Sala Bikini - Club with 20 years history

Actually Bikini means either a cheese and ham sandwich or a female swimsuit. But in Barcelona, Bikini is also a famous nightclub; one could even say a clubbing institution. It has been running for over 20 years now and it’s a club many Catalans keep close to their hearts…

Sala Bikini has no extra ordinary decoration or elaborate clubbing events. The club is located in a popular shopping centre called La Illa and a little hard to access unless you take a taxi. Once past the bouncers there is a long make shift corridor which finishes at the real entrance to the club. Down 2 flights of stairs which has some posters publicizing club nights past and present and you are in the club.

Greeting you is a pretty, non discrete area which joins the 3 different rooms which make up Sala Bikini.
The first room is a small dimly lit bar with good quality cocktails being served regularly and various images are projected onto one of the walls. The bar staff here are dressed in uniform and are very good at their job. It’s a good room to start off the night as there is a sense that you are in a pre club bar or cocktail lounge. From the bar you can see all the clubbers entering and decide when you want to join the main action.  

The medium sized room again has no adorning features. Two simple bars, one sofa and a dance floor. The main dance floor is quite big and can fit around 500 people. Again nothing of note in regards to decoration, there are also two bars, a dance floor and an elevated VIP room. However I am impressed with the lighting and go-go dancers who normally dance on the bars every hour or so. Sometimes a complete dance routine is performed by the VIP area and one can see the routines are well rehearsed and quite professional.

So why is Bikini so popular? May be the idea of less is more works as Bikini does not hire any famous DJs, has no special decoration and is your standard club. I think it’s the people who make the club work. There are events from Wednesday to Sunday and most nights the place is packed.

Wednesday night is a famous hip hop night with mainly foreign clubbers. Friday and Saturday there are mainly locals aged from 25 - 40 looking for love, house music and a good time. Sunday night hosts a famous Brazilian night with free samba lessons from 12 to 1 am.

So variety is on offer and all types of people pass through the doors of Sala Bikini every week. Bars prices are pretty standard Barcelona prices (6 euros a beer and 10 a long drink) and the security staff is rather indifferent, neither friendly nor over bearing. They have been known to turn people away on the week ends so wear your regimental shoes and shirt to guarantee getting in. I’ve never had any problems in Sala Bikini and I have had many good nights here. I do find it a little bit soulless ands it’s definitely a case of what you see is what you get. But as I’ve said earlier it is the people who make the club one of the busiest in town.

One should note that Sala Bikini does host concerts and some interesting bands have played so check their website to see a full listing of events and live shows.

Address: Av. Diagonal, 547 08029 Barcelona

How to get there: by metro - Maria Cristina/Les Corts (Green Line L3), by bus Nº 6, 7, 15, 33

Phone: (0034) 933 220 800

Webpage: www.bikinibcn.com

Email:  buzon@bikinibcn.com