Last year, after Hakkasan Group passed off control of LAX to the Luxor hotel, parent company MGM Resorts decided to invest in a slick new design, fancy upgrades to light and sound and a bigger dancefloor. But that was just the beginning of remaking a storied venue that originally opened as Club Ra, one of the first casino nightclubs in Las Vegas.
Anthony Olheiser is the new executive director of brand activation at Luxor. Having supervised strategic direction for Studio 54, Tabu Ultra Lounge and Wet Republic—plus a past gig at Tao and a recent turn at the Ritz-Carlton at LA Live—Olheiser is looking to restyle LAX as the Vegas club that fills the programming void between big-room EDM and hip-hop, an easy-access nightspot loved by locals, and “that club where you’re going to have a great experience and leave with a few dollars still in your pocket.”
MGM is activating several southern Strip spaces near the new Las Vegas Arena, opening in the spring. Among those surrounding properties—Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Excalibur—only Luxor has a real-deal nightclub. Olheiser is looking to capitalize.
Expect subtle but substantial programming changes—and bigger-name entertainers—to show up by January 21, when LAX’s bubbling Throwback Thursdays relaunches.
LAX Luxor, 702-262-4529.
