Music: Plays everything present on a classic highschool girls spotify playlist. Played«Dear Future Husband«when I was there this summer. People: Bunch of loud 18 – 20 year olds wearing barely any clothing, exposing their underwear constantly, and lying drunk on the floor after 2am… Not to mention how they constantly take selfies… Price: It is over the top expensive!!! Don’t even bother going there if you have anything less than 100quid. But… Besides all these things the thing that bothered me the most was the fact that 5 girls who weren’t 18 and in the queue literally infront of us were talking about how they hope they wouldn’t get ID’d so they’d get in. One of the girls even said she wore a push up bra and heels to look older. Pathetic. Anyway surprisingly all 5 of these 16⁄17 year old girls got in pretending they were with the group infront of them just casually walking behind them, they did not even get ID’d!!! When we told the bouncers at the door that the girls that just got in were under age… They said there was nothing they could do as they already got in, and it would be impossible to track them now. This got me really mad! They didn’t even try to find the girls… Later on that night I saw one of the girls sick in the toilets. It was not pleasant seeing a 16 year old drunk girl in a club full of 18 – 20 year olds… They’re still only kids you know!!! Anyway the only pros I can think off is that the place has a very elite group of people in it at all times, mostly people in uni, who went to private schools if you know what I mean… Which is something I like in a club personally. There’s barely any stolen phones or purses. It is great fun with friends as I used to come here all the time when I was 18. It is generally very clean and organised compared to other nightclubs and the lighting creates a good atmosphere although can get very crowded and sticky on special nights.
Lorraine H.
Tu valoración: 1 Whitecraig, United Kingdom
This place is a farce, you get told min spend £150 then get charged £170, then get told I will bring your complimentary drinks to you but don, t tell you it’s only the mixers that are complimentary the bottle of vodka they bring you costs £140, so beware of the way they word things to you, if you go for the absolute vodka that will set you back £110 so very expensive night. These prices totally ruined our night.
Joanne
Tu valoración: 5 Jedburgh, United Kingdom
I am a student in Edinburgh and WhyNot is my favourite club. Everyone on here seems to be talking about the club on Friday or Saturday and not rating it too highly Well that’s because they’ve been there on the wrong night! We students all know that the best night for this club is by far a Monday! Its busy, the drinks are cheap and they play all the songs you want to hear for a great night out!
Louise
Tu valoración: 5 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
been a couple of saturday nights and it is great, cheap drink and amazing atmosphere and music
Michelle C.
Tu valoración: 2 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
My night here was so strange and disjointed, I had a really hard time enjoying myself. There were definite positives to the experience: there was no line, seeing as it wasn’t term time, at £4, guest list entry was half price(could you even imagine paying £8?!), the DJ played more than standard club hits, and for £6, a certain drink of theirs will get you thoroughly sloshed. However… That certain drink of theirs? It is a bag of vodka. I kid you not, I was served a plastic bag with five shots of vodka and a splash of cranberry juice. I guess the wait at the bar is long enough that serving such an atrocity just might be called for. Waiting for a drink more than once could take up your entire evening. Is that enough to justify slurping liquor from what looks like an IV drip? You decide. Another strange moment was realizing everything but the dance floor was carpeted. I don’t know what kind of swanky décor this club thought they were going for, but drunk 18 year olds spill stuff. And vomit regularly(you could certainly smell it). The carpet was marshy by midnight and rancid by closing. I’d hate to see it with the lights turned on. The photos of New York skylines and Frank Sinatra on the walls suggest Why Not? dreams of one day being a classy cocktail lounge. But believe you me, I’ve never heard of a lounge that served booze in sandwich bags or had to put up a plywood bottle bar in the back because the clientele were complaining of not getting their VKs fast enough. It seemed like everyone here had one goal: get drunk and go dance. If that’s your aim, then have at it. But for me, Why Not? is the epitome of «meh.»
Terry W.
Tu valoración: 3 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
This is the club I went to most often when I was in my first year at uni, it was a weekly ritual to go every Monday and sometimes the odd Friday. During term times, this place is most definitely a student club and they put quite a bit of effort in advertising their nights around student halls. It was really great in the first year to have a place where you could go and see lots of your friends in one place, however after the first year, a new batch of freshers come and it’s not quite the same. The club itself pretty small and can get very packed and the queue to get in can be pretty awful as well as the queues to get a drink from the bar. There really isn’t all that much in the way of seating, most of the times I have been I had to lean on walls as all the seating areas were full. They also have a VIP room, which will make you feel anything but a VIP, with more expensive drink deals and a watered down red bull fountain. The worst thing about Why Not however, is undoubtedly the bouncers, they will throw you out for the most minuscule thing and they have a huge bias towards females, refusing entry to males who are just as inebriated as the females they have already let in.
Alex C.
Tu valoración: 1 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Because it’s shit. Simply put, Why Not? is the worst club in the centre of town by a long way. It manages to somehow survive down to it’s Monday and Friday nights, which are full of first year Rahs who want to get their face and name banded about but haven’t realised that Why Not? is not the place to do it. It puts on all the airs and graces of a place for socialites to hang out, but it’s just for snotty little rich kids who are barely old enough to drink. Also everyone there is absolutely hammered and in this state, even more up their own arse. The club itself is pretty dire as well. On first glance it seems okay, until a few people come in and you realise just how small it is. Also the geni-i(yes that is the plural of genius) that designed it decided to put the dance floor in between the bar and seating area. Not too bad in theory, but with their Gestapo like rules on not having drinks on the dancefloor, trying to find a nice seat to have a few drinks and avoid the douchebags dancing proves to be difficult. If you want to go to a George Street club and have finished at least your first term at uni don’t come here, go to Opal or Lulu instead. This is a truly awful place.
Jonny L.
Tu valoración: 2 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
I first visited Why Not? when asked to accompany a friend to a «tennis» themed night. I know this place has a reputation for young first years but the clientele on this night were of a more specific sort. Not to be too judgemental or anything, but my fellow tennis players were clearly the wealthy, pony owning, yacht sailing, socialites who looked at me with my scruffy hair and stubble like I was one of their escaped animals. Maybe it was just a bad night because when I returned there was definitely a more varied clientele. Albeit still within the young, wealthy student variation. My entire time I felt out of place and uncomfortable in this expensive club. I’m not bad at mixing in different social circles and I make some kind of effort when I go out. But in both cases I felt like some horrible reminder of how ugly reality could be to pristine, shot drinking, lipsticked, care free«libertines», or whatever appearance they were effortfully practicing. Okay so maybe I just went in on TWO bad nights and maybe the problem is really me. Especially given its reputation as being more plebian than nearby clubs on George St. Either way I didn’t feel like Why Not? was worth the queue.
Matthew L.
Tu valoración: 3 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
I’ll be honest I have mixed views on Why Not?! I do enjoy a good night out there now and again, they play pretty good music and the place is always buzzing. However, this place is quite a bit expensive. Well, I suppose it is on George Square, so you are paying partly due to its location. On a Friday it is round £8 to get in, however this is a considerable sum cheaper on the student night. Drinks are not too bad, round £1.50 if I can remember rightly. Another tag that is associated with this club is that it is a place for Ya’s and people wanting to be Ya’s wanting to meet up and dance outrageously whilst not being able to handle their drink. Now you do get a lot of them in, but if your in a good group, your not really going to notice them. However, my biggest disappointment with this place is that it has a carpet surrounding the bar and walkways. Carpet in clubs is not a great idea and can ruin a pair of perfectly decent shoes(They destroyed the heal of my shoes)! I will still go back, but I am always unsure what to think about this place!
Gibson A.
Tu valoración: 4 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
There is a lot to say against this club, however, I had some pretty damn good nights in here in my first year so I don’t want to put it down too much. The queues are huge on Monday nights so you do need to get there pretty early. The bouncers are horrifically strict and throw swathes of people out for the sake of one drunken fresher. The majority of my friends have been thrown out for minor offences. It’s infuriating to be stood on the other side of the barrier trying to convince a smug bouncer that you’re not even half-cut. There’s also quite a few posh twats to elbow out the way in the queue for the bar. Other than that it’s a decent club with lively music, plenty of comfortable, sociable seating and a good layout. Their pitchers are one of the clinching factors of the place. Five shots of vodka and assorted mixers of you choice for only £5 which makes for a reasonably cheap night’s drinking. Have a look and see what you think.
Robert L.
Tu valoración: 2 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
We ended up here on a night when we were struggling to get in anywhere else so it was more in desperation than in expectation that we paid the £7.50 to get in here. Oh, how it wasn’t value for money. Once inside it was busy, the music was decent enough and well decorated throughout. However, you can get all this elsewhere for far less expense and for £7.50 I half expected it to be paved with gold(though I would have accepted something a bit special). I guess this place is just for people like me who didn’t quite get in elsewhere arriving when every where else was busy and don’t want to trek away from Georges Street.
Cheryl C.
Tu valoración: 2 London, United Kingdom
Why Not? Or How No? as it’s nicknamed by some when translated into Scottish dialect, is a downstairs basement club, often displaying long, long queues of people waiting beside The Dome and attempting to get in. As a general Edinburgh rule, don’t come out without your ID, even if you think your advanced crow’s feet are an automatic ticket into any club. You’d be wrong, as this city is one that’s keen for constant ID waving, and especially here. Once you’ve braved the waiting times in the queue, if you’re anything over the age of 21, you’ll probably enter the establishment and instantly feel the eyes of younger, more beautiful people with their whole lives ahead of them, staring at you with laser beam eyes that spell out, «You are past your sell by date, move it along quietly to the nearest bar for the elderly without any fuss». I probably got two years out of Why Not before the window of age narrowed in on me and I felt prehistoric, but I was never the biggest aficionado of the club in the first place. Yes, the cheesey tunes and major party atmosphere are a plus, but the drinks are pretty pricey, much like the entrance fee, and I feel the interior could do with a cheeky revamp. However, if you’re 18 and have the power of youth going for you, then you’ll probably have no issue with the banter here.
Ndelec
Tu valoración: 5 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Friday nights are mainly students from 18 – 25 where the people know how to dress and enjoy themselves. Saturday night is more glam, Girls all dressed up and the local football players hanging around the v.i.p Music is very up to date dance electro and r’n’b and the dance floor is packed all night. Good club and the usual George St Prices for booze. One of the better clubs on George st.
Sam C.
Tu valoración: 2 Manchester, United Kingdom
Its no surprise to see Why Not labelled as a first year student’s club. Cheesy music, a memorable name, plush décor etc all equate to somewhere to congregate and have a laugh. Eventually, however, after first year you begin to notice the transparency of these features and realise its just another rubbish club. I’ve noticed other reviews comment on the unnecessarily strict bouncers. I don’t think you can blame them when they have to deal with rowdy, immature first year students hell bent on relieving their tension by getting absolutely sloshed. There’s no denying I used to be a first year student and went to this very club. Its just going after this initial year is a plain mistake.
Anna F.
Tu valoración: 2 York, United Kingdom
Why Not? Because there are better clubs around. With better music too. It’s mostly a first-year student crowd here. This fact however doesn’t seem to make it cheap. Gone are the days that being a student immediately brought to mind unshaven, bushy eyed young people who are looking for a cheap pub. I remember waiting for so long in the ques here and then getting very annoyed at all the rude and obnoxious(and to mention sober at that point) fellow clubbers who just went to the front with the air that they own the place. Plus the bouncers have a God complex and small-man syndrome badly. They wouldn’t let in my rather tall friend in because of his coat(it wasn’t formal enough), although truth be told he towered over them.
Emily T.
Tu valoración: 2 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Now, I might be a bitty biased in my review, I used to work behind the bar during my first year at University. I think this sums it up — first year at University. When I first started Uni, my brother, being an experienced socialite in Edinburgh, prepared a list for me. A list of clubs and when the best nights to go are, and Why Not features heavily. Naturally, I was curious, and he was not wrong. In freshers week, this small-ish, mysterious club was my playground. Throughout the year I frequently ventured to Why Not, particularly on a Monday or Friday, and have some of the best memories of nights out there. BUT… I realised shortly after going into 2nd year that Why Not is purely for the young’uns. I realised that those great nights I had in the past were entirely based upon who I was with and who I met, not where I was. It was around this time that I realised how totally horrible Why Not is. Where it was once a great novelty to be in a club with carpet(I know, carpet), it became a sticky, disgusting mess. As I said, I worked behind the bar for a few months to pay for beer tokens, and the gruesome things I saw were beyond the imagination of Tim Burton. The club has somewhat of a negative reputation, the place for yah’s and socialites to meet other yah’s and socialites. Being in first year, you never really notice it, but now it’s ridiculous. I was lucky in that I was always able to get a highly covated place in the VIP room — save your ooh’s and aah’s please — basically a room with drinks twice the price and a sofa. A sofa. did you get that? the queue is always around the corner, if you don’t go at 10pm then expect at least a 30minute wait. The drinks deals can be ok, but the alcohol content is always low. And, sorry boys, but Why Not is a thoroughly sexist-biased society — if you’re a girl you will get in no matter how drunk you are. If you’re a boy and sober, it’s 50⁄50. SO. All in all, Why Not has given me fond memories yes, but overall it is definitely not somewhere I would go or recommend. Ok, bright-eyed first year students will love it as it is a glorified meet’n’greet but it is not worth the trouble as you get older. A Saturday night in the club is aimed at the older person, and is therefore always dead/full of old men. The music is very cheesy, with the last song always always always being Lionel Ritchie ‘All night long’. If you’re into that then great. If not, there are fantastic clubs all along George Street.
Fiona H.
Tu valoración: 4 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
This is one of the few clubs in Edinburgh that I enjoy going to just as much now I’m about to graduate as I did when I was a fresher. It’s not the biggest club in the world, but there’s a decent-sized dancefloor and plenty of booths/tables to rest your feet at when you’re not dancing. Although the main bar is tiny, they’ve recently started a bottle bar at the back of the club to reduce the time you spend queueing for your double vodkas… they’re worth queueing for though, any double vodka+mixer or gin+mixer is £2.50 on mondays and fridays. Winner. In the VIP rea, there’s a free red bull fountain all night too — and with single shots of vodka for only £1 it’s easy to see why this place is so popular. The obvious question then, is why didn’t I give it 5 stars? The queues. During term-time, if you go on a monday or friday you can expect to queue for half an hour(unless you’re one of the keeno’s that get there for 8:30pm!!!). And don’t think the queueing stops once you’re in… toilets, cashpoint, cloakroom, bar etc will each take up at least another 15 minutes of your life. On the flip side, the reassuring thing about the massive crowds of people means that there’s always a good atmosphere here. There’s nothing worse than getting all geared up for a night out, drinking with your friends beforehand, getting to the club and… there being absolutely no-one there. One thing to point out… the door staff here are the strictest in the world when it comes to ID. If you’ve lost yours or forgotten to bring it out with you I wouldn’t even bother trying to get in.
Amy G.
Tu valoración: 3 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
On a Friday night, this place is student heavy. This is where all the perma-tanned, big haired Topshop wearing girls go, and the football/rugby guys with their Jack Wills polo shirt with the collar popped follow suit. I have been dragged here one too many times on a Friday and I don’t get it. You have to get there early otherwise you will queue for hours to get in. The £5 entry fee gets you a free pitcher when you get in, which is a bonus. The actual club is pretty small with seating areas surrounding the dance floor. Its quite entertaining to watch these girls in their 7 inch heels and mini dresses attempting to dance seductively for the rugby lads ogling them. The music is generally a mixture of pop and dance music, nothing special just your usual Lady Gaga and Rihanna tunes. Oh the most entertaining part is the ladies toilet. Not in a perverted way I might add! But you go to the toilet, you wash your hands, right? Wrong! Because there is twenty girls surrounding the sink and mirror area backcombing their hair and choking you with hairspray(seriously who takes hairspray on a night out?). So its impossible to actually get to the sink. But it is entertaining to watch the ridiculousness of it all.
Mrtomj
Tu valoración: 1 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Why Not? 1 — The snobbish clientele. 2 — The awful music. 3 — The pretentious atmosphere. 4 — The ridiculously high prices. And that’s why not to go to Why Not.
Jenny
Tu valoración: 1 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
I hate«Why Not» with a passion! Far too many nights ended shivering in the queue, surrounded by braying yahs, finally getting in, fighting my way to the bar to pay way too much for low quality booze, then listening to cheesy chart tunes while the aristocratic gene pool tries to expand itself on the dance floor. Loads of my friends love it here because«you’re guaranteed to see everyone on your course», but unless you are a medic this is probably not true. Unless you are so blind drunk you don’t care avoid at all costs!