It is 2 p.m., and a woman in a red wig, spiked sunglasses and studded lipstick (from the new Revlon Dominatrix line, I guess) is blowing a whistle loudly in my face.
In such an environment, you might wonder, “What the heck is going on here?” But you’d be lost to find a point to all the midday frippery, as this is what you encounter at the new GhostBar DayClub — the name already truncated to GBDC — that formally opened yesterday at the Palms.
It’s a nightclub where the sun shines in and the deck juts out and a way for the Palms to take advantage of its decade-old, high-rise club that is an ideal space for such a venue as long as the weather holds out.
“We came up with this idea about six months ago, and we knew we wanted to do something once the pools closed as an alternative for people who still wanted to have fun during the day,” says Palms owner George Maloof, speaking in a big supply closet so he could be heard above the percussive sounds of DJ-generated house music in the main club. “When we open the pool, this will probably shut down.”
GBDC is not a new venue. It’s merely maximizing what was already built into the hotel.
“GhostBar has always been a place people want to go during the day, and that’s been the case over the past 10 years,” Maloof says. “It’s been that they just enjoy the view and have a drink. This is just taking it to another level, giving people a chance to dress up crazy during the day and have fun.”
At GBDC, cerveza is served in bedazzled beer bongs, and confetti is fired from handheld cylinders. All as the club is splashed with real sunlight. And the ever-blaring whistles remind of the greater moments of Club Utopia and Drink & Eat Too.
This club has been Maloof’s creative focus at least since he restructured the hotel’s ownership back in June, leaving the Maloof family with 2 percent of the pie but maintaining executive responsibilities. There are more significant changes in the offing at the Palms, over the next three months, centering on nightlife and room renovation.
“We’re working on some expansion stuff at the Palms, which is going to be pretty incredible,” he says. “We’re right in the middle of that, some really cool things with our original tower with the rooms, and probably a nightclub that I’ve been working on in my mind for about five years now. It’s going to be pretty spectacular.”
With that, Maloof sidestepped a nearby mop and returned to a nightclub that seems to have no sense of time.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.
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