Love it and think I'm in love with the cute barman ;o)

So far so good!
How exciting to have a venue like this opening in central London as we don't all live south of the river!
I mostly agree with the other reviewers. The staff seem really friendly and so far there is much less 'attitude' than Man Bar. The venue is pretty good and I prefer the circular corridor from the series of dead ends and small dark rooms. It will probably need a bit more 'tweaking' to get it just right. How about a sling or two in one of the arches?

Have been twice now to the Vault. Excellent venue and no attitude. Loved it.

I have been there a number of times now on the nude evenings. I must say I went to one or two of the same evenings at the manbar and never really had fun. I found the manbar allways full of guys with a really shitty attitude. A bunch of old musclemary's only into eachother. This place is completely different. There is something for everyone and guys are generally much friendlier. Yes you still get the odd miserable bastard but far less than at manbar. The other thing to note is that the audience has become markedly younger than at manbar. (Perhaps it is the more central location) Now when I say younger I don't mean it is the new GAY with a bunch of pre-pubescant screaming boys, I mean to me it seems that there are more guys in their late 20's, 30's and 40's going rather than the monsters that lurked in the dark rooms at manbar.There is no dark room at this place which is really good because it is nice to see what you are doing. The owners had a clear choice, put some light in and get sexy young chaps in or recreate the dirty smelly dark cesspit that was manbar. Thankfully they chose to bring a bit of light in and they have attracted the right sort of man!There are 5 vaults containing sofa's and stools and even one with a picnic bench and then an area that looks a bit like an abandoned dancefloor with a mirror that for the main cruising area. The lounge area is sub devided by the typical sex-club army camoflage material with a good number of sofa's and seating for a good number of chaps. The music is also not overpowering and it does feel a bit like a pub.There is much more chatting and drinking going on at this place than at manbar and generally a much friendlier atmosphere than most places. It is clean and the drinks not too expensive. The staff is very friendly and good looking. If you are into this type of thing, get down there.

Thank god i read the review after i went. that gentleman who slated the place obviously had a bad time but i had a fantastic time loved the venue dark and lots of different areas for fun. The barman was funny and goodlooking (hot bod too) the dj rocked and the doorman was chatty and told me all the things they have planned for the place next month, it sounds fantastic and cant wait to go back when next here (might even come back specialy). expect to see a lot of berliners as i will be telling them all where the sexyiest place in london is.

Vault is not like Manbar in any way and thank goodness. Manbar was dirty and smelly, full of people with no respect for people of surroundings. I always wondered what their homes might be like and if they treated it with the same disrespect. It's a monument to the old gay school of filth is best. Well, if thats what you want then I suggest you go to some of the other dirty places like playpit, fort,central station.
I welcome the fact that the owners, forced out of their old home are working on this by talking to customers, and lets face it, they have only been open for a few weeks. I have been 3 times and its extremely busy with plenty of happy punters, many of them old faces and many new. If all the old moanies decide not to come then I for one will be ecstatic. It must be a nightmare setting up a new business with fire, health n safety,etc.
I will be joining 6 of my friends tonight, so see you there.
James.

Another good night last night. Need to stock some wine though.

bigger,; yes! but not a patch on the manbar! not very well thought out space wise so the this large venue has a lot of dead space.

the bar/ lounge area is too big and too bright (lets face it this is not where we come to moswtly hang out and chat with our friends) the space is too open so loses the intimacy that you had at the manbar.

behind the scenes it gets worse, where manbar felt like a series of rooms this just feels like a series of corridors. the main corridor which leads to badly lit arches ( which were too small for large voyeuristic groups but too open for intimacy) was the main congragating place but was very unsatisfactory as people were constantly shuffling pass up and down the corridor. Just beyond this there is another big unutilized space which felt like a dead dance floor because there was nothing withing it to break it up and make it more intimate.

the furniture which has always help break up the space at manbar was lacking (there just wasnt enough of it well enough place) in such a big area.

all in all i was very disapointed having spent many happy nights at the manbar on various nights

but to be contructive rather than just damning- they need a few more walls or curtains to break up space and so that the back corridor doesnt feel like to only cosy space- more furnishings to make spaces more inviting and lose the feel of a school disco.

I will try it again in a few months but at the moment i cant advise anyone to go there and if it doesnt improve i can see them losing a whole swath of customers including myself.

aug 04 2008