Touch Lounge - Sat April 30, 2005

499 King St West, at Brant Street

The space was originally intended for Mitsubishi, but when the appeal of having a lounge in the space surfaced, the owners redesigned this car ‘garage’ to accommodate. Touch has great potential to be an events club and has a space at the back that would make for an exclusive VIP or private lounge.

Anyhoo, so much for the almost car dealership now turned lounge… a la IKEA. Yes, Ikea furniture can be seen strewn across this space, even down to the lights hanging from the ceiling and the black $29.99 lounge tables. Touch is a wide space with a very lofty feel, curtained off VIP booths, elevated seated lounge spaces, projected images onto large screen TV's, and a huge open dance floor. The bar, however is to the very back and can be almost inaccessible due to the throng of bodies one must navigate to get there. The ceiling is very high, and therefore the music in this space reverberates like mad. You feel the beat everywhere but your chest. The DJ does not have much space to work with and the booth looks almost like an after thought. I do like the curtained off tent like structures in the outside courtyard for a few of ones closest friends. However, you have to navigate (again) through the smoking crowd stationed at the inside entrance before you can get to the courtyard.

Lastly, the women's washrooms are lacking and atrocious. The doors and handles fit incorrectly, and one feels like they are in a luxury outhouse. They even have the nerve to employ a washroom hostess in such a paltry pee area. We left this space after an hour or so and headed for Cache Lounge.

Scale of 0-10 (10 being the best)
Music - 4 People - 5 Ambiance - 6 Love factor - 5