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KING OF CLUBS BETS ON A FULL HOUSE AT HOLLYWOOD CASINO



Printer Friendly VersionPost a CommentTell a Friend about this Article14 November 2004
As reported by: The Miami Herald
If you build the kind of lavish, upscale lounge and nightclub in Broward that's usually found in London and Marbella, Spain, will they come?

Nightclub king Michael Ault, whose Pangaea clubs reign in those European cities, seems to think so. And he is convinced that adults who feel inconvenienced and displaced by the wild and trendy South Beach scene will find a home at his new $4 million lounge and nightclub combo, Pangaea and Gryphon, on the grounds of the new Seminole Hard Rock Hotels & Casino in Hollywood.

Variety magazine dubbed Ault -- for those who can't tell an Ingrid Casares from a Peter Gatien -- the undisputed king of New York night life in a 1993 article, when his now defunct Chaos and Spy Bar clubs ran supreme.

Locals will remember him as the owner of Chaos South Beach, which critics hailed as one of the best clubs in the nation for two years.

He closed it in 2000.

"The shelf life of any hot club is three years," said Ault, who's preparing for a soft opening of his two latest clubs on Dec. 2 to iron out the kinks before a Dec. 16 grand opening.

"When the people you don't want at your house show up, the party is over."

Over the last 20 years, Ault has opened clubs in Los Angeles, Aspen, Sao Paulo, Bermuda, London, Marbella and South Beach.

S. FLORIDA HIATUS

Now, after a four-year South Florida hiatus, Ault is making a return -- except he's bypassing South Beach, a place where he says it's politically impossible to open a new club. Besides, hip-hop dominates South Beach right now.

"Politically, you have a Miami [Beach] City commission that doesn't want new clubs or loud music, drinking or crowds past 5 a.m.," Ault said. "And there is no variety. It's all hip-hop. There is no place for house, trance and world music down there. You have an affluent, adult segment that wants to party, but South Beach isn't the place for them."

Ault is gambling that he can hit the jackpot on the Seminoles' Hollywood reservation when the clubs open at the Seminole Paradise, the new outdoor entertainment complex adjacent to the casino.

NO TIME LIMITS

And because he is on the reservation, Ault can keep his clubs open 24 hours a day, play music as loud and as long as he wants -- both inside and out -- and sell liquor around the clock. Guests also can smoke to their hearts' content.

"I can go beyond what an after-hours club can legally do anywhere in the nation," said Ault, whose clubs in New York constantly were hit with noise and smoking citations.

"Realistically? I doubt I'll keep the clubs open 24 hours a day. On Friday and Saturday I'll stay open until 12 noon the next day, but it's nice to know that I can if the market demands it."

Pangaea, with its East African art and design, creates a soft-lit drink and conversation atmosphere set to the latest European beats and world music. It also features an outdoor garden with a fire pit. It's geared to an audience that is more likely to order Cristal than Coors, and whose evening attire does not include sneakers or jeans.

Ault envisions attracting people in their 30s and early 40s until 3 a.m., then giving way to a younger crowd that will party until noon.

MANHATTAN TRANSFER

The South Florida version of Pangaea, which can accommodate 350 people, plans to be as moody and intimate as its Manhattan version, which closed last July after three years. (The landlord, tired of nightly traffic and noise complaints from other residents in the building, refused to renew Ault's lease.)

"If you were among the European models, A-list celebrities, and jock sports stars who made it past the velvet ropes at Pangaea, you knew it was your lucky night," Suzanne Rozdeba, entertainment reporter for New York's Star magazine, said in an e-mail to The Herald.

Those who will lounge in the South Florida version of Pangaea need only take a short walk through a light-fused hallway to get into Gryphon, a lavish, high-tech, dance club with house and trance mixes by Ault's old crew from Chaos South Beach. Built for 500, it has European styling, a sunken dance floor, and a VIP section with a private entrance, bathroom and bar.

"You are only as good as your address book," said Ault, who boasts 40,000 A-listers he invites to his clubs worldwide. "A club I open is my home, and I treat guests accordingly. I want my guests to have a good time and not notice hours slipping away."

Although Ault graduated from Oxford and the London School of Economics, the 41-year-old insists he learned about creating nightclubs through his blue-blood parents, Faith van Clief (of van Cleef & Arpels) and stepfather Dean Witter (yes, the financier) and the lavish parties they hosted for several hundred guests at their Palm Beach estate.

TIME TO EXPERIMENT

"They had an A-list crowd and the party had to be perfect," said Ault. "You can't teach how to entertain. It comes through experience. And learning how to run a nightclub comes from making mistakes and not repeating them."

Ault's 20-year lease at the Seminole Paradise gives him plenty of time to experiment with club themes, and he expects to run through several. In addition, he pays a low rate for square footage, and is taxed "at a reasonable rate."

"The opportunities are endless, Ault said.

But if Ault builds it, will they come?

"I guess we'll have the answer to that one in 2005," said a skeptical Steve Polisar, chairman of South Beach's night-life task force, who says that South Beach always will reign as the party destination for the beautiful people.

Polisar says he's not threatened by Ault's ambitions to turn Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale into a competitive club mecca. And he strongly disagrees with Ault's assertion that the upscale party crowd is shying away from South Beach, that it is hip-hop dominated, or that its entertainment options are limited.

"Michael has a real challenge in opening a club in an area no one thinks is avant garde," he said. "Let's face it: the SOBE crowd doesn't party at Seminole casinos."

A CLOSE WATCH

But competitor club owners from New York are keeping a careful and supportive eye on Ault's bold venture into Broward.

The talk among New York club owners is that if Ault makes it work, they may follow.

"People will come there to party, no doubt," said Noel Ashman, owner of NA, currently one of New York's hottest nightclubs. "It's definitely a gamble. Can Michael get the high-end models and celebrities and big spenders and colorful people that he gets in New York to come down there on a consistent basis? I hope so."

"Michael has always had an eye for untapped opportunities and this is his next score," said Noah Tepperberg, owner of New York's ultra-chic celebrity club, Marquee.

Rozdeba agreed.

"I think Michael can definitely pull off the Pangaea scene in Hollywood. His name alone behind the project will bring the stars," she said.

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