There’s a problem here in Hollywood.  As our economy has been suffering the past couple years, the consumer spending habits have changed.  There is less “disposable” income going around, so you don’t see people wasting their money away on entertainment luxury.  In layman’s terms…the restaurants, clubs, lounges, and bars, are not seeing their venues packed night after night.  Here lies the problem:  Although the amount of money being spent on nightlife is undoubtably decreasing (which most likely means less people are going out too), the amount of clubs opening up in Hollywood seems to be increasing at the same rate. 

Millions are poured into these venues, and most of them are beautifully designed, but this isn’t New York.  Although LA Proper has a lot of people, the amount of people that go out in Hollywood is miniscual in comparison.  Yet the streets of Hollywood (West Hollywood too), have become supersaturated with clubs, lounges, and bars.  Who wins?  It’s survival of the fittest.  Building a successful club in this town is not just dumb luck (well sometimes).  There are so many factors with size, location, and the typical Hollywood bullshit.  So here’s a little breakdown of my take on it:

Goa - Hollywood

Goa was rockin this summer.  Themed around a resort island of the coast of India, the inside design exuded the glitz and glamor of Hollywood in an exaggerated gaudy style.  You may have noticed that I have been speaking in the past tense about this club.  Well that’s because it no longer exists.  Now I’m not a lawyer, nor do I work for the city, so the details about what happened will only be known by those who were involved.  But from what I understand, Goa did not purchase their “Dance Permit”.  It’s the city’s way of making sure they get their piece of the pie (I hear it costs around a million).  Despite not purchasing the permit, they installed kick ass dance floor that was surrounded by  tables staggered in different sizes and elevations off the dance floor.  It truly was one of the best designs I have seen my 4 years here in L.A.  The main bar was just as extravagant with hundreds of gold chains hanging off the ceiling.  Another unique aspect of Goa was that it operated as a restaurant before the club opened.  The food was actually pretty good too!! (Sushi). 

One fateful night, the fire marshal shows up (supposedly tipped off by Sam Nazarian of SBE - got to love the Hollywood gossip) and shuts down the club for the night.  They were sited for operating as a club without their dance license and a few months later, Goa is no more.  Bad luck for Michael Sutton again.  Seems he has become the anithesis of the Midas Touch.

The Kress - Hollywood

When you walk into The Kress, you will be amazed.  It’s obvious they spent a lot to transform that historic building into a “mega-club”.  First level entering in the front or back is the restaurant level.  The food is as you would expect…moderately overpriced.  I didn’t dig the Korean-fusion menu, but upstairs in the mezzanine area (which is a mini 2nd level on the restaurant floor) is a sushi area.  The sushi is decent and not too expensive.  Overall, it’s not some amazing dining experience that is a must try.

The rest of the building is made up of what seems like to be two separate  clubs and lounge on the rooftop.  Each club mimics Goa in gaudy interior design, but lacks the creativeness of the Indian theme.  The rooftop is amazing.  The view is unique competing only with Skybar and the Highlands (which few Hollywood scenesters go anyways).  The middle is filled with lounge couches all facing each other all sold for bottle service.  The outside is lined with cabanas on each edge of the roof.  In between is artificial black turf (seems like the good stuff that the NFL plays on) that gives you this plastic surgery type outside yard feel.  Unfortunately there is only one bar on the roof that makes getting drinks feel much like being in a herd of thirsty buffaloes fighting over one small drinking hole.

The downfall of The Kress will be its size.  To make back the reported 24-26 million that was spent on development, they need to stay busy.  The idea seemed to be that they were going to make the rooftop the “exclusive” area and fill the rest of the clubs (depending on the night, both club floors may be open or just one of the two).  What they failed to realize is that Hollywood is filled with insecure yet egotistical people.  So if someone doesn’t get a wristband to get on the roof, there’s no way their egos will allow them stay to hang out on the lower floors with the rest of the “peasant” people.  This undoubtedly will shorten the lifespan of The Kress in the Hollywood “Scene” and more than likely, it will quickly transform into a club like the Highlands…doors open to everyone.  I would imagine that when SBE and the Syndicate open their two new club/lounge this fall, there will be a significant shift in the “crowd” you see at The Kress.

The Stork - Hollywood

The Stork, recently opening within the past two months, hit a home run with the design.  The moment you walk in, you feel  the New York style design emanating off the concrete walls and industrial decor.  Despite the New York City influence, this is still L.A., which means they have a nicely sized outdoor patio.  The first night I was there, part owner DJ AM performed and with the velvet rope being one of the harder ropes to get through, the crowd was nothing short of amazing (which in Hollywood terms means there was a lot of hot girls, a few celebrities, and the ballers buying bottles).  I like the approach The Stork is taking on how they run their promotion.  It is all in-house; NO PROMOTERS.  Even though you might not see everyone one of your friends there for the next 6 months straight, a year from now, it will still be an exclusive spot that celebrities and scenesters still go.  in other words, the lifespan of this club will be much longer than most others.

The entrance to the building is actually quite attractive too.  There are two different sets of cement steps that lead up to two entrances to the club both similar to the stairwell of Upstairs in New York.  But before you even enter the clubs, you will notice the outside patio of the restaurant that is there.  Yep, they have a restaurant too.  I hear the food is really good (I’ll find out on for myself on Saturday).  As far as a business move, it seems there is a trend in Hollywood of Restaurant/Clubs or Lounges opening up.  Why?  Because it’s proving to have successful results.  When these establishments don’t have to rely strictly on revenue from bar sales, they are not forced to live or die by the trends in this town.  There’s a reason SBE is opening restaurant/lounge after restaurant/lounge, longevity and two separate revenue streams.

Coco De Ville - West Hollywood

This little spot takes advantage of premiere location in the small little nightlife strip on La Cienega in West Hollywood.  The venue is small and dedicates much of it’s real estate to bottle service (which equals $$$$).  Other than the small isles that people squeeze their way through on the main floor, the only other places to casually stand is by the bar on the second level slightly elevated above the first floor.  Coco is kept so dark, sometimes it’s hard for me to see without my infrared goggles…yes, it’s like looking at a club through the eyes of a mosquito.

There’s a small dance area and smoking outdoor patio, but other than that, there’s not much to it.  Regardless, you will pull up on a Tuesday or Saturday and see a gathering people (most very attractive) outside that can sometime get to be a nuisance to fight through unless you, yes I’m going to say it, “know someone.” 

Apple Lounge - West Hollywood

Apple opened with a flashy Fingerprint Communications (Big time PR Agency here in L.A. that many clubs contract) event   that included pass around hor’ derv and open bar.  The inside is not unique in style, it brings another New York influenced design with multiple floors and an outdoor area.  The downstairs made me feel like I was in some weird dungeon, but that probably was mainly due to the fact that it’s so tiny with only 150-200 person capacity.  It may do well because of it’s size, but the location is odd for a “straight” lounge as it’s right smack in the center of boys town in West Hollywood. 

Foxtail Restaurant & Lounge - West Hollywood

SBE’s latest creation is quite the joint.  I haven’t eaten there, but I hear the food is amazing and not ridiculously priced.  The decor is very dark, yet elegant, but it’s the lounge upstairs that is getting all the hype.  With the typical tightly run velvet rope, there are many nights you walk upstairs scratching your head as to why the line is so long outside…noone is inside.  The crowd is always the “scenester” crowd no matter if it’s empty with just a few people, or packed in.  There is one night I still remember, recently, when I walked into the lounge to find something close to 90% women.  A good friend of mine has coined the term “90-10 party”; and that it was.  What I like about these lounges is that it’s not necessary for them to let in the whole world to make money.  So the crowds are always good.

Kiss Lounge - Hollywood

This tiny little lounge sits atop Beso Restaurant (who’s food is amazing by the way).  Of all  the lounges, this might be the smallest.  The decor inside is what you would expect out of a place named Kiss: Very red, very love themed.  It’s another one of those dark ambiances (which I imagine may promote more kissing since people can’t see each others faces).  There’s one thing I have noticed…the music is always so freakin’ loud.  I’m hard of hearing as it is, and my ears are buzzing hot when I leave.  This is another place where the rope is run tightly.  There was even a review that was written by some poor girl who was bitter because she didn’t get in (http://www.yelp.com/biz/kiss-lounge-los-angeles).  I did write a candid response to it, but it seems that it was taken down.  She must “know” people.

Villa - West Hollywood

Villa is the essence of Hollywood “exclusivity”.  The way this venue is run, they’d rather have their place empty than let the likes of you in.  Pretty girls flock here, the occasional celebrity, and then your normal scenesters.  The redundancy in my reviews of these places is probably beginning to make you nauseous.  But I think you’re starting to get the point of this whole blog.  This is another place where location is rather inconvenient.  And I must admit I’m a little biased with the birth of this new ultra-exclusive lounge as it used to be a great music venue, Monroes, that I performed in.  It’s super tiny, so again, there’s only about 150-200 people they can squeeze in (which I’ve never seen it even close to be at capacity).  If you’re into “being seen”, then you probably have already been here a million times.

Crown Bar - West Hollywood

The only difference Crown Bar brings to the table is that it comes from owner Andy Fiscella (who also owns The Dime, and Winston’s), and it has the word “Bar” in it’s name rather than club or lounge.  Andy has successful traveled up the status ladder to owning “exclusive” venues, but by the non-traditional route: The Bar.  Inside the bar is nice and fancy.  The atmosphere is a bit different from the rest of the above mentioned which may be attributed to the simple fact that it has the word “bar” in it’s name.  People seem to take that and feel like they can be more casual about their socializing. 

The invasion hasn’t stopped though.  Due this fall is MyHouse the newest Syndicate installment.  This one will be interesting to watch as it will be the newly remodeled Garden of Eden that had one of the longest running of clubs in this town.  That’s not the only reason…Dodd Mitchel has partnered with David Judaken to create a very unique concept that will transform the venue into a house…a very expensive house.  Video game room?  Movie theater?  Hot tub/Pool?  This will be very interesting to see.  It’s up against stiff competition with the 8 (remember Goa closed) of the places I mentioned.  And with XIV (newest SBE restaurant/lounge, used to be known as Privilege) opening up this fall, they will have a brand new hot spot to compete with.

So there you have it.  Although I probably managed to bore you with 9 different reviews, this is just a small list of the who knows how many bars, clubs, etc (I know Tokios is about to open as something new and Hush opened this summer already).  How the hell will all these clubs stay alive?  There are so many options to choose from, how do these places keep themselves full?  In a town where trends wear out faster than cell phone batteries, a place like The Kress has a hard time staying a hot spot and keeping itself full at the same time.  That’s my opinion from a business standpoint.  From a guest of all these venues, it really has pushed me to the point that unless there’s some special event, friend’s birthday, or it’s awards season, the nights have become so bland and watered down.