Of course by now everyone has heard about the notorious Riga stripclub scams which have plagued Riga for a long time……… but we are happy to say that the government has finally cracked down on the scam cubs and run them out of business or else harassed them to the point that they are no longer ripping anyone off. More importantly the government has established a new Tourism Police whose sole purpose is to to protect tourists from scams in Riga. The old days of the police not helping are gone. Now if you have any problem you can call the tourism police at +371 67181818 and you can be certain that they will assist you. If you prefer not to deal with the police directly when you have a problem then the largest nightlife tourism operator in Riga has established a tourism hotline at +371 29553329 and they will assist you with any problem you have free of charge! They can coordinate with the tourism police if necessary or else they will just work out your problem using their locale expertise.

Either option is very good and you can now enjoy Riga’s spectacular nightlife and beautiful girls confident that you will not have any problems or nasty surprises. It has taken a long time but they have finally cleaned up the underbelly of Riga’s nightlife and now the town is back to being a great place to go for a sexy good time!

(Update April 2010!!! The old days of the police not helping in Riga are gone. Now if you have any problem you can call the tourism police at +371 67181818 and you can be certain that they will assist you. See this post for more details!)

If you have read our post about the various Riga Strip Club scams then you already know to stay out of most of the stripclubs in Riga. Now the US embassy has come out with a blacklist of the clubs which have robbed American tourists in Riga. It is good to use as a guide although the list is not comprehensive.

You can see the updated list here: US Embassy Riga Clubs Blacklist.

Here is the current list as of May, 2010:

Angels - Elizabetes 22, Riga

Babylon (formerly Roxy Klub) – Kalku 24, Riga; located near the entrance to Old Town on Kalku street.

Livu Krodzins Bar/Pizzeria (formerly Lord’s Pub, Groks Pub, and Royal Pub) - Kalku 22, Riga; located next door to Babylon (formerly Roxy Klub).

Red Lion Pub (formerly Saxon) – Laipu 7, Riga; located near Livu Square in a small street to the right of restaurant Steiku Haoss.

Infinity Bars (formerly Bar Fly) – Vagnera 8, Riga; located near Livu Square in a small street to the right of Babylon (formerly Roxy), Royal (formerly Lord’s and Groks) and Enigma (formerly Puzzle and Pink Panther).

Mary – Audeju 13, Riga; located on the east side of Galleria Center Mall in Old Town.

Enigma (formerly Puzzle and Pink Panther) – Kalku 22, Riga; located next door to Royal (formerly Lord’s Pub and Groks Pub).

Kapsula Bar (formerly Zephyr Bar) – Audeju, Riga; located near Galleria Center in Old Town.

Monroe’s Nightclub – Skarnu 7, Riga; located behind Indian Raja.

We have also had numerous bad reports about the following:

Caprice (formerly Cognac bar) - 1/3 Baznicas, Riga Centre.

Flames - on Kalku in Old Town.

Blow (formerly Kleopatra) - Stabu 15, Riga Centre.

Brilliant - 9 Blaumana, Riga Centre.

Extreme - 37 K. Valdermara, Riga Centre.

Royal Source - 14 Marstalu in Old Town.

Hostel Pub - 12 Teātra in Old Town.

As we have stated in previous warnings if you go into any of these clubs you will be robbed. We have had reports of people losing as much as 5,000 EUR!!! If you are not sure about a club do not go in!

(Update April 2010!!! The old days of the police not helping in Riga are gone. Now if you have any problem you can call the tourism police at +371 67181818 and you can be certain that they will assist you. See this post for more details!)

Unfortunately some people are still failing to heed the warnings and getting ripped off at strip clubs in Riga. Please check out our Riga Stripclubs Warning page for more information. Our most recent horror story is one gentlemen who was charged 8000 Ls for four bottles of champagne!!!! A few weeks ago it was another group of four Brits who were charged 5000 Euros each on their credit cards!

If you must go into to one of these clubs only bring a small amount of cash and leave your credit and bank cards in your hotel! If you are going out drinking in Riga in general that is probably good advice.

You can also see more information about this problem on the BBC Website here. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT go into strip clubs in Riga unless you are accompanied by someone who can make sure you don’t get ripped off. We recommend a well known nightlife tour agency like our sponsors Nightlife In Riga.

(July 2009 Update: We have had some recent negative reports from the Jockey Club and Sin City that the quality of dancers has gotten very bad. Unfortunately at this time we have to say that no strip club in Riga lives up to Western standards in terms of quality and price.)

If you have read our post Riga Strip Club Warnings then you know about the many pitfalls you need to avoid with strip clubs in Riga. Unfortunately given the situation, there are only two strip clubs we can recommend where you will not get ripped off: Sin City which is located on Dzirnavu 87/89 in the Centre and the Jockey Club which is located on Elizabetes 49 next to the Reval Hotel Latvia. Both of these clubs are expensive but all prices are posted in the menu and there are no unexpected charges (of course like everywhere in Riga, drinks purchased for entertainers are much more expensive so check the menu carefully!).

The best way to visit either one of these clubs is too arrange for VIP access with a nightlife tour operator. For more information check out our sponsors Nightlife In Riga. Before you consider visiting any of the other strip clubs in Riga please see our Riga Strip Clubs Warning page first!

(Update April 2010!!! The old days of the police not helping in Riga are gone. Now if you have any problem you can call the tourism police at +371 67181818 and you can be certain that they will assist you. See this post for more details!)

Unfortunately most strip clubs in Riga are set up to squeeze the most money out of you in the shortest period of time. They will try to lure you in with the promise of a free drink but once you are inside you will find yourself quickly set upon by a few pretty girls who will chat you up and try to get you to order for them as many drinks as possible. Be very careful as these drinks for the girls can sometimes cost as much as 30 to 50 Ls each!!! Typically after about 1 hour you will have spent 300 Lats and not have received even so much as one lap dance for you trouble!

Especially avoid the “Private Rooms”! It is very typical for the girls to try to talk you into a private room for a “special show.” Most often you will get nothing “special” but it is quite common for the girl to set an open bottle of champagne on the table as part of the “party”. Only later do you find out that you are being charged as much as 2000 Ls for the bottle!!!! This is very common scam unfortunately. If you refuse to pay the club will call the police who will force you to pay. Do not expect the police to help you in Riga! They quite often have a mutually beneficial “arrangement” with the strip clubs and they will be happy to beat you up to get you to pay the 2000 Ls bill!!!

We have first hand accounts of this kind of thing happening in many clubs. Particularly avoid the strip clubs in Old Town Riga!!! These are the most notorious for these kinds of scams. If you enter one of these clubs you will be robbed!

In general it is best to avoid the strip clubs altogether unless you have someone with connections at the club to assure that you do not get the “tourists” treatment. For these kinds of events or Stag parties it is best to book a party through a legitimate tour operator who can make sure you don’t get robbed.

See our most recent update for the latest info about specific clubs that are ripping off tourists in Riga.