Babylon The Joburg Bar

4 Lesego Pitso - 6 months ago

Babylon has been such a great place for my friends and I since turning 18. We’ve been there a couple of times and each time, we had good service, met new people and enjoyed good music along with good vibes. However a week ago my friends and I were turned away because of your new “no under 19s” policy. I know and appreciate the precaution Babylon has took to ensure the safety of their community and customers but since my friends and I have not turned 19, we haven’t found this new policy accommodating. We have waited for so long to turn 18 and start going out, meeting new people and having new experiences and we feel that the opportunity to do that specifically at Babylon has been taken away from us. Babylon is a place where my friends and myself feel safe and express ourselves and different personalities without experiencing any sort of bigotry and homophobia there. I feel that if I can show a valid ID that I am over 18, I should be able to enjoy the safe space provided for the LGBTQ+ and others. Myself and others feel that the place where we feel the most safe and can be ourselves when out is no longer there for us because of events that have happened at other places which end up affecting our chances on going out and enjoying the bar. I ask that you please review this policy and ask that if possible, you return back to “no under 18s”. Thank you.

5 Nazreen Kara - 2 months ago

Some friends and I went to the neon nights event and we had such an amazing time! The DJ was absolutely amazing and when I asked if he could play something by Taylor Swift he had it up on the very next song! The DJ, the bartenders, the guys selling drinks - everyone was so nice and made our experience fantastic. We can't wait to visit again!

3 Davos Sole - 2 months ago

The concept is lovely and I can see how gay youth are attracted to the idea of this place but i must say how disappointing it kinda is to go there.
- the alcohol is unnecessarily expensive. Like I understand clubs markup their prices but y’all mark it up insanelyyyy
- the amount of people let in is kind of dangerous. You can barely move. Without giving 20 random people lap dances.
- the crowd is too straight.
- the music is a bit outdated. I’ve been here twice and the DJ played the same songs from 15 years ago, just in a different order.

1 Lily Griffiths - 3 months ago

I had the worst experience with the manager. He is unprofessional, rude and wouldn't even let me voice my complaint before saying "I'm very busy so get to your point my staff did nothing wrong"
Afterwards, I told him that I don't want to complain I just want to understand why the bouncers are so rude even though I had my ID and was well over age. He started yelling at me and told me to leave.
I've been going to Babylon for 5 years and I will never go again - I hope that whoever hired this man is aware of the egotistic behavior involved in the way he treats customers. It's actually quite sad that a management position at a night club could blind you with such power, maybe a proper candidate should be considered.

1 Jade Caknis - 2 months ago

Rude bouncers, rude door staff, RUDE manager. Unbelievably bad experience. The booths are ridiculously expensive even though they are not private whatsoever and all regular customers who didn’t pay for the booth can just walk in and sit there too. Payed R1500 for a “booth”, which is actually just a small table that supposedly accommodates 8 people, which it would definitely not. Firstly nobody helped us find our booth, we asked staff where it was and we were told they don’t know ???? Once we found the booth, I was told they actually booked out the booth I already payed for in advance to someone else on the night. Then I was made to feel like I was in the wrong, was asked to show proof of payment and proof of me booking the booth. I was then given the “R5000” booth for free, which is literally right next to the R1500 booth, all connected by 1 couch with a few separate tables. Pathetic “VIP” area, pathetic service. Unfortunately after our first time at Babylon, we will never be back.

4 Scott Z - 2 months ago

Definitely one of the best gay bars I've been to internationally. Only thing is it can get overcrowded. Friendly staff. Cheap, strong, drinks. An amazing night in Joburg you won't soon forget. :)

1 Shaylen Naidoo - 2 weeks ago

In my most recent visit (Saturday, 08th October 22), there were way too many bachelorette parties at once and it was extremely overcrowded. However, the highlight of my negative experience that night was how deafeningly loud the music was - my entire group of 13 people all felt the same. Management needs to reconsider how many bachelorette parties they have at a time, and more importantly, how ear-splitting their music is.