What makes a club?

What makes one place, "The Sweet Spot," and the next place doo doo?

This has been a long-standing debate which has taken place for as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact, I once knew a girl who had a dream of one day opening a night club. When I posed this question to her she said two words which are undoubtedly the key to success: "Know Everyone."

With a mantra like that, it is very easy to see why success in the clubbing industry is so scant.

Take for instance, the perfectly designed, "Eleventh Hour." Situated in a favorable downtown location, this lounge/club had everything one could ask for.

It wasn't exclusively a lounge because it had a separated dance floor which featured a sophisticated lighting system and padded booths on the side for when the wrong song came on. (Who can tell with dance music anyway?)

It wasn't exclusively a club because the staff was nice and there was an elaborate lounge, complete with comfy "pleather" couches and a fireplace. (a FIREPLACE?!?)

Sure the bottom floor looked like your best friend's basement where the two of you used to play Transformers all day long, but a club can't have everything... (By the way, that room is reserved only for private parties -- Most likely Partridge family reunions.)

Couple all of these things together with a cute bar staff (the Red-Head really dug me by the way) and you have the perfect kick off place for your evening..... right?

Wrong.

The clock finally struck 12 on the Eleventh Hour a few weeks ago, much to my chagrin.

Maybe it wasn't 'jiggy' enough for the mainstream. Maybe its drinks were too strong and it's cover too low (read: $0 on most nights) to be considered 'exclusive.'

Maybe it was the fact that you were as likely to meet a 22 year old hottie inside as you were to meet a 17 year old one.

I don't know. All I do know is that DC lost one of its coolest spots without even batting an eyelash. I guess that's the way it goes in a city that has more nightspots than free time on its hands...

I'm out like my cute red-headed bartender...

ps- Did anyone peep Leno last night? Props to Nellie for at least attempting to get the lame-ass Leno crowd to groove to "Country Grammar." Two typically Californian guys in the front row were more interested in flexing for the camera than checking for the show....