Oh Friday night at Venu, how do I describe thee? The night started off with a $15 cover charge shocker despite the fact that the place seemed empty and the advertisement stated $10 before 11:30pm but... whatevs. We came all the way out here... what's the extra $5? Thankfully, there was a live band playing in the other room that was AWESOME. I love jazz and their fresh take on recent hits was a pleasant backdrop to good conversation and sneaky people watching. I will note that the bar was severely understaffed... there was one bartender for a bar that easily sat about 30 people that was in a room with probably at least 50 people. Needless to say, my friends and I had to wait a long time for drinks and food. At midnight the jazz band disbanded (teehee) and a singer and her pianist took their place... but the girl's voice was meh at best so I ventured back over to the other side. Let the bumping and grinding commence! The dance floor was packed! The DJ was playing a decent music selection but the general tone of the room was "I'm grown, I'm sexy, I've got my sh-t together" pretentiousness. This vibe was even oozing from the people who CLEARLY did NOT have their "sh-t together." It was a weird vibe but there definitely were some beautiful and well-dressed men in the midst so I have to give Venu and extra star for that. It was all together a decent experience and I definitely preferred the first portion of the night to the second but then again, I didn't take a nap before going out and it was past my bed time....*blush*. DAMN IT! I'm an old woman! read more

Great Place with Excellent music. Great place for Saturday night. Its true that the lines are long but if you know the right promoters, they can help you cut the line. We called Ricken 8572772561 and he was great. We were a party of 8 and he helped us cut the line and gave us 2 comps. Agreed that $15 cover is a lot but if should pre-game at home and show up at 11. Dont bother with mixed drinks. Get a shot at 11:30, then one at 12:30, leave the club by 1:20 so that u can find a cab, get home before 2. read more

What do Dubai, Moscow,and Boston all have in common: the INCREDIBLE level of pretentiousness that seems to seep through Dolce jeans and Chanel bags and right into the freaking essence of this club. If you're lucky, you don't have to stand in line. Luck, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with it - unless you're a girl (email me for tactics). I digress - yes Venu is pretentious, but it is only at Venu do you learn the tricks of the trade. The crowd is interesting - floundering freshmen who have just now been introduced to 'Boston living" - either completely wasted or simply staring wide eyed at the scene that befalls them - gorgeous girls, champagne spraying, napkins being thrown in the air, sparkle sparkle techno madness you either love it or hate it. the music is mainstream in international student terms - amazing if with good friends, repetitive if not. go on the right nights, with a few experienced individuals, preferably with a table...take a shot or two, and enjoy witnessing the bittersweet mixture of Moet and Eurotrash. read more

I am new to Boston and into the club scene. We've been looking for a club with more of a hip-hop vibe and less of a Euro/House scene. On Friday night with DJ Hectik, this club is as close as we've come. Played mostly hip-hop (old and new school), some Spanish music, and and some top 40'. Crowd was pretty diverse. Good sized dance floor with comfy benches lining one side to sit (even with table service). Drinks were a bit pricey. A mixed drink and a shot was $22. Cover was $25 a person, but if you can get on a guest list with Afterdarkboston or 6one7, it's $10 (I think). Get there as close to 11 as possible to avoid standing in line, but again with the guest list it's a lot quicker. It could be a little pricey for a night here, but if you don't mind being strategic about it (getting on the guest list, pre-gaming before heading to the club, going a bit early to avoid the line) then it's a good time. We will definitely try this one again (but again we don't mind being strategic)! read more

I hate clubs, hate them hate them hate them. I hate getting dressed up, putting on the makeup, waiting in line, and then just waiting for a good time to happen which it rarely does. But with a belly full of Cambodian food and a couple (few) beers into the night I embarked on an adventure of epic proportions, at least in my mind. A friend of a friend is a club promoter there so we skipped the line, sweet! The inside looks.....clubby? But not in a bad way. Drinks were hella, and I stress this, hella expensive, but whateve. I was seeing 1.5 already so I really didn't need much. The bartender was really friendly and the drinks were actually bigger than what I usually get served. Caught some dood making fun of my sweet dance moves so I had to call him out. He took this as me taking a liking to him, not so much buddy. Other than that I had a pretty good time. I'm still not a huge club person but they did play my favorite guilty pleasure music. read more

I had to wait an hour in line with a bunch of kids decked out in Euro clothes. Meanwhile, a swarm of rich "socialites"-- sons of Saudi oil tycoons and Latin American millionaires-- march right to the front and are immediately allowed in because they got cash. Great way to start the night. Finally, I get in. And I have to say: I absolutely love the place. It's huge, and it's nice on the inside. House music was blaring, and it was simply spot on! Snookie and the Sitch would be all over this place! So what sucks? The crowd. I'm not a fan of rich Euro wannabe internationals filling the scene. I'm so sorry, I forgot to bring my precious Prada murse. It was often difficult to distinguish the woman from the men that clearly lacked testosterone. So go with your own crew, and do your own thing, and make sure it's everyone pay day, cuz this place is pricey. Apart from that, I think it's worth checking out! read more

Gay + Latin = muy delicioso Wednesday is Latin night at Venu... Gay Latin Night. And, there are tons of hot latin guys in Boston. The DJ was awesome, playing some seriously funktastic beats. The decorum was fantastic, and the random mixes of foxy brown and napoleon dynamite dancing on the big screens were off the hook. $10 cover... eh... better than $20.... just a nice crowd, and a rad time. read more

Love it here! The Latin room is the best I stay there all night. Can't deny that it's pretty expensive but worth it. There's always a line because it's the best international club in Boston. If you want to save time, order your tickets online and get e-tickets. The clubgoers are all well dressed and tend to be very good dancers. The DJs know what they're doing. I've never left there without a smile on my face! read more

**This is a review of Venu as a business meeting/private party location** "Business Conference" at a club! Sweet! They rent out the space for events and I was impressed at how well the space worked during non drunken/dancing hours. Yes, in the light you can tell the chairs have been around since before smoking was outlawed, by the various cigarette marks burned into the seats, but you have to look beyond those little details. I was there for a Ladies Who Launch chat/networking event and several women set-up tables around the perimeter and then the a small "stage" which I think it typically an elevated dancing area was used for the speakers. The audience sat on the cushy benches in the middle and watched from the sides. I am not sure on the price, but heard it was a good deal and it was great to be able to have the event right in the heart of downtown Boston. I would definitely attend an event there again, and will keep it in mind next time I am planning something! read more

I celebrated my 30th birthday at this place and it fulfilled all my expectations. The reason I give it 4 stars is because of the price. It is pricey....the cover and the drinks. But, in defense of the pricey drinks, they give you WAY too much alcohol when they serve those drinks. The music was awesome, and though the dance floor was packed, all my friends and I had a really great time. Really...the music was great. A warming though...it's very, very loud. read more

Had a great night out with my GF visiting from California. Good latin and hip hop music with 2 separate rooms. Lots of bartenders so short lines waiting for drinks. Lots of young folks come here so if your an old head like me you better step out early cause nothing good happens after 2am. Overall great place to drink and enjoy good music. read more

I just watch the owner, the managers and the bouncer of clue venu treat this older woman like crap. The big bully manager spoke to her like she was nothing. While she pleaded with them to allow her to go in to say happy Birthday to her daughter, they let their little Buffy's slid in. This woman was crying her heart out as she pleaded to the owner who proceeded to use his cell phone and walked away as she asked for minute to run in to say happy birthday to her daughter. This saga went on for about 20 minutes until some people she recognized showed up and went and got her. THANK GOD! This establishment has ice running through their vains and because of this experience I will no longer use them. If it was your mom you would never want to use this place read more

Venu has sexy asian night on thursdays!! Great music and good crowd! I would say Venu Thursday asian night was much better than other asian fri/sat parties. read more

Fun Saturday's with clubish music! A bit pricey and long lines, but worth it if you want a "NY club experience" on Boston! If its not good try rumor next door! read more

Decent night club, although I haven't been to many in Boston to compare. Alcohol is expensive but you can say that for the majority of places, and the premise is very classy and nice! It makes you feel like you could be in some rich person's mansion. The dance floor gets a little warm, but there are plenty of other nondance places you can go to hang out that are chillier. The music is perfect for my tastes (club, electro, dirty house), and I discovered a new awesome house music group here! I think they might be Boston locals too, check them out: http://www.soundcloud.com/traumasphere Lots of fresh new music/remixes to be discovered at Venu in general if you're getting bored of radio/chart regulars. read more

Waited in line (6 of us - couples) for nearly 1.5 hours on Halloween eve and finally called it at 1230 am. The place was anyway supposed to close at 2 am. Noticed some groups of girls being ushered in without waiting. Heard from others that the place has 2 dance floors inside - Latin/ electric and Pop. Either the place is too tiny even with two floors so that they couldn't let in more people or they just did a bad job at managing the crowd. Either ways - I'm not coming back! read more

This was an ok place; very crowded, dim and loud, as nightclubs go. You're probably aware the Boston nightlife scene is already mediocre, and this does not change that. Don't expect any revelations. read more

I have been to multiple parties organized at Venu. The place has an excellent vibe, and definitely is much cooler looking than Rumor. On a normal week-end day it is much more chill and maybe somewhat more upscale than Rumor. DJ's play amazing music--a sure place where to find popular music playing. read more

Good music but this club it's so small and so many people !!!!!!!!! And so expensive !

Went on a Wednesday night to meet up with some friends with my boyfriend, big mistake. Empty, awkward, and basically left feeling like we got ripped off. There were literally 4 people dancing, with 5 sitting on the sides and watching. We had paid 20 bucks cover, and then bought two over priced drinks. A waste of money and time. They wouldn't even give us back our cover when we came back down and told them we wanted to leave (I can't believe a place like this has the audacity to charge cover on a week day in the first place, when they clearly know it's empty). Huge mistake on their part--build relationships first, do business later. Had they at least reimbursed us partially, then we might have been more inclined to want to return. A place like this would rather salvage 20 bucks than gain from our future business, which won't be happening. Better to stick to Estate or Splash, screw this place! read more

Overpriced, rude staff, overall unfortunate midtown experience. Take your group gatherings elsewhere, literally anywhere else.

Horrible club with a cheap interior and bad employees. Rude bouncers, security, and bartenders. A friend rented out the entire club recently for an event, and all the guests were underwhelmed. Overpriced too. Highly wouldn't recommend. If you're looking for a fun night, go elsewhere. read more

First off, I have to thank Venu for finally giving me a reason to create a Yelp account. Let me recap the Venu Experience. Thought we would give it a try because we got free tickets to see Biz Markie. Walked in and was shaken down by the entryway body guard. He went into every single one of my pockets, this guys was more thorough then the TSA. He stole my pocket knife (I say stole because he refused to return it when I left). Coat check was $4, so I just wore my coat. Mixed drinks cost $14 out of cheap plastic dixie cups. Music was mediocre, the DJ just stood there like a zombie and kept "scratching" the disk...killing the beat. With the constant track pausing, scratching and hype man screaming into the mic...the entire debacle started to sound like some sort of hellish audio torture chamber. Oh and there were about 4 greasy photographers trolling around the crowd, shoving their cameras into the faces of dancing girls and doing their best to snap as many cleavage shots as possible. They wanted nothing to do with me, but I don't remember seeing anyone sign a consent form to be plastered all over their website. Hope the staff enjoys the knife my father gifted to me. Maybe they can use it to cut out their ear drums so their next event is mildly tolerable. What a cash sinkhole. Horrible experience. read more

There are three places left (that I know off) that plays relatively good electronic music in 2008. Venu, Underbar and Estate out of this three Venu definetly takes the gold medal (hence 4 stars). Venus clientel is much better than the other two, prices for drinks and entrance is high but well worthed. However dance floor can be really cold and long lines at the door if you dont know anyone and/or late. read more

Go on a Friday if you want to hear reggaeton and Latin music; 99% are undergrad students. You have to arrive early to make the line to get in as it gets pretty crowded. It just as expensive as any other club in Boston but has poorly mixed drinks and its the most crowded. However, for the international students (especially latinos) this is the place to be when Space Entertainment is having an event. read more

I am new to town and this is the first time I ventured into this place. First, let me say that I had asked for my name on the guest list (though it was missing when I got there). When I told the woman behind the counter, she promptly charged me less. No fuss at all. I check in my coat (I happen to run into a familiar face from Rumor) and head to the bar. And also, I spent a minute in the queue outside. I ordered a Johnnie Walker on the rocks and was expecting a rather small glass but was surprised when I got a large. And it was really strong. Tipped the bartender well for it. The drink was $12 but I would say it was totally worth it. I mean I have paid $10 in bars that are crude and smelly for a watered down small. The music was ok in the main dance floor, though the DJ's announcements time and again were annoying. The music pattern got predictable at times with the DJ stopping the music for the crowd to sing. Overall, alcohol +fast music is good dancing. Now the people, nice crowd overall, quite a few guys dressing way too much. I wore a shiny purple shirt and thought that was over the top??? And then there were the usual suspects, few horny guys and shy guys with folded hands waiting for some hot chic to come to them. Some of the women were really good, others were nice and were trying way too hard to get attention (well they succeeded, I noticed them...but I intended to go in as a reviewer). Overall, I would say that this was a nice place, prices are slightly steep. Put yourself on the guest list and save some cash (the guest list price is comparable to the prices in some really crappy places). You will have fun. I would have rated it a 4 but will probably decide that based on a few other clubs I intend to hit in the next few weeks. read more

Came here for NYE in a group and did not find it to be worth the price. The drinks were expensive (though we knew that coming in) & even with the $70 price tag, we never received our champagne toast. The music was just okay, too. It was a pretty forgettable evening. read more

They do not cater to customers. They are happy to serve customers the wrong drinks and pocket the money.

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO ANYWHERE ELSE BUT HERE. My boyfriend and I along with another couple attempted to go to Venu on 3/19/2016 and were quickly turned away because my bf wasn't wearing a button-up shirt. The bouncers were right he wasn't wearing one, however he was dressed properly wearing a crew neck sweater with chinos and wallabees. He looked pretty good if I do say so my self. I later saw pictures on FaceBook from that same evening and found over 15 pictures of guys wearing Tshirts (raggedy looking ones too). I don't go out often and I'm pretty picky about where I go. Venu used to be a fun place and the bouncers were nice and courteous, gone are those days I guess. Anywho they don't have to worry about me or my bf violating their so-called "dress-code", we won't be going there ever again! read more

If I could post no stars I would. This place is an absolute mess from staff to management. This place is disgusting. I will never go back. If you get vip it is a TOTAL ABSOLUTE WASTE JUST BUY YOUR OWN DRINKS. Staff was terrible.There is no defiance between VIP and the regular dance floor. The bottle girls let anyone sip from your bottle with out any regard. The bathrooms are a mess. The bottle staff does nothing. Waste of time, waste of money. Over all. TERRIBLE. DO NOT GO HERE read more

venu used to have a raging drum n bass night a few years back. back when getting hella sweaty and dancing like a maniac was cool. like before i turned 20. (why the hell dont i do that any more? oh yeah, electronic music these days just aint the same. AND NO, its no evolution, its regression)... anyway, i saw dj craze (yes, he rocks the dnb too), ltj bukem and other legends there. it was interesting to see ravers in huge pants grinding their teeth and doing the junglist east coast pivot move at a fairly upscale night club. damn, i had to watch myself. otherwise i would have to dodge flying pacifiers, glo sticks or teletubby backpacks. now venu is a second home to the euro crowd on friday nights. the cover is ludicrous ($20) for a place where the existing sound system is decent (occasionally promoters bring extra equipment depending on the DJ) and the drinks are overpriced. its fun if you bring your own people. read more

The bouncer denied me entry to an event that I bought a ticket to because I was "too drunk". I had literally stopped working an hour before and was 100% sober. Apparently me "tripping while getting out of my car" was grounds to assume I completely fucked up and too drunk to go inside. I was wearing heels AND it was icy outside, so yeah tripping is gonna happen. When I tried to explain to him that I slipped on ice and that I was sober, he grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me out of the line. It made me feel very uncomfortable. The bouncers also did this to a few other girls who were pretty obviously sober or tipsy, not even close to too drunk. read more

VENU is about as horrific as it gets when it comes to Boston night clubs. The service is BEYOND awful. I went one time in the winter and they made us stand outside in the freezing cold for absolutely no other reason than to make it look like it's the "it" place to be. When a few people started to complain about the service, one of the bouncers started spewing racist remarks at them. It was disgusting! I will never go there again simply because they think treating people like that is acceptable. I filed a complaint about the incident and never got a response out of them. So, not only do they have bad service, they are also cowards. So, if you want to be overcharged, wait in line for decades, be mistreated, disrespected and degraded, then this is the place for you! If not, stay FAR FAR away. There are plenty of other clubs in that area that you can go to. read more

This place can't recognize out of state ID's. I think that that's an impediment, but they think it's hilarious. I walked out, then called the police. The cops werent helpful, left, then the bouncers told me that they paid off the cops for "only one dollar!!" What a pathetic, disgraceful place. Only come here if you're in a bad position. Hate it. read more

All I can say is UNBELIEVABLY BAD!! Do not even waste your time. I have been in Boston all my life and have never seen a worse case of "we are too cool for school". I wish there was an option for 0 to negative stars. Let me start from the beginning. A friend of mine and I were meeting another friend for a night out and we decided (at 7:00pm) that we would start on Boylston Street at the Rattlesnake and go on from there. We got to the Rattlesnake, where we got a PREMIUM table on the roof deck and enjoyed a few very tasty beverages and waited for our third musketeer to show up. Time flew by and when he did finally show up (about 9:30ish) the place was packed (rightfully so, the rattlesnake is very popular with ALL types of people and they do a great business because - ummmmm - yeaaaaaaaaaaah it's a great place to hang) and we decided to go join my friend at the bar downstairs where we finished our drinks and were having a great time. Then his sister called him and said she and a bunch of her friends were at VENU and we decided to check it out. So we left the Rattlesnake - BIG MISTAKE!!! First, this frickin place ONLY has valet parking and no nearby public lot (SUCK!). There was a line thirty people deep so we called his sister who was inside to try to get her to tell the bouncers that her other guests had arrived. Come on, you've done it... tried the old "my friends are in line, can you just let them in? they're late, etc, etc, etc..." The bouncers WOULD NOT EVEN LET HER OUTSIDE THE DOOR to come see us. WTF kind of place doesn't let a current patron outside to see friends in line?!!! NONE IN BOSTON I TELL YA! We waited in the line and as we got a little closer, I happened to notice a sign on the door saying $25 cover. Again, WTF??!! At quarter past midnight they charged that much to get in for what, a little over an hour before last call?!! RIP OFF!! But because we knew we had to meet up with her, we figured, well, we may as well go in anyway.. Then it happened, the straws that broke all three camel's backs. A very very RUDE and PRETENTIOUS bouncer approached my friend and said : "YO buddy - no t-shirts - you have to have a collared shirt to get in"........ First, my friend was wearing a very nice shirt with a stylish pattern on it. Sure, it had no collar, but he didn't look like a bum....... When I tried to talk to this bouncer about it, he just sauntered away from me back up to the front door. NOW this would have been okay, if I hadn't looked around at the other people in line and saw a girl walk up, cut the line and what, pray tell, was she wearing?! Jeans that had so many rips and tears in them that she basically was wearing NOTHING and a frayed denim bikini top. DON'T ARGUE HERE FELLAS... she had NO BUSINESS wearing this outfit. She had flesh and other nastiness oozing out of every tear and her armpit breasts (ladies you know what I'm talking about) and back fat completely covered the straps on the bikini....... Obviously she had no friends, because if I had a friend who tried to get away with that outfit - I'd disown her too! She must have given the four bouncers at the door oral pleasure earlier, because SHE got in dressed like THAT with NO problem and NO charge for cover..... When I saw that - we were OUTTA THERE..... From what I heard from my friend's sister - the place inside was completely NOT even worth the $10 cover they paid because they got there earlier on in evening before the idiots jacked up admission! NOT A SMART WAY TO RUN A BUSINESS FELLAS - SHUT IT DOWN, and open it under new management... this place BLOWS!!! read more

Great place if you know how to work the system: - get on the guestlist by calling Ricken 857 277 2561 - guestlist only helps for reduced cover IF you make it in before 11:30pm but does nothing for reduced wait time - get there at early (10:30pm) and be prepared to wait till 11pm if you want to get in early - make sure your guy:girl ratio high 1:2 or 1:3 - if it isn't, pay off the bouncer ($10-15 per person) and hope you get in - don't come alone or with a bunch of dudes - pregame so you don't go broke by the end of the night - don't bring anything questionable with you because they frisk you before you enter - they scan your IDs so make sure they're legit Once you're inside its great music, crazy partying, international crowd, pretentious girls and everything else you expect from a high end club read more

This is a review for their Friday nights. Apparently they have Euro Night and Latin Night (in Rumor) on Fridays. Which for some reason meant "come smoke inside Night". Maybe I missed the memo; I wish I hadn't because I paid $20 (which is quite expensive considering all their mixed drinks are crazy expensive) to leave early because I couldn't breathe inside this place. The guys were all sleazy, looking at you like they were about to disrobe you or you owed them something. It was just an extremely weird atmosphere. Granted the music was decent but the crowd left something to be desired, and that's saying a lot considering I'm Latina myself and have zero issues with folks just wanting to have a great time. That's not the vibe I got from this place however... This all would have been quickly forgotten if the staff would have at least acknowledged my continuous complaints about folks smoking right on the dance floor. That wasn't the case. They just looked at me, cracked jokes and went about their business. Personally I like to breathe fresh (as fresh as you can get these days) air when dancing my butt off so that I can keep dancing my butt off and not get fatigued by lack of oxygen. I won't be coming back, but if you are not adverse to rooms full of cigarette smoke and want to smoke a pack or two for free please, by all means, come to Venu. The music is semi decent, in the "I have all those songs in my playlist and could be listening to them without smoke" kinda' way... read more

Got there at 1:00am, an hour before last call, and the bouncer charged us $20.00 dollars each on a Saturday night with Top 40 hip-hop music - are you kidding? Went inside, and if you've been clubbing in Boston before, this place isn't anything different. The dance floor is in the center, recessed. It was crowded and people kept bumping my drinks. A couple of guido guys got up onto a ledge and did a "I'm on top of the world" pose from Titanic, while caressing each other (it wasn't a gay night BTW). The club is crap and it tries too hard to prove otherwise. It's a forgettable experience, nothing special worth noting and it certainly wasn't worth the $20 cover! read more

This place is really a hit or miss. It depends on who is running the night, and what type of crowd they bring in. I have been here and I have had a great time, and I have been here and wasted a night out. The club itself is nice and they have enough space and rooms to fill it well without feeling like you are packed in a cage. The negative is that it is expensive for what is offered (minus a star). $20 to get in and $12+ a drink should add up to a much better club experience. read more

I created a yelp profile only bc for the entire time that I was forced to be in this awful club, all I could think about was how I couldn't wait to get home so I could tell others NOT TO GO HERE EVER! It is by far the WORST club I have ever been to in my life. In fact, I am so embarrassed that I actually went to this place that I'm posting this review under a fake name. First of all, they advertised a $10 cover charge for ladies before midnight on their website (which was our main motivation for going to this awful place, along with the fact that its within walking distance from my apartment) but when we got there they proceeded to charge us $25 and tell us that the advertisement must have been wrong. Since we were already there, we decided to pay the $25 in hopes that this place might actually be worthwhile. We were very, VERY wrong. The music was terrible, the people were terrible, and the drinks were way overpriced. DO NOT GO HERE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!! read more