A rendering by Zouk Las Vegas that will open in September 2021. (Photo: Courtesy Resorts World Las Vegas) Posted by Chong Seow Wei
July 05, 2021
Singapore-based Zouk Group is venturing beyond Asia to the United States for the first time with a multi-million dollar plan that will redefine the Las Vegas entertainment and lifestyle scene
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Six years ago, party-goers in Singapore reacted with a mixture of emotions when news broke that Genting Hong Kong – a subsidiary of the Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group – had acquired the country’s most famous nightclub, Zouk, for an undisclosed amount. Many longtime Zouk fans were skeptical as to whether this was the right move for the club, which has become an institution for several generations of Singaporeans since it opened in 1991.
While Zouk’s future seemed uncertain to the clubbers, it has never been clearer for the Genting team. For Lim Keong Hui, son of Genting Group Chairman Lim Kok Thay, and Zouk’s then-new CEO Andrew Li, the future lay in expansion, both in terms of the lifestyle concepts Zouk could offer and also on its worldwide presence.
“The Zouk brand has such an emotional connection to Singapore, that’s why we’ve been careful about how we grow it from day one,” says Li. “But we also understand it’s a [sustainable] Business, so Hui and I used our experience of nightlife from around the world to enhance some of Zouk’s experiences. “
Related: Tatler Singapore partners with Panerai for an adrenaline-fueled spin session at the Zouk
Zouk night club in Singapore. (Photo: Courtesy of Zouk Group)
And expand it. In 2019, Zouk opened his second nightclub in Malaysia, a 34,000 m² space in the mountains at Resorts World Genting. The first club in Malaysia in the city of Kuala Lumpur opened in 2004 when the brand was still run by its founder Lincoln Cheng.
In 2020, due to the temporary closure of nightclubs across Singapore due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Li and his team responded quickly with a pivot plan. This resulted in the club opening up its rooms for other uses, such as spin classes, a restaurant, and a cinema pop-up.
Related: Zouk CEO Andrew Li wants people to clubbing on the cloud
This year will be the biggest so far for the Zouk Group. In September, it brings its experience of opening its newest – and largest – Las Vegas nightclub to the US for the first time.
With an area of 26,060 m², the nightclub can accommodate up to 2,160 party-goers, compared to 1,500 at its location in Singapore. It has two party rooms – the Zouk main room and the more hip-hop-oriented Empire – as well as the Capital Bar, which has an unusual circular design and is connected to all rooms.
There will also be a state-of-the-art “mothership” ceiling center, which can be seen in various forms in all of Zouk’s nightclubs and can move from room to room, changing the backdrop of the venue with lighting effects.
Other technical features of the club include a digital guest list and interactive 3D booking cards that allow guests to see the exact table they are booking.
Andrew Li, CEO of the Zouk Group. (Photo: Courtesy of Zouk Group)
In addition to the night club, Zouk is also launching other entertainment and lifestyle concepts. These include Ayu Dayclub, a tropical-themed beach club that opens July 4th with a performance by Miley Cyrus; Famous Foods Street Eats, a multi-restaurant concept serving Southeast Asian street food that opened its doors last week; Redtail social gaming bar; and modern Asian restaurant Fuhu.
Two of these places will have food that has a personal connection to Li and Lim, who have been friends for a long time. At Fuhu, those dishes are the crispy aromatic duck and Boston lobster noodles that Li said he and Lim often ate while studying at a boarding school in London. “These two dishes always give us a strong sense of nostalgia after eating them, especially when we were missing at home,” said Li, whose family is from Hong Kong. At Redtail, it is the spaghetti Bolognese that is another favorite of Li and his idea of the “ultimate comfort food”.
The concept of Zouks Beachclub Ayu Dayclub was inspired by the tropical beach clubs of Phuket, Koh Samui and Bali. Photo: Courtesy of the Zouk Group
A representation of the contemporary Asian restaurant Fuhu by Zouk Las Vegas. The restaurant concept was first introduced in 2019 at Resorts World Genting. Photo: Courtesy of the Zouk Group
Zouk said his Vegas concepts cost more than $ 70 million to build. They are part of Genting Group’s $ 4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas development, which marks the first major launch of the neon-lit Vegas Strip in over a decade.
Last Thursday, as part of its first opening phase, the integrated resort began welcoming guests to its hotels and most of its restaurants. It has 3,500 hotel rooms managed by three brands including Hilton and Conrad, as well as a 5,000-seat theater where Celine Dion and Katy Perry will perform later this year.
The casino is also reportedly the first casino in the world to be completely cashless, with plans to eventually give guests the option to pay in cryptocurrency.
According to Li, the timing of opening a new nightclub – and an integrated resort of this size – has never been so propitious in Vegas. “If you look at the last few weekends, there has been a lot of revenge spending in Vegas where everything is open and you don’t have to wear a mask anywhere,” he says. “Also, nearly 50 percent of the US population has been vaccinated, so there are plenty of people ready to go out and party now – and Vegas is known for that.”
In fact, the city has received a lot of attention lately; Last year, the $ 1.9 billion Allegiant stadium opened and is the home of the Las Vegas Raiders soccer team. And earlier this year, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s The Boring Company unveiled the twin tunnels it built under the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) to get people through the huge Teslas venue. It will be called the LVCC Loop and will later join a wider Vegas Loop system that is still under development and will have stations at the stadium, the airport and the Strip.
“A lot has happened in Vegas lately that it feels like it’s reinventing itself,” says Li. “I think the opening of Resort World Las Vegas is almost like the reopening of Las Vegas. The excitement about the start was crazy because everyone knows that it will be something special. “
See other winners from the entertainment category on the Gen.T list.
