Smoking Lounges

[PipePuffer]

With smoking bans ever stricter (including in my own house), I find that smoking indoors has become a luxury. Thankfully, I can occasionally find refuge in my local tobacconist's smoking lounge. It's not great. The chairs are old, dirty and uncomfortable, the room is as attractive as my doctor's waiting room, the air is thick with cigar smoke, and the TV is always stuck on the same channel. But it's free.

An upscale (read overpriced) tobacconist in my area is opening a smoking lounge next month. I haven't seen it in person, but from what I hear it will have a classic club look with plush leather chairs (I envision a iwan Ries-style lounge) with a state-of-the-art ventilation system. I find it very appealing but the lounge will only be accessible to members willing to pay $600 a year. That's a lot of money.

So, how much would you be willing to pay for access to a nice smoking lounge?

 

[Greenleaf]

None, unless maybe I were in your position and had more disposable income. Hell, being in that position just sounds crazy. I live alone, which is where I spend almost all of my liesure. The disappearance of smoking sections is one very good reason to eschew bars and restaurants, unless I happen to be going with someone else.

Anyways, my favorite smokeshop has a very nice lounge and serves their own coffee, which they also sell in bulk. The lounge is free of charge and is my favorite place to be aside from my apartment.

 

[Doc Manhattan]

$1800 would buy you a heck of a smoking out-building, if you had the place to put it... pays for itself in three years!

 

[RealtorFrank]

I pay $360 a year for membership in one here in Nashville. It's the cheapest one around, but about all I want to spend.

 

[flytyer]

I wouldnt pay to smoke in a lounge. There are four that are close enough and luckily only one charges. I guess im lucky,as all of them are furnished with leather chairs/ couches,
one evan has a fooseball and pool table.

 

[Centurian 803]

Mine is a between two and three hundred a year (honestly can't remember how much I paid last year). It is a very nice lounge with comfortable leather chairs, private lockers and big screen tvs. Plus membership gets you a discount in the store, and monthly club events that include really discounted cigars, free food and occassionaly free drinks. All in all a good deal.

 

[Carlos]

On I24 just east of Paducah is a place called "ShowMe's" Next to the Harley dealer at exit 11. It's in the county, so you can smoke there. It's a restaurant and bar affair. Kind of a Hooter's-like place. Pool tables in side rooms and big screen TV's everywhere.

Just saying.

 

[mark]

My VFW dues are $25 a year,smoke all you want, pool, darts, lounge chairs, bar, tables, free snacks ,,,just another option to consider if you haven't,,,

 

[eggman]

On I24 just east of Paducah is a place called "ShowMe's" Next to the Harley dealer at exit 11. It's in the county, so you can smoke there. It's a restaurant and bar affair. Kind of a Hooter's-like place. Pool tables in side rooms and big screen TV's everywhere.

Just saying.

Thanks for posting this Carlos. I am about 60 miles from there and never heard of it. Do you go there often? I will have to check it out next time I am in Paducah which will probably be Sunday afternoon. I believe there is a Showme's in St. Louis too.

 

[Harlock999]

I'd love to hang with all the "alpha-bros" in the lounge at the local cigar boutique...nah I really wouldn't (I'm sure they don't want to hang out with me either). As far as joining a club, that's something I've never contemplated. I do occasionally go down to the original Tinder Box in Santa Monica for a smoke and some condescending conversation with the pipe guys there. It really is a pretty neat place, kind of a little time capsule. It's not too comfortable, no lounge chairs, but at least it's a pipe shop.

 

[daveinlax]

Kind of a Hooter's-like place.

Can I add curly fries or fried pickles to your cigar order? :shock:

 

[Carlos]

On I24 just east of Paducah is a place called "ShowMe's" Next to the Harley dealer at exit 11. It's in the county, so you can smoke there. It's a restaurant and bar affair. Kind of a Hooter's-like place. Pool tables in side rooms and big screen TV's everywhere.

Just saying.

Thanks for posting this Carlos. I am about 60 miles from there and never heard of it. Do you go there often? I will have to check it out next time I am in Paducah which will probably be Sunday afternoon. I believe there is a Showme's in St. Louis too.

Found it on the way to Georgia two weeks ago and stopped again on my way back. It's a good 4+ hours south of me. They said that they can smoke there being out in the county away from Paducah. Nice sized crowd and not smoky at all. Good food.

 

[Dutch]

If Nick Chain is the owner of the shop in question, I wouldn't smoke in his lounge if he paid me $600 a year. :evil:

 

[PipePuffer]

If Nick Chain is the owner of the shop in question, I wouldn't smoke in his lounge if he paid me $600 a year. :evil:

Nick Chain is indeed the owner of that particular shop. And that's a negative for me too.

 

[Dutch]

If Nick Chain is the owner of the shop in question, I wouldn't smoke in his lounge if he paid me $600 a year. :evil:

Nick Chain is indeed the owner of that particular shop. And that's a negative for me too.

I went into this shop about 3 months after it opened. After talking cigars with him for a few minutes, he goes into a back room and brings out a travel humidor and asks me if I would like some Cubans. He smiles and opens the humidor, and shows me cigars with the traditional Cuban brand names like Hoyo and Bolivar, but they were the standard Dominican and Honduran versions that are legal in the US. I asked him how much, and he said I could have any for $25 each. I declined and told him I would just keep smoking the cheap ones.

A couple months ago, I'm relating this story to a retired Colonel who frequents the best shop in town, and he relates a story of a female who he knows who worked for Nick. She had went down to buy a car and had used her job for an employment reference. This is how she discovers that she isn't an employee of his at all, but rather an independent contractor, and at the end of the fiscal year she will be owing her total income tax. He had led her to believe that he was taking state and federal taxes out of her gross income.

The cigar and pipe community are small enough that word is getting around about his shady dealings.

Btw, I hear talk that they just painted the interior at HPS and have plans to buy some new chairs. 8)

 

[PipePuffer]

HPS will always be my first choice. Their location is convenient for me, they are real tobacconists, and really friendly to boot. So if they could get their lounge in order, it would be awesome.

My interaction with NC on the other hand gave me the impression that he is a bit of a schmuck.

 

[MisterE]

Luckily I live in a country where smoking is generally still tolerated. Indoor smoking is a no-no, but the patios are fair game. I regularly camp out with a friend of mine at a nearby Starbucks and we try very smelly blends and haven´t had a complaint to date.

As for the B&M lounges, I´ve always found them largely populated by the cigar crowd. They are fellow smokers but it´s a different mindset than pipesmokers. I like what Harlock described as "condescending comversation"- I tend to agree.

I didn´t even know that the lounges-at-a-price even existed!! Kind of cool.