Some venues in New York City entice lovely lasses through the doors by offering special “ladies’ nights” promotions. But how do you get the ladies in every single night? Provocateur, a newly opened Meatpacking-district hotspot kicks the concept of ladies’ night up a notch by offering a space designed entirely for women.
Open for just under six months, innumerable aspects of the space, which is located on the backside of the chic Gansevoort Hotel, are tailored to the whims and desires of any woman, from the design aesthetics down to the cocktails. The space is broken up into two distinctive experiences. There’s the café, which features a fully retractable glass roof and table motifs modeled after European dollhouses, and then there’s the club portion of the establishment, where the décor is leather, purple lace and mirrors, themed after a Madonna album cover.
Furthermore, “We have 17 separate bathrooms,” boasts owner/operator Mike Satsky. “I’ve never seen a bathroom line. Not even for a second. The best sign that this is working is that I never hear a word about the bathrooms. In every venue I built, I’ve heard complaints. But not at Provocateur,” he beams.
So it’s no surprise the girls like what they see when they walk in the door. And those women come in droves. “Our average crowd breakdown is 70 percent women and 30 percent guys. Those guys are usually personal friends of ours,” says Satsky, who adds that males are routinely turned away from the door with more frequency than the average NYC haute-spot. To get in, men are usually either personal friends of Satsky or very well-connected socially. “A guy can’t do much to increase his chances for entrance. He has no shot unless he’s on the reservation list, and he wouldn’t be approved to be on that list unless he was absolutely going to get in,” Satsky explains.
A room full of women is a beautiful thing, but nightlife is a business where the revenue stream depends upon pushing pricey bottles and tables on fellas who need to drop serious bank just to walk in the door. And with fewer males to buy the ladies drinks, how do you get the femmes to part with their money on a consistent basis? By crafting a high-end drink program specifically for them.
“Our specialty cocktails are done in conjunction with [anti-aging skin care line] Borba, and [they] are a raving success. We have drinks with eyelash-extending vitamins, age-defying antioxidants and a host of other products geared toward the girls. We even have a drink that helps clarify skin. Girls love the look and taste of the drinks, but they love the benefits the most. And they’re willing to pay for them,” Satsky shared.
The only downside Provocateur faces may, ironically, be the lack of guys with all those women packing the house. “Occasionally, I’ll hear a complaint about there not being as many men as there should be,” Satsky says. “But it’s hard to find a great-looking guy who’s the right fit for our venue. On the upside, it means the guys we do have in there are keepers.”
So if you want a true ladies night, where you freshen your drink while refreshing your skin, the queue starts on Hudson Street, ladies.