The Hive

The Hive, is a dive. Not much more to say. The drink is cheap, the music is nasty, too many people and too many plastered people at that. But hey that’s what some people want from a night out, just not for me.

WARNING!!! CRIME!!! DON’T GO!!!
Don’t go there!!! I was assaulted by a bouncer and he stole my wallet!!!
The bouncer is a bold guy with facial hair. I believe his name is Lars, or something like this. It might be different. I called police, they said they would come, but they never showed up. I waited for like 30 minutes. «Lars» was already gone.
Police probably assumed I was some drunk guy from Hive, but I wasn’t. I had a beer bottle that I had bought earlier at Tesco, and I was just talking to a girl, but the bouncer who was on another side of the street assaulted me, saying that the bottle was from the club. IT WASN’T!!! Then it turned out it was an excuse for him to take my wallet!!! And Police did nothing, because they assumed that I was just another drunk guy. Very convenient!!!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!
If you decide to go to Hive and deal with not just a bunch of semi-​criminal weirdo clientele, but also semi-​criminal bouncers, go ahead! But I strongly advice you against it!!! If you go, watch your wallet!!!

Lol.
It’s Hive. It’s seedy, gross (don’t touch the walls!), and there are always questionable people there.
BUT it’s fun! And cheap. No entry fee on most nights (Wednesdays are especially fun). It’s a place you have to go to at least once, just once! And maybe a few more times after that.

The Hive is sweaty, smelly, sticky and if they put the lights on I’m sure not all that clean, its often very crowed; BUT that’s not to say I have ever had anything other than a great fucking night here, sure its dank and dirty and you know you shouldn’t like it but you do.
It’s great its cheap and cheerful with a hand full or bars and dance floors playing different music I challenge any tipsy person out with good mates not to have a great night. That is the key though stone cold sober you will say the Hive what was I thinking, you after a few drinks thinks The Hive till 5 it must be done; I feel this is a right of passage for anyone living in Edinburgh is to during August do the Hive till 5 and leave as it closes otherwise you are just another tourist.
You’ll find a lot of young people and students in here so if that’s not your scene then maybe give it a body swerve otherwise get on down for a midweek night out you’ll want to remember but at their drink prices you may well forget.

The Hive really is a fun club in Edinburgh. Especially Sunday through Wednesday, drinks are ridiculously cheap (1 GBP for a single mixed drink!!) and easy to get with plenty of bar space and barkeeps.
The drinks are nice and strong, and the atmosphere is a bit akin to a standard dive, of course you get what you pay for in this situation, and its close quarters and tendency to attract a healthy crowd of sixth form kids may deter some of its potential clientele.
As a side note, the guests here tend to be a bit on the younger side, so if watching sixth-​formers and freshers dance together isn’t your thing, this might not be the best place to go.

I can only rate this club by my standards, which are probably different to those of a lot of students.
By my standards, The Hive is what I imagine hell to be like; crowded, hot and full of all the tossers you’d hoped to never see again.
Oh, and you have to pay to be there.
But I know that people expect different things from clubs, and aiming for neutrality, here are things you might like:
If you are looking to hook up with someone (this, I think, is what people mean by having had ‘a great night’ at The Hive) this is the place to go. I think this is the reason people still go there, it’s like a legitimate brothel.
The drinks are relatively cheap, but if you are willing to look you’ll probably match their prices.
If you want a LOT of photographs to prove you were there, you will get them. Every night spawns a facebook album of generally more than 200 pictures. Be careful you are not caught cheating by a sly photographer, as your significant other will find the proof very easily (I’ve witnessed this).
Generally, I’d say its a good thing the drinks are so cheap, because you’ll need a lot of them to convince yourself you had a good night at The Hive. I would guess that so many people seem to enjoy this club as so many of its clientèle are 16 and 17 year olds who haven’t yet realised there are better clubs out there.

How can you not like the hive? Its one of those places you never really plan to go but always end up,… mostly because its always busy & always super cheap (£1−2 drinks). Attracts a young studenty crowd… alternative but maybe getting less so now,. just your average studenty types. Most of the time there is not a long wait at the bar (3 bars in hive). which is big plus as waiting at the bar is SO annoying. They also let people in quite late, think ive rolled up at 1 – 1.30am before & still got in. they open till 5am in Aug for the festival too which is brilliant. The hive is like a underground cave, split into 4-​ish rooms, all have different themes/​music. Can get pretty hot in there (one time their air con broke… wow that was unbelievable heat!!!). Just to let you know that they don’t take card, I got majority shouted at after ordering about 20 drinks that got made & then tried to pay with card.
Its a fun, messy night… don’t expect to remember anything in the morning (unless you have them on Facebook of course, then you will get tagged in some horrible pictures)

Edinburgh,
Again? You really need to start having more of my opinions.
Remember that scene in Bring It On when they’re doing cheerleading tryouts? There was a small and shitty selection from which to choose.
The uninspired one that asks if they get paid
The old man that does the robot
The one that just broke up with her boyfriend and cries
The ballet dancer
The guy trying out for Pippin
The skanky stripper
Yea. The Hive was that tryout, but Missy never arrived so we were stuck with an uninspired Asian girl.
If you never saw Bring It On and that analogy was lost on you.
The Hive sucks ass. Any place where people DRINK FROM THE PITCHERS (and the staff give them a straw to do so) sucks ass.

My first piece of advice before you go to The Hive is– Don’t have expectations as it won’t meet any of them.
Its dark, its dingy the drinks come in plastic cups and most of the staff look like they would rather be anywhere else in the world.
Saying that however I never fail to have a good night at the Hive. The music isn’t what I would listen to at home but I still manage to enjoy myself. There are 3 rooms and every night of the week it plays different music so you are sure to find a night that you enjoy.
Its cheap as chips which is the only reason I think it has such a huge following, as clubs in Edinburgh are notoriously expensive.
Unlike other clubs in the City it doesn’t take itself seriously and you can go in your oldest skinnies, a t-​shirt and trainers and still feel comfortable and not thinking you wish you had made more of an effort.
Most of the people I have met in The Hive are really nice and friendly.
Pick a group of friends who like to have a laugh, and aren’t into glamorous clubs and expensive drinks and you will have a great time.

My favorite night club I attended while in Edinburgh! The wait was ridiculous to get in, but the music was so spot on, the drinks were easy to get and man it was such an epic climax to my holiday! I met great people here… this is a great spot for cute gay boys, too. I believe I met 2 or 3 younguns and they were super fun!
The club got super packed so we were ordering doubles so we could keep dancing. also, UK measures their shots so you have to double up to get a nice buzz going.
The age range here was nicer than most clubs I visited that played my kind of great Indie music… Most kids are super young since the drinking age is like 17. but I saw girls and boys my age (20 something). I would think it awkward to see anyone over 35, though.
All in all, the mood was great, I only saw 2 fights and it was with a bunch of hot scrappy kids that looked like they were in Trainspotting. So it was like watching porn for me and my mate.
Dont miss out … go and have a dance for me! I miss it already!

The Hive is a cool club, I have seen it transform from an «alternative» club, being a sanctuary to the goths and punks of the city, to becoming about as mainstream as you can get with RnB and chart music dominating. This change of policy has obviously worked a treat because more people than ever are coming here.
I probably come here too much, but on a Friday night, there aren’t many other places to go. The George Street clubs charge ridiculous entry prices and are full to the brim of pretentious yuppies, whilst clubs like Cav are full to the brim of dodgy characters (huge generalisations, yes). The Hive seems to provide a good crowd of people, and there is rarely any trouble there, the bouncers are fair, unlike Cab Vol, who seem to refuse you entry for being male and or sober.

If you’re looking for a cheap and fun night out, then the Hive is for you! The Hive offers a range of nights, dedicated to heavy metal, punk, reggae, R & B and cheesy pop! So whatever the music you like, at least one night at the Hive will be for you!
Outside, the Hive at first sight looks dark and dingy and when inside, it is indeed dark and dingy. However, with three bars (including a less than impressive cocktail bar) and two dance floors (with two different DJs) the Hive more than caters for your drinking and dancing needs (From mosh pits to the Macarena)! The Hive on most nights is always busy and bustling, and for all the times I have been there I have never had any trouble.
So, if you want cheap drinks from £1, with cheap entry, then the Hive would make a good night out!

The Hive, formerly The Honeycomb, the first club I ever went to, is still just as dark, smokey looking, although not of the real cigarette kind now of course, and good for a down to earth, get-​the-​drinks-​down-​you dance as it ever was.
The Hive is quite mini, being made up of a couple of main rooms with a bit of dance space, and a small stage for live performances. I’ve seen a few gigs here, and it works pretty well considering the small club area. Let’s just sum this up, the drinks are super super cheap, the music is super cheese orientated, and you can catch a gig now and again. This isn’t a plush or pretty club, but it is pretty good banter.

I put off going to The Hive for my first few months of university, close-​mindedly claiming that it ‘wasn’t my scene’. I had grotesque visions of leather-​clad wannabes head-​banging their spittle and sweat all over me. However, I gave it a go and since then I’ve probably been to it more than any other club.
The music as well as the clientele is eclectic with various cavernous rooms playing anything from metal to house music. It also sports a shiny bar full of tiny mirrors which stands in stark contrast to the heat and darkness of the rest of the club. The drinks are always reasonably priced with £1.50 shots and £2.80 pints along with student discount on entry.
My one scruple with it would be that it can get seriously hot on the dancefloors, especially in the smaller rooms. Inevitably this also makes them stink when it’s a busy night. Nevertheless, The Hive offers a fun and cheap night for people with all sorts of social and musical tastes. As my friend exclaimed upon a hangover last Thursday, ‘You can’t beat mid-​week Hive!’

Whenever me and my friendsdecide that we will have a night out — the default place is The Hive.
And for very good reasons — in all the years I have been coming here, I’ve never had a bad night. EVER.
It’s been recently refurbished, so basically its not so much of a dive anymore, rather a bit more ‘funky’ and ‘hip’.
The drinks are low priced — which can be a good or a bad thing depending how much money you have with you, but overall I wouldnt see you making it past £30 on vodka’s etc — unless you wanted a ride in an ambulance.
The club itself is a series of smallish rooms and connecting passages whick divide the various types of ecclectic music — there really is something for everyone, and thats why I think this place gets such a mixed clientel.
Check it out, its great.

I much prefer this place to Cab Vol. Hands down. You can’t help but automatically compare the two clubs, what with the low ceilings and slightly more alternative crowd. But The Hive hasn’t been overrun with annoying rahs who think that going to dub step or drum & bass nights all of a sudden makes them cool and ‘scene’.
Last time I was here was for their 90s Chav Night — it was when ‘Rythmn is a Dancer’ was being re-​released and the producers wanted footage of it being played in clubs for the video. So, an entire bottle of fake tan and Lambrini (when in rome, and all that) later, my friends and I donned are tracksuit bottoms — tucked into our sports socks, obviously — scraped our hair up into Croydon Facelift ponytail and headed out the front door.
And then realised how ridiculous we looked. Then we all had that horrible panic that we were going to be the only ones there who’d dressed up.
But it actually turned out to be a really fun night. Yes, it’s a little bit on the scummy side, and yes, the drinks are served in plastic cups, but the drinks impossibly cheap (£1 on weekdays, £1.50 at weekends). And after a few of those, the décor isn’t really that important.

Have you ever wondered what hell might be like? I’d be willing to put money on it being somewhat similar to this ghastly hole. Admittedly I may not fit into Hive’s core demographic, but I know a terrible club when I see one (or when I accidentally find myself in one after a few too many shandies). Let’s run through my checklist…
Stupidly low-​priced drinks — check
Borderline underage clientele rubbing shoulders with men who should know better — check
S Club 7 and Spice Girls tracks played without a hint of irony — check
Hmmm.
If those criteria haven’t convinced you that a visit is a bad idea, perhaps the fact that you have to queue and pay for the ‘privilege’ of entry might.

This is quite possibly the scuzziest dive I have ever been to. A drunk Irish kid almost threw up on me here and on a different night, I ruined one of my shirts after leaning on the wooden ledge that runs round the dance floor… I never could identify that mysterious brown stain.
But I LOVE it! As a friend once said «Everyone is welcome at The Hive». It’s the only place in town where I can get a cheap tequila sunrise (there’s a craptacular cocktail bar in the very back) and not care if I drunkenly spill it all over the place. And they play cheese. It’s fantastic.

I always seem to end up in The Hive when I have had one too many cheap vodkas in Opium. This is the perfect follow on from Opium as its equally dingy and dirty. But the best thing is, its cheap!
It seems to attract a varied crowd, but at 22 I often feel old. I guess 18 looks very young when you are over 20. There is a warren of different rooms, and if you wander off from your friends good luck finding them again. Each room has different music ranging from rock to electro to cheesy classics. It also depends on what night you go as each one is (apparently) different. I have never noticed as clearly I am too drunk. But I think you have to be. If you went to The Hive sober you would notice that it stinks, there is sweat everywhere, condensation pours down the walls and there is broken glass all over the floor.

It pains me that the Hive seems to be getting more mainstream. Saturday night used to much better for the rock and indie fan but they replaced it with a depressingly cheesy pop, R ‘n’ B and dance night.
The Hive evolved as the classier version of Subway which was an alternative music club that was about 5 – 10 minutes away and closed down in 2007. I must say I love the current look of the Hive. It now has some very comfortable seating in the 2^nd room — love it!
I do love the atmosphere and décor of the Hive however. I also loved it even more when they opened up a little sideroom with sofas and a bar where cocktails (including pitchers) are available for an affordable price. Other drinks can be bought for £1.50 which is excellent.
This is a fun club to be especially on a Saturday night. There are usually two rooms so that if the music in one room doesn’t take your fancy you can always check out the other room.
The Hive is great for a student night out. I only wish I had more time to go there like I did in my 2^nd year of university.