Nana: Hollywood Carousel & Pretty Lady

Excerpts and Comments on Bangkok’s Nightlife
By Stickman, Bangkok Bad Boy, and Dave the Rave

Hollywood Carousel:
Located on the top floor of Nana Plaza, directly above Angelwitch, this is one of the larger gogo bars I’ve seen. Part of the Hollywood chain, the Carousel part of the name comes from the two large circular rotating stages - alternately featuring either masses of girls doing the chrome-pole-shuffle, or a couple of girls performing racy shows.
Whilst the girls weren’t on the level, attractiveness-wise, of say Angelwitch, the shows were still pretty impressive. One began with a girl throwing a bucket of ice cubes over the stage, with two girls then waltzing onto the stage to play with them. In bikinis. They must have been very cold, is all I’m saying.
There’s a third stage above the bar, where four or so girls dance in a narrow cage. Chang was just ฿95 (US $2.55) a bottle, very agreeable. Other beers were ฿125 (US $3.35) though, with lady-drinks priced about the same.
If you can haul yourself up two flights of stairs in one evening, then it’s certainly worth a visit - the quality of girls was very decent overall, although both ends of the scale were certainly covered! Cheap beer, entertaining shows, and the bar’s big enough that you’ll rarely struggle to find a seat.


Pretty Lady (formerly Bottoms Up) at Nana:
(Closed again. No word on when it'll re-open.)
Located on the ground floor of Nana Plaza, about half-way along the left-hand side, Pretty Lady has apparently just re-opened. I wandered in for the first time last night, found a free table in the corner, and ordered a Singh (฿120)(US $3.22). Within seconds I had a rather attractive girl sat in my lap trying to put her tongue in my mouth. Which was nice, if a little startling.
Seconds later she was, of course, demanding a lady-drink, and as this was strictly a research mission I had to shoo her away. She was replaced by a colleague within seconds. This girl asked whether I had been to the bar before - I told her I hadn’t. She laughed at me, picked up my drink, cigarettes, bar bill, and beckoned me towards the centre stage. “You need to sit by the stage”, she said. Confused, I did so.
And then I understood. The girls here dance in very short, loose skirts. The surface around the stage is mirrored. A few of the girls wear underwear, but most do not. Now I understood why none of the men sat around the stage were looking up at the girls - they were all admiring the view in the mirror. And there was me thinking they were all staring into their beer like miserable pubgoers in the UK…

There are actually two stages - one along the left-hand wall and one in the centre of the bar. The girls dancing on the centre stage seemed far more lively to me, so this is the place to sit.
The music was lively dance rather than the all-too-common techno dirge, the beer price high but average for Nana, and the quality of the girls was very good indeed. The only downside is the immediate hassle for lady-drinks, but this is hardly the only bar in Bangkok where that’s a problem.
Overall, if you’ve got the willpower to say no to attractive but pushy girls (at least until you’ve found the one you want), you can have a great time here - recommended.