18th Street Lounge, Washington DC

The 18th Street Lounge is the mainstay of the D.C. nightlife scene—there's no sign but you’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot the long line outside (on Fridays and Saturdays it winds right around the block). It’s rare that a club manages to stay so hot for so long (the lounge has been going strong since it opened in 1995), but then again, it’s also rare for the owner of a club to become an international music sensation (part-owner Eric Hilton created the band Thievery Corporation with Rob Garza after meeting him at the club in 1996). Maybe the club owes its success to its celebrity owners, but more likely it’s due to the fact that these people take music as seriously as they take atmosphere. 18th Street is one of the best Washington D.C. clubs for good music. A mix of trip-hip, rock, and jazz fuel the party, which unfolds in a red-velvet, chandelier-bedecked, fireplace-and-candle-laced setting on the top three floors of a turn-of-the-century mansion.

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