Clermont Lounge

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The Clermont Lounge is Atlanta's first and longest continually-operating strip club, opened in 1965. Located in the basement of the Clermont Motor Hotel at 789 Ponce De Leon Avenue, the Clermont has survived multiple attempts at being closed by the Atlanta city government, and has established a nationwide reputation for its kitschy atmosphere and unusual dancers. The Clermont has been featured on an episode of Insomniac with Dave Attell, and celebrities including Marilyn Manson and Kid Rock have been known to visit the Clermont when in Atlanta. Visitors to the Clermont usually alternate between a few handfuls of regulars and large numbers of college students, newcomers to town, and tourists lured in by tales of the Clermont's myriad charms.

The Clermont does not serve food or draft beer. The single stripper's stage is located in the middle of a circular bar, and the dancers choose their own songs on the in-house jukebox, as the club normally does not have an actual DJ. The Clermont is perhaps best-known for featuring dancers who do not meet the traditional physical standards for strippers, the most famous of which is Blondie, notable for her ability to completely flatten empty beer cans between her breasts.

[edit] History

The Clermont Motor Hotel was originally an apartment building after its construction, but was later renovated to a hotel format. An early advertisement for a nightclub in the basement space is dated 1947 and the club was the "Anchorage Club". Later tenants included the "Gypsy Club" (c. 1951-1954), and "The Continental Room" (1954) before returning to the Anchorage name from about 1956 until 1963, when it was briefly known as the "Atlanta Playboy Club", an unofficial attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Hugh Hefner's magazine. A lawsuit closed the Atlanta Playboy Club. By 1965, the "Jungle Club" opened its doors within the Clermont Hotel. In 1968, the "Clermont Lounge" opened for business and has remained in place ever since. The entire building was sold to new owners in 2003, although as of the posting of this article, it remains unclear what, if any, changes they plan to make.