Prive and The Living Room Stripped of Liquor Licenses; Poetry to Close

News comes this week that Planet Hollywood hotspots Prive and The Living Room have both been stripped of their liquor licenses and will be forced to close immediately.

Prive must cease all business operations by Tuesday, July 28, at midnight, and the Living Room by Thursday, July 30, at midnight.

KVVU Fox News 5 reports that after numerous violations for topless and lewd activity, as well as more serious allegations of drug use and employees physically and sexually assaulting patrons, Clark County has finally had enough and pulled the licenses necessary for the clubs to stay open.

Earlier this month, Planet Hollywood, which leases the space for both clubs to the Opium Group out of Miami, agreed to pay $750,000 in fines for complaints and violations that included endangering the lives of some extremely intoxicated customers by continuing to serve them and then escorting them outside to the PH main casino floor where they would leave them in various stages of consciousness.

The Opium Group does have 30 days to appeal the ruling, but it doesn’t look favorable for them, as this has been an ongoing situation. Not to mention, I can’t see Planet Hollywood continuing to jeopardize its business standings dealing with possible future violations.

No word has come from the Planet Hollywood camp regarding these events, though the closure of both clubs leaves the resort with a huge whole in its nightlife offerings.

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Meanwhile, Poetry Nightclub, which had been leasing space from the soon-to-be-closing Chinois restaurant at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, will also be closing when its landlord departs.

But it’s possible that this may actually be beneficial to the urban-music club, which has been battling with both Caesars and the Simon Property Group (which operates the mall) over charges that both have made operating the nightspot extremely difficult by doing things like forcing patrons to enter and exit the club by unsecured back hallways. In fact there is even a civil lawsuit filed by the club, alleging both Caesars and SPG of racial discrimination.

According to the Daily Fiasco, Poetry has been talking to several other resorts, one of which is Planet Hollywood, about leasing space for a new location. With the sudden closing of Prive, PH does have the room available, and this would allow a quick turnover of the soon-to-be empty club space.

Also, as noted by DF, this would be an interesting turn of events, since Poetry used to be known as OPM, but was forced to change its name when the Opium Group opened Prive in 2007.