Moscow

[Doctor_Skank]

"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members."
-Groucho Marx

Just a thought...

[Passepartout]

CHE face control is logical as the club is rather small.

To be honest, I know a little the doormen, so I have never been faced unless I arrive after 1.00PM when the club is already crowded and full. But I have also to admit that the face control is more and more difficult here.

It is not such an issue since this is the best pre-party club in town.

Action starts with the live concert at 23.30 and if at 1.30 i didn't score, i consider that i have to go to another club like vodka bar, fabrique, or... hot dog.

So my advice for che is to arrive just a little before 23.30 and you won'tegt any problem to get in.

[Doctor_Skank]

Why on earth would a place like Che have face control? I can understand the glam clubs like Diaghilev and Krisha having it, but isn't Che essentially a student hang out?

Che isn't a student hangout, it's target audience is the emerging middle class. They let in foreigners usually without much trouble, but deny just enough to make the place "desirably semi-elite".

Most Russians in there (and the majority of patrons are Russian) are working normal jobs with decent incomes. I would guess average age of patrons to be between 25-40.

Once when I went with a girlfriend there she had to show ID to prove her age, they thought she was too young, so they seem to target a more mature crowd then the clubs that let in everybody.

There are any number of reasons for clubs to have face control, the main ones being security, getting the right mix of type of person, getting the right mix of men and women and most importantly, maintaining the club's status.

Essentially EVERY club has some sort of face control and as previously stated, it can be very unpredictable. Even at elite clubs you'll find trolls or people where you ask yourself "how the hell did he/she/it get in here".

[SlutLover]

Has anyone been to a Moscow swinger club?

[Helena Moscow]

Why on earth would a place like Che have face control? I can understand the glam clubs like Diaghilev and Krisha having it, but isn't Che essentially a student hang out?

Face control is done to make a target group feel comfortable. If the club is designed as a student hang out, the stuff will probably limitate the amount of guys in suits. Just not to break the atmosphere. May be not exactly like that, but a sort of...

[AColonizer]

Hi guys,

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[Ash1001]

Why on earth would a place like Che have face control? I can understand the glam clubs like Diaghilev and Krisha having it, but isn't Che essentially a student hang out?

[SlutLover]

I rarely get faced - usually only when I have a date in tow who looks provincial, or I arrive with more than 2 people in my crew.

At least back in the autumn/winter of 2006, I mostly went on my own, and rarely had problems. Big difference to places like London, where single guys were viewed with a great deal of suspicion.

Is there a general consensus that face control has become stricter over the last two years?

[SlutLover]

I suppose the Russian tendency to overspend is being heightened by the current financial crisis. If banks and shares are collapsing, you're far better off being the debtor than the asset owner. When bankruptcy comes, you don't care as you just spent other people's cash having a great time.

As it stands, the crisis seems to be mostly restricted to the stock market. The problem for companies is, liquidity is drying up as the risk managers at the major banks rarely have an understanding of Russia that goes beyond the pathetically biased CNN coverage of the Ossetian conflict. I understand there is a global financial crisis, but there is no justification for the likes of Gazprom trading at 4 times P/E and sometimes even less. (Gazprom may not be the best example because of its appetite for bonds, but there are even better offers for top-20 outfits at 3 times P/E.)
That is unparalleled even within the Emerging Markets context, and despite the falling oil price the Russian economy is much safer than many others. Russia has enormous foreign currency reserves, healthy growth, political stability (which, I know, comes at a price) and consumer spending remains high. The RF govt even adapts the tax on oil exports to market conditions, with a higher percentage charged when oil prices are high and a discount when they are low.
The problem, as I see it, are not Russian debtors. The problem is American mortgages and clueless investment bankers (and this comes from someone within the financial profession). Just look what the IMF and World Bank, with zero understanding of local culture, did to the Russian economy in the early 90s.
In short, as a FT reader recently put it, "the cause is clear: one group of people with no idea what they were dealing with christened their output 'asset'; a second group with even less than no idea rated it; and then it was sold not only to harmless customers, but even within the first group itself."

Rant over.

Now for a question. Can someone currently within Russia tell me the number for a SMS to Mamba to get extended search? (If you are outside Russia, the number is not displayed on the site. I want to try to send that SMS from Skype. From what I remember all you have to put into the SMS is your personal numerical code, which I will be able to find out.)
Webmoney and Yandex are a real pain to use when you are outside of Russia (no paying in by card). I wonder how others handle that problem.
If Skype won't work out, and if anyone currently within Russia/the Ukraine wants to get membership, I can pay for that if they send a few SMS (below cost of membership of course) on my behalf.

[Flexxx Yap]

Ilona is an amazing woman!

First I was really surprised by her similarity with the photo: very slim waist, long slender legs, sporty beautiful body, pleasant soft skin, model looks. I was astonished by her beauty and height, she seemed a model, as she said her height was 180 meters high, and she looked like that. To all that she was very playful, sweet and attentive to me, real diamond I need to say, We met for a night and she came to my hotel in a beautiful evening dress, so that I even needed to change as she was very elegant and stunning. She was fantastic in bed and as a smart interesting woman. To all this she has very beautiful big eyes, sexy lips, which she can use very skillfully, as I discovered later. We had a trip by her car, she told me a lot about Moscow, then we ate in a restaurant and when we came back, she gave me fabulous massage, I got excited at the very beginning of the meeting and couldn’t wait to be close, that was fun, she was very passionate and temperament, seemed really enjoying our sex, not just working. Also very tender, has a soft and erotic touch, in general, the best escort girl I have ever met, I decided at once to write about this diamond, such a beauty and sweetie and working in escort, that’s amazing!

Her site is : http://www.vipelegantescort.org

[Pizdyets]

Cough cough. It happens. I recently got faced at Che and Etazh on a Saturday night too, but I am pretty sure it was because of the guys I was with.

There is no sure method to "beat" face control. Sometimes the security just doesn't like your face. I remember once I was talking on my phone outside Karma Bar and watched the doormen face a group of babes and then let a group pf trolls in. Huh?

Also, larger groups may have it harder than smaller groups, especially if the club is full or the male-female ratio is askew. 4 guys trying to get in will have it harder than 2 groups of 2. In my opinion the best mix is 2 guys.

2 guys = will spend money.

I rarely get faced - usually only when I have a date in tow who looks provincial, or I arrive with more than 2 people in my crew.

There's no sure way to beat face control, but I usually employ the following method with success:
- approach with confidence, like you fully expect to get in
- if they give you the "tolko po klubnoy kartochke" bullshit, then strike up a conversation with the okhranik and try to show you have some game (humor, etc)
- if that fails, discreetly slip the guy a 500R note

On my last visit to Che (after midnight on a Friday), I had to employ the last technique, but with 1000R instead (I was out of 500s - ouch). But the joint was packed with cuties, so in the end, it was worth it. IMO - Che these days is superior to PJ's, Karma or RMC in terms of talent. And the tight confines lend itself to picking up easily. Last visit, I was grinding on the dance floor with a big-titted hottie within 2 minutes of arrival.

[Ash1001]

... That and the new found love of boobjobs ...

This could be a serious investment, not just consumer spending

[Ash1001]

I suppose the Russian tendency to overspend is being heightened by the current financial crisis. If banks and shares are collapsing, you're far better off being the debtor than the asset owner. When bankruptcy comes, you don't care as you just spent other people's cash having a great time.

[Doctor_Skank]

Is it just me? Or are we missing a post from Helena, somewhere...

Yeah, it mysteriously disappeared, but thankfully it will forever be preserved for posterity as a quote.

[Stravinsky]

Is it just me? Or are we missing a post from Helena, somewhere...

Skank as always thinks he is clever and the rest are stupid... Come down to Earth. You hang about the country for so many years and still have no glue about what people here are.