Vanity caters to customers through design, service

Vanity at the Hard Rock Hotel was built with the clubgoer in mind.

At least, that's the official spin from Cory McCormack, managing partner of nightlife at the Hard Rock and co-owner of Vanity.

It's not a stretch to imagine that just about every club owner in town would say the same thing. But in Vanity's case, it's true. It's one of few, if not the only major club in Las Vegas where guests can sit down without buying bottle service or making table reservations. Throw in the narcissistic indulgences -- floor to ceiling mirrors and drink menus presented on handheld mirrors -- that encourage people to look at and think about themselves and you've got a user-friendly nightclub.

"Pretty much everything we did was tailor-made for the customer," McCormack says. "Our thing is all about you, everything was built, designed and caters to that."

Vanity opened on New Year's Eve. The 14,000-square-foot club features a spacious dance floor, two seating areas for the general admission crowd, a terrace overlooking the swimming pools and a women's restroom that invites patrons to hang out.

"With the whole explosion of the bottle service concept, most clubs focused around that," McCormack says. "It's most profitable. But as far as making it comfortable for everyone, people don't have anything to do unless they have a table. We didn't want that. So far, it's been very well-received."

The highlight of the club and its most-talked about feature is the chandelier, McCormack says. With more than 20,000 lit crystals, it "brings the dance floor to life. Sometimes, I sit at my table and watch this thing like I'm at the movies," he says.

McCormack, along with co-owner Jason Giambi, came up with the concept of Vanity.

"We were always talking about doing a nightclub, and we're a pretty vain group ourselves," McCormack says. "We wanted to have a club that was bright, well-lit. We wanted to get away from the dark club where you couldn't see 6 inches in your face. The reflective surfaces/mirrored concept, that all fit with the name."

Resident DJ Presto-One spins every night while DJ Eric Dlux and DJ Clinton Sparks make appearances over the weekend.

Vanity is open from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Sundays are industry night and locals get in free. Cover charges are $40 for men, $20 women. Local ladies always get in free.

For reservations, visit the Web site vanitylv.com or call 693-5555.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.