Velvet Lounge
1/F, Bldg 3-4, 913 Julu Lu,
Jing An
near Changshu Lu, Metro Line 1 Changshu Lu Station
巨鹿路913号3-4号楼1楼
近常熟路, 地铁1号常熟路站
5403-2976
www.velvetlounge.com.cn
info@velvetlounge.com.cn
Open 6pm-3am
Price Y100-Y199 per couple
Accepts International Credit Cards
- Share with a friend
- Add a review
- Add an event here
- Report corrections or abuse
- Is this your business?
Claim it!
- City Weekend says
CW's Readers' Choice best bar of 2009 and 2010, this classy stalwart of the Shanghai scene gives visitors plush velvet sofas, crystal chandeliers and some of the best-mixed drinks in town. A small dance floor is packed at weekends with a friendly, hip crowd.
Reviews
Been there? Add a review!
I believe this was also one of the first bars I went to. Don't think I will be going back. The place itself was okay, small and cozy but was filled with old fat foreigners who can't dance. But you can order food there if you get hungry. Not really an enjoyable place/crowd for me.
Iz Okay. A bit dull.
The Regulator once stumbled rat-arsedly into this place straight from a house party, taking a bottle of Chinese horsepiss Reeb Antarctik with him and, whilst glugging a few slugs, was most impressed with the grace and poise with which a bouncer plucked it from his hand and let him go his merry way with a wry smile. At Zapata's, that would have been pretext enough for a bout of extreme violence.
As one would expect from any place that attracts significant numbers of Europeans, the crowd consists of civilized and stylish people dancing to dreadful music. An Eddy Wally/David Hasselhoff megamix would blow the roof off.
One of the old guard venues in Shanghai - one of my favourites and a great night for new people in Shanghai or the old expat crowd. Managers and staff are friendly, service is quick and all in all a good late night spot with great pizza's if you are hungry.. Dont miss checking out Velvet on a night out in Shangahi - you wont be sorry. Tommy the manager is friendly and goes out of his way to make sure guests have a great time... !
Velvet used to be good, but too many pretentious a** wipes there now, the air is thick with ego`s and air kisses, dj is pretty average and assumes that everyone is there to see him, TIP FOR VELVET. Buy an IPOD and save yourselfs some cash. The manager always staring at women ina scary chilling way. They do mix a good drink but expect to pay an arm and a leg and possibly a kidney too for it
Great drinks, great music and beautiful people! This place knows what it's doing and they do it well! Staff is friendly and management is always helpful! Rock on Velvet!
Ok the place is great. I enter the bar expecting to see something average but wah-la! Surprise surprise, the ppl there has just the right energy and vibe to keep me entertained all night.
1st off, I am really amazed by the bartender, extremely skillful. The staffs are always eager to serve us. Most of them speak rather good english as well. Great place to hang out with friends.
I went here recently, and although I was a little tipsy when I arrived, I recall the pizzas being rather excellent. The dance floor is nice and small, just the way I like it. I felt it to be a cosy chilled out place. I didn't have any problems with any bouncer. I dont think I saw any in fact. Personally, as I am not a trouble making prat with an inferiority complex, I prefer strong security to keep out the aforementioned trouble makers. The drink prices however are eye watering for what they are.
Velvet Lounge is neither closed nor planning to close. We are however getting geared up for THE Halloween party of the decade. Don't miss out!!!
I was told (rumour??) that it's closed?
i like this place, really nice atmosphere, good music, not too crowded, drinks are alright and nice soft sofas!! :P
Nice place, shame about the bouncers. Frequented Velvet many times both sober and drunk, and can understand velvet_bouncer_sucks opinion. Also, when you ask to speak to management, they just laugh - again does not matter if your sober or drunk.
Also, the tequila they use is pretty poor quality.
Velvet Lounge rocks!
Mmmm I wonder if you work there??? posting all the events for velvet, maybe your review is a little (just a little) biased...
Velvet has something to offer to everyone. From the relaxing Sunday, Mondays and Tuesdays where you can listen to music that crosses every genre and decade to the more high energy Wednesdays thru Saturdays which provide a happy atmosphere that will get you on your feet and keep you dancing all night long. The brick oven pizza is the best I have ever had in Asia and the cocktails and drinks are never shy with alcohol. The staff is a mix of nationalities making the service superior in the industry. What else could anyone else want? Velvet is the happy peoples place!
Mmmm...
Velvet used to be my favorite spot in Shanghai; it used to be a quiet lounge with great service, good drinks, great pizza and a non-pretentious atmosphere.
Times have changed; Velvet is now a crowded, loud and see to be seen place which probably it’s great for the owners/managers/partners because I am sure they are making more money which is probably the point for having a business like this.
But the times of the romantic, quiet and chill lounge are long gone...
Although we rarely get into discussions online regarding these kind of incidents, I think we need to have our say.
Dear Unhappy customer, We are more than happy to discuss, apologize if we are wrong and look for any solution to make you happy again and to win back your confidence as a customer and friend of velvet lounge. For 3 years we have worked relentlessly on CUSTOMER CARE. This has been a top priority. If a mess up occurs, which can happen because we are not perfect, we always investigate the case. We have even fired staff for being rude to customers. Bar/nightclub work can be extremely stressful and some staff cannot handle it and remain polite. Even so, these people get DISSMISSED!
Now, if anyone has a disappointing experience at Velvet Lounge, the best way to deal with it is to contact us in person or by email: velvet@cosmogroup.cn
We promise to do our best to resolve any issue.These kind of online bashings, especially regarding bar incidents at 3am are seldom constructive and don’t really solve anything.
Peace & Love VELVET LOUNGE MANAGMENT
exactement. I like Velvet a lot, but Velvet_Bouncer_Sucks had a bad experience there and so it's totally in his right to tell us about it.
I thought the purpose of a "Bar Review" was to... well... review a Bar. How did we go from that to a lesson in English grammar and spelling?
agreed, if anything that arrogant post only further supports velvet_bouncer_sucks' claim.
seriously, ignoring the issue to focus on grammar - give me a break.
--Old Faithful- your response to velvet_bouncer_sucks was rude and uncalled for. I certianly hope I don't run into you at Velvet-and yes; your English is impeccable. Hurra, hurra, hurra.
Dear velvet_bouncer_sucks, After careful review of your post it seems that you are subtly contradicting yourself.
Example A. "(i'm from singapore by the way, and for those who knows the least about singapore, we are pretty well educated in english). " Hmmm..."for those who knows the least.."?
B. "i was litterally "slapped" even before entering. " Again, pause to consider that unless you were physically hit, you are again in error (or just maliciously lying). Please learn the difference in meaning between the terms 'Figuratively' and 'Literally'. Furthermore "litterally" is not a word. C. "...rude he was TO CALL ON a velvet customer as "stupid" on no grounds.." Interesting bit here. To call on someone means that you paid them a visit. The rest of the sentence is just awkward in it's construction as well.
Given the questionable state of your written English ability and the alleged 3am Sunday morning time-frame, it would seem that there is a great likelihood that you indeed didn't understand him. For the sake of a nations image, may we all hope that you do not represent the beautiful country of Singapore (large 'S') in any official capacity. I've been going to Velvet for over 1 year on a fairly regular basis and have seen their staff (particularly security) handle very tense situations with patience and restraint. I will continue to enjoy my weekends at Velvet.
Old Faithful
P.S. Targeting individuals given names in a smear post whilst hiding behind the cloak of a web alias is a display of poor form. Tip#220
it is unfortunate that the velvet management decides to hire the most obnoxious, arrogant, ignorant, racist bouncer and places him at the door to manage the new queue system.
it all happened last saturday night at around 3am.. he called me "stupid" when i tripped and fell and broke the barrier which apparently breaks easily. and when i confronted him on how rude he was to call on a velvet customer as "stupid" on no grounds, he said "i don't think your english is good enough to understand me, so please step aside".
i get all these attacks simply because i am asian (i'm from singapore by the way, and for those who knows the least about singapore, we are pretty well educated in english).
look out for him..
it is a huge pity for THE great, fun, cool velvet to have someone like that who is abusing his rights as a bouncer, showing complete disrespect for velvet's customers and making the usually fun experience of going to velvet now a horrible one.
i frequently go to velvet for drinks and have fun with my friends for the last two years because of the great fun we get there. but its no fun anymore. i was litterally "slapped" even before entering.
i urge the management of velvet to review this situation and the necessary action towards this "Robert" bouncer.
Check out what CW and Miguel Jonsson has to say about Velvet and other classy Shanghai venues in "Developed Taste: Bars for discerning thirty-somethings"
This bar for young beautiful people is all about lounge atmosphere, electro music and being seen... Everything is OK but not outstanding, except the pizzas (if you like extra-thin crusts)
Where You Drink
Name: Rebekah Pothaar Profession: Writer
With the start of my third winter in Shanghai, Citizen Café is my living room of choice for ginger martinis and lounging around by day or night. An institution in the former French Concession, this is an ideal space for chain-smoking, eavesdropping and gulping martinis. Citizen's bartenders mix excellent ginger and passion fruit martinis (half price on Wednesdays). This is also where the city's writers and photographers get their work done. You can't help but overhear the latest scoops around town. I'm also attached to Velvet Lounge. Eventually you fall for the places in Shanghai that, over time, have absorbed the bits of your history–both fond and furious. And this winter, you just can't go wrong with the texture of red velvet and a red-blooded glass of wine there.
@thedawg
4am means "in the morning." 4am in the afternoon would be, well, 4pm. When did this become an acceptable way to speak (or write)? I'm guessing it was when people started calling the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) the "ATM Machine." Redundancy rocks! Anyway, it's a nice bar, a tad on the pretentious side, but any place that make you feel like more of a baller/big shot/rake than you actually are is worth a trip every now and then. After all why else would we move to China?
Issue 17, Where You Drink: Steve Hinchliffe
"Velvet Lounge has also become a big crowd pleaser of late, thanks I'm sure to Mary Ann's smile, excellent-valued house red wine and the best pizza in town. When the sun starts to come up and we get kicked out of Velvet, it's then a toss-up between having yet another rum and Coke at Dragon Club or going home to finish off that bottle of absinthe. Or then again … it's always possible to do both!"
My friends and I had such a disappointing experience last night at the Velvet Lounge, firstly, I couldn't get over how rude our waitress was to us. She snapped at us the whole night to the point where it was just ridiculous. On top of that, we ordered a bottle of water and then due to various reasons had to leave as soon as it was being delivered - it hadn't been opened - and because we didn't want it, and hence weren't going to pay for it, our lovely waitress got the bouncers and manager onto us and we ended up having to pay and take the unopened bottle home! Pathetic. We will never go there again.
i agree full of pretentious tawts, djs and bar managers who want to look coolio at 4am in the morning and the djs who play there are just as bad "look at me, im playing at Velvet, aint i cool"
T W A T S !!
If you like pretentious bars then this is the spot. Drinks are good but the crowd is all about looking good, can't be bothered.
One of Shanghai's more chill lounges (along with People 7) with great liquor selection at affordable prices. This is definitely the perfect option for those who appreciate chill house/electronic music.
strikes that perfect note between club and bar. it's kickin' without the teenager vibe (and crowd), and it's loungey without being boring. maan (i think she's the bar manager) rocks -- ask her to make you a wengweng. unexpectedly yummy pizza. i particularly like the combination of parma ham and arugula (inigo!).
stiff drinks for decent prices If i could have a bar in my house, it would look a lot like this. They serve drinks like all bars should.
There are a lot of debate about this place, but when it is not too crowded it is actually quite a nice place to hop by for a while, making of it another hit or miss place.. Cocktails are just soso though (imao). It is also one of the bars that close the latest during week days (nights), good to know.