Dubai’s nightlife scene moves fast – notoriously fast. But perhaps nowhere has it moved faster than between the four walls of one relatively small, low-ceilinged space in Downtown Dubai, which has played host to four different club brands in little more than three years.
The latest incarnation opened last week. What was once Vanity, Alegra and C-Bar was reborn as Toy Room Dubai on Tuesday, April 7. And by the early hours of Wednesday last week there was a long line of glammed-up party punters queued up outside the Al Murooj Rotana, eager for a first look.
While the buzz continued on Wednesday and Thursday nights, clocking 1,200 admission the first three nights – oddly, the club closes on Fridays – it is easy to wonder how long the curiosity value will hold up for a clubbing space that has previously proved doomed to fail.
No doubt possessing the unshakeable pre-launch confidence of their predecessors, the club’s managers are convinced this time they have got it right.
“I do not consider the previous venues to have ‘failed’, per se,” says Romy Habre, the marketing manager with the club’s management, Addmind.
“Every club has a limited lifetime and when this has expired, it’s up to its management to know its way through reinventing the club.”
It may be that the lifespan of the club’s previous incarnation was cut short prematurely. Vanity Dubai wasn’t unpopular, but the venture may have disproved the adage that there is no such a thing as bad publicity.
In February last year the club was heavily criticised in the press for allegedly featuring a live monkey as an attraction. Photographs that circulated on social media suggested the animal had been forced to drink alcohol. The club later said the animal belonged to a guest who was told to leave. Clubbers and animal-rights activists alike will be happy to hear that a different management team is in charge now, Addmind, which is behind the high-profile rooftop venues Iris and White Dubai, the latter recently crowned the emirate's Best Club by Time Out Dubai.
And there will definitely be no animal entertainment, aside from the club’s mascot, Frank the Bear. Put down the phone – it’s just a guy in a bear costume, a tongue-in-cheek stunt imported from Toy Room’s sister venue in London.
“We did not find the monkey stunt amusing at all,” says Habre. “The only true live entertainment that we believe in is exceptional live music.”
It was launched as the lower-profile C-Bar in 2005, when the hotel opened, then entrepreneurs set their sights on a more upmarket crowd when the space was rebranded as the chic lounge-club Algera in early 2012.
It proved even more popular, following a relaunch the following year, as the urban-centric Vanity – until the monkey stunt, at least, which eventually called time on that concept on January 30 this year.
The team behind Toy Room say that their brand’s international roots put it ahead of the competition – the Dubai venue is an offshoot of the kooky Piccadilly club of the same name.
But then, exclusive London nightspots opening up in Dubai is nothing new – the emirate already boasts UK exports Mahiki, Movida, Chinawhite and Cirque Le Soir.
And, looking further afield, the UAE also boasts international outposts direct from Ibiza (Pacha, Blue Marlin), Paris (VIP Room), Beirut (Crystal, White, MusicHall), Las Vegas (The Act), and most recently New York (Provocateur).
How will Toy Room stand out from the crowd? For a start, as the name suggests, the venue keeps things suitably unpretentious. The music policy promises an unselfconscious mash-up of rock and hip-hop hits, and we heard fresh mixes of classics such as Madonna's Vogue and Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's Drop It Like It's Hot.
Not that there’s anywhere to move to these tunes. A small space, there’s a distinct lack of a dance floor, with seemingly every spare metre of floor space set aside for rows of tables, increasing the club’s capacity to cater for the big spenders.
And the club’s big, dark leather sofas say more about sitting than dancing – whatever the soundtrack, this is a lounge club through and through, not a dance club.
It’s a well-designed space. The walls are lined with quirkily empty picture frames. There are drawers under the seats, perfect for ladies’ handbags, and powerpoints scattered about to recharge partied-out smartphone batteries.
While UAE venues open and close at an alarming rate, it’s clear someone has invested more than just time in making this space memorable.
There’s a lot of money to be made – and lost – in Dubai’s volatile nightlife market. Following the quick turnaround of Alegra and controversy-hit Vanity, will Toy Room go the distance? Experience says, only time will tell – but for now, it’s playtime.
Toy Room is open from Monday to Thursday, 11pm to 3am. Visit toyroomdxb.com, 055 246 4555
rgarratt@thenational.ae