Sanctuary

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary! Phew, I love this place. I could dance all night here which makes me think of one of my favorite songs to groove to…“I drove alllllllllll night” and my other favorite «get low». Yeah, Elsie can get low. Clean, awesome atmosphere and a nonstop dance partay. Put your hands in the air if you wanna dance. Hands up!.

So this place didn’t look like it was going to be that fun when we got there. Maybe it was a slower night! But this ended up being the best dance experience of our girls trip weekend! The guys that were there kept us on the dance floor! We will always choice the Sanctuary as our Friday night Spanish dance spot when in town!!!

Bachata. Meringue. Salsa. Strictly pretty much. Smh. No reggaeton n other mix genres? But fun though. All different ages. Pretty small. Its like above a restaurant i think so wut u expect. Dancing dancing. Mixedddd crowwdddd. Didnt expect that. It was fun. $ 10 i believe. No ramos, aventura? Lol. Wheres the other latin clubs tho. Went on a friday night.

I am one of those individuals who loves to dance and coming here regularly for two years has greatly improved my dancing confidence and style ! Great music and intimate setting !! I’m so happy it’s smoke free ;)

$ 10.00 cover, $ 9.00 cocktails (served in a plastic cup) and the place was freezing. Not a fan, we won’t be going back.

This place really sucks. This was my third time here. The first time was great. It was packed. I had a lot of friends with me and we danced the night away. The second time I came here, it was empty. We got here around 11pm and waited until 1am, and only about 5 people walked in. Nobody danced and the place was pretty much dead. The third time, same thing. We came this past Saturday night and it was dead. We paid $ 10 to get in (they have cover charge both guys and girls). There were about 10 people, all sitting on the couches upstairs, and no one danced. The music was great, but it was pretty much dead. Also, everyone smokes inside this place, including the security/​bouncer guys.

Pretty fun place. $ 10 cover charge and enough areas to dance in. The drinks are small but strong. Everyone is friendly and the regulars dance all night. The music is decent, but seems to be one genre, but hey it works– everyone keeps dancing. The parking was not an issue for us as we arrived around 10:30.

I went for the first time last night and had a great experience. It’s a great place to show off your salsa, merengue and bachata moves, although salsa and bachata were definitely the favored music. Lots of couples dancing and showing off their talent, so you don’t have to feel self-​conscious if you aren’t the best dancer because you can hide in the crowd ;-)
Cover was $ 10 for both men and women. Parking wasn’t difficult to find around 10 at night in a safe neighborhood, the people at the door were professional and friendly, the place itself was clean, cool temperature-​wise, clean bathrooms, and great bar service. The people there were dressed in all sorts of salsa gear, from jeans and button downs to dresses and short shorts. It seemed there was a good proportion of men to women dancers, so I will definitely be back.

Completely with Ai T. They have a cool beginner’s class at 9 on Fridays upstairs in which you get to meet and dance with your fellow beginners. Everyone’s friendly and ready to dance, and the experienced ladies were very patient with my modest skills. Don’t miss the class!
Ricky B. is right about the strings of songs being of one genre, but that was a minor setback for me.

A small group of us (1 guy, 3 girls) went for the Salsa lesson and dance last Friday. Parking was easy — big bonus for a location in Buckhead! I parked right in front of the club, so I didn’t even have to take my jacket inside :)
We all had so much fun throughout the night. Everyone was so friendly and polite. (they don’t sneak up on you!) It’s nonsmoking, so I went home still smelling pretty good :) They had enough chairs and sofas, so we were able to sit down to rest our feet and chat when not dancing. We will be going back again for sure!

Went here on two back to back Friday’s and to be honest I wasn’t all that impressed. I went back the second time to make sure that what I experienced the first time wasn’t a fluke.
The place itself is pretty nice. The décor is somewhere betweeen casual and upscale. Very nice people in attendance and some great dancers.
So, I guess your wondering now why I rated this place so low after saying all of this. Well, here is why:
The place really needs to think about getting a new DJ. A salsa DJ understands that you spin salsa, merengue, and cha cha much differently than you would hip hop, top 40 or other genres of music. You play a song from beginning to end, then there should be a two to three second pause between songs. You NEVER mix or blend songs. Every song has an ending and as a dancer you prepare for that ending and await it with an ending move… one designed to put the exclamation point on the dance. After the song has ended their should be a pause which allows you to thank your partner for the dance and move to the next dance partner. This is something that hardcore dancers understand and why they make the best dj’s.
The music selection was uninspired to say the least. The DJ hammered us with 5 salsa songs, 5 bachata songs, 5 merengue songs then started over again with 5 salsa songs, 5 bachata songs, 5 merenge songs. There was not thought put into it at all. Good DJ’s keep it interesting varying the length of each set and mixing it up.
I’m sure that someone will disagree but let the fact that at 11pm there were a lot of people standing around looking at their watches. At 12 am the place began to clear out. By 12:30, when I left, there weren’t that many people left and a lot of others were leaving with me.

The best place for Salsa or Bachata on Friday. The ambiance is perfect for dancing, and there are a lot of regulars and enough parking if you get there early. If you come here for a few weeks, you will know most of the people and that’s a plus when you are a beginner.
The free classes are worth it, even for intermediate dancers (two levels). The dance floor does not get crowded until 11. Please be advised that you WILL get stepped on if you dance enough, so the ladies should consider closed toed shoes. Ladies, if you stand around the dance floor, you will definitely be asked to dance. As for the guys, almost all the women say yes to a dance here, so this is a good place to start practicing what you have learned.
The drinks are good, and reasonably priced (mostly). The bartender is always friendly. It is not too dressy, as most people come to dance and have a good time.

Had a great time. I took the beginners’ lesson and the instructor, Myron, was fun, patient, and knowledgable.
Someone mentioned that it’s free before 10-​not true. $ 10 cover. This is reasonable, considering that dance lessons are much more expensive. The crowd was great and consisted of people of all levels. Just watching the advanced dancers is worth the cover. They are amazing.
Caveat: The class opened with one of the instructors telling us how amazing the authentic mojitos were. Not so. I watched the bartender make them. It was premix and tasted average. Strong, but not worth $ 8. The other drink prices were reasonable.
Parking is free and located just outside.

Para el bailador es perfecto… Buena salsa y las bebidas son a precios modicos. Definitivamente una visita para el que le gusta salir a bailar.

If you love to salsa, this is the place to go. I attend on Fridays. Most of the people there are regulars, so it’s great to see a familiar face. Drinks are not brought on the dance floor (for those of you with dance shoes).
Lessons start at 9 PM. You may choose from beginner’s or intermediate/​advanced class. I love that there is plenty of FREE parking in their private lot. Entry is free before 10 PM.
There is plenty of seating if you want to take a break. Oh and it is SMOKE FREE!
Overall, the vibe is awesome. You don’t have to worry about a huge crowd and no roome to dance. See y’all Friday!

Cute club, decent priced drinks, lots of hotties.

as good as it gets for salsa regulars on Fridays
free classes 9 – 10 (beginner and intermediate)
ladies free before 10pm
free parking! (yes, in buckhead)
Most people go there to dance,
so it’s not your typical night club, on average it’s an older crowd
and people behave: no drunks, no puking in the bathrooms (unlike Havana)
Batenders are real nice. Drinks are not overpriced.
On Fridays it’s all salsa, merengue and bachata
If you don’t know how to dance somebody will teach you (or many somebodies — just keep coming back)
the only thing they could do away with is the smoking inside

I had a great time here Friday, Latin night. I got there in time for beginners salsa. The instructor was really good. The crowd was fun. The more experienced dancers enjoyed showing you the ropes.
Make sure to get there early because parking is limited. I really like the location, very quaint. The drinks are a bit pricey though.

I liked this place. I agree with what everyone has said so far. It is small enough to be «special» but big enough that you don’t feel like everyone is watching you. The DJ that was there was the same one that does the latin night at Tongue and Groove (which means nothing to me).
It is sort of in a weird little shopping center. The good thing is that there are about 25 – 30 free parking spaces which is a cool thing for buckhead area.
The basic class is really basic. Which I needed. You learn the basic step, right turn, left turn, and a pass through.
Note to girls, if you wear a dress make sure it has some weight on it because they have fans going which can result in the skirt being further up than you would like for it to be.

Sanctuary is a great latin club for beginning Salsa dancers, but also isn’t so over crowded that experienced dancers can’t spread out a bit and enjoy themselves.
The club is 2 levels, though the bottom level mainly houses a smaller tile floor room that is good for practicing or sitting away from the music to enjoy some quiet time.

There is a free salsa class from 9−10pm. Usually there is a beginner class upstairs on the main dancefloor, and an intermediate class downstairs in the smaller room.
This isn’t some sort of intimate, quiet latin type of place. It gets very hot because the dancefloor is upstairs, the music is loud and there is club style lighting. The floor is in great condition.
That said, the overall vibe of the club is relaxed, it is not a very «showy» type of dance place, as there are all levels of dancers here from total beginners to advanced.
The pina coladas are the best in town, and go down way too easy.
Be aware Friday night is the Salsa night at Sanctuary and Saturday night is gay night, which does play salsa, merengue, etc. but also alot of reggaeton– probably not the best night for you to take your significant other for a romantic night of learning to salsa dance.

My friend Egan really wanted to go Salsa dancing on friday after work, so I made Joel research and find a place for us to go to dance it out. What he came up with was Sanctuary, this place off West Paces Ferry, kinda behind East Andrews in the buckhead area. $ 10 gets you admission into the club from 10 – 3, as well as a dance lesson from 9 – 10. Now, I have never been salsa dancing before and Egan’s been a couple times, so we decided to bring her boyfriend Q along for the adventure.
When you first walk in, you immediately see this staircase and multicolored «strobe» lighting pulsating to the upbeat music. Walk up the stairs and to the left is the dance floor, where couples swish and twirl and somehow manage to keep rhythm without bumping into other couples. The bar is on the opposite end of the floor, serving an extensive array of alcoholic beverages including mexican beer, namely Dos Equis which is my beer of choice. I must admit, it’s a little intimidating walking into a club like this, because everyone on the dance floor is GOOD! Not like Julianne Hough from Dancing with the Stars good, but good enough to know what they’re doing. I quickly learned that I have limited coordination in trying to stay in tune with the beat, while dancing in heels but all in all I had a great time.
One last thing, the music is NEVER-​ENDING — meaning it plays in one long set like if you were at a techno club. It’s hard to tell when a song changes, you just notice the people around you start changing up their «style» of dancing and twirl in a different direction. So if you get stuck dancing with someone you’re really not that into, don’t wait until the end of the song cause you might not know when it is.

If you like to salsa dance, this club is the best I know of in Atlanta.