Privé boasts more relaxed vibe where patrons can feel comfortable, enjoy themselves

Nightclubs aren't usually the most egalitarian of places.

In fact, at most clubs, the mere commoner is apt to spend most of his or her evening standing in line, grazing behind ropes, and otherwise being kept far, far away from anybody whose name you might find in People magazine.

Not at Privé, which takes a refreshingly democratic approach to the serious business of having fun.

Ride the escalator to the mezzanine of Planet Hollywood Resort, disembark, and you'll find yourself immediately mingling with pretty much anybody who happens to be there.

"Once you enter," says Greg Jarmolowich, the club's managing director, you're "part of the party. We don't have ropes or special VIP areas or anything like that. In the club, you're part of everyone else's experience."

Including celebs. "You'll be rubbing elbows with them and maybe standing adjacent to them or standing on the dance floor next to them," Jarmolowich says.

The goal is to offer a relaxed vibe that almost invariably leads to maximum fun.

"Now, standing rules apply," Jarmolowich says, "but when someone tells you you can't sit there, or your can't stand there, or you can't go there, it puts a damper on your experience."

Even Privé's dress code is a little different than most clubs, Jarmolowich says. "We do a lot of tennis shoes, jeans and T-shirts, as long as it remains fashionable.

"If you're comfortable wearing a nice pair of tennis shoes and a fitted T-shirt, you're going to have a good time. If I tell you, 'That doesn't work, you have to put on khaki pants, black shoes and a button-down shirt,' I'm already (limiting) your experience, because you're not going to be as comfortable."

Privé is a "high-energy" club, Jarmolowich says. "You see a lot of people dancing on the furniture." That's encouraged, by the way. In addition to partygoer-resistant seating, Privé's amenities include intelligent lighting and a primo sound system.

"We really focus on the music and the lighting," Jarmolowich says, because both play such a key role in creating the desired vibe.

It doesn't hurt that it's also an intimate sort of place. The club takes up just more than 11,000 square feet of space, and has a capacity of about 800, with about 64 tables.

Privé Las Vegas is open Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays from 10 p.m. to closing, which usually means 4 or 5ish. Cover is $30, although anybody can be placed on the guest list for free admission.

For more information, call 523-6002.

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