Marquee maximizes small details to create upscale nightclub experience

The sophisticated surroundings, for instance. Or the main room’s centrally located DJ booth which, combined with a 40-foot LED screen and coliseum-style seating, puts the DJ into the center of the action.

But even more intriguing are the touches — touches most guests probably wouldn’t notice, at least not immediately — that reveal the attention the club’s designers have paid to maximizing guests’ enjoyment.

The oversized ladies’ rooms, for example.

"We took a little informal poll," says Lou Abin, an owner of Tao Group, which also runs Tao at The Venetian and Lavo at Palazzo, "and women say there’s never enough bathroom facilities."

It’s a detail that certainly never crosses men’s minds. But, Abin says, "to women, when you wait in line 30 to 40 minutes to go to the bathroom, that’s time you can’t spend enjoying the venue."

Creating the perfect party environment comes down, in large part, to paying attention to "simple things like that," Abin says.

Not that Tao Group has overlooked the more obvious details. In designing Marquee, Abin says the goal was to offer guests "an upscale yet unpretentious experience."

The club fills about 62,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, and the seating layout, which resembles what you’d find at a concert venue, was crafted "so all the energy constantly feeds into the dance floor," Abin says. "We wanted to design the main room so there wasn’t a bad table in the room."

The DJ booth, state-of-the-art sound, lighting and projection systems and a 40-foot LED video wall behind the DJ are designed to "really put the DJ on center stage," Abin says.

In addition to the main room, Marquee offers guests two separate rooms with two alternate environments. The Boom Box Room has a separate DJ and a music menu built upon hip-hop. The Library has an "old library-type, speakeasy feel" where guests can "go have a conversation and shoot a game of pool," Abin says. "It has more funky-type, laid-back music."

Meanwhile, a 30,000-square-foot outdoor space puts guests "in the heart of the Strip," Abin says, and offers "spectacular" views.

Marquee’s day club is scheduled to open this weekend. That area of the club features cabanas and 10 three-story bungalow lofts.

Marquee is located at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. South. The club opens at 10 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Cover usually is $40, but does vary.

For more information, call 333-9000.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.