At the Cosmopolitian Blog Awards in October, I received a voucher in my goodie bag entitling me to a complimentary night out, lounge table and treasure chest at the famous Mahiki nightclub in Mayfair, for myself and nine friends. Having never been before, I decided to invite the Scarlett London Blog writers, as well as several friends in the area, to review the club – and to blog about it. A quick Google search told me that the club itself was a regular haunt for celebrities (recently, the X Factor finalists have been spotted there quite a bit) however, as the table had to be booked in advance, we didn’t know who might be there at the same time. Mayfair is notorious for it’s expensive clubs, filled with socialites, students and locals alike, so I was really excited to see what it was like. Last night, myself and 7 friends (as several people dropped out at the last minute) went along to Mahiki, and thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Here’s what happened:
We arrived to the club a little early, and were told to wait 20 minutes before being able to enter. I had booked the table for 7pm (as I knew some of the party might have to leave early, so I booked it as early as possible) however we didn’t arrive until about 9pm and were told that there was a private booking inside, so we couldn’t be granted entry. This seemed a little strange, as had we turned up two hours prior, we would have been left standing in the cold waiting for our table to ‘free up’, as it had apparently been double booked.
After finally being granted entry, we were then questioned rather relentlessly about our ID’s, which was a little off putting, as we were all legal age, had plenty of ID with us – and yet some of the party were subject to taunts such as ‘I bet you are borrowing your sisters ID, you look 15 and should tucked up in bed’. This particular member of our party was in fact the oldest out of all of us (20), and I was a little ashamed that guests were being treated in this way, as it is not welcoming nor nice, and had I been paying for the table if it was not complimentary (tables can go for up to £10,000), I would not have been happy with this service.
Once inside, we were seated and told we could only have our table until 10.30pm, as once again they had double booked. If we wanted to buy another treasure chest (£140), we could keep the table, but otherwise we would have to vacate it. Again, this was a little off-putting, as if you are being given a complimentary table for the night, I would expect it to be yours for the duration of the evening, however determined to have a good night, we didn’t let this faze us and carried on as normal. The night seemed to get far better from then onwards, and we soon forgot about the little hiccup at the beginning.
The famous Mahiki Treasure Chest was brought out to our table, in a very theatrical manner. The ‘Mahiki’ girls brought the steaming (with dry ice) treasure chest to our table, lit it with a sparkler, before pouring a bottle of Moet over the rum and fruit juice mixture. Extra long straws were then dipped into the chest, and before long – it was all gone! For £140, the treasure chest is a really great drink for sharing, and works out quite afford-ably if you split the cost. It tastes absolutely amazing, despite the wide variety of fruit juices, types of rum (apparently there are seven types inside) and champagne in the mixture, and is definitely worth a try if you love a photo opportunity!
The clientele Mahiki attracts is very different to other London clubs I’ve been to, and everyone there looks like they are having an absolute ball. There are no sleazy men following you around (sorry to generalize, but many London clubs I have been to are like this) and there is a great ratio of girls to guys (as normally, clubs are full of men). The Mahiki girls, dressed in Haiwan style dresses are very accommodating and friendly, as are the male barmen who add to the tropical feel by wearing very vibrant shirts. The club wasn’t as big as I imagined, and is spread across two floors however is decorated to reflect their tropical, Californian beach theme and is very tasteful.
On the night itself, I wore my Rare Strappy Fringe Dress from Bank Fashion (see here), which is currently in the sale and costs £29. It’s a really gorgeous and comfortable dress, and got lots of compliments on the night itself – so it’s great for standing out at special occasions. The style itself is not something I would normally choose, as I am usually worried the bold tassels are going to make me look bigger and bulkier than I actually am, but with this dress – the vertical tassels actually help to slim and flatter the figure, making it a great dress for any size. I got it in a size 12, and had to tighten the straps, however the rest of the dress fitted like a glove, so I was very pleased with how it looked (I am normally a dress size 10 or 12 depending on where it is I am shopping). I wore my dress with my gold sequin heels from Dune, and hair extensions from Foxy Locks.
Overall, despite the initial hiccup, which I’m sure (well, I hope) wasn’t on purpose, I really would recommend a visit to Mahiki if you are next in Mayfair. The nearest tube station is Green Park, so it is very easy to get to and you really are transported away to a tropical world for the night, even if you do have to come out onto the freezing cold streets of London once it’s time to go home. The drinks menu does go up in price once it hits 10pm, for the moonlight menu (everything goes up by £3), however the price range isn’t completely and utterly un-affordable, especially if you share a Treasure Chest or a Sea Pearl (£200, serves 12+).