The building on Bryan Street which serves as the new home of The Factory (formerly The Club, moved from Hillcrest Street) has had a bit of a chequered past. Back in the days of The Place, it was Rosies - that slightly dodgy side bit with a bit of a mixed following. Since then, it's been home to Terrazza, Coco's and the Voodoo Lounge...all with limited, short-lived success. So we have to admit to being a bit dubious as to whether The Factory could pull it off.

Well, after the opening night, I'm pleased to announce...yes, it can. It's not quite finished yet - the toilets are still painted in the black and red of the Voodoo Lounge, and the stairway down to the ground floor toilets are in dire need of a bucket of Neutradol - but it's definitely taking shape. To the managements credit, the shortfalls were made clear to everyone on the way in, and at least all the toilets were functional - more than we could say for the Voodoo Lounge in its day.

On entering The Factory, you're greeted with a large bar, clean, light decor, and a reasonable amount of comfy seating. If you get there after a certain time, you'll have to pay to get in, but that's no different to The Club, and is to be expected since there's now no seperate 'pub' area which closes when the club opens. Instead, the downstairs area can be considered a hybrid of The Three Tuns and Bar2 in The Club - busy until the upstairs club opens, then more of a chilled out area.

Regulars to The Club can expect the same atmosphere, staff and general friendliness they've been used to. The only thing we really miss is the outdoor smoking area. There's a balcony upstairs that you can take drinks onto, but its a bit cramped, and definitely not for vertigo sufferers. There are other, unused fire exits which would make perfect additional smoking areas, but as it stands, the only option with a decent amount of space is to leave your drinks inside and go onto the street to smoke. The downside with this is the amount of traffic coming down Bryan Street, which doesn't tend to make allowances for people crossing over to sit on the wall. Also, you're sharing with the walk-by customers for the strip club next door, which has potential to be interesting. We are reliably informed that the smoking areas are going to be addressed over the coming weeks, so we're looking forward to seeing the changes.

Overall, we're massively impressed - The Club management have done a superb job of decorating the place, and the results shine through. We love it, and if you liked The Club, we're pretty sure you will too.