 you meet someone from Atlanta, Georgia, and they tell you that they have never been to the Claremont Lounge, then they are lying through their teeth. Welcome to esoteric Atlanta. My name is Bryce, and today we're going to be talking about Atlanta's oldest strip club, the strippers that lounge that gave way to local lingo, Liberty, because some of these strippers are notorious Atlanta citizens. For example, Blondie. Blondie is probably the most famous Atlanta citizen. She's been working at the Claremont Lounge for as long as I can remember. Yes, I have been there many times, and she has this incredible talent of crushing cans with her body parts. I mean, I don't know if I could do it. That takes talent. Oh, and she's known for her poetry too. Now the Claremont Lounge located in the Poncy Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta is in the basement of the Claremont Motor Hotel. Now the Claremont Motor Hotel has its own history and its own interesting past, and it is my opinion that the lounge in the basement is what's kept this building around all these years. It might just be me, but the Claremont Motor Hotel reminds me a lot of the Chelsea Hotel in New York, the personality of it, and then for those who know their music history, the Chelsea Hotel is where Sid and Nancy died. I'm not sure if there were ever any deaths at the Claremont Motor Hotel, but there was a point where the city was threatening to tear the hotel down, actually not that long ago, back in 2009. And the funny thing is, is back in that time, that's when I was going to the Claremont Lounge, and I just thought that the building above it was abandoned. I didn't realize people were still actually living there. The Claremont Motor Hotel was built in 1924, and it was built to originally be apartments, and it wasn't until later that it was re-renovated to be a hotel. In 1947 they decided to open up the basement as a nightclub, and this was called the Anchorage. From 1951 to about 1954, it was called the Gypsy Club, and then later on it became the Continental Room, and I believe that this was around the time where it became a place for a supper club. That might be a southern thing. Let me know people from up north or out west, but in the South supper clubs are a big deal. My aunts are part of supper clubs. I think my mother was in one for a while, and it's just this group of people, socially a group of people that meet once a month or once a week, depending on the group to have supper. Now from what I understand, in today's time these supper clubs run around people's houses, so you'll have a group of people, so you have 10 couples, and then every time you meet you rotate houses. Advertising the basement as a supper club is pretty peculiar to me, and it might just be me being suspicious of secret societies and all that kind of stuff, and I'm not saying that's what this was, but it is suspicious. This was the 50s though, and I was on around in the 50s, so it could be harmless. It just could have been how they did supper clubs at the time. You also have to remember though that supper clubs are typically a pretty high society get together, kind of like the Catillion or the debutante. So what was a night club is now hosting supper clubs? But anyway, that didn't last too long, because it eventually went back to its original name as the Ingridge, and then in the 1960s it took on the name the Atlanta Playboy Club. Now this was around the time that Hugh Hefner was getting big with his actual Playboy, and I think they got into some legal trouble because they tried to milk it, they tried to lead you on to this idea, and they had to get rid of that name. But it was in 1968 that the Claremont Lounge became the Claremont Lounge as it's been ever since. Now let's talk about the lounge itself. When you walk in, again you're in the basement, so the front of the hotel faces Ponce, Ponce de Leon, then you have to drive around the back to get into basically the back door. Now you walk in and you've got a bar there, and the dancers, the strippers, they go to the middle of the bar and they dance. It's not a very big area, and it's been about 10 years since I've been to the Claremont Lounge, so I'm just gonna go from what I remember. When you see this dancers come to the stage, instead of making a grand entrance from backstage, they walk out into the main floor and they go to a jukebox, there's no DJ, so they go to the jukebox and they pick their songs. And from what I remember, it's only the dancers that get to use the jukebox, and they play their song and they walk and they climb up on the stage and they start doing their thing. Now again, these aren't dancers that you would see on Buford Highway at some of the other gentlemen's club. These are characters, for lack of a better word. I frankly prefer that than the other. I mean, these women, they're famous in Atlanta. This isn't some like Podonk Lounge. I would guess, and I'm not sure, I have no idea. This is just me guessing. They probably do very well. And again, people remember them. I mean, Blondie is huge here. She's an icon. But I'm not really the expert when it comes to dance clubs. Lounge is so fun and it's such an Atlanta hotspot that even when other like big celebrities, not Atlanta celebrities, but bigger celebrities are here in Atlanta, they all tend to end up at the lounge. You can find a bigger list of all the people who have had a night of fun at the lounge on their website, but some big names would be like Ashton Kutcher and Lady Gaga. I wonder what it feels like for Blondie to be performing and see Lady Gaga that she came. Lady Gaga came to the Claremont Lounge to see you read your poetry. That must be pretty special. So as I said at the beginning, for me, I had no idea that people were still living in the hotel area of the Claremont. It looked like it was completely dilapidated and abandoned when I was going to the lounge or just driving down Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon is a major road here in Atlanta, or as we locals call it, Ponce. So it was in 2009 that the city of Atlanta tried to condemn the Claremont hotel. They found multiple health code violations, including bedbugs and dirty linens. I mean gross, honestly gross. Javi is okay, Bubba. He's okay. But alas, the Claremont has risen from the ashes like a phoenix rising. What was once the Claremont Motor Hotel is now the Hotel Claremont. I say that it's risen from the ashes, but the lounge has been there all along. I mean those girls have been working it even while the hotel couldn't get attacked together. The girls were still down there doing their thing. So that's not really fair to say. But anyway, the Hotel Claremont is beautiful. They have totally renovated. And let me give you a list of all the attractions that this Hotel Claremont has to offer besides the lounge downstairs. You have a rooftop bar. And that's cool because there's another building a few miles down the street that we're going to talk about later that also has rooftop as well. You have a restaurant. There's a cafe, a lounge. There's communal spaces. It's pet friendly and a fitness studio. Lord knows that when it was having its bedbugs, there was no fitness studio. So they have definitely gone up a lot in rank. So you can get in your treadmill. You can go up to the rooftop and have some cocktails. You can go to the restaurant, have your dinner. And then you can pop downstairs and hear some poetry read to you by a woman who can also crush cans with her female body parts. Not too bad for a weekend's day, is it? Now, this area of Atlanta where the Claremont is located is a very artsy part of the city. And that's generally speaking, because the city of Atlanta is a very artsy city. But you're kind of heading away from downtown and you're getting more into the Highlands area, which leads into the little five points, which then leaves into Inman Park and Cabbage Town and all these areas where people are very bohemian and very creative. So for people who are coming to Atlanta that want to be around a more eccentric atmosphere, this is definitely the place for you. Now, if you're not staying at the Hotel Claremont, if you're staying elsewhere or you're just in Atlanta for a short time, maybe a day, I would definitely suggest going to the Claremont Lounge. You're guaranteed to have such a fun time. And I love these ladies. They don't know who I am, but I know who they are. And sounded like a stalker. Anyway, you know what I mean. I'm very proud to be a citizen of Atlanta with them. And I would ask you guys to please go and support them. They are great. They are truly entertainers. Now, you have to know though that it's closed on Sunday because Sunday's the Lord's Day. Anyway, thank you guys so much for watching this quick video. Please, please, please go support these Atlanta businesses. If you like this video, give it a thumbs up and hit that subscribe button. And I'll see you later. Bye.