."I've become a titan of the industry, dealing with the many weaknesses of the flesh." ~ Reileen Kawahara, owner of Head in the Clouds, S01E08.
Head in the Clouds is one of the most exclusive Houses floating above Bay City catering to perverse and illegal sexual fetishes and tastes of the Meths. It was commonly referred to as the "Satellite of Sin."
Meths frequented Head in the Clouds to satisfy sexual perversions through the "Iridium Experience" including rape, torture, and or pleasure killing of women, men, and even children. Sex workers were presumably young, unsleeved (not old women in younger bodies), and played into any fantasy, including mutilation of their bodies, and death. "You can cut holes in me anywhere. Fuck me in them. Tear me apart..". The sex workers were led to believe that they would die and be resleeved but were not aware that their stacks were coded Neo-C and that they would not be resleeved. Though it's not real death as the stacks are intact, they would effectively be dead.
HISTORY
Head in the Clouds is owned and run by Reileen Kawahara. After amassing a fortune through the money given to betray the Envoys, and later through information extraction using VR torture methods from her company Wei Clinics, Reileen built and ran Head in the Clouds, escalating her into the elite group of mega rich Meths.
RELATION TO MAIN STORY (Spoilers)***
Laurens Bancroft's mystery murder is tied to the real RD death of a prostitute working at Head in the Clouds. After being drugged by his wife Mirium Bancroft with the drug Stallion, Laurens becomes aggressive and goes to Head in the Clouds, going too far by destroying the stack of a prostitute after losing his Osaka deal. After witnessing Laurens killing and destroying the stack of a prostitute, Mary Lou fled from Laurens fearing real and permanent death. After being chased through the halls of Head in the Clouds, Reileen Kawahara corners her on the roof. Mary Lou jumps to her death from Head in the Clouds and lands in the bay, killing her.
Poe offers Takeshi Kovacs VIP access to the establishment when he arrives at The Raven Hotel.
TRIVIA
A poster advertising a live music hall by the name Head in the clouds can be seen in the first episode of the scifi series "Counterpart".