‘Our doors open at 8 p.m.’

New shops, restaurants and cafes open in the city every day. You can read about it in our Just Open section. Today: Club Inn opens in the former Lovelee, where you can dance – or play ping pong – from 8 p.m. ‘It’s easier to flirt with each other here.’

Nightlife as we know it – where nighttime entertainment often starts late and continues until the early hours – is undergoing a transformation, says Oscar Steginga (34), co-owner of Club Inn, the first so-called 8pm club in the city. “Instead, our doors open at eight o’clock in the evening for a drink.”

Steginga created Club Inn with his business partners Tan Antoniesen, Kaihan Paryan, Danny Lee and Joy Gerritsen, with whom he also runs Chin Chin Club, Calle Ocho, Mesiba and Hachi. He opened Club Lovelee in the building in 2019. “The pandemic was one of the reasons we never really got Lovelee off the ground.”

The idea behind Club Inn is inspired by the global microclubbing trend, where partying starts earlier in the evening. “Nowadays, work no longer only takes place from Monday to Friday, from nine to five,” says Steginga. “Evenings that start early and end earlier therefore make more sense.”

Upon entering, the eye is immediately drawn to the black and white checkered dance floor, retro-futuristic furniture, and the disco ball on the ceiling. “The iconic Piper Pluriclub in Turin, from the 1960s, was a great source of inspiration,” says Italian Valeria Valtorta (27), the brain behind the concept. At the bar you can get sodas (from €3.50), (natural) wines (from €5 per glass), cocktails (from €10) and small snacks.

In the club, where the music varies from soul and house to dance, it is not just about dancing, but also about contact with each other. Steginga: “In many clubs you notice that the atmosphere needs to get going. Here you can play a game of ping-pong or flirt with each other faster, because you can easily make contact with other tables.”

View our overview of all new shops, restaurants and cafés. Tips? [email protected].