Hakkasan Las Vegas, a location of the London-based group of restaurants and nightclubs, is at the center of a bachelorette party debacle, notes Eater Vegas. Last night, Jezebel obtained screenshots of a text conversation between a VIP host/promoter at the club and a potential client. Over the course of a dozen or so texts, the Hakkasan employee insulted the woman multiple times, suggesting that her fellow bridesmaids were 'whales' or 'hippos.'
When the bachelorette party organizer was unable to send the VIP host photographs of every member of her group (15 in total), things got ugly:
"We're not going to give comped tables they are with 850 a bottle total""To random girls"
"Then the club will be filled with hippos"
"That's not what Hakkasan is about"
"We don't comp anything ugly"
When the woman tells the host she's no longer interested, "Phillip" informs her that "...it's going to be hard for all 15 girls to be all 9-10.... how do you know they're not whales or hippos?" Jezebel writer Erin Gloria Ryan on the situation: "What kind of a piss-poor excuse for a zoo is this!?!"
When Eater Las Vegas reached out to Hakkasan for a statement, they provided the following information, noting that "Phillip" has been suspended:
Hakkasan Group prides ourselves on providing our guests with an unmatched level of customer service. The statements made by this individual, who has since been [suspended] from the company, do not represent our corporate policy or our views. This type of attitude and communication is totally unacceptable, and while we cannot control every piece of communication between our thousands of staff and guests, we will not tolerate anything less than impeccable customer service.
Jezebel notes that many nightclubs require a photo of the group to secure reservations for large parties of women. This is not true for groups of men. At Angel Management Group-owned clubs, if a group of guys wants a table, they have to pay a $4,000 table minimum in bottle service — no photo required.
UPDATED 7/17 6:10 p.m.: The VIP host/promoter was not fired, he was suspended.
· Hakkasan Host Tells Bachelorette Party, No 'Hippos' or 'Whales' [Eater LV]
· Vegas Club to Bachelorette Party: No 'Whales or Hippos' Allowed [Jezebel]
· All Hakkasan Coverage on Eater [-E-]