Stempels (Klokhuisplein 9; 31-23-512-3910; www.stempelsinhaarlem.nl), a hip hotel-restaurant-brasserie-lounge complex, has a little something for everyone, be it grilled bass in hoisin sauce (16 euros), lobster with Dutch asparagus (25 euros) or a nice stiff martini.
The bar of this lodging-and-lounging complex is actually called the Horni Baboon, but locals refer to it as the Lazy Lagoon.
We'd go out to as many clubs as we could in one weekend – the Metalheadz night at Blue Note, places such as the Leisure Lounge and Complex – and come back laden with as many records as we could carry.
It offers amenities that one would find in a high-rise apartment complex: lounges, retail dining, fitness centers, a pool/cabana, a volleyball court, common areas, and more.
Newly christened the Christina O, the ship now has a spa complex, fitness lounge, a mosaic-tiled pool that converts to a dance floor at the touch of a button (the floor rises up), a helicopter landing pad and a lapis lazuli fireplace.
Cheap beer abounds: U Fleků has been brewing for 500 years and the venue's complex of lounges, beer garden and regular live music and cabaret have made it perennially popular.
"I had just finished my lunch when the shells started to land," said Private Kun, one of about a hundred soldiers lounging in the temple complex between battles.
Catch a live act at the funky Brown Sugar (01253 722450), a seafront restaurant, bar and cabaret lounge at the Island entertainment complex in St Anne's-on-Sea with one of the best sea views on the Fylde coast.
For an old-country night out, I watched the aspirants at the Hall of Fame lounge and the Broken Spoke, a complex in a Ramada Inn consisting of a bar and a songwriters' cafe.
If you can snatch a cab — not always easy in this city — head over to C Union (115 Shuiyin Road 86-20-8704-7357 86-20-8704-7357 86-20-8704-7357 86-20-8704-7357fice complex and outfitted with ratty couches and tables of popular.
