What has been an understandably slow year for new Las Vegas nightclub openings is now considered the calm before the storm, as nightclub operators brace for further saturation of an already tight market. As operators look around and sigh in relief at having weathered the worst economic environment since the Great Depression, there is already talk about new clubs set to launch within the next year and the role they will play in a Vegas recovery.
It all starts on New Year’s Eve when the Light Group launches its reportedly 25,000-square-foot Haze Nightclub at CityCenter, once again pitted against the gang from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, who will use the opportunity to launch a new nightlife venture, the Vanity Nightclub, on the second floor of the Hard Rock’s new tower.
Details that have been incredibly under-the-radar regarding Vanity are slowly beginning to leak out, starting with the name, which must make it easier on HRH staffers who had to use the term ‘the new club.’ Also now available: details on the venue’s large but not overwhelming 15,000-square-foot footprint, including the fact that Vanity will feature an outdoor patio overlooking The Rock’s iconic pool deck and the Strip behind it. The club also will feature 55 VIP tables and five outdoor high-priced cabanas. Inside sources also tell us that the focal point of the club will be a $1 million ceiling to floor chandelier that “will blow your socks off.”
With Vanity opening, the hard rocking brass has made the decision to close Body English for a re-dress; when it re-launches in early spring it will reportedly do so as an after-hours club. This would mark the first time in recent memory that a hotel property would make a move to go after the post-nightclub partying crowd, possibly because of incidents that took place at successful venues like the House of Blues' long-departed OBA After-Hours and the competition from gentlemen’s club venues like the Spearmint Rhino, not to mention the big boy on the early morning block, Drai’s. However, with Vanity operating alongside the Wasted Space lounge and the bustling center bar, perhaps the Hard Rock sees a captive audience and an opportunity to present one of the most lavish after-hours spaces in Vegas history.
The concurrent openings of Vanity and Haze is of little surprise given that the foundation of the Hard Rock Hotel nightlife team is built from ex-Light Group managers and hosts who have enjoyed routinely knocking knuckles with their former employers . With that being said, we’re guessing this battle won’t take on the same fervor as in the past, due to competition from venues outside the fold, including TAO and XS Nightclub. It is also rumored that once Haze opens, the Light Group plans to close and renovate JET Nightclub at The Mirage.
This also doesn’t include the other various day and nightlife projects in different stages of development up and down the Strip, including another nightlife project, Eve, which will launch at CityCenter later this year. Eve will sit on the second story of the popular Hollywood eatery Beso, which is co-owned by Eva Longoria Parker of “Desperate Housewives” fame, and will be located within the Crystals Mall portion of the CityCenter complex. While some might be quick to dismiss the beauty’s involvement, it is rumored she will have some helping hands, including a former nightclub ringmaster-turned-candy man who has signed on as a consultant.
This could get interesting…