In our new monthly feature The Ropes, Eater Vegas talks to the nightlife heavyweights. These are the guys and gals who help run the show and orchestrate dreams at the nightclubs in Las Vegas.
Here now is Marquee's director of VIP services Larson Legris, who has been with the company since the opening of Lavo at the Palazzo and is one of the guys and gals to know at Marquee Nightclub at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Here’s his take and the info you need to acquire his services.
What’s the most extravagant experience you can craft?
When people come in general and spend the money they need to spend, we try to make them feel like they are the most important people there. Especially with our repeat guests, we try to find out where they are from and do an entire experience.
For some of higher end guests, we will literally greet them at the door and have go-go dancers and a sign that says their name and have glasses of champagne for everyone in there group at the door. We will do an entourage escort even if it's 11:45 to midnight and we are slammed at the door. We take that little bit of time to say, “Hey, thank you. We love your loyalty and love when you come.” We try to find out further details and from there will start.
If they are from the UK, we will have a big UK flag and our Mr. Q mascot dressed as a UK military guy. It’s those little things. We try to go the extra distance.
We had this brand new client we just got introduced to and he came for our grand opening [of Marquee Dayclub] and he had such a great time he stayed the entire weekend. His best friend’s birthday is coming up and we have a running tally list of 15 different presentation ideas. Whether it's basketball jerseys for every single one of them. They are from Dallas, so we have Mavs jerseys with their nicknames on the back. We have a month to plan this, but it’s literally making cardboard figures of them with their face blown up — cartoonesque. So as they walk up they will literally already be partying at the table.
You can get goof with and know some people will respond to it and others just want to come and do their thing. These guys are kind of animals, so the more amped up they get, the better the experience they have in general.
Tomorrow night you have Kaskade. Are you sold out?
We are. That’s one of the events that you kind of have to plan in advance. You have to look at our calendar and do your homework.
What’s it going to take to get in if Kaskade goes on at 1 a.m. and someone rolls up at 12:30 a.m.?
At that point it gets to doorman’s discretion. Our VIPs, media friends and important guests of the Cosmo can still get in at 12:30 on a sold-out Kaskade night. We kind of have to nitpick. Though it’s hard to stop it, we don’t want it to get to the point where you can’t move. With Kaskade everyone literally camps out so we have to be more protective of what we are doing at the front door. We have to take care of the loyal Cosmo guest and the people supporting us year round. If you are not on the guest list or have prepaid tickets you have to be polite, be patient and understand what’s going on upstairs. It’s not about the money at that point; it’s about making sure the party is good upstairs.
What is the craziest thing you have seen a guy or group of guys do to get in?
Saying, “Hey I’m [Tao Group partners] Jason Strauss or Marc Packer.” We analyze the group and think if they are rowdy downstairs they will be ten times as rowdy upstairs.
What about a girl or girls?
It comes from anything from offering dates to multiple dates with their friends to being blunt. Extremely, extremely blunt to the point where you are like, “Wow, that’s just really aggressive.”
Does that work?
Not for me personally! I’m definitely a girlfriend type of guy.
Have you done anything extreme to get into a club?
I’ve been blessed, but I have said I’m Jason Strauss at Trousdale (in LA) and the guys said I’ll call him. I joked I work for him and we exchanged cards and I got in.
How many people are actually dropping $100,000 or more?
When it comes to a guest like that, we don’t like to talk about it [to respect their privacy] and it's kind of like when people say they caught a marlin and it’s actually a rainbow trout. There are not that many people who can afford that situation. It’s happened before, but it's few and far between and we try to keep it as close to us as possible.
Do you go out?
It’s a vital aspect of staying relevant. Need to figure out the industry. I actually enjoy seeing other markets like LA on my Tuesdays and Wednesdays off and seeing what’s up and coming there.
What should you always bring?
The main thing, and it’s the craziest thing in the world that people don’t bring, is their ID. Also be humble and patient at the door and definitely dress well.
What time is early when you say come early for Kaskade?
9-9:30, the line starts at 8:30.
Details: You can reach Larson to secure a table reservation via text at 702-813-3738, but he prefers an email to Larson.Legris@marqueelasvegas.com.
· All Coverage of Marquee [~ELV~]
Larson Legris [Photo: Chelsea McManus]
