Where do you take contemporary Vegas nightlife after more than a decade of evolution and reinvention? If you’re Hakkasan Group—which turned MGM Grand’s faded reputation as a club-and-ultra-lounge hot spot into that of major clubbing destination featuring internationally renowned EDM talent at its namesake venue—and you have a canvas in Caesars Palace that housed one of the most game-changing nightclubs of the 2000s with which to work with, you have to exceed expectations. You have to raise the bar in terms of both party atmosphere and environment surrounding celebrated DJs such as Calvin Harris, Afrojack and Above & Beyond. And if you want both talent and tourists to come back, you have to get it right from the get-go and by design.
Expectations, meet Omnia. “The design and layout is unlike anything the Las Vegas market has seen before,” says Alex Cordova, Hakkasan Group’s executive vice president of marketing. “Simply put, Omnia means ‘all’ and the space is just that, an all-encompassing venue. Every detail was meticulously attended to, from wood paneling and luxurious fabrics, to stone and tile work, including never-before-seen technology and design elements.”
Hakkasan brought in the Rockwell Group to take the lead in Omnia’s architectural aspects. Cordova says that, at 75,000 square feet, the floor plan is double the size of Pure, the nightclub that once occupied the space. Like Pure, Omnia has indoor and outdoor environments, with a redesigned rooftop patio still providing a spectacular mid-level view of the central Strip. It has expanded the venue’s square footage on the ground level, though, taking over space formerly used for poker and tournament play in order to hold 3,500 patrons.
Once inside, guests can hit the main club or have an “exclusive experience” inside Heart of Omnia. The 1,000-guest-capacity VIP room features open-format (diverse genre) artists, and will play host to influential hip-hop icons such as Questlove, Rev. Run and DJ Jazzy Jeff. “With Heart of Omnia, we’ve offered guests a more laid back, yet seductive experience in comparison to that of the energetic, pulsing environment of the main club,” says Cordova. The main club features a 22,000-pound kinetic chandelier above the dance floor, with interactive LED panels installed throughout in order to deliver the “unexpected and bespoke elements of intrigue and opulence” promised by Hakkasan Group.
As Pure did before, Omnia will emphasize the nightclub’s Tuesday night offerings, featuring top talent from its roster but not relying on the star power of the celebrities in attendance, as its predecessor did. Instead, DJ sets are considered “performances,” with state-of-the-art production and stage design envisioned by concert-industry giants Willie Williams and Tait Towers.
“We garnered input from a variety of our headlining artists, including Calvin Harris and Afrojack, to see what production elements would take their sets above and beyond the average nightclub performance,” says Cordova of Omnia’s effort to transcend conventional DJ booths. “The space is unlike anything ever seen before in a nightlife setting. … Guests will constantly feel like they are fully immersed in the performance, as opposed to just watching it.”
Caesars Palace, opens at 10 p.m. Tues. & Thurs.-Sun. beginning March 12. 702.785.6200
