Layla Lounge

Despite the negative reviews, I had a great time with my friends. I was here for a special event and supporting local DMV artists. Ground level is very trendy and more open space. Second floor is kinda of small. The Stage should be a little more elevated. The DJ was flowing throughout the night but at times it went in and out. Though this place could use more TLC and a few renovations here and there.

I was lured to Layla by the promises of no cover, open bar, and free drinks. The website looked nice and they had pictures of various celebrities. You fooled me once, shame on you. However I was very disappointed and will not be fooled into visiting this place again. ATMOSPHERE: Place was overcrowded, I'm pretty sure it was above capacity. Parking was around the closed business and I felt uneasy about leaving the car in a sketchy looking neighborhood. Several people were smoking, but the place was so packed, I'm pretty sure the bouncers had a hard time figuring out who. Also a fight broke out and there was one person creating waves in the crowd by people getting pushed cause the place was so packed. Bouncer had a hard time trying to get them out. NO COVER: There was no cover before 12am, but their ended up being a long line. They came around saying if you pay $10 you can jump the line. One of the door men also lied and said that there was plenty of seats inside. The only seats they have are for bottle service and they will make you move if you sit down without getting bottle service. OPEN BAR: Open bar until 12 am, but the line was wide & long. This place was already packed like sardines and people are supposed try to stand in a line. I didn't even bother. People kept saying the drinks were watered down severely. FREE FOOD: They also said they had free food for the first hour. A hostess walked around with a tray of wings, which probably rubbed on several people's arm as the place was so packed. If you were lucky you got 1 small drumette wing. Most people did not get any wings at all. Most people started to leave after the free drinks ended. Pros:It looks really nice and well-designed inside. That's all I can say.Cons: *False promotional enticements to get you to come out. *If you don't pay the $10 to jump the line you will be standing outside a long time. I didn't see that line moving at all. *Shady looking around the building and limited parking. *The bus stop is not close for women who like to wear heels, also don't expect to have anywhere to sit to rest your tired feet either. *ALL THE ONES LISTED ABOVE.

I was truly disappointed.Let me first start by saying that the only reason my boyfriend and I decided to give this lounge a try is because we were given V.I.P. passes. The passes were supposed to allow us entrance to the club, free of charge, before 12am. We arrived at the location at 11pm and approached the entrance to what appeared to be utter chaos. At first glance, there were multiple lines being formed. The first thing I noticed was that there was a line wrapped around the building. The second thing that I noticed was a secondary line, which moved at a rapid pace - I thought to myself, surely, this must be the V.I.P. line - so, we waited for about 5 minutes. We gave our passes to the bouncer, who then refused them, and points out that the line we belonged in was the one that wrapped around the building, and that if we wanted to "cut" we would have to pay $10 for me and $20 for my boyfriend. The most disappointing part of this experience is how Layla Lounge does business. Do not false advertise and promote your business if you aren't going to uphold your promotions. It's almost as if they handed their club promoters passes to distribute just to get people to come out and wait in line all night, knowing very well that by the time they do actually start honoring the promotion would be well after it expired. What type of bad business is that? Needless to say, I'm sure the inside of this establishment is nice, once you get inside. We opted not to waste our money, and went to U Street instead. I recommend anyone else to do the same. By the time we left it was 12am and the "V.I.P." line didn't move an inch. Bottom line is there are much nicer establishments with far superior practices than this one, for about the same price.

As I have lived in the DMV area forever, I have never been to Layla Lounge until recent. It seems that it is under new ownership and management. I can remember when Layla first opened I always heard really good things about it, but that doesn't matter as I never went there then. So, anyway fast forward to present day....I visited the lounge on a Friday night, I think it was just a regular party night, not any particular event. When I first walked in I was really impressed with the design and layout. It is very modern and chic, lighting was great not too dim or too bright. You know you can always tell a place by how the bathroom is, well, the bathrooms were very clean with enough mirrors to take selfies!! Also, they were updated as well. I sat at the bar as I waited for my friend to come and join me. I had a chilled Patron mixed with some type of juice. It was not watered down and appropriately measured, no problem with that. Reasonably priced as far as liquor goes. I saw there was a menu so I took a gander at that and questioned myself if I really needed to eat anything after 12 am??? (ya'll know what I'm talking about) Of course I did!! I needed something to soak up my dranks, cause I knew there would be more. The menu wasn't long, but enough choices for the late night. I got the BBQ wings, they came out very hot and were nice & meaty! Yassss, and the taste was awesome. I didn't eat them all and they gave me a to go container which I was glad cause I do not like wasting food at all. It was a good treat for me to eat in the a.m. As the night went on more people came in to party, it was a nice size crowd, not very packed so I wasn't feeling cramped. The DJ played great music so that wasn't boring. I also saw a few people celebrating birthdays with lighted bottles, sparklers and cake..(friends take note of how to surprise me ok?) that was nice to see. My overall experience was very pleasant and I do plan to go back as I see they have different events posted and I also need to try everything on the menu :-P

I was sent an invite via email for open bar and free food before 12.... Me and my girl arrived at 10pm since the open bar ended at 11 and the food was free from 11 to 12... We were first in line but had to stand outside and wait 30 extra minutes for the staff to arrive... The woman who frisked me made me feel violated so needless to say THAT will never happen again because I will not patronize this business...

I came to this club for a New Year's event. Not sure what happened, but I'm very disappointed in the organizers and the club. I paid for VIP, but was left standing outside in the cold for an hour. Where were all the things promised - open bar? buffet? Goodie bag? Why was the 2nd floor closed? It feels like the club double booked the event and pushed us to the side. I left early with the hopes of salvaging my night - and my frozen toes!

I'm not sure why the previous review aren't as good! But when I went I had a fantastic time! The staff was fantastic -- the music was great and the price was extremely reasonable. Kudos to the staff there because I ended up losing my phone and the staff recovered it, gave it to the club owner - who then went out of his way to make sure I get it back. I'm so thankful and I would highly recommend Layla Lounge if you want to have a good time! Thanks a million.

This was the worse experience ever!! Me and my girls decided to check this spot out for Howard's homecoming. After learning that they would have open bar and free food we were excited to go. We were so disappointed. When I say this place was a hot ghetto and ratchet mess I am not lying. We waited in line for an hour and 30 minute. During that time we watched the bouncer be rude to people and making up random prices like 30 and 50 dollars to get in even though they advertised that ladies free all night and men free until midnight. He also cursed out and was about to fight some guys in the line, granted these guys were looking for a fight but he was not able to address it a professional manner. The crowd looked really young and some looked liked they just rolled out of bed. If you are looking for a mature crowd, not the crowd. So we finally get to the front of the line almost 2 hours later, they held the line so long and for no reason that we missed the open bar. Then the bouncer tells my friend that she already used her ticket when clearly we had been in line the whole time. He told me that he could not scan my ticket because my screen was too dark, never had this issue before. Once we entered there was no food and the first floor was packed and they would not open the second floor to allow for more room. Please do yourself a favor and stay far away or come at your own risk. This was on a Friday night, so I am not sure how it is on other nights.

Never will I ever go back to this terrible place, I stood in line for 45min all because they want to encouraged you to pay extra and cut the line. Ladies were free till 12am and I honestly believe they made us stand in line to reach 12am then on top of all that I got felt up as if I was entering a prison. The guard took everything out of my purse then she felt all up in my bra under my butt then told me to spread my leg and checked my vagina. After that I couldn't even enjoy myself so I left. No one should be subject to this foolery they don't even deserve one star.

They completely ruined my birthday and humiliated my husband and I. We received a text for a free Birthday table. I won the table stood outside for 2 hours then I was told we do not have free tables. When I spoke to the promoter he told us to go back but after the staffs treatment toward us we were too embarrassed to do so. Stay away from this place. They sent me 2 emails directly from their email acknowledging the free table but once we got to the door we were told tables are $80 and they are not giving me my birthday table.Not to mention I had a guest list of 14 people I had to tell not to come I am still in literal tears as I type....