mchk: Nope, the ones I go to are not VIP/members only. They are open to the public, normally 6/7pm until 6am. They don't shoo away any customers at all but you would definitely not enjoy yourself without a translator. The main reason being that the main reason you are there is to drink, get pished and try to pull. Some girls take some courting to get them to agree to go to bed for $xxxx. And even then, if there no chemistry, they will charge different prices depending on how you play the game.
The VIP ones I have heard of are in TST, I think there's around 3 but there's probably more but those are ultra expensive, ie. 1k per hour sitting, 2k per bottle of Chivas, etc etc. Obviously the girls are hotter, more choice and cost more to bed but I think that's really silly money spent since you can always go to a HG for that kind of quality. Average spending for 2 hours per person without bedding anything at all is around 3-4k.
It's a good experience/night out, building rapport and things can get crazy. It's a blind date but one where you can choose who to talk to, haha.
Crazy things include strip games, the girls dancing on the table and more...But you really do need to build a relationship/become a regular.
Lastly, fair warning, not only can the girls in ALL these places drink, they're friggin good at the drinking dice games too...So be prepared to get absolutely wasted...I once got a bj and a ride whilst wasted...Can't remember much