Volar

Ok. After having been back to Volar several times since my first bad and entirely too overwhelming experience, I am now a fan. Here is the key to enjoying what Volar has to offer: make sure you’re well loosened up (i.e. intoxicated) before going, expect crazy crowds on the weekends, and know someone who has a table there where you can hang (or be prepared to shell out some scrill for your own). The crowd is young and fun, and while there are creepers and douchebags present, the bad elements can be avoided if you just stay in touch with your inner misanthrope. Dress to impress (or have a fat wad of cash that you’re prepared to spend on bottles) and you will have no problems getting inside.
Come here prepared to shake your booty! The sound system is excellent with deep rumbling bass, and there are 2 different rooms for dancing. One caters to house music lovers, while the other is more hip hop and dubstep type beats.
Remember to bring sunglasses… that 6:00 a.m. sunshine is a bitch after a night of partying inside that crazy club…

Ok. Volar is never my favorite but I do understand why it is one of the two longest running clubs in HK (the other one is dragon-​i).
A) It’s always there when you need it. After summer holiday, boom, full house. Typhoon signal 8, boom, full house. quiet weekday night, boom, full house. 4am onward? yes, you guess it right, busier than any other clubs.
B) They desperate the pop dance music and the house music. Yeah most of the time I’m in Camp Pop Dance, but at least it keeps everyone happy.
C) There are always models there. Not sure if they like to hang around together or if they have special access to the club. I couldn’t care less about them (as Trini says it right the vibe is a bit pretentious), but I do know people who are fond of them for real.
With all these (non-)reasons, Volar has been a decent second stop of a night if you decide to go big, between the first chillaxing spot, to the final madness. But I won’t stop you from going anywhere if you have better suggestions otherwise (which often there isn’t one). So it’s more like a «fallback» club you can trust (and open till late, like 5am-​ish, but those were the days).

I had heard how tough bouncers were at Volar and how you only get in there if you know someone or if you go with someone that knows the girl at the door or if you are a girl or… well, you know, all that crap that these kind of places like to do to seem unapproachable and too cool for you. So I had literally no interest in this club and even though I had heard about it, I didn’t even know where it was. But one night, as we were dancing to live music next door, someone decided we go there: I was flocked away and I mentally prepared for it. Also, I planned on a short stay. As we were with ‘someone who knew the girl at the door’ the three of us (two girls, one guy) got in with no trouble, whereas I saw people waiting outside desperate to get the green light. By the time we got inside it was a little early and we could dance and even talk to each other. Our friend got us a couple of (pricey!) drinks and we hung out and danced to relatively good music (the mixes were rather strange though). An hour later the place was packed with the kind of crowd I tend to avoid — too young and too pretentious.
The music got worse (does anyone care anymore about music when they go to a club?!), the average age started to drop and the alcohol levels started to raise so I decided it was time to go home. I am not much of a club goer of this kind, however I do enjoy good electronic music clubs and concerts; most of the time the vibe is pretty amazing and people feel united by the love for music. This is not what you’re going to find here. At all. One positive thing though, I did like the deco of the bar, all white and silvery. But that’s it.

Volar has established itself as a premier location long before the Magnum group began stretching its muscles in LKF. For a time, it was where all the celebrities went and you really had to be someone or know someone to get in (or you can try queuing up but that’s just not cool). My experience is from the early days and a bit hazy now; not in the least because I went there during the small hours and was inebriated at best.
Nestled into an underground location in the main strip of LKF, Volar doesn’t actually look all that much from the outside– after all there are so many bars here that it really doesn’t make much sense to go to one underground and looking a bit dingy on the outside. In the after hours though, that’s when things change. Queues of young people line up to get in and bouncers are super tough about who goes in and who doesn’t. This became apparent when I went downstairs.
Music was loud, there were if I remember correctly, 3 different areas to the club and there were as if a million people packed in there. In some clubs you could still talk to the person next to you if you tried hard enough but this place upped the ante in having super strong bass. Drinks were exorbitant to say the least but I guess that’s partly the norm nowadays and partly just me getting old.
If I was 18 I would go there just for the sake of checking the place out. Now though, there are so many clubs to choose from I’m just not sure whether I will go there simply because its too much hassle.