A couple of
\nyears ago, I remember hearing from friends that getting into dance clubs in
\nMiami, an\u00a0extremely hip city famed for its beautiful people, was
\nnotoriously difficult. The burly doormen of these chic and trendy clubs, most
\nof which are found in South Beach, would look you up and down before deciding
\nwhether or not you fitted in with the type of person they wanted frequenting
\ntheir club.<\/p>\n
Luckily enough, last September I got to see
\nMiami for myself. Before sampling the nightlife it was required that I check
\nout the golden beaches, get photos of the Art Deco hotels on South Beach\u2019s
\nOcean Drive, see the houses of the rich and famous on the Venetian Islands,
\nand explore neighbourhoods like Little Havana. But then of course, I had to
\nsee where the party was. It\u2019s a tough life folks but, hey, somebody\u2019s got to
\ndo it.<\/p>\n
I was staying in one of the city\u2019s most popular
\nhostels, Miami Beach International Travellers House. This hostel prides
\nitself on being a party hostel, where every night is party night. The way the
\nhostel works is that, if you sign up to their \u2018tours\u2019 at night, a \u2018guide\u2019
\nwill take you to the club and pretty much guarantee entry. I thought this was
\na pretty good arrangement after hearing getting into the clubs was so
\ntough.<\/p>\n
So Wednesday night in Miami arrived, and the tour in
\nthe hostel was going to Mansion, one of the city\u2019s most famous clubs. I
\nsigned up as I thought it was a guaranteed way to gain entry. But in the queue
\nat Mansion, I got speaking to two guys from Newry in Northern Ireland, very
\nclose to where I live. They informed me that they had been in the same club
\nthe previous Saturday and sauntered in without any
\nissue.<\/p>\n
Then the following Sunday on the way to a club
\ncalled Nikki Beach, myself and the guys I was with were stopped on the street
\nby a hawker called Bruno. Usually I don\u2019t stop for these, but he informed us
\nthat if we dropped his name at the club we’d get in quicker. Sceptical as
\nhell, we decided to do just that and lo and behold, we shot straight
\nin.<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019m not saying you shouldn\u2019t sign up for tours like
\nthe ones Miami Beach International Travellers House run. If anything, I think
\nyou should \u2013 it\u2019s a guaranteed good night and a doubly guaranteed way to meet
\npeople. But what I am saying is this\u2026if you\u2019re thinking of going to a club in
\nMiami with only the people you\u2019re travelling with and are wary of being
\nturned away at the door, wear the right clothes and play it cool and
\nshouldn\u2019t encounter any problems.<\/p>\n