{"id":38187,"date":"2022-12-13T08:51:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T13:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=38187"},"modified":"2022-12-13T08:51:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T13:51:10","slug":"havana-cigar-lounge-in-ballston-spa-offers-two-spacious-suites-for-enjoying-a-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2022\/12\/havana-cigar-lounge-in-ballston-spa-offers-two-spacious-suites-for-enjoying-a-smoke\/","title":{"rendered":"Havana Cigar Lounge In Ballston Spa Offers Two Spacious Suites For Enjoying A Smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Havana Cigar Lounge owner Matt Akari finds time to relax in his new shop. It was a Stewart\u2019s Shop on Route 50 that he completely renovated.
\u00a92022 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf<\/p>\n

Less than six months after selling his Ballston Spa Citgo station, longtime village resident Matt Akari opened Havana Cigar Lounge in the former Stewart\u2019s building on Route 50 and Northline Road.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before establishing his own lounge, Akari visited cigar lounges throughout the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been visiting cigar lounges all over the country for the past 18 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI was invited by vendors because I was selling tobacco products at the gas station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akari found the cigar lounge experience to be so relaxing and enjoyable that he resolved to one day open a lounge of his own. After selling his Citgo station in May, he realized that day had come. He purchased the former Stewarts building that same month and got to work remodeling it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good location and a good-sized space, and it has plenty of parking,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was nothing in there. It was wall-to-wall empty. We built some walls and redid the whole insulation and all of the electrical and ventilation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span>Once the renovations were completed, the interior of the building was transformed into a cigar shop with two comfortable lounges. The largest lounge is reserved for those who purchase VIP memberships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe room has about 30 chairs, four big-screen TVs, a fireplace, and a lot of art on the wall,\u201d said Akari. \u201cIt also has 75 large lockers for the members to store the cigars that they buy from me. My sign on the window says \u2018What you smoke here you buy here,\u2019 and there are no exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Havana Cigar Lounge offers both gold and silver VIP memberships. For $800 a year, gold members receive 24\/7 access to the VIP lounge, a large cigar locker, free water and coffee, and 10 percent off cigars and accessories. Silver members pay $650 a year to receive all of the same benefits except for the locker. For those who don\u2019t want to commit to an entire year, monthly gold and silver memberships are also available.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In order for VIP members to have 24\/7 access to the lounge, they are issued a key fob that allows them to visit the lounge during non-operating hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The cigars that Havana Cigar Lounge sells are stored in a walk-in humidor. Humidors are necessary to set precisely-controlled temperature and moisture levels necessary to maintain the quality and freshness of cigars. Without proper storage, cigars lose quality in just two weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Akari, who operates the lounge with help from his wife, Ranan, said business has been steady and that weekends have been busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, I\u2019m very happy with it. I get a lot of members who have never joined a cigar lounge before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Havana Cigar Lounge is open Monday through Saturday from 11a.m. to 9 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf Less than six months after selling his Ballston Spa Citgo station, longtime village resident Matt Akari opened Havana Cigar Lounge in the former Stewart\u2019s building on Route 50 and Northline Road.\u00a0 Before establishing his own lounge, Akari visited cigar lounges throughout the United States. \u201cI\u2019ve been visiting cigar lounges all over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":38188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nHavana Cigar Lounge In Ballston Spa Offers Two Spacious Suites For Enjoying A Smoke - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2022\/12\/havana-cigar-lounge-in-ballston-spa-offers-two-spacious-suites-for-enjoying-a-smoke\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Havana Cigar Lounge In Ballston Spa Offers Two Spacious Suites For Enjoying A Smoke - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Christine Graf Less than six months after selling his Ballston Spa Citgo station, longtime village resident Matt Akari opened Havana Cigar Lounge in the former Stewart\u2019s building on Route 50 and Northline Road.\u00a0 Before establishing his own lounge, Akari visited cigar lounges throughout the United States. \u201cI\u2019ve been visiting cigar lounges all over the […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2022\/12\/havana-cigar-lounge-in-ballston-spa-offers-two-spacious-suites-for-enjoying-a-smoke\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-13T13:51:10+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/12\/havana-cigar-lounge-hc-sm.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"717\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2022\/12\/havana-cigar-lounge-in-ballston-spa-offers-two-spacious-suites-for-enjoying-a-smoke\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2022\/12\/havana-cigar-lounge-in-ballston-spa-offers-two-spacious-suites-for-enjoying-a-smoke\/\",\"name\":\"Havana Cigar Lounge In Ballston Spa Offers Two Spacious Suites For Enjoying A Smoke - 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