| Playboy Club | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Nightclubs |
| Founded | February 29, 1960, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Founder | Hugh Hefner |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Parent | Playboy Enterprises |
The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. Since 2021, Playboy Club has also been the name of the chain's digital platform.
The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club Room. Members and their guests were served food and drinks by Playboy Bunnies, some of whom were featured in Playboy magazine. The clubs offered name entertainers and comedians in the Club Rooms, and local musicians and the occasional close-up magician in the Living Rooms. Starting with the London and Jamaica club locations, the Playboy Club became international in scope.
In 1991, the club chain became defunct. Thereafter, on October 6, 2006, a Playboy Club was opened in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort, and in 2010 clubs were opened as well in Macau and Cancún. In time, the Las Vegas club closed on June 4, 2012, the Macao club closed in 2013, and the Cancún club closed in 2014. In May 2014 the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles opened a Playboy-themed lounge consisting of gaming tables and Playboy Bunny cocktail waitresses. In September 2018, a Playboy Club was opened in Midtown Manhattan but permanently closed in November 2019 after just over one year in operation. In August 2025, Playboy announced it was opening a new club at its relocated headquarters in Miami Beach, Florida.
The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960.[citation needed] The opening acts were comedian Dick Gregory and then 17-year old singer Aretha Franklin. Chicago jazz pianist, Sam Distefano, was the musical director. It relocated to Clark and Armitage in Lincoln Park in 1980 and closed in June 1986. Over the next 25 years, 30 clubs (with St. Louis franchise owner moving buildings in 1975, from Lindell Boulevard to Ramada Inn, South Lindbergh) had been established across the United States:
| Location | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | February 29, 1960 | June 30, 1986 |
| Miami | May 20, 1961 | 1985 |
| New Orleans | October 13, 1961 | 1974 |
| St. Louis | October 16, 1962 | September 25, 1975 |
| New York | December 8, 1962 | 1981 |
| Phoenix | December 21, 1962 | June 1983 |
| Detroit | December 27, 1963 | October 29, 1972 |
| Detroit | 1974 | 1978 |
| Baltimore | 1964 | 1977 |
| Cincinnati | 1964 | 1983 |
| Kansas City | June 13, 1964 | 1972 |
| Los Angeles | December 31, 1964 | June 30, 1986 |
| Atlanta | March 1965 | 1975 |
| San Francisco | November 13, 1965 | July 10, 1976 |
| Boston | February 1966 | 1977 |
| Denver | December 9, 1967 | 1977 |
| Lake Geneva | May 6, 1968 | 1981 |
| Playboy Plaza Hotel, Miami Beach | 1970 | 1981 |
| Great Gorge Playboy Club Hotel, McAfee | 1972 | 1981 |
| Buffalo | March 1975 | 1991 |
| Ramada Inn, St. Louis | December 31, 1975 | August 11, 1985 |
| Buffalo | April 24, 1981 | 1985 |
| Dallas | 1977 | 1982 |
| Playboy Towers, Chicago | 1979 | 1986 |
| St. Petersburg | 1980 | 1983 |
| San Diego | December 1981 | July 1982 |
| Columbus | 1982 | 1985 |
| Lansing | September 17, 1982 | July 31, 1988 |
| New York Empire Club | 1985 | June 30, 1986 |
| Omaha | May 18, 1984 | 1988 |
| Des Moines | December 3, 1984 | April 1988 |
There was also a Playboy Club in London, UK, opened in 1966 (closed in 1981), and in Montreal, Canada, which opened on July 15, 1967 (closed in 1976). Playboy Clubs operated in Japan, under a franchise arrangement, in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Sapporo. The first Japanese club opened in Tokyo in 1983, and the final club to close in Japan was in Tokyo in 2008. There was also a Playboy Club resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, opened in December 1964. It was a club resort similar to the ones in USA in Great Gorge at McAfee, New Jersey and at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, as well as Club-Hotels such as the Playboy Plaza in Miami Beach, Florida and Playboy Towers in Chicago. The last American location before Playboy Club Las Vegas opened was in Buffalo, New York, located at the Playboy International Hotel, which closed in 1991.
International clubs existed until the 1991 closing of the Manila, Philippines Club located in the Silahis International Hotel. In 2010, International Clubs were opened in Macao and Cancún but, in time, the Macao Club closed in 2013, and the Cancún Club closed in 2014. Manila was the only club ever to be featured in Architectural Digest.
During the last three months of 1961, more than 132,000 people visited the Chicago club, making it the busiest nightclub in the world. Playboy Club membership became a status symbol. Only 21% of all key holders ever went to a club. At $25.00 per year per membership, Playboy grossed $25 million for every 1,000,000 members.
The Rabbit-headed metal Playboy key (supplanted by a metal key-card in 1966) was required for admission to a club. They were presented to the Door Bunny.
In 1965, Hugh Hefner sent Victor Lownes to London to open Playboy's British casinos, following legalization of gambling in the United Kingdom. Playboy's musical director, Sam Distefano, set up the entertainment policy for the London Playboy Club and Casino. In 1981, the casino at 45 Park Lane (now a luxury hotel, 45 Park Lane) was the most profitable casino in the world, and the British casinos contributed $32 million to the corporation. Later, Playboy also operated British casinos in Manchester and Portsmouth. In 1981, Playboy opened a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with an 800-seat showroom designed by Playboy's vice-president of entertainment, Sam Distefano. However, the New Jersey gaming regulators denied Playboy a permanent gaming license, and Playboy sold its interest in the unit to Elsinore Corporation, its partner in the venture, in 1984, at which time the hotel and casino were renamed The Atlantis.
The Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin featured architecture inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, operated from May 6, 1968, until 1981, had a ski slope, and was one of the first to install a chair lift. The facility is now operated as the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. The 32-piece house orchestra was headed by Chicago pianist, Sam Distefano, who conducted for performers such as Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé, Liza Minnelli, Sonny & Cher, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Paul Anka, Dionne Warwick, Eddie Fisher, Wayne Newton, Vic Damone, Diahann Carroll, Bette Midler, Frankie Avalon, Anthony Newley, Vikki Carr, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Donna Summer and Ann-Margret. Distefano went on to serve as Playboy's vice president of entertainment for all Playboy Clubs and Hotels worldwide, until he retired from Playboy after his 25-year career with Hef, to relocate to Las Vegas as the Riviera Hotel and Casino's vice president for 12 years for its owners, Israeli billionaire and financier, Meshulam Riklis and Riklis' wife, singer, Pia Zadora (whom also had formerly headlined with Distefano and his orchestra at the Playboy Club Hotel in Lake Geneva in the mid-1970's).
On October 6, 2006, Playboy opened a new Playboy Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The new club at The Palms, with its prominent neon bunny head, had casinos, bars, and a restroom with pictures of Playmates on the walls. The club closed in June 2012.
Australian women were invited to Sydney to audition for the iconic Playboy Bunny role and for positions as singers and dancers at the Playboy Club. A minimum of five women were chosen to travel to Macao for a six-month contract as a Playboy Bunny. The Macao Playboy Club opened on November 24, 2010.
In October 2010, it was announced that a new Playboy Club in London was to be opened on the site of the old Rendezvous Mayfair Casino 14 Old Park Lane. It was opened on June 4, 2011. The 17,000 sq ft property, spread over two floors, was designed by London-based architects Jestico + Whiles. The club features a casino, cigar terrace, gentleman's tonic, sports bar ("The Player's Lounge"), night club ("The Tale Bar"), cocktail bar under the direction of Salvatore Calabrase, and a fine dining restaurant under the reins of Iron Chef Judy Joo. Along the stair-walls, a row of lenticular portraits are hung winking and smiling at guests as they walk by.
In November 2012, spokesman Sanjay Gupta announced that PB Lifestyle, the company in India with rights to the brand, would be opening its first club in India at Candolim, Goa in December 2012. It was planned as a 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2) beach location. In April 2013, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar refused the application on "technical grounds". Parrikar said only individuals, not corporations, were eligible to operate a beach shack style club. The law did not preclude opening a night club. After the Goa club, PB Lifestyle planned to open clubs in Hyderabad and Mumbai. India's obscenity laws ban material deemed "lascivious or appealing to prurient interests". Adult magazines such as Playboy are banned in India. Designer Mohini Tadikonda has altered the original Playboy Bunnies uniform to satisfy India's obscenity laws.
On September 12, 2018, a Playboy Club was opened in New York City at 512 West 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. Many questioned the wisdom of opening a Playboy Club in the #MeToo era. On November 14, 2019, after just over one year in operation, the owners of the new Playboy Club in New York City announced the club had permanently closed and the space would be re-branded as a steak house and other entertainment venue. On August 15, 2025, Playboy announced it was opening a new club while relocating their headquarters in Miami Beach, Florida.
The original New York City Playboy Club closed its doors in 1986 but was not repurposed until 2024, when the building was bought for $26.7 million in a foreclosure auction.
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Playboy was one of the earliest corporate victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the company announced that the next issue of the magazine would be, at minimum, the final issue published that year.
As mentioned in Playboy's press release, on December 20, 2021, Playboy launched the digital version of Playboy Club (initially branded as Centerfold), the new home for the world's top creators to interact directly with their fans, expand their communities and build their own personal content and commerce businesses. It is dedicated to creative freedom, artistic expression, and sex positivity, as the next evolution of Playboy's long history at the intersection of culture and sex.
According to Bandt, Playboy has relaunched its magazine as a digital-first publication to rival OnlyFans offering an "elevated", "safe", and "exclusive" alternative.
Instead of the Playboy bunnies of old, readers will get Playboy "creators" who will post both adult and non-adult content on their pages, give subscribers exclusive access to their lives, and grace the magazine's online covers. It will allow the creators to build a base of paying subscribers as well as have access to the main magazine.
Centerfold's founding creator community represents hundreds of millions of social media followers. Hailing from the worlds of music, fashion, fitness and adult entertainment, Centerfold's founding launch creators include: