Academy LA — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Disorganized, unprofessional, racist. I showed up Saturday night with three friends for an event and was told at the front door I could not be let in because I was wearing shorts. I was the only one not let in so I asked if I could speak to someone about this policy because I saw other people there with shorts on. I was told I cant go in unless I had pants and there were no exceptions. I figured ill find a pair of cheap sweatpants so I left and went from a cvs to walgreens one after the other running around. It was late and it was not easy finding a pair as not all cvs/walgreens carry sweatpants etc. After finally finding a pair I returned only to be told I could no longer enter because the box office had closed two mins ago. TWO MINUTES AGO he said. I couldnt believe it. The two security guards standing by thought this was funny and laughed. Angry and frustrated at this point I asked to speak to a supervisor and was simply told "no". Two more of my friends showed up and one was even wearing shorts and both were let in after the box office was allegedly "closed". I asked security about this and they said it was a "member" thing or "VIP" thing or some bs. my friend was actually the one to point out to me that I was the only one not of caucasian descent of the group. I am of asian/hispanic descent. It was my friends who had pointed this out that the club was mostly of Caucasian descent. Like are you serious? What are we living here in the 1950s?? Stereotyping was something that didnt even cross my mind until i really thought about it. I was humiliated and disgusted. I do not suggest this place to anyone. Could not think of any other reason why i was not let in; if because of the shorts why was my other friend let in who also had shorts? If it was the box office closed why were my other friends let in? This place is a joke. If this is how they are thats just pathetic and sad. I shared my experience with others and will continue to do so. If the outside of the place was this rude, disrespectful, and judgmental I dont care to see what the inside is like. What a waste of my night, my time, and money. It was a horrible experience and i regret even coming here. None of my friends are coming here again either because of this. They all left early for me after hearing i could not get in later and Asked my other two friends who came "after the box office closed" and they said they had a ticket n confirmed that there was no "vip/member"thing or whaever that allowed them to get in. I am infuriated. Screw this place. Seriously. Id put 0 stars if i could. Ive never had anything like this happen to me...

What was supposed to be a fun night, my first time visiting Create, turned into a total nightmare as my phone and my sister's phone and wallet were pick-pocketed right out of our purses! I've always wanted to come to this place, as they often feature many great EDM artists, but my opinion of it when downhill very quickly.

We went straight to the security, who wrote down our contact information and the descriptions of our items, but they didn't really do much to help. They don't have any cameras on the dance floor. One of the guards even said something along the lines of, "Sometimes the people who do these things aren't really thieves. They just see someone vulnerable and act on it." IF THAT'S NOT THE DEFINITION OF A THIEF, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. Create really needs to figure something out about it's thieves because, after reporting it, we overheard SEVERAL other women complaining about the same thing! All of this happened before midnight, so we weren't even able to see the artist we went to see.

And if anyone is wondering, trust me, we did a lot to be responsible about our items, as we both kept our purses shut and were checking them approximately every five minutes. I was even holding mine in front of me, rather than to my side, to be aware of my stuff. If you're planning on going to Create, try to bring as few items as possible, and keep them as secure as you can (i.e. safety pin your purse shut with several safety pins, keep them in your bra) and hold on to them tight, because it seems to be pretty likely that your items will be stolen.

As I've told others about this occurrence, I've found out that this seems to be a common problem at Create. When my cousin's friend lost his phone (right out of his front pocket), he went to the security guard who had a long list of names for the same problem. I strongly, but doubtfully, hope that no one has to face the same unfortunate events that we did two nights ago.

If Create really cares about their customers, I really hope they handle this problem, because I'm sure they don't want all their attendees to leave with a bad experience like we did. They could increase their security, add more cameras, or even have a sign that says there are active thieves in the nightclub to warn people to be aware. However, as of now, they are definitely not doing enough to address the issue. Trying to have a fun night enjoying music with friends should not cost someone losing their phone, their cash, their credit cards, and their personal...

Academy LA is just a reboot of Create Nightclub that was bought out by Pasquale Rotella.

There's a big giant A on the exterior of the club as their brand and the interior ALMOST looks the same except the LED screens on the ceiling, sides of the walls, all throughout the club give you massive Tomorrowland trance stage vibes.

TICKETS / GUEST LIST I highly recommend buying tickets for the club unless you like subjecting yourself to guest list and being there SIGNIFICANTLY EARLIER THAN 11 (it's not arrive by 11, you have to be inside the club before 11). There are several promoters out there willing to give you a promo code to reduce the cost of your ticket, but if it's just a group of ladies it might just be worth it to get on guest list or ask for a comped table.

PARKING The club itself has its own parking lot but I like to park just a little bit further down at the public parking lot at the intersection so that I don't have to deal with the traffic of everyone leaving once the club is closed. Depending on the night, the lot can cost $10-20 since it is also a shared lot with The Fonda Theater.

DRINKS Drinks aren't extremely cheap here but they aren't very expensive. They do serve Fiji water bottles here for $7 each if you're trying to stay sober.

DJ RESIDENCY Overall, there are a lot of great, talented artists that perform here since it is part of Insomniac. The most recent experience we had was with my favorite DJ, Audien, and despite it being NYE Weekend, we easily made it to the front and had ample space throughout the night.

CLUB FEATURES There is a second floor to this club that overlooks the stage and dance floor. Since the renovation, the tables above are on the railing so if you're up there and don't have a table then you won't have the best view but it will still be a lot less packed. Note that there is also a bathroom up here and a bar from what I can remember.

There is also now a much larger outdoor patio which they use for their dayclubs. Overall, the renovation was very well done and I was very impressed.

BATHROOMS There are 3 bathrooms in the club: one in the very back of the club, one at the outdoor patio, and one upstairs. Choose wisely!

-- Overall, I loved my experience here and am glad that it was renovated to Academy LA. I definitely plan to come back here for...