The United States offers couples interested in the lifestyle scene a large and very varied choice. This guide sticks to three cities where our selection lists one club each: New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. It sums up what matters when planning, using open travel guides and the clubs' official websites. One rule holds almost everywhere in the country: without a membership or prior sign-up, you do not get in.
When to go
In New York, summers are hot and humid, with July highs around 29 degrees Celsius, and winters are cold, with January highs around 3 degrees and the occasional snowstorm. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons. Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate with microclimates: the coast is cooler, early summer often brings coastal fog, winter gets most of the rain, and autumn is typically warm and dry but with a high wildfire risk. Atlanta has hot, humid summers with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, mild winters, and its best seasons in spring and autumn.
Getting there
New York is served by three airports: JFK, Newark and LaGuardia. From JFK there is a flat-fare taxi to Manhattan and the AirTrain to Jamaica station, where the subway and commuter rail continue. LaGuardia is the closest to Midtown but has no rail link. In Los Angeles, LAX is the main airport; none of the airports has direct rail service, but the FlyAway bus connects LAX with Union Station. In Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson airport is about 13 kilometres south of downtown, and MARTA's Red and Gold lines run from the airport through Downtown and Midtown.
Getting around
New York is easy to explore by subway. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island differ greatly, so choose your base according to your plans. In Los Angeles, getting around mostly means a car and traffic; Metro Rail reaches Downtown, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Long Beach, and the TAP card is required for the trains. At night, take a taxi or ride-hailing if you can. In Atlanta, Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead and Decatur are walkable within themselves; between neighbourhoods it is easier by car or MARTA. If you travel without a rental car, stay in Downtown or Midtown.
What to do by day
In New York the programme includes the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Empire State Building and Brooklyn with its music and artist scenes. In Los Angeles, the Griffith Observatory, the Hollywood landmarks, Santa Monica and Venice Beach are the classics. In Atlanta, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, the Atlanta History Center, Piedmont Park and the BeltLine trail are worth your time.
Clubs in our selection
We list one club in each of the three cities, with information from its own website. Hours and rules change, so always confirm directly with the club.
Checkmate NYC is a private club on Manhattan's Upper East Side aimed at couples in the lifestyle. It runs strictly on membership: members need an active membership and an RSVP, and new couples must be invited or approved in advance. There are no walk-ins and no guests, and the club states clearly that single men are never admitted. It opens on Thursday nights and at weekends with late hours, in a private-party format with music. Its website promotes seasonal theme parties such as Halloween and New Year's Eve. Presentation matters: men are asked to wear a dress shirt and women high heels, while T-shirts, shorts, caps, sneakers and sandals are explicitly banned.
Club Joi calls itself Los Angeles' biggest members-only lifestyle and swingers club. It is aimed at couples and single women, and hosts parties every Friday and Saturday, with occasional midweek dates. The calendar is busy and themed: eighties nights, young couples nights, winter parties and New Year's Eve. To attend you need an approved membership before the date; you cannot join at the door. Single men can only attend specific events marked on the calendar, and numbers are limited. The club also partners on lifestyle travel.
Trapeze Club Atlanta is one of the best-known lifestyle clubs in the south-eastern United States, with a club in Atlanta and another in South Florida. The Atlanta venue is on Commerce Drive in the south-west of the city and, according to the hours on its website, opens Wednesday to Sunday nights. Membership is required, and nights follow a clear system: Saturdays are reserved for couples and single women, while single men are welcome on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. A distinctive feature is that it is BYOB: members bring their own drinks and the club marks each bottle with the member's ID number at the door.
Practical tips
Apply for membership or sign-up well before you travel, because nobody is accepted at the door. Plan the trip back by taxi or ride-hailing, especially in Los Angeles and Atlanta, where distances are long. Carry ID and cash, and follow the dress code and house rules. Consent is the foundation, and photos are normally banned. Nothing in this guide replaces the clubs' official information; rules, prices and capacity can change from one week to the next.
