Okay so I revoke my two stars and give Shanghai one star. I went there last night and was reminded why I stick to places like Opium and The Hive. Yes they are dingy, but I always have a good time because nobody gives a shit. Shanghai is full of scantily clad females grinding on boys who don't look old enough to be out past 9 o'clock. I actually felt overdressed in here as most girls appeared to have come out in little more than their underwear. Everyone seems to take themselves very seriously and give you a once over before casting their disapproving eye over the fact your butt cheeks are covered up. Hideous bar full of hideous people. I lasted an hour, but it felt like an eternity. read more

There's no denying this venue isn't immaculately kitted out with the latest lighting, slouchy booths, opulent wall decor and generally sexy looking bar space. I just can't pinpoint what exactly the vibe is supposed to be, as despite all the snazzy decor surrounding you, it's hard to really get a feel of the kind of club atmosphere Shanghai is aiming for. Last time I was in here was during the week, and it was pretty quiet to be honest, however it is fairly large as night clubs go, so it'd probably tricky to fill it up completely, particularly on a week night. Weekends are most certainly busy, what with this being a club on George Street, plus the fact people come down from Le Monde, the bar above Shanghai. Lots of dark corners for dark snogging deeds, if that's your thing, and plenty of dance space. read more

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Considering the bar above it (Le Monde) is so amazing, Shanghai is definitely an anti-climax. In fact, the only reason I'm not giving it 1 star is the fact that, being on George Street it doesn't have sticky floors/carpets/that permanent vomit-mixed-with-bleach smell that so many 1 star clubs have. It is true, the venue looks nice, but 'nice' is about is excitable as you can get when talking about this place. On literally every street corner along George Street, on any given night of the week, you'll be accosted by one of their street team trying to sales-pitch you into going, and they always try to convince you it's in some way unique and different from all the other clubs along this street. Let's see... it's in a basement below a bar. Tick. It's small. Tick. Unless you have done your homework on the drinks deals for that night then it's expensive. Tick. All the waitresses are stunning. Tick. It's pretty much the same as any other club nearby, like Opal Lounge or Lulu, but the difference is that in 4 years of going to Shanghai I've never had one of those great nights that everyone is still talking about weeks later. In the other two I have. If I had to describe it in one word it would just be "blah". read more

Shanghai Club - image courtesy of www.shanghaiclub.co.uk - Dance Clubs Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

I agree with Amy and Fiona on this one with the two stars. It's hard to give a club a 1 or 5 stars because it is completely dependent on what kind of music you're into and that's less of a place thing and more of personal choice. HOWEVER, it's pretty much just a dive. When I end up here, admittedly it's never my first choice but I tend not to protest when in that state of mind, you can have a good night but it's not a particularly wonderful place. The strange elitism image it's given itself is really just in theory as the arse-end of George Street pours out of it at 3 am in broken, cheap, diamante shoes. read more

Shanghai Club - logo from official website - Dance Clubs Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

Shanghai was the spot chosen by the powers for our works night out. It was my first big office night out... ever. Previous ones had usually started in a local restaurant and finished in a pub, but this place, well this place was setup for office Christmas parties, apart from the photocopier. That isn't much of a compliment. I think there was about 3 (or more) different work nights out in Shanghai that night. We took up about 3 tables worth. A cocktail was delivered upon arrival that went down pretty well, including the candy cane decoration. Drinks menu was limited, but understandable given the size of the parties. The place was heaving, but the staff did a good job of keeping on top of the groups. The food - was mediocre at best. The starter was alright, the main (I had salmon) a little under generous and bland, with burnt potatoes and overcooked vegetables. The food was better described as catering competent rather than restaurant standard. The dessert - frozen cheesecake with what was described as Chantilly cream... more like cream out of a can. Still, we paid thirty quid for the night, and in all honesty, I didn't expect much better than what I described above. What narked me off was the karaoke competition launched between the main and dessert courses, that carried on until well after those had finished. It killed off the jolly mood of our table and various drunk revelers screeched out various classics of the 70's, 80's and 90's. Unfortunately we were seated right beside the karaoke machine, so there was no escape. After that, there was no recovery - the conversation died, and for me, I wasn't even close to being drunk enough to dance in the corner that wasn't occupied by tables, as some others did. We were then asked to clear up our tables and move to a tiny bar on the side of the club, so that the place could be opened up to the public. Our presence was no longer required. So we had one more drink, then buggered off home. Best Christmas party ever? Hmm, not really, but definitely worthy of an Office sketch. read more

Whenever I've been in Shanghai it's always dead. I am always enticed in here with promises of free drinks and free entrance etc by the men on the street. My friends and I never really realise he's there precisely because the club is dead. To be fair, there have been one or two nights here that have been a great success. It has so much potential, particularly being underneath the really trendy Le Monde bar, and it has a huge dancefloor. All the ingredients are here, but the cake is soggy. they have a really cool fish tank on the floor when you first come in - when you walk over it the fish move and the water ripples! How cool is that!! I think I spend the majority of my time in Shanghai playing with those fish. They never see me coming. read more

So having rocked up at Shanghai during freshers week I was surprised by how small the place was, that's not a complainant in fact its the opposite it felt like a intimate little club. So of course I was a little bit drunk when I got there and a lot when I left this was due in the main to the shot girls going round friendly of course and very persuasive to boot. The dance floor a good size ratio to the rest of the place, the toilets were clean and the attendant friendly, outside smoking area was very good. Now for the downers no beer on tap and over £4 for a bottle of mass produced fizzy yellow piss, the staff don't tell you the price before they open it otherwise think we would of stuck to shots at £1.50 each much better value. So would I go here again maybe I now have a card that gets me free entry so I should also it was a good night but I'm sure part of that was the people I was with and met. I may have to update this when I go next as freshers always puts a shine on a night out. read more

What an absolute joke. Was here (reluctantly) on the night of 19/20th of March for the Edinburgh/Heriot -Watt University Varsity night and managed to get assaulted. That would be bad enough but the clubs response was pathetic. There was a bouncer watching the whole thing unfold a few feet away and yet I was forced to approach HIM after the attacker(s) had got fed up. I was then asked to recount what had happened in a side room where the staff went through the CCTV. They found it and reassured me that the attacker had been 'chucked out'. Well, I'm sure that was him told. Another bouncer, the stalky one that works there, then basically made it clear that he wanted me away before anyone else saw, saying that I should get a taxi. Although he naturally didn't bother to offer to pay for it. As soon as I left I phoned the police. A member of staff did come forward as a witness to be fair, and it looked like the case might go forward, particularly since a suspect was also identified. However, I can only guess that the member of staff was then asked to retract his statement by the Shanghai club management, lest the squeaky clean reputation of their club be tarnished, as the police told me they no longer had an eyewitness and that the case was therefore being dropped. Behaving in such a narrow minded way is hardly the way to go about it, as guaranteed, this WILL happen again and it could be much worse next time. I remember reading in the Evening News a few years ago that the club took the assault of a staff member here very seriously. Its a shame that this concern doesn't appear to extend to their customers. read more

So I had a really good time here. I never even heard of the place before I went, to be honest, as my buddy and I met some girls on the street while we were walking to a different place and they insisted we go with them to Shanghai. So we did. I had been drinking along pretty well at the hotel bar so I can't say for sure what time it was, but the place was somewhat dead when we first got there; which I actually like because I enjoy a moment to have a drink and see where everything is. Within about a half hour the place was blowing up. My buddy and I were dragged on the dance floor by countless girls and the whole feeling was just a lot of fun. There was this one pair of girls who we were having a great time on the dance floor with, but we lost them in the mix for a little bit, then they came up to me and I nailed one of their names (no idea how I remembered), however sadly, the other one I got confused with another blonde I had met earlier in the night and both gave each other bitter looks and quickly rushed away like sad puppies. My advice to guys who are going to this club is: find a girl you're attracted to and enjoy dancing with, get to know her name; and stick with her throughout the night. I personally wasn't looking to hook up, so I didn't really care. I have been to more clubs than I can count, and I consider this one a great time. I can dance pretty well, and being from California was a hit with the girls; so I can't say every guy is going to have as good of a time here as I did. Regardless, I ended up leaving this place when it closed at 3:00am with my buddy and four girls. The girls wanted to go back to our hotel, however my buddy and I weren't tired; so we went to the casino located a few blocks away. I love Edinburgh. read more

If anyone asks you to go there, say no and take them somewhere proper. The Hive, which is a dive (but I love it!!!) is somewhere 'proper' compared to Shanghai. I have been in there twice, and it's the kind of place where you only really have fun if you're in the VIP room. I don't like places with VIP rooms. It's very... Elite... Anyway, the drinks cost an absolute arm and a leg, the clientele are much to be considered: they're all in tiny dresses and sky high heels. No one is drunk and having fun because they're all in so much pain from wearing such tall shoes and the drinks are too expensive. Everyone's just swaying to the music and posing, instead of wildly dancing. In short, girls who wear flat shoes and go to dive clubs have much more fun. read more

I like Shanghai! Spacier than some George St clubs and with better music (actually plays some house music, as well as club remixes of chart hits - much better than repeating Rihanna radio edits all night long like some clubs do), I had great fun. There's even free pizza on Tuesdays! I don't find drinks or entry to be unreasonably priced, and service is fast and friendly. From all of the George Street clubs (I've tried them all), this is definitely my favourite. read more

I've been meaning to write a review on Shanghai for a while. After a few average nights in here I was offered the chance to hold a party event in the private bar area of the club. It all sounded good and being on George Street was an easy place to meet. However, from the start of the night we had problems. To begin with the staff didn't know I'd hired the room from 8pm and it took a fair bit of checking up and persuading while we all stood outside in cocktail dresses for anyone to actually let us is. The middle of the night went well, however, when other people starting coming in from the club I told them politely it was actually a private party, but was then told off by the bar staff for doing so (despite the fact i'd been promised the room to be private until 11.30pm). The night then took a turn for the worst as one of my friends (who was sitting talking to another of my friends) was out of the blue asked to leave by the bouncers. Knowing from the experiences of others that arguing with bouncers gets you nowhere my friend began to leave, and I asked to speak to a manager about it. Being my party I had actually had very little to drink, only one or two small glasses of champagne, as i'd been too busy working my way round talking to everyone. So thought the best way to deal with the situation and to stop any other not so sober friends getting involved was just to put in a complaint to the manager for future reference (as I also know there's no reversing a bouncers decision!) and leave it at that. However, as my friend was leaving his brother went over to ask what was going on, having not seen him being asked to leave. In a complete over reaction the bouncers suddenly restrained both of them, slamming my friend's head against the glass wall for everyone in the bar to see. Again, the rest of us stayed back not wanting to make the situation worse and I spoke to a supervisor who lodged my complaint. Ten minutes later I was approached by a manager who despite me explaining I'd lodged a complaint already and would rather discuss the matter the next day rather than make the night worse, insisted on discussing the matter in the loud bar. I asked if maybe they had an office or somewhere quieter that it might be better to speak and so went into their office with them. I explained that I understood it was the bouncer's decision but I didn't understand why my friend had been asked to leave and thought the reaction of the security was uncalled for. I was then told by the manager that I should be grateful for everything the club had done in organising my event, and should think myself lucky for being in their bar. At this point I said I thought i'd rather put my complaint in writing and got up to leave. The manager then shouted at me to sit back down and continued to tell me how they were an exclusive bar and that normally a number of my friends wouldn't have been allowed in. Having brought in about 50 guests before the club even opened they would have made a fair ammount of money from our party and considering I was trying to stay calm and respond properly to a difficult situation I was shocked that they took such a response. Although i returned to the party we all left within half an hour, having been completely put out of the party mood. I did follow up with a complaint in writing, also about the way my complaint was dealt with by the manager, but I never heard anything back. This was about 2 years ago and so I hope that maybe Shanghai has improved since then, but I have never gone back, and would urge others to give it a miss. read more

I spent my 21st birthday here last night and put it this way "almost" close to spoiled my night before i even stepped over there door. First of all i had been e-mailing there events manager basically saying i'm looking to celebrate my birthday there and so on. i did get a speedy reply saying they would be more than willing to accommodate your group and will also supply complimentary drinks upon arrival as its my birthday i will also receive free entry plus 1. However we got there at 9pm due to false information on a website advertising them and was told the club doesn't open until 11pm so had to go elsewhere until it opened. we went back just after 11 and said to the girl i've got guest list under my name then she told me there's nothing in my name and was asked to pay £6 for my plus one which was stated in e-mail was free, so i did tell the girl that i had an area reservedand drinks on arrival which she then told me she knows nothing of this there for i asked to speak to a manager who was actually really understanding and promised to do his best, he gave my party our own area,2 pitchers and our £6 back what was good of him. Then my partner had been made to leave due to him been on medication was sick in the gents as he was trying to explain that he's here for my special birthday but they still wouldn't let him stay. well i will defiantly will NOT!! be going back ever again and will be advising people to stay clear of this place and there staff not to make promises for someone's special occasion then not keep them. read more