LAX
Wow! Talk about over-the-top luxury and amenities. The new LAX nightclub that pop-princess Britney Spears will open in about 48-hours time at the Luxor is unlike any-other nightclub in the world - and Luxe Life got the advance peek on a personally escorted tour by PURE owner, Robert Frey.
For the past two weeks, he’s been on site every three hours to monitor the progress, but when 99% complete and ready for those pesky Certificates of Occupancy and licensing papers, he felt confident to show it all off. Even to say it is stunning is an understatement. Add in the exclusive speakeasy-themed Noir Bar and the upcoming Nick Lachey and Wilmer Valderamma restaurant, Company opening in October and the megaplex is a 46,000 square foot wonder - just a little larger than their PURE nightspot at Caesars Palace.
Ironically, Noir Bar also opens Friday night - but while LAX may have 3,000 dancers enjoying the pyramid’s new plush playpen, the two-roomed Noir Bar is so exclusive that nobody may even be in there! It’s so exclusive and unique that it has its own super-VIP entrance from a rear hotel driveway, and although its called a bar, drinks are served by gorgeous girls from rolling drink carts to customers lounging in the leathered banquets underneath a monstrous $250,000 dimmed chandelier! Additional candles are everywhere to add to the romantic feel.
Robert told me: “There will be nights when nobody is in here. It is going to really mean exclusive, and it won’t matter if somebody has more money than sense - they can’t buy their way in. I wouldn’t be allowed in if I wasn’t the owner! It’s more than just VIP - this is invitation-only guest list time. It’s for upscale people and celebrity VIPs who want upscale nightlife without the big club experiences.”
This LAX doesn’t look anything like its sister club in Los Angeles that is a no.1 favorite with Hollywood stars. Pop-queen Christine Aguilera is one of the million-dollar investors in our Vegas LAX, and she’ll see it for the first time over the Video Music Awards MTV weekend when she hosts her party there. In fact, Robert told me that in its first month, more than 20 different stars are set to attend 20 different events there.
The wow factor begins right at the casino floor where massive arched wrought-iron gate-doors open up to enter LAX. Choose from one of two curving staircases to walk up briefly to the first level hallway lined with lipstick red curtains and candles. It divides again at a leather-studded circle – call it an oversized light-brown ball - and it’s not until about now that you’ll see and feel the actual club for the first time.
You look down onto the main dance floor lit by six enormous black chandeliers towered over by the DJ booth - literally an altar to today’s star spinners. It’s on mechanics to raise and lower depending on the DJ’s mood - but also to show everybody whatever star might be visiting, so expect Britney to christen that unique feature Friday night standing head and shoulders higher than everybody else there. It results in every club-goer being able to see the stars instead of being partially out of sight on the side VIP stages.
On each side of the balcony’s upper level smaller dance floor are seven cabana lofts complete with their own fridge, storage closet for handbags and other very personal amenities in case the lovebug catches thru the night - and the banquette booths come complete with food snack delicacies offered with the bottle service!
There’s two giant candle-lit glass and marble bars in the 26,000 square foot club connected by another circular staircase leading from the upper level onto the main dance floor. You can expect myriads of would-be models to be parading, posing and prowling down that glassed attraction. Additional VIP rooms with glass walls are located near the dance floor, too.
“We wanted to create something so it’s different every time you come,” said Robert. “We wanted to create something so that wherever you are in the club, it’s totally different from anywhere else in the club.”
So a new era of Vegas nightlife is about to begin in just two days time with \ unbelievable elegance and luxury and no gimmicks. Red is the dominant color - and even the gorgeous knockout servers are wearing very sexy hot high-fashion red outfits, matching shoes - and lipstick!
I asked Robert if he was concerned that LAX would cannibalize his crowds at PURE.
“This nightclub is in easy reach of over 12,000 hotel rooms in Luxor and its adjoining properties of Mandalay Bay, The Hotel, the Four Seasons, Excalibur, plus MGM and NYNY just across the Strip intersection. We’re still turning away up to 4,000 people at weekends trying to get into PURE, so now both clubs can handle the nightlife demand,” he commented. “Traffic is getting worse on the Strip, so I think people will stay closer to their own hotels rather than travel - so now we’ve got LAX at one end, PURE in the middle and Tangerine at the other end. They all have their slice of the market - and I can check them out each night because they’re all on the west side of the Strip and I can go up and down Frank Sinatra Drive and into Industrial.”
But he does admit that there will be several occasions where one mega star will be hosting at PURE and another mega star hosting at LAX. “May the best one win,” he laughed.
Only a privileged few, including the Luxor hotel executives, have seen the club in its finished state awaiting the opening. We’ll have photos for you here at Luxe Life over the weekend because Robert wanted everybody to see it all at once because of its overwhelming, stunning, spare-no-expense luxury look. His platinum, premium first-class indulgences make what I used to show you on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous pale by comparison. His PURE team researched clubs all over the world to ensure there was no other pleasure palace on earth like LAX.
“We achieved that and now everybody will have to play catch up to us all over again,” he summed up.
So the eyes of the world, as seen through the lenses of more than 200 paparazzi cameramen, will be on Britney in 48 hours time at LAX. But just to ensure that all is fair in love and war (nightclub-style), Playboy’s blond bombshell Jenny McCarthy will host two nights later at PURE and guitarist Dave Navarro will do the honors Saturday night at Tangerine. In the middle of this upcoming star-studded weekend, the new BLUSH nightclub will open at the WYNN on Friday night too - and we’ll have details about that new intimate nightspot tomorrow.