By Taylor Rau

In recent times in our industry, a new accepted standard has been set for what is exciting in nightlife. The “super club” revolution has spread worldwide, giving club-goers nightlife experiences beyond their wildest imaginations. They've taken the nighttime world to another level, and this level of stimulation has been embraced and accepted.

But for every accepted social practice, there is a taboo — something that goes and throws social norms to the wind, jumping just beyond the confining skin of the mainstream. Just beyond that outer limit is Tabú.

Vegas' premier ultra-lounge opened last year to a reception as eager and welcoming as its interior and staff. The seductive concept that is Tabú seamlessly combines lavish house attention, sexy hostesses and the latest in technological wizardry, entertaining and invigorating patrons in an affluent atmosphere intimately wrapped by 7,000 square feet of cutting-edge sound, lighting and designer-detailed décor.

The resulting posh package is a paradise for sultry models, party-notorious movie stars, celebrities, VIPs, club-seasoned nightlife seekers simply wishing to raise their standard of experience —and those who may not know about the proliferation of the lounge but want to see and feel firsthand what superior service is all about during their Sin City stay. Club goers by the millions are rediscovering the ultra-lounge, and this hotter-than-hot spot is reaping the rewards.

“If you like stunning women in lingerie pouring drinks, models and starlets dancing on tables … music just loud enough to dance to, yet low enough to chat up a hottie, and techno-erotic furniture, your next trip to Vegas must include Tabú ultra-lounge,” says a vegashotspots.com write-up of the 2004 Club World Awards host and “Best Lounge” nominee.

The Quest for Space

“For a couple of years we said we should maybe try something new,” says Tabú Executive Director Mike Milner, who also oversees the mega-successful Studio 54. “But 54's floor was always full —we're talking five years straight …we knew we had a great club but we wanted to cater to that more sophisticated, discerning crowd.”

Milner says once the idea was taking on a shape and a form, the next step of necessity was to find the ideal space within MGM Grand to accommodate the new arrival. After walking the property with MGM Grand President and Chief Operating Officer Gamal Aziz, one particular area stood out to them, Milner says, enhanced in appeal by its intimate feel and proximity to Studio 54.

“Tabú is about fashion, great music, being in a club and being entertained,” says Aziz. “The concept grew out of a clientele with sophistication and elegance wanting more of a private environment.”

The quest for space was only the beginning of the legwork Milner and crew faced when making preparations, however. Milner says his team traveled the United States touring clubs and lounges to see what was out there before setting their own stage. Some concepts worked and some didn't, but a culmination of them dictated Tabú's direction and imminent identity in the industry, he says, adding that when it hit, it really hit.

Renowned architect/designer/club owner Jeffrey Beers got into the project early on to carve out its unique Las Vegas presence. Start to finish, Milner says the ultra-lounge was completed in about eight months. Incorporated into the space are funky furniture, Italian marble and Brazilian wood ceilings and floors and luxurious textures.

A VIP area with private entrance, bar and restroom facilities also can be found, as well as other standout design elements such as Tabú's circular Tantra Room (one of three main, diverse rooms), where a four-tiered wall of bottles are backlit and showcased in a solid block of ice. Milner says the bottle-entombing display was experimental. Complete with polished stainless steel plates backed by freeze panels, the system also has a defroster switch. Should guests want a bottle directly from the display, they can have it.

“We just don't have a Zamboni to trim it,” Milner jokes. “…And as far as I know, this is unique to Tabú.”

Perhaps what strikes a guest first is the focus in Tabú is abundant seating and tables for guests. In the ultra-lounge's 7,000 square feet, Tabú has a capacity of 350, with space for patrons to join friends at tables and, well, lounge. The success of seating lies in the balance between relaxed space and elbowroom, Milner says.

“When we made Tabú, we incorporated seating and tables all around,” he says. “The night begins with the tables.”

Seated With Style

If the night begins with the tables, the Tabú experience truly begins at the door. The first faces entering guests encounter are not those of surly door staff by any stretch. Rather, guests are met by their host or hostess for the night, most typically former Playmates or otherwise highly qualified models. The reason is simple, Milner says. To really embark on an evening of quality atmosphere and entertainment, the first and lasting impression —door staff — should be enthusiastic and very social. Being beautiful certainly doesn't hurt either, he says.

“They know the nightlife and it's nice to be seated with that style,” Milner says. “…The front door is such an important part of a nightclub operation.”

Attaining this team was no easy feat, however. Milner says he and staff had a strenuous audition/hiring process, interviewing hundreds of models with hospitality experience from all over the country. Once selected, hosts and hostesses greet guests, escort them to their tables, introduce them to their lingerie-clad table hostesses and at times come by to check on them.

“Who wants to go to a club where you have to struggle to catch the staff's eye?” Milner asks.

Reactrix Reactions

Catching eyes literally takes on another dimension at the lounge as well, in the form of something Milner says definitely is a competitive advantage and complete patron delight: the Reactrix image-projection technology of the tables themselves.

Overhead lighting systems project images directly onto tabletops in Tabú. Currently, up to 60 images can be rotated throughout a night. They're also quite interactive — a virtual eyeball can follow a guest's movements or bounce around the table when “touched”, flames can appear to envelop the bottom of a glass when set on the table surface, water can appear to ripple from the origin of a touch, or corporate logos for private parties can be displayed, for example.

Roger Parent, former executive producer for Cirque de Soleil, was consulted and worked with the Reactrix system to refine the vision of creating sensual, intriguing imagery.

Stacy Foley, Tabú publicist, says one of Parent's strongest visual elements is an animated mural that runs the full length of one of the walls. It is a desert scape featuring faces, images, objects and colored light, and each admirer of the mural will have a different perception of it depending on room lighting and what images are being focused on at that particular time.

The Reactrix table system (co-founded by Jon Friedberg) is leased to Tabú, but Milner says the ultra-lounge has two of the five current systems in the United States. Events Sales Manager Rivka Paris also says the systems are the only two in the nightclub industry.

“The technology was pursued and adapted,” Paris says. “It is another part of that circle of Tabú —giving you something different that nobody has seen before in a nightclub — or an ultra-lounge.” It's also a paradox of being subtle and not, she says.

“It doesn't talk to you or sing to you, but it still entertains.”

Cocktail Cost and Creation

The same philosophy extends to the creative cocktail service found at the tables and around the bar. Actually, as much as creativity is important, Milner emphasizes creation itself, citing the table service bottle holders as an example. They were individually custom made for the lounge from bronze and have inserts for three, two-foot leaded crystal carafes for spirits, soda, orange juice, etc. Milner says Operations Manager Gengis Cohen influenced the form of the serving vessels, which also feature molds designed to hold laser-cut ice cubes. The table service accessories are as smooth and aesthetic as the servers themselves, Milner says.

“Most bars for years have offered bottle service, but we made ours an art.”

Accordingly, the cocktails must compliment the metaphorical canvas —and he says Tabú's servers are proud to offer some of the finest spirits on the planet.

By category, the labels found at the ultra-lounge span the price and availability spectrum. Examples include $255 - $310 Absolut; $255 - $295 gin; rum ranging from $250 up to $3,500 for British Royal Navy Imperial; $1,700 Jim Beam Distiller's Masterpiece; $1,150 Honduras Selection Supreme; Louis XIII magnums at $12,000 per bottle — Hennessey Timeless at $8,000 per bottle.

“When you get into the Cognacs, that's when it gets crazy,” Milner says. There's also Herra Dura, an array of flavored vodkas, Veuve Cliquot Yellow — the lowest-priced Champagne at $105 — and often hard-to-acquire Cristal variations, namely Rosé, of which magnums start at $1,900. Typically, standard sizes range from $750 - $1,100, but Milner says increased demand and decreased supply now has them hovering in the $900 - $1,300 range or more. He says Tabú still currently goes through five cases a week at $1,100 per bottle.

As Milner says of the selectively carried brands themselves, “It's not only our appreciation for the customer, but for the actual alcohol itself that we serve.”

Corporate Clientele

The appreciation for the customer shines in the delicate balance between events and marketing to the masses while still fulfilling the niche for the 25- to 45-year-old club connoisseur — the goal of balancing revenue and PR-focused events. Milner, Paris and Foley say this is achieved through catered corporate parties until 10 p.m. and special events/change of tempo for late-night crowds.

“Tabú really works for the corporate clientele for the atmosphere of talking, of still being able to carry on a conversation with everything else going on around you,” Paris says. “Deals can be closed at Tabú — it's a mingling environment.” She says the cost can be premium for such pampered, private parties, though. A full-service event can roughly run from $10,000 to $50,000 for about three hours, depending on crowd size and amenities requested.

“…Before 10 is when we're here for you. After 10 is when you're here for us,” Paris says.

Planning for Publicity

That live flow the ultra-lounge possesses translates into its seductive marketing as well. In fact, the slogan is “Love. Groove. Fashion. Escape. Forever. And ever. Tabú.” And Tuesday through Sunday, that's what can be expected. Milner says the atmosphere of welcoming and love, through service and socialization, is there; groove from European and domestic (vocal) House beats is there; fashion — especially in events such as Tabú's Wednesday night Boutique promotion — is there. The escape is getting away from the nearby din of the busy casino or simply having a place to forget about troubles while getting personalized attention.

A careful blend of print, radio and billboard advertising and publicity has aided the broadcast of this slogan and what it entails to potential patrons, all in cooperation with MGM Grand.

“We do share a team,” says Milner. “And one advantage of that is worldwide marketing.”

“I always use the terminology that we are like Tiffany eggs — so delicate in balance — any misstep can be critical,” says Todd Dugal, MGM vice president of entertainment. “Everything we do is calculated and very carefully planned.” Dugal says a prime hands-on marketing package advantage is that the Tabú team can maintain and tweak the ultra-lounge's image cleanly and quickly with the support of sound engineer and tech engineer departments — not to mention solid design and communications ones. It's about depth, Dugal says.

He also emphasizes that it's important that Tabú is backboned by its entertainment department and further supported by food and beverage department — key for entertainment programming.

“When we see something not quite like we like it, we can change it quickly … I refer to the clubs (54 and Tabú) as shows, through choreography, costuming, and everything else that we do.”

This is apparent in events such as Boutique, the brainchild of General Manager Candace Carrell, who worked with Studio 54 for five years. Boutique puts the clothing designs of local boutiques and other fashion houses on pedestals with the help of beautiful staffers. Model hosts also tease guests craving the latest in attire in the process.

“It really shows how we embrace our industry,” Paris says.

Ratios of Revenue

It also demonstrates versatility while keeping a core focus has garnered extreme attention and revenue for the venue.

“My first experience with Tabú came from a private tour last week with Studio 54's (and one of Tabú's masterminds) DJ Frankie,” said Las Vegas Weekly Writer Antonio Llapur in a March 2003 article. “Even as crews were frantically trying to get everything in order for their February 27 premiere, I could tell that Tabú was going to raise the bar for the rest of the club and lounge scene.”

“And on any given night, we're able to do the capacity times two on the flow,” Milner says. He discounts the Field of Dreams philosophy, too, saying that the real challenge lies in the day-to-day operation. At present, the demographic is an estimated 80 percent tourist and 20 percent local, but Milner says that breakdown is not as important as the bottom line.

Know a club-conscious crowd and always have the amenities available for them, he says. It's not always about upsizing for success. He says while a mega-club may average $25 per person a night, an ultra-lounge the size of Tabú can average $40.

“It's very attractive to most people to downsize, to say ‘Let's go smaller,'” Milner says. “And operating Tabú is truly a pleasure.”