Best clubs bar none

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, predicted in 2006 that the future of consumption would be one of 'freemium' - while most basic services would be free, we would be paying for a value-added alternative. Anderson was talking about the Web and media businesses, but the premise also applies to Hong Kong's bar scene.

In the same year, M1NT was established on Hollywood Road. It made a name for itself as one of Hong Kong's most desirable nightclubs. Basic membership was about HK$4,800, but member-shareholders - by invitation only - paid from HK$50,000 to HK$500,000. Crowds of non-members would wait outside the door in the hope of entry.

Four years later, the venue has become home to Republik. Like most bars there are no barriers to entry, but Republik still has a membership scheme. But instead of paying for the right to enter, punters pay to get a better deal.

Members of Republik pay HK$7,500 per year for a privilege card and, in return, they are offered 15 per cent off the bar price, a bottle of champagne upon signing up and another on their birthday. Crucially, though, that is not a fee pocketed by the club - it is bar credit. The HK$7,500 is entirely consumable.

'Traditionally, people would pay for membership because there was intrinsic value in membership itself,' explains Nick Willshire, founder of Hush, one of Central's newest bars, which also employs a 'freemium' system of membership. Members could get into their favourite club easily, he says, and could feel like they were a part of the venue. As a former Morgan Stanley employee who had memberships to clubs in Central because of the position he held, Willshire explains the intrinsic value that memberships carry. 'There's an added self-esteem boost of being part of an exclusive, or invitation-only, members' club. And a lot of times, guys use the fact that they have memberships to make themselves more attractive to girls.'

Andrew Lewis, director of Republik and co-founder of the venue's previous incarnation, M1NT, says this kind of membership served a crucial purpose at the time. Being a traditional members' bar allows the venue to portray itself as exclusive, and to attract high-net-worth individuals. Such clientele aren't interested in sharing a bar with '18-year-old kids drinking buckets of beer', he says.