NextDoor almost gave me the warm fuzzies.

There I was last week, chilling in a Chinatown lounge for the third Friday in a row without some aging drag queen swearing he was the inspiration for Elvis Costello's "Alison." DJ Fred Everything's house blend was floor funky yet nicely sublime. Some dude who dug a Hilary Duff smackdown/concert review I once wrote bought me a "dirty kamakazi." And a girl in a prom dress was making out with her man on a very comfortable-looking mod lounger.

Awww. Let's hear it for the ongoing downtown renaissance!

Four months after opening its doors, the grand post-sunset experiment that is retro-mod urban cinema and music lounge NextDoor seems to be doing quite well. Hanging tough to an initial promise to be a home for eclectic live, DJed and filmed entertainment, co-partners Sergio Goes, Chris Kahunahana and Miguel Innis have made sure NextDoor's first weeks of life in clubland didn't go unnoticed.

Weekend "Pacific Standard" and "Chinatown Sessions" nights regularly host flown-in turntable heroes like Kool Herc, Doc Martin, Ursula 1000, Interpol's Carlos D and Fort Knox Five's Steve Raskin and Jon Horvath. Thursday "HNL" nights have offered the homegrown diversity of Makana, Microscopic Syllables, Most High and others.

Goes said turnout has been strong for all events, as has return patronage. London-based Everything had a 300-plus crowd grooving post-midnight.

"We're looking for music that we love, first of all," said Goes of NextDoor's booking criteria. "DJs that rock the party. Musicians that inspire us.

"We're really trying to set a standard of quality here ... working hard on these bookings to make them financially viable. What we're trying to do is put Hawai'i on the map of destinations for these kinds of acts, so they'll want to come in and play."

A few have already requested another round. Pioneering left-coast turntablist Doc Martin returns to NextDoor tonight. Ursula 1000 brings his playfully intelligent breakbeat back for a co-mingling Halloween bash with neighboring thirtyninehotel on Oct. 29.

Wildly inventive hip-hop mash-up master Z-Trip spins a date-to-be-announced, certain-to-sell-out gig in November.

Housed in a long-dormant North Hotel Street warehouse/peep-show arcade space, NextDoor is all brick interior and high ceilings. The room's warm, big-city downtown feel is wisely played up with minimal lighting effects — amber floor lamps, partially tinted wall-mounted bulbs and sconces. The soft glow from a large film screen unspooling silent arty images does the rest of the work.

Set for completion by year's end is large upstairs mezzanine, second lounge and VIP room overlooking it all. Sure to be a hit come New Year's Eve: a music-free, rooftop garden lounge with open-air views of the downtown skyline (and action on thirtyninehotel's upstairs courtyard).

Finally, props to the geniuses behind NextDoor's roomy unisex restroom for a conversation that never would've gone down without it.

Girl: "Want to share the sink?"

Me: "Sure. Soap?"

Girl: "Thank you. Isn't this the coolest (expletive) thing?"

Me: "You mean washing hands with the opposite sex?

Girl: (Smiles, and leaves singing Sarah McLachlan's "Building a Mystery.")

Awesome.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.