BREAKING NEWS: STEVE WYNN & VICTOR DRAI PLAN NEW MEGA NIGHTCLUB—“THE BIGGEST & BEST ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD”!
A brand new mega-nightclub—XS—will be opened on the Vegas strip by the end of the year—and hotel tycoon Steve Wynn and nightclub emperor Victor Drai promise it will be the biggest and best the nightlife entertainment world has ever seen.
The two partners made the announcement shortly after midnight as they celebrated the second anniversary of their Tryst nightclub with American Idol stars Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson hosting the birthday bash.
Victor had double reason to celebrate—his new daughter Charlotte was born just two weeks ago!
“The new club will re-define excess, “Victor told me.” It will be more excessive in every sense of the word—and then some. More rich and more luxurious, bigger and better than anybody has ever seen. Everybody knows that Tryst has a majestic waterfall but XS will have its own lagoon pool! Tryst is only 13,000 square feet but XS will have 13,500 square feet just inside and another 25,000-square-feet open-air with the pool.”
I asked Victor that with two clubs “under the same roof” if he wouldn’t be competing with himself. He replied: “First XS is in the brand new Encore hotel, which will open late December.
Tryst is still very beautiful and only two years old in the Wynn—so we are still new. The only nights I will compete with myself are Friday’s and Saturday’s and those are the nights there is enough business around for another 20 nightclubs in Vegas.
“But I think it will hurt the weaker clubs—the ones that are already in trouble will get even worse. The worst nightclubs will go out of business and the best nightclubs will get stronger—and I believe we will have the two best in town. Our business this year is better than last year because its always quality that counts and wins. We insist quality here is the absolute best.”
Victor said that he and Steve are still very bullish on the Vegas economy—and specifically the nightlife—despite the current economic downtown and recent IRS probes into rival nightlife operations.
“First let me say Steve is a dream to work with. You couldn’t ask for a better partner. He looks a long way into the future and he’s very confident about the Vegas ongoing growth,” Victor added. “Vegas will still keep getting bigger than ever. Our hotels are still less expensive than any other city in the world—and we have the best hotels in the world. Vegas is the most exciting city in the world—certainly more so now than Los Angeles once used to be.
“I still maintain that nightlife is a better buy than theater. The top shows for three boys and three girls out on the town can cost $1,500 for just two hours. In Tryst they can dance all night long and with two bottles for them it only costs $800—so we are much less expensive and the enjoyment and pleasure lasts all night—many hours longer. That is key for the young crowd who want that energy and excitement and don’t want to sit still and watch a show.”
Victor’s only comment about the ongoing IRS probe of his rival club operators was: “Since the day we opened we have been completely open, honest and up front with a tough transparent tip policy of showing and reporting all. We are a public company and we recognize our full responsibilities to stockholders and the regulatory authorities.”
I had to ask Victor a little cheekily why he’d broken his rule of not paying celebrities to bring in the American Idol stars to host the second anniversary. “I didn’t,” he replied proudly. “They are all my friends. They wanted to come in and do this for me as their gift to celebrate—there was no fee like all the other clubs keep paying out to celebrities. This was simply their way of saying “Happy birthday.”
Luxe Life will have the full photo report early next week of the American Idol stars at play and all the birthday blast festivities.