General Info

Popped out for a brief recce last night. First passed by the Royal, Gudaibiya, which is completely closed: wire over the front doors, doors locked. Then nipped into Seashell - the bar is open and still teeming with hatchet-faced Chinks, but no alcohol can be served, soft drinks only.

Next port of call - Al Bustan. It is indeed true that every outlet has been closed, with the exception of the little coffee shop on the left as you enter, but upon conversing with the receptionist, I was assured that it would be back to normal in "two or three days". "Tomorrow or after tomorrow," agreed a Bahraini in the lobby: "the king has signed the paper" (whatever that means).

I passed by Bristol Hotel at chucking out time on the way home and it appeared deserted, but there was a huge crowd, mostly Ethiopian, outside the Concord Hotel just up the road. Upon further investigation, I discovered Concord is apparently one of the only lower-end places still open, so will probably be pretty bangin for the moment (rather like some of the magnificently shapely African booties on display outside.....but best not go down that chocolate highway again).

With any luck, like most things here it'll all be more or less back to normal in a few weeks. Even if they are reopened though, there certainly does seem to be a ratcheting effect going on: I've been here for a few years, and the restrictive climate is far removed from what it was in the 90s. Ah, how I miss good old Shaikh Isa!

Incidentally, I've heard that the big shots in Saudi are partly behind this too: they want the 1 and 2 star places closed because they've been having problems over the number of low-income Saudis heading across the bridge, bankrupting themselves and/or returning home with an exciting cocktail of STDs. Obviously, their own high-priced hookers in the five-star hotels will remain completely unaffected!

I read this website as much as I could. I am arriving to Bahrain at 9pm on sunday and departing 9am next day. I want some pick-up joints very near by after long flight. Reading this forum, it seems staying in Phonecia will be a good option. Is advanced booking recommended? It doesnt seem hotel has its own website and my experience booking through intermediate agencies is not good. Any advice is appreciated.

[QUOTE=Dimension]I read this website as much as I could. I am arriving to Bahrain at 9pm on sunday and departing 9am next day. I want some pick-up joints very near by after long flight. Reading this forum, it seems staying in Phonecia will be a good option. Is advanced booking recommended? It doesnt seem hotel has its own website and my experience booking through intermediate agencies is not good. Any advice is appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Hi,

From my experience, if you're going on a Sunday which is non-Saudi weekend day, you should get a room at Phoenicia without booking. On Wednesday nights and Thursdays it is most difficult to find a room.

I have heard there are more Russians there now. Please post a FR after your visit.

BR

p.s If you do stay at Phoenicia, do me a favor please and find out from the bell boy if Sameera from Turkey is still there or not. Her cell has been dead for a few months now so not sure if she's gone back to her country or still there, thanks!

Any word on Rock Bottom or Wranglers?? I may be heading back there in a few months.

[QUOTE=Blood Red]Hi,

From my experience, if you're going on a Sunday which is non-Saudi weekend day, you should get a room at Phoenicia without booking. On Wednesday nights and Thursdays it is most difficult to find a room.

I have heard there are more Russians there now. Please post a FR after your visit.

BR

P. S If you do stay at Phoenicia, do me a favor please and find out from the bell boy if Sameera from Turkey is still there or not. Her cell has been dead for a few months now so not sure if she's gone back to her country or still there, thanks! [/QUOTE]Blood Red: Sameera the cute turkish left Phoenicia some time ago, a friend of hers told me she married a Kuwaiti and is living over there!

[QUOTE=Madvic]Any word on Rock Bottom or Wranglers?? I may be heading back there in a few months.[/QUOTE]

Madvic,
Stuck my head in the Wrangler last night (Wednesday) around 11:30 and the place was very quiet. One slim, tasty looking African standing by the door, but not a lot else. They have changed the entrance to Wranglers. You don't get in through the lobby, but have to enter via a new door to the left of the main entrance. You then go in facing the bar. Very slim pickings for a Wednesday, I thought. Usually it's heaving. Don't know if it's the crackdown, or the F1 weekend moving the tarts to other venues.

Expatcat

[QUOTE=Chris P]Next port of call - Al Bustan. It is indeed true that every outlet has been closed, with the exception of the little coffee shop on the left as you enter, but upon conversing with the receptionist, I was assured that it would be back to normal in "two or three days". "Tomorrow or after tomorrow," agreed a Bahraini in the lobby: "the king has signed the paper" (whatever that means).[/QUOTE]What the local meant when he said that the King has signed the paper is that the hotel's owners, and certain royal family members who used to frequently patronize JJ's have sucessfully managed to upgrade the hotel's license to that of a 3-Star :)

And I am not from LE as someone else on here had suggested earlier last month ;-) I work with a non profit Thai foundation and the Thai diplomatic mission to aid their nationals in returning to Thailand.

[QUOTE=Madvic]Any word on Rock Bottom or Wranglers?? I may be heading back there in a few months.[/QUOTE]


I went inside Rock Bottoms 2 nights ago and it is the same as it always is.
I walked by their last night, and it sounded the same.
I actually seen a few better looking girls in there, than there was a few months ago.

[QUOTE=Madvic]Any word on Rock Bottom or Wranglers?? I may be heading back there in a few months.[/QUOTE]


I just noticed you said in a few months. I'm sure everything will be back to normal in a few months. But things change without notice here.

But, I think Ramadan will be start about mid-August this year. A good time for me to take a vacation.

Hey Guys,

Is there any update on the ban on alcohol/disco in the 1 to 2 star hotels? Any idea if it will be lifted in the coming week or does it look like it's here to stay and may even be extended to the 3/4 star hotels?

For some reason I cannot access the Bahrain Tribune from Saudi ([url]www.Bahraintribune.com[/url]) so I cannot get any updates from the web. Called one Thai girl I know about 3 days ago and she said the ban was still in place but she also said that after 1 week it'll be gone? At least that's what I could make out of it. What happened with the hotel owners meeting the king last week? Thanks....

[QUOTE=Blood Red]Hey Guys,

Is there any update on the ban on alcohol/disco in the 1 to 2 star hotels? Any idea if it will be lifted in the coming week or does it look like it's here to stay and may even be extended to the 3/4 star hotels?

For some reason I cannot access the Bahrain Tribune from Saudi ([url]www.Bahraintribune.com[/url]) so I cannot get any updates from the web. Called one Thai girl I know about 3 days ago and she said the ban was still in place but she also said that after 1 week it'll be gone? At least that's what I could make out of it. What happened with the hotel owners meeting the king last week? Thanks....[/QUOTE]I know maybe it's a bit off topic, but if you want Bahraini news from Saudi you can use [url]http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/[/url] which has been reporting on the ban too.

I stopped by to see if Rockin Z's or JJ's was open and as soon as I walked in, the guy at the front desk said it's all closed. I had to ask him three times "when will they open back up?" before he gave me a reply. He said he didn't know, depends on the rules.

I stopped by F1 at 9:15PM and it was empty, just a few guys and the band.
Later however, when I drove by at about 1AM, it seemed busy on the outside. I thought the girls went there earlier.

I stopped by Cosmos and it was it's usual self. I looked in Rock Bottom's and it's all normal. Some of the girls I know from Cosmo's weren't there, so I asked someone where they went. I was told the went to Enigma's . I thought that was unusual. I never saw many working ladies in there before, just a few Chinese ladies.

So I went to Enigma's and there I saw 6 Thai girls in there that are usually in Cosmo's. I later seen some guys that usually go to Cosmo's come inside to find their "sweeties" hehe . I hooked one of my friends up with a girl and the girls started making their deals pretty fast. Only one left when I went home.
Oh,... those girls usually go to Wranglers if it is a slow night in Cosmos. They go in to the don't care if they have a customer mode and drink and dance, but they said Wrangler's wouldn't let them in last night, saying they needed an ID card, I think they wanted a CPR card. I'm not sure if Wrangler's had something special going on last night.

Oh... when I went to Rockin' Z's there were 2 older looking Chinese ladies in the hotel lounge (Al Bustan is it?) looking suspicious and giving the stare down. I don't know if they were momasans or wanted to ask me if I wanted a massagey.

I headed to one of the furnished flats /plaza in exhibition road (cannot tell the name publicly these days) and there I was served by collection of nice 5-7 rating girls from China and Thailand.

I asked the reception if brining a girlfriend in is allowed and positive was the answer. A girl where charging BD20 for 1 hour and flat rent was BD20 (negotiable).

Seniors only can P. M.

Now that the 1/2 star hotels no longer have alcohol/discos, I was wondering what good 3 star hotels there are in Manama which you guys could recommend. Preferably one which has an Arabian disco with dancing girls who stay in the hotel and are available afterwards :)

I did a google search for 3 star hotels in Manama and names like Al Commodore, Mastan, etc came up, but it would be nice to get some input from people who have actually been to some of these places.

I also read that after the alcohol ban on 1/2 star hotels, a lot of the WG's have moved into the furnished apartments.

Any ways, it would be great to get some feed back cause this forum seems to be dead lately.

Cheers,
BR

Please any one know local ladies. Send contact numbers or Email to me on private message or at my E mail: [blue][Email address deleted by Admin][/blue]

I am GCC nationality.

[size=-2][u][b]EDITOR's NOTE[/b][/u]: [blue]This report was edited to [u]remove email addresses in the text[/u]. Please do not post email addresses in the Forum. Instead, please invite other Forum Members to contact you directly via the Forum's Private Messaging system. [i]Thanks![/i][/blue][/size]