Back in April, the Bellagio announced that a new concept would replace Hyde, the long-standing SBE-run lounge and boutique nightclub that also hosted the beloved LA import XIV Sessions. After an eight and a half year run, the fountainside nightclub known for its unparalleled views will go dark on July 6.
When Hyde first opened in Las Vegas, SBE was already a huge name in LA. “Everybody knew who they were and what they were about in LA,” says Greg Costello, SBE Entertainment’s director of customer development, who has been with Hyde Bellagio since day one. “I was at Hyde Sunset a week and a half ago, and it’s still the best-looking crowd in nightlife. It always was a place you didn’t get into. It was celebrities inside having a good time and a line of people waiting to get in.”
Hyde’s LA brand might have adapted for the Las Vegas’ market, but that didn’t stop it from being a heavily curated party that beckoned a beautiful crowd. “When we did casting calls and thousands of people showed up, that blew me away,” Costello says. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is going to be something special.’”
The club began hosting XIV Sessions and ushered in a new legion of devoted revelers. “We didn’t know how it was going to work, but we knew everyone in Vegas knew about it, so when we opened it up the locals really embraced it,” Costello says. But, eventually, “all good things come to an end.
“We had this long of a run in an age where clubs aren’t necessarily about the party; they’re about who’s headlining and who’s performing. That’s something we never relied on. It was always about the brand, the atmosphere and the energy of the club—all the things you have to do when you don’t have Diplo or Calvin Harris. You have to attract people by the way you throw the party.”
As for the legacy that Hyde Bellagio leaves behind, Costello will forever look back fondly. “We created that crowd, and we cultivated it and made it what it was. That’s the legacy of Hyde, as I see it,” he says. “And for everyone who thinks that this is the last of Hyde, I think we have plans to do something very similar in the very near future. It’s a tearful goodbye, but we’ll see everyone again.”
