Downtown Update: We Peeked Inside

This is the old Angebilt Hotel building along Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando. At the time of this picture Finnhenry’s operated on the ground floor at the north (left) end of the building while a Subway franchise operated on the ground floor at the south (right) end adjacent Wall St. Plaza. Both subsequently closed.
Parlay is supposed to open in the Finnhenry’s space. It’s being advertised as a “sports club concept”. We did not get a peek inside.
In the former Subway space, the windows were wide open. We did get a peek inside!
The bar, to be called The Bellhop (or perhaps stylized as 3ellhop), is described as a coffee lounge by day and an “elevated cocktail bar” at night. We love the look of this mid-20th century hotel lobby with the metal room keys hanging behind the Reception desk. Bar stools will line the bar on either side of this entry.
We’ve previously discussed the closing of Sideshow under new ownership of the Gilt nightclub group.
We got a peek inside here too. You can see its been gutted with the large bar that occupied the center now removed. We read an interview on Bungalower where the new ownership indicated it was being converted into a “high-energy bar with foodservice”. We believe there may be more of a concert hall angle to it given that Gilt is reportedly selling their current land to an apartment complex developer.
Wicked Whiskeys was supposed to open this past Friday night in the former Barbarella/Independent Bar spot but it did not. (Had no idea a toilet was directly above the entrance! Eww, lol.)
We peeked inside here too and could see the old metal dance floor has been removed and the sunken area raised to match the rest of the club. A new wooden floor has been installed. This is supposedly to facilitate the Country line dancing that will soon occur in here. You know you can’t do any Boot Scootin Boogie and have anyone trip on the step! Not shown, but sources say the back bar has been partly removed to facilitate a direct portal into The Patio nightclub which is located behind WW.
Advertising on the window shows the resident DJ’s will be DJ Alex Byrd (USA) on Fridays and DJ Mynd (USA) on Saturdays. In actuality, it will be the other way around. With liquor license paperwork and hay bale delays, the new opening date will be April 22nd or more likely April 29th. Entrance will initially be via The Patio since renovation of the former Barbarella “front room” is likely to take some time.
The Violet Rose has been closed on two weekends we passed by it. The number of previously-failed clubs that were located here include Blue Room, Red Velvet, Voyage, Deja Vu Ultra Lounge, Zen Exotic Lounge, Liquid and most recently the very short-lived Club Ice. It has been beautifully renovated by Violet Rose.
But this is what it looked like when we peeked inside. We believe they’re still operational because their Facebook page advertises Karaoke and Drag shows but it’s odd they would be closed on weekend nights. We’ll keep you updated. And that’s our Downtown Update…..with peeks inside!