Hyde Bellagio among clubs set to debut

By Delen Goldberg

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 | 6:16 p.m.

With less than 48 hours until its New Year’s Eve grand opening, Hyde Bellagio was still receiving finishing touches Thursday afternoon.

The new club is one of three debuting for 2012. 1 OAK at the Mirage also opens New Year’s Eve, and RPM Nightclub at the Tropicana opens Friday.

Hyde Bellagio operator Sam Nazarian hopes the new venue can help change Las Vegas’ club model. The establishment is Nazarian’s SBE Entertainment Group’s first Vegas nightclub venture.

“This whole club is a paradigm shift,” SBE’s Food and Beverage Vice President Oliver Wharton said. “Where clubs have gotten bigger and louder, we wanted to go back to luxury, sophistication and hospitality.”

Hyde is modeled after a high-end Italian villa. Books and framed photos decorate shelves. A room divider features an oversized image of a staircase. The DJ booth doubles as a fireplace.

The club includes both indoor and outdoor seating and overlooks the Bellagio’s famed dancing fountains.

In an effort to attract a more diverse audience, Hyde will feature a few novelties. Up-and-coming DJs from Los Angeles will spin every Tuesday night, waiters will serve tapas and small plates, and the music will start cranking as early as 5 p.m. The club’s specialty drinks center on fresh-squeezed juices (think cucumber-watermelon margaritas), and bartenders are trained in using liquid nitrogen to make cocktails slushy.

“The 28- to 55-year-old crowd is going to be checking out earlier spots. That’s why the day clubs have been so successful,” said Michael Fuller, a programming consultant for SBE. “If you have been going to clubs for a while, you’re probably bummed out on the late-night scene.”