Zeta Bar

This review encompasses multiple visits: Grand Opening night (May 2013), various visits in between, and a 19th May 2014 full visit.

Essentials:
Opening Hours:
09:00PM – 04:00AM

Address:
Hilton Hotel, accessed via 488 George St. Zeta Bar is on Level 4, but you need to wait outside in line as the elevator is guarded by security.

Venue Website:
http://www.hiltonsydney.com.au

Event Website:
https://www.facebook.com/embassysydney/

Promoters:
Urban Agent, et al.

Occurrence:
Every Saturday since May 2013

Dress Code / Door Policy:
Encouraged that collared shirt and dress shoes for guys, and at least decent dresses for girls. Not too casual. Quite a number of guys were very suited up / dressed well. No homo.
I got in most recently (20/4/14) with a t-shirt, jeans and my running shoes. I was not planning to go clubbing this particular revisit.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
$25 Standard entry if you are coming off the street
$15 before 11:30PM if you submitted a guestlist. Grand opening, I got the $15, then the week after I sent my own guestlist a day before and they didn’t find my list on the night, so I had to pay $25 second time round..

Drinks
I didn’t purchase drinks here.

Bottle Service
$330AUD for a bottle of 750mL Grey Goose with unlimited soft drinks – Only available for reserved tables.

Passouts:
No passouts before midnight.
Lockout laws in place.

Guestlist:
embassy@ua.com.au

Cloak Room:
$5 for any item in the cloak room. The cloak room is just as you walk in on the left wall, at the realms of the dancefloor.

Tonight:
Assessment Times
:
19th April 2014: 11PM-03:00AM
10th May 2013: 11:30PM – 1:30AM
3rd May 2013 (Grand Opening): 11:20PM – 2:30AM

Outside Line:
(19/4/14 ; 11:30PM) Took about 10 minutes of lining up.
At 11:20PM: (3/4/13) It took 5 minutes to get to the front of the line, but at that point in time, the venue reached “capacity” at 400 people. I had to wait a further 20 minutes (11:45PM) before I could be let in. No idea how long the people behind me had to wait but it would have to be had been quite some time.

Inside:
The layout has remained exactly the same. Elevator to take you up to level 4. Come out and turn left to enter the near front of the narrow, marble stone, hallway-like venue. On the right is the DJ set with dancefloor (for about 50 people) and “fireplace” which isn’t really on. There is also the largest of the reserved areas, which is the same size as the dancefloor.

Turn left and walk down the hallway to the rear. On your left is the long main bar which serves cocktails and standard drinks. It can serve probably 15-20 people.

At the far end is the second bar, to hold 10 people at the frontline. In this rear there is a second, “minor”  DJ playing beats separate to the main area at the front.

On the right are small curtained off reserved areas for people who like sitting down in a nightclub.There are about 2 large reserved areas and 3 smaller, non-enclosed areas which are just like sofas. On the far left is the outdoor smoking area / terrace overlooking george st.

It’s quite the long and narrow place and almost resembles Martin Place Bar (where the same promoters used to promote) but more relaxed and classier.

Bathroom Facilities:
Pretty well maintained. The kind where there is a permanent person in the washroom giving you paper towels.

Music Style:
Mostly Rnb, Top 40 and some daring trance / house / EDM tracks. Lots of hands in the air kind of tunes.

Crowd:
(19/4/14) Mostly Aussie Asians. Mix of ages, but mostly people in their mid-20’s late 20’s.
(2013)Opening night it was a mix of Asian and non-Asians who thought it was a regular night. The following week there was pretty much all Asians.

Ratio:
Not too favourable. There were plenty of guys to go around the place. Best guesstimate 1 girl to 3 guys.

Entertainment:
No extra MC’s or dancers

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A friend’s birthday. Thank the lord the venue isn’t a packed Asian club because I had a horrific experience over the Easter weekend trying to get to any club. Tonight it’s Zeta Bar, and we are let in – here we go!

Dancefloor area at 12:30AM

Saturday Nights @ Zeta Bar Sydney
Assessment Time: 10:45PM – 2:55AM
Opening Hours: Bar opens at 5PM, but DJ music is up from 7:30PM
Lockout: Unknown, but probably 30 minutes before closing.
Address: Level 4, 488 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. The entrance is via George St – take the elevator up to Level 4.
Venue Website: http://www.zetabar.com.au and http://www.fb.com/zetabarsydney
Event Website: See venue website above.
Promoter Website: Self Promoted (?)
Occurrence: Every Saturday Night
Outside Line: The line on ground level was minimal, and we were let in right away.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Pretty much as the website states, it is a sophisticated dress code. Smart casual is the minimum to be here. Pointy shoes, collared shirts, vests for guys.. girls should look their best.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $20 for everybody. Even though a guestlist was sent in, the price was the same.
Guestlist: drink@zetabar.com.au
Inside: Take the elevator up to the 4th floor. Walk out past the register and on your right is the dancefloor to hold perhaps 50-70 people comfortably. An open wall separates the floor from two large U shaped lounges each to hold probably 20 people. On your left is the long bar along the wall, while opposite the bar are curtained off lounges for private parties. In between is the narrow walkway spanning the length of the bar upto the secondary bar on the far northen end wall. As you walk up to this particular area, there are spotted lounges along the walls, and note the outside courtyard on your left, with some trees in the middle of it providing you with a plentiful source of leaves. Courtyard could hold another 50-100 people.. very tightly though – there isn’t much room to move around here.

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