Although the lounges cater to everyone, it is the younger crowd that hits the dance floor. Prince of Cal (established by Sourav Ganguly), and Virgose at Hotel Hindustan International are two hip venues.

I believe that a night in a lounge bar is a night well spent. Also, prices are pocket-friendly, rather than while away their leisure hours at restaurants, the in-crowd prefers letting their hair down in the relaxed atmosphere lounges offer. And if they are lucky, they get to share the floor with the likes of Abhishek Bachchan, Ajay Devgun, Esha Deol, Rohan Gavaskar and Yuvraj Singh - all of whom can be spotted at these joints whenever in town.

The spots are certainly busy. Footfalls at Roxy swell to 450 or 500 over the weekend, while Shisha sometimes takes in 700 people. The lounges that are part of hotels are money spinners for their organizations: Virgose contributes 30 per cent of Hotel Hindustan International's revenues.

The lounging trend started with Shisha around three years back. This bar, attached to Grain of Salt, the restaurant set up by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, decided to go in for a low seating arrangement, low lights and soft music. Previously, the city only boasted of restobars that served regular drinks and dinner.

Roxy's décor, relies on enticing, rounded edges to help soothe stressed-out minds. The bulbous pillows here are great for propping up people at the end of a long, hard day. Virgose, set up about a year ago, is attempting to offer a restobar feel, but with a live bar, complete with bar counters and stools.

Most of the lounges have woven themselves around Arabian themes. Shisha's USP is the hookah, which is served at each table in exotic flavours such as peach, apple, cherry and apricot. Marakesh, attached to Cinnamon restaurant on Park Street, will throw open its doors in early February.

So while the dreary restaurants close by 11pm, the exotic lounge bars give the perfect tonic at the end of a long day. Kolkata revellers certainly think so.