The saying around Zero Bond is, “You can’t buy cool.” But you can lease it, believe it, as the exclusive club at Wynn Las Vegas has opened in characteristically ostentatious fashion.
Dozens of famous and fabulous folks filed into Zero Bond’s opening party last weekend. Headliners Doja Cat and The Chainsmokers performed for such attendees as Jon Hamm, Gwyneth Paltrow, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Jessica Alba, Kevin Costner, Mark Wahlberg and Keegan-Michael Key.
Six-hundred guests packed the 15,000-square-foot space, which usually cap at 550.
Zero Bond is the Las Vegas outpost of the New York club founded six years ago by Scott Sartiano and fellow NYC hospitality power player Will Makris. Sartiano is drawing from his experience as operator of the boutique nightspot 1 Oak at the Mirage.
First lesson here is, you don’t go on the cheap. Zero Bond, with a reported $60-$70 million price tag, invests in its luxury image. Leading to Tuesday’s first day of operations, reports swirled around the scene of a $3 million outlay for the VIP party, with four private jets transporting guests into and out of Vegas.
Doja Cat alone commands far more than $1 million for such an appearance, according to industry vet Jay Siegen, whose company books those very types of appearances (but was not involved in the Zero Bond party).
Art is up
Zero Bond’s rotating art is collection valued $40 million, pieces covering all eras. Through QR codes on every frame, you can purchase any of the art in the 37-piece exhibit. Pieces range from $5,000 to $10 million. The club-wide display was created by President and Chief Creative Officer of Wynn Design and Development Todd-Avery Lenahan and Heather James Fine Art.
The idea of fine art on the Strip, dating to Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, lives on at the Wynn (where Steve Wynn once displayed his elbow-damaged Le Reve over the dining table in his villa at the resort).
Lenahan, Zero Bond’s lead designer, also spun his adventurism at Wynn’s Delilah. Our take is, Zero Bond feels masculine and mature, a fit for the cigar-aficionados who will reside in cushy chairs, drink specialty cocktails and lose track of time. The cocktail menu created by Mariena Mercer Boarini features a house martini with black-truffle essence. This concoction is wonderful just to look at.
The disco room is a space where we see Diana Ross holding forth after a show at Encore Theater (provided she’s purchased a membership).
Or, you can open the billfold at the high-roller gaming enclave, where the table minimum was $25,000 per hand when I toured the space opening day.
A crowded field
We remind that Zero Bond is not alone in developing a refined hospitality experience in Las Vegas. This is where it gets interesting.
The questions we have is if Zero Bond will be a “third space” experience for tourists or locals who already have two favorite environments and is there enough high-end, consumer density to fill the membership demand, especially after the first year.
The club needs to meet the challenge of packing the space on nights when headliners are not playing Sphere, or there isn’t a major event at Wynn/Encore.
The city already offers a competitive playing field, home to several exclusive and exclusive-“ish” clubs, including The Poodle Room and Fontainebleau, and the granddaddy of heightened club experiences, Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay. That venue is undergoing a major overhaul and is reportedly rebranding this summer as Vinyl. It will be heard from in this class.
Those clubs offer majestic views of the Strip. Zero Bond has a majestic view of Sphere— probably the best vantage point of Bulbous Wonder in the city — and the 18th hole of the regal Wynn Golf Course (where you gaze at the greenery and think, “I could double-bogey that sucker.”)
Off the Strip, you can feel pretty special, and exclusive, at Doberman Drawing Room in the Arts District, where operators were quick to explain membership was not required to simply hang at the club. Or have a fab view of the valley at Circa’s chic, top-floor Legacy Club.
Is the fee, me?
Vegas nightlife industry has taken notice of the club’s membership fees, $2,750 for General Membership, with a $1,000 initiation cost. Founding Memberships are $7,500 annually, with a $50,000 initiation fee. This is in a city where people lose their minds over paid parking.
And the fee does not guarantee a seat in the Salon, or cigar bar, or on the outdoor terrace shared by Sartiano Steakhouse next door, or in Chef Alfred Portale with Executive Chef Michael Rubinstein’s Fairway Grill. Committing to the annual fee means you are merely in line to be reviewed for membership.
This is where, “You can’t buy cool,” a Sartiano saying, is applied. The idea is to bring in the right blend of clientele, people from key industries, to create a fulfilling crowd. The fabric of Las Vegas includes (but is not limited to) the nightlife, resort, entertainment, medical/MedTech, real estate, arts and cultural communities.
These pillars of Las Vegas will make or break this club. Certainly, many locals will feel zero bond with this destination. But the space has already made its statement. When you make it inside, you’ll feel like you’ve arrived.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
What: Zero Bond Las Vegas VIP opening night
Where: Wynn Las Vegas
When: Saturday, March 7, 202jjj6.
Celebrities on hand (list provided by Zero Bond PR reps): Tom Brady, LeBron James, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Jon Hamm, Kevin Costner, Brooks Nader, Grace Van Patten, Jackson White, Orlando Bloom, Joe Burrow, Puka Nacua, Mark Wahlberg, Zach Braff, Rachel Bilson, Rachel Zoe, Keegan-Michael Key, Ryan Phillippe, John Stamos, Bella Thorne, Anna Osceola, Rumer Willis, Sara Sampaio, Donald Faison, David Lee, Sarah Nader, Grace Ann Nader, Hannah Bronfman, Brendan Fallis, Sonia Mena, Spencer House, Lori Loughlin, Olivia Jade, Scott Galloway, Corey Gamble, FoodGod, Jeff Ross, Zack Bia, Dorothy Wang, Alessandro Lindblad, Ashley Benson, David Dobrik, Shaboozey.