Formerly known as 1509, Club Skye is trying to live up to its ambitious name with a new image and new management, effective for more than a year.

Nowadays, the club is divided into two personalities: one part is a laid-back Latin lounge featuring a blackjack table and space for salsa dancing, and the other is a high-energy hip-hop scene with two full-liquor bars and, for the freak in all-night clubbers, cage dancers.

Whether the club’s reincarnation has attracted a larger clientele, what hasn’t changed is the type of people who attend. The club still uses black velvet ropes to herd its target demographic, mostly consisting of 20-somethings who dress like they have the professional means of 30-somethings.

As is the case with most businesses, Club Skye is all about projecting an image, regardless of whether its reputation can back it up. The club’s mainstay for drawing more people is first attracting lots of young ladies. Thus, Club Skye has concocted a variety of ladies’ nights, including college-ladies’ night, Naughty School Girl night and Erotica Exotica night. The general aesthetic here is soft-core Internet porn. So, if you like that sort of thing, or you like people who like ladies dolled-up soft-core style, then Club Skye is a safe bet.

The club is open Wednesday through Saturday with varying drink specials for each night. Wednesday’s showcase is jello wrestling, a sensationalist event attempting to push the college weekend one more night ahead, being that Thursdays are like Fridays for most college students.

The idea of projecting Club Skye’s image recalls another element of the location’s past as 1509: trumped-up bouncers in three-piece suits with all the toys of presidential secret servicemen.

When the image isn’t working and it’s a slow night, the overstaffed, glorified bouncers look a bit silly between the black velvet ropes blowing empty in the night.

For those who are into Club Skye’s scene, the best advice is to go on busy nights. In addition to that advice, and in consideration of the club’s soft-core aesthetic, one will always do well to remember the precautions of safe sex.

Club Skye is located in Ybor City at 1509 8th Ave.