Party with the rich

Place: DELHI
Pangaea’s entry into India brings elite party level closer home

This is Michael Ault’s 89th club opening. He asserts this is his best yet. Ault’s penchant for opening top end clubs has seen him being labeled as the ‘king of New York nightlife’. While the Pangaea in New York is no longer open, it was the byword for being the ‘hottest party in town’, attracting a heady mix of wealth and celebrity as they let their collective hair down. The opening of a underwater branch at a spectacular ‘crystal’ island at Singapore’s Marina Islands about two years ago brought the ‘ultra-lounge’ so much closer home for India’s jet set.

Here’s a little known facet of Pangaea, Singapore. About 30 per cent of entrants to the Singapore Pangaea are Indians, the largest number by nationality, say club spokespersons. It was no surprise that Ault was more than willing to come to India. The club in Delhi has just opened at Delhi’s ITDC run Ashoka hotel, and a second one is slated to start in a hotel in Juhu, though the group is coy in naming the exact location!

Old wealth, new skins
Ault, 50, and a collector of rare Louis Vuitton handbags and an avid scuba diver is no playboy. Born to old money, his chosen business happens to be clubs, which he started after a six-year stint at Wall Street. These clubs, and besides Pangaea, he also owns Spy, Chaos, MercBar, Prive and Nocturne, are reputed to be some of the top revenue earners in business that is notoriously fickle as the clientele shifts to latest hotspot periodically. The average per head spend at Pangaea is anywhere from $400 to $1,000, says Ault. Pangaea Singapore earned $21 million in the first year of operations.

He is most bullish on India, saying the kind of money that Indians spend often amazes him. “You have to look at them twice to believe it,” he says.. While neither he nor Ozi Amanat, President and Chief Investment Officer, Spice Global, the BK Modi owned conglomerate that is now spreading beyond telecom, will reveal the exact spend, most estimate it to have cost ‘an arm and a leg’ metaphorically! Spice signed a one year contract with Pangaea, and Amanat says the scoping and benchmarking process has left him confident that India’s first taste of a global nightclub will work wonders for the bottomline.

“We can recover money very very fast in this business,” says Amanat. A week into opening, he is already pleased with the returns from the 6,000 square feet club, (F-Bar was previous occupant of the space) with seating for about 250 people, with  and another 250 standing. “There is no separate floor for dancing,” explains Amanat, as is the club’s practice elsewhere. “People can dance where they like, and keep ordering drinks!” Splurging will come easier for the ‘loaded’ in India. The top entry price is Rs 4 lakhs, though considerably lower entry fees also exist! The Jewel of Pangaea cocktail in Singapore costs about $28,000, and Amanat says there will a signature one like that in India soon! 

If that doesn’t keep it in the limelight, an impressive line of events including a DJ KasKade night should ensure to make it a much sought after ‘watering hole’ for the city for quite a while. A dozen hostesses from different geographies adds to exotic element, while a number of innovations including soundproof walls. Amanat is aware of the challenges, such as early closing times in India, but is confident that the club will do well. Indians eat post clubbing so the available menu that ranges from chicken tikkas to mini wagyu burgers could be expanded. Private events are also expected to shore up revenues. There are no plans to expand beyond Delhi and Mumbai, but once inside Pangaea, India’s partygoers could be forgiven for thinking they were in a more global party capital such as New York, London or Miami.