(July 2009 Update:  We have had some recent negative reports from the Jockey Club and Sin City that the quality of dancers has gotten very bad.  Unfortunately at this time we have to say that no strip club in Riga lives up to Western standards in terms of quality and price.)

If you have read our previous post on Latvia Strip Clubs Scams then you know about the many scams you need to avoid with stripclubs in Latvia. Given the situation, there are only two stripclubs we can recommend where you will not get ripped off: Sin City which is located on Dzirnavu 87/89 in the Riga Centre and the Jockey Club which is located on Elizabetes 49 next to the Reval Hotel Latvija. Both of these stripclubs are expensive but all prices are posted in the menu and there are no unexpected charges (of course like everywhere in Latvia, cocktails purchased for dancers are much more expensive so check the menu carefully!). Also they both feature quite a few sexy Latvia women for your viewing pleasure!

The best way to visit either one of these stripclubs is too arrange for VIP access with a night life tourism agency. For more information check out the agency Nightlife In Riga. Before you consider visiting any of the other stripclubs in Latvia please see our Latvia Strip Clubs Scam page first!

(Update April 2010!!! The old days of the police not helping tourists in Latvia are gone. Now if you have any problem you can call the Riga tourism police at +371 67181818 and you can be certain that they will assist you. See this post for more details!)

Most stripclubs in Latvia are set up to squeeze the most money out of you as quickly as possible. The club will try to lure you in with the promise of free drinks but once you get inside you will find yourself quickly set upon by a few pretty ladies who will chat you up and try to get you to order for them as many cocktails as possible. Be very careful as these cocktails for the ladies can sometimes cost as much as 30 to 50 LVL each!!! Typically after about 1 hour you will have spent 300 Ls and not have received even so much as one dance for you trouble!

Especially avoid the “Private Shows”! It is very typical for the ladies to try to talk you into a private room for a “special show.” Most often you will get nothing “special” but it is quite common for the girl to set an open bottle of champagne on the table as part of the “party”. Only later do you find out that you are being charged as much as 1000 LVL for the bottle!!!! This is very common practice in Latvia unfortunately. If you refuse to pay the strip club will call the police who will force you to pay. Do not expect the police to help you in Latvia! They quite often have a mutually beneficial deal with the stripclubs and they will be happy to beat you up to get you to pay the 1000 Ls bill!!!

We have heard many first hand accounts of this kind of thing happening in many strip clubs in Latvia. Particularly avoid the stripclubs in Old Town Riga!!! These are the most notorious for these kinds of rip offs. If you enter one of these clubs you will be robbed!

In general it is best to avoid the stripclubs altogether unless you have someone with connections at the club to assure that you do not get the “tourists” treatment. For these kinds of Latvia adult nightlife events or Latvia Stag parties it is best to book a party through a legitimate nightlife tourism agency who can make sure you don’t get ripped off.