Lauren H.
Yelp
I have been to different Soho house's all over the world and have been considering becoming a member however after what happened last night at little Beach house in Malibu I'm not sure if I will ever set foot in another soho house EVER again. Two of my girlfriends and I had eaten dinner next door at Nobu and when we left Nobu we sat down to wait for our Uber outside by the beach, in between Nobu and Little Beach House, since cell phone service is so spotty here our Uber took forever to arrive but we were having fun, just sitting and talking and catching up. When we went to leave I realized that the strap of my purse got caught in between the wood decking where I had sat my purse down, it's happened before with this purse but I've always been able to get it out. Since Nobu was already closed we asked for some assistance from the staff at Little Beach House, and a bouncer, or security guard came to help me untangle my purse from the decking, I explained to him that this has happened before with my purse and with a little jostling it would come loose... This is when everything got so strange, This bouncer, instead of trying to gently loosen the strap, took out a pair of scissors, I thought that he was going to slip the scissors under where the bag was caught but instead he literally cut the strap loose completely ruining my purse!!! I had even asked this man not to ruin my bag, and so after he cut the strap I fully expected him to apologize, but instead he started laughing, yes laughing at me! My two friends and I were in shock! I was obviously upset and when I asked to speak to this mans manager instead of apologizing he took out his iPhone and started taking my picture and continued laughing... This is far from appropriate behavior from any member of a restaurant staff, but it was completely disrespectful, rude and a violation of my privacy which is something that soho house prides itself on! When I asked this strange man to stop taking my picture and to erase these photos he refused and then he said if we didn't leave (like we had now done something wrong) he would call the cops! Minutes later, yes minutes, the sweetest cop arrives, he was just the nicest guy, He asked what had happened and when I explained the strange series of events the cop said he felt so bad for me and wasn't sure why he was there! The staff and management at little Beach house stood around and did absolutely nothing to rectify this situation. I think that they were all either drinking or doing drugs and completely checked out because they stood around gaping at us and taking pictures with their cell phones! I have never felt so disrespected before in my life, and for a club that prides themselves on members privacy I felt a complete lack of respect AND privacy! We hadn't done anything wrong, we were sitting waiting for our Uber yet we were laughed at, told that WE were trespassing after we had just spent $1000 at dinner next door. The whole incident has left such a bad taste in my mouth. As soon as our Uber arrived we left and I'm writing this yelp review because I am saddened that Soho House would hire staff who behave like this. I also don't think that any member or non member would appreciate being treated this way, taking out a phone and taking photos of people instead of apologizing! Perhaps it wouldn't have happened if that bouncer was sober and had been respectful. If the manager had apologized for the bouncers behavior and even tried to rectify what happened and if my privacy wasn't violated with cell phone photos! Lastly, If this is how the staff at ANY Soho House handles a purse getting stuck in I would hate to be around when something big actually happens!