Bed

It's the name of a bar in my neighbourhood - Bed.

The name is a cunning choice: the inevitable frisson of innuendo has proven to be a shockingly effective piece of marketing, making it a favourite 'date place'. Cheesy and obvious as it may be, "Do you fancy coming to Bed with me?" proves to be a winning chat-up line again and again.

It's not, in fact, a great favourite of mine. The Chairman and I quite liked it in its early days, when it was "our secret"; but as soon as it started building up some custom, that charm wore off. Despite its proximity to my apartment (less than a 10-minute walk; only half as far as anywhere else that I go), I go there very infrequently, usually only for parties. Let's see: I went to a wedding reception there with my friend DD a year or more ago; we had the after-party of my notorious Pyjama-themed house party there three-and-a-half years ago; The Chairman had a famous birthday party there four-and-a-half years ago (when the place was still fairly new). I've been no more than a handful of other times.

It is, however, pretty successful. I mention this mainly because I want to write more soon about the 'failure' of my favourite bar, Room 101 - which is, I think, almost entirely down to its location: isolated, far from any other bars or foreigner-oriented restaurants. Bed is the only place I can think of that has managed to prosper despite being in such an isolated position, the only place that has managed to make itself a 'destination bar' - somewhere that people will seek out specifically, regardless of the lack of other attractions in the immediate vicinity.

Nevertheless, Bed has considerable advantages over poor old 101. It's just off Jiugulou Dajie, which is a bustling north-south thoroughfare, adjacent to the historic Bell and Drum Towers - a big tourist draw. It used to be kind of hard to find, hidden away down a tiny hutong - but that became part of its charm, that you had to be 'in the know' about it. Since the dramatic widening of Jiugulou Dajie a few years ago, it's now only a few yards off the main drag, and visible from it. Also, since this redevelopment, the main road has become quite trendy, with a number of upscale bars and restaurants that are also starting to draw quite a number of foreigners (though Bed was the first of these, and was already starting to do quite well before any of the others appeared, I wonder if it could have survived and prospered so without this development of the neighbourhood). It's also probably some help that it's only a few minutes from a subway station. Andingmennei - the street on which Room 101 sits - has very little of interest on it at all, not even any major shops; and 101 is near the bottom end of it, more than 10 minutes' walk from the subway.

Bed is more of a nightclub than a regular bar, laying on DJs at the weekend - and can thus charge slightly higher prices. Although a fair size overall, it creates a cosy feel with its low lighting and traditional Chinese furniture, and the division of the space into a series of small rooms (some with the kang bed/divans for small groups to sprawl on - the gimmick that gives the place its name) and a small open-air courtyard in the middle. The tasteful decor, and the fact that it is renovated hutong housing, gives it a unique ambience which is the key to its success.

It also helps that it is just around the corner from Café Sambal, a quaint little restaurant, also in a traditional hutong courtyard, which was one of the first places in town to offer Malaysian cuisine. They're both owned by Cho Cheong-Yee, an affable Malaysian Chinese who's developed a strong following amongst the laowai community here. Sambal had a year or so head-start on Bed, and was starting to generate a good word-of-mouth buzz (it famously has the best Mojitos in town; the ones at Bed, though they ought to be identical, are somehow never quite as good) - something that the newer bar was able to build upon.

Cho also knows the importance of advertising (something the boys at 101 have been rather weak on), regularly placing small but eyecatching display ads for Bed in the laowai listings magazines, and lobbying hard to get the place nominated in annual bar awards (indeed, it's usually a winner). And he's been creative in finding ways to keep the place busy. It's only likely to draw crowds of casual customers over the weekends; but the space is amenable to other kinds of events, such as art shows; it's host to a huge number of special events and private parties.

Despite all this, I don't think Bed was anything like an immediate success. It was completely DEAD for its first few months at least, and pretty damn quiet for a year or more. It takes quite some time to become known and to build up a following, particularly in such an out-of-the-way location. The chaps at 101 should, I think, be a little more patient - but, alas, it seems their minds are made up: 101 as we know it will soon be no more. Very sad.