By Nicole Cobble With four spotlights acting as beacons to guide revelers to its Northeast coordinates, Club Ibiza (1222 First St., NE) opened its doors last Friday. At 9:15 pm, a crowd was already creating congestion along First Street from New York Avenue to M Street.
As in many mega-clubs in New York and Las Vegas—even those on the Spanish party island of Ibiza, for which the mega-club is named—oxygen was pumped into the air at regular intervals, filling the 30,000-square-foot space with a flowery (water lilies or roses?) fragrance. The music was loud enough to make you want to dance right in the expansive doorway but not so loud as to send you tumbling back down the stairs. White lights lit an ice sculpture with “Ibiza” carved out in fancy script as well as a large ice luge carved into the shape of a Level vodka bottle. Hors d’oeuvres—including bite-size spinach-and-tomato quiches, cheese plates, skewered chicken, and fruit—were laid out atop a wall in a recessed seating area in the first room.
The two-floor Grand Room, palatial in its white and stainless-steel design, houses a glass VIP terrace with its own bar and owner’s box and a grand DJ booth that presides over a dance floor and three bars on the main level. A light wall filled with hundreds of glowing bulbs, upon which the DJ booth sits, and the adjacent massive LED wall, undulate through nonrepeating patterns, visually mimicking the mood and tempo of the music. Although this room is the main focus of the Ibiza experience, meandering pathways and glass staircases allow you to visit two other rooms that are almost as large, the VIP terraces, a roof terrace (with waterfalls), and four other bars.
Celebrity guests included Kim Kardashian, a socialite of MTV fame, among other roles, and DJ AM, known not only for his spinning prowess but also as the onetime boyfriend of Nicole Richie. Kardashian arrived fashionable late—around 12:45 am—with posse in tow. Too bad they missed a good portion of the party inside, as DJ AM had taken to the turntables shortly after 11.
Club Ibiza emulates those in Vegas or South Beach, although it’s too early to tell if it will succeed. You can check it out for yourself during the three-week opening festivities (talk about stretching it). This Friday, a Nicole Miller fashion show will be hosted by DJ Sky Nellor. Doors open at 11 pm.
Click below for a slideshow of photos from Club Ibiza.
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