You’ve Been Hakkasan-ed!
The wait is over. Hakkasan Las Vegas is here and it was worth the 2 year wait (IMO), although some people on social media will say differently. Having read the posts about Hakkasan since it opened on Thursday, April 18, 2013, I have seen much more “likes” than dislikes. There’s not much to dislike.
I had the opportunity to attend the opening on Thursday. The walk from the parking garage to Hakkasan is a good mile. Not sure if that’s an exaggeration or not. Once overcoming the hike, I reach “the door.” This might be the largest door set-up and 3-way process in Vegas.
As you’re looking to get in the door, you will have to work your magic and get passed door guy #1. Once you pass this rope (in hopes that you have a table or know someone), you then stand at a second rope. The second rope is guarded by the VIP hosts and a podium guy. Once your group is patiently waiting at line 2, in order of precedence, you’re let in with a ticket for your table. Now you’ve reached line 3. This station here is the main podium area where the hosts controlling the podium place your group and give you a table number. From there, your VIP host walks you to your table.
Thursday night, I didn’t get a table. I went for an hour or so to get a feel for what Hakkasan was about and to say hi to a few people. I received a personal invite the week prior to the Sunday party with the DJ, Tommy Trash. I experienced the same walk-in process for both nights. As much work as it sounds to get in the place, they seem to have a pretty solid handle of the procedure of getting people in the door and I didn’t wait long; but I can imagine it will be a little intimidating for patrons in the future if they don’t know the door guys or don’t have a table. The long guest list line was tucked away in the corner near the actual doors into the club. I saw a long line wrapped around the wall on the opposite side of the table line. Problem is, there’s a large round bar in-between the 2 areas so you have to walk around it to get to either side. Once inside, all eyes were on décor and hospitality of the staff. I was impressed. What I wasn’t impressed with, was the energy coming from Deadmau5’ DJ set. I felt like I was in a large warehouse listening to low energy trance music. No confetti, very few lasers, no energy in the room, bad music, and bad attitude. How is this guy getting millions to DJ? (Note: Deadmau5 is no longer at Hakkasan)
The décor of the venue definitely says, “I am worth 100 million dollars” as this is how much it cost to build Hakkasan. Due to it being 5 levels, if the elevator isn’t available, there are many stairs to walk down. I saw a couple jokes being made online and people called it, “Hakkastairs.”
The hip-hop room was filled and DJ Vice had the room on high alert. I recommend this room if you love hip-hop. The Ling Ling room where the restaurant will be is extravagant and I look forward to the restaurant opening on May 3, 2013. I walked around the 5th level where the skyboxes are, and the view from up above is great. It’s a party in the sky.
Sunday was the big day to feel the party and to be the party. While we were in the elevator to go to the 4th floor, the VIP host gave us a solid run down of the club before reaching the main dance floor area; something not many hosts do while walking people into a nightclub. A lot of hosts in other clubs seem more concerned about quickly getting you to your table so they can walk in other tables and they can make more money.
Our waitress was my beautiful friend Amanda Tamayo. The night couldn’t get any better. Tommy Trash had the right energy, the crowd was hype, there were beautiful women everywhere, the lasers were shooting, confetti was dropping. It was like a New Year’s Eve party. Towards the end of the night, my phone died. My waitress Amanda notified me that there were universal cell phone chargers under the seats at my table. I can’t begin to explain how happy I was. Instead of leaving or losing friends and not being able to text them where they were, I was able to stay there, enjoy my time and charge my phone right at my table. This was probably the highlight of my night. Lol. No other nightclub in Las Vegas offers this.
My experience overall is a 10 out of 10. Great staff, venue is beautiful, with the right talent, the main room is incredible and the lighting system is unbelievable. This is my new favorite place to hang out in Vegas. I’m a fan of Hakkasan and will be bringing my clients there.
A special thank you goes to Stan Lopez and the rest of the staff at Hakkasan for the great hospitality opening weekend.
