There won't be 4,000 bodies filling every last inch of outdoor real estate. There won't be model servers spraying guests with Champagne, or Top 40 DJs pumping out the day's radio hits. There are already pool parties in Las Vegas that do all of those things incredibly well for crowds of visitors who fill them every weekend.
So, when the NoMad Hotel paused to consider what a NoMad Pool and pool party might look like on the Strip, they landed somewhere else. Not another planet, exactly, but a different quadrant of the same general ecosystem.
"We wanted to do a pool that seemed more adult," says NoMad Bar director Leo Robitschek. "The overall vibe is Vegas done through our eyes. It's an oasis within an oasis."
That oasis, on a third-floor roof deck, is designed by French architect Jacques Garcia, who also designed the NoMad Restaurant downstairs, with its soaring ceiling, Old World aesthetic and walls lined in 20,000 books. For the pool, Garcia went brighter, pulling inspiration from the Majorelle Garden in Morocco, where acres of plantings surround an art deco villa painted in brilliant cobalt.
At the pool, that translates to white-curtained cabanas with blue accent walls and yellow details, furnishings that feel appropriately Mediterranean, bubbling fountains and plants scattered around to add needed pops of green.
Robitschek describes the weekday vibe as "chill-plus," luxe but low-key with an onsite restaurant serving chef Daniel Humm's elevated snacks and a drink list that revolves around fresh juices and vacation flavors. The pia colada is made from scratch; giant "cocktail explosions" can serve a crowd.
On the weekends, the NoMad Pool will host JEMAA, a weekly pool party kicking off April 12 that nods to the beachy bashes of Mykonos and Ibiza, albeit with the customary NoMad lens. Bottle service customers can pair their booze of choice with house-made mixers like mojito, margarita or negroni mix, and DJs from Park MGM's On The Record nightclub will spin poolside during the day. For JEMAA's grand opening, Mayer Hawthorne, Mark Ronson and DJ Five will play over the course of the weekend.
While the pool is intended for hotel guests Monday-Thursday, during JEMAA it's open to the public with prices varying based on the day's performer and locals free before noon.
And if the party won't drench anyone in Champagne showers, it will boast some Vegas-style theatrics. Robitschek has developed a handful of themed "cocktail fountains" available for cabana bookings.
"It looks like an outdoor fountain," he explains, only instead of water pouring from the structure, it's a mixed drink. Just hold your glass under the stream and fill it up. Each fountain contains roughly 150 cocktails and comes fancifully decorated. Prices will start around $2,500.
While the NoMad Hotel in Los Angeles also has a pool, JEMAA is the brand's first pool party, and "the fountain is completely new for Vegas," Robitschek says.
The goal, the bar director says, is to create an experience that's transportive but not pretentious, that captures the fun of the Strip and pushes it just a little higher-end. It may not be a rager, but if Robitschek has anything to say about it, it's going to be a damn good time.