By Ki 

IIt’s a debate you hear all of the time.  What is the best nightclub in the world?  While creating a theoretical top 10 is a fun exercise, it isn’t that useful unless you have a private jet on-call, waiting to take you from city to city across the globe.  While a bracket style nightclub contest like ADANAI did with hip-hop groups could be fun, let’s go at this one a different way.  Most normal folk care about which club is the best in their city.  And while there is no attempt here to crown a worldwide champ, facing off the two best nightclubs in the best party towns in the world gets you pretty damn close. Using this very cool site JustRivals.com as a tool, you can vote on the best nightclubs in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Ibiza.

New York
NYC is hands down the nightlife capital of the world.  Cities like Las Vegas may boast more mega clubs, NYC is the nightlife category killer because there is something for everyone and there are constantly new options.  Trendy nightclub? Check.   German style biergarten? Of course.  Rave style dance club? Multiple options.  Irish pubs? Thousands.  Bottle service and live DJs during Sunday football? Got that too.

So in some ways putting one nightclub up against another in NYC is disrespectful to the nightlife diaspora of the city but you have to draw the line somewhere.  There is no denying that two of the most attended, revered and envied nightclubs in the world are 1Oak and Marquee.  Who you got?

1Oak – Richie Akiva and his crew took their Butter on Monday night party back in the aughts and turned it into a nightly onslaught of celebrities, models and the money that follows celebrities and models.

Marquee – Jason Strauss and Noah Tepperberg manage one of the most important nightlife networks in the world and the launch of Marquee in 2003 put them on the map.  To this day, if Rick Ross is doing a party on Super Bowl weekend, it’s happening at Marquee.  If David Guetta is doing a rare show in NYC, Marquee is the spot.

Miami
When you think of Miami nightlife, the sexiness of South Beach comes to mind.  It is known for partying all night and beachside recovery all day.  While NYC has thousands of options, Miami is a little different.  The locals enjoy all sorts of nook and cranny clubs and bars (Bodega and Foxhole to name a few) but those that descend on the town for huge nights of debauchery focus on a select few places.  The hands down king and queen of South Beach nightlife are LIV and Mansion.  And for now, lets just leave E11even out of this conversation J (link to article).

LIV – Night after night the who’s who of the EDM world stop through LIV to pick up a check and provide a soundtrack to the endless bottle parade.  The real kicker is that on Sunday night LIV hosts what is possibly the best hip-hop night in the world.  Walk in on a random Sunday night and you might find Lil Wayne in the DJ booth with Busta Rhymes and Rick Ross at tables across the room taking turns freestyling.

Mansion – Much like Marquee, Mansion has been around forever.  It has the backing of powerful Miami based Opium Group (SET, Mokai, Cameo), a huge rolodex of VIPs and a strong lineup of DJs.

Las Vegas
With all of its money and high rollers, Las Vegas has become the mega club capital of the world.  While Ibiza will always be the center of the EDM universe, Las Vegas has run away with the runner up slot. If you ask any Las Vegas nightlife veteran what the two best nightclubs in Las Vegas are, six or seven names may get mentioned but there are only two that need to be discussed – XS and Hakkasan.

XS – It should be no surprise that one of the best nightclubs in Las Vegas is located in the best casino in Las Vegas – the Wynn.  XS boasts the best facility (pool and outdoor gambling!), the highest rollers and a spectacular DJ lineup.

Hakkasan – Urban myth is that a high roller regular at XS once walked into the club to find that his normal dance floor table was given to an A-List celebrity.  It made the high roller so upset that he teamed up with Angel Management and MGM Resorts to start Hakkasan and take down XS.  Evidently this high roller funded the absurdly star studded resident DJ lineup that includes megastars like Tiesto, Calvin Harris and Steve Aoki.  The rest is history.

Ibiza
Every club goer in the world dreams of a week partying in Ibiza.  Consuming dance music in Ibiza is like consuming pasta in Italy – no matter where you go it will be the best you’ve ever had.  While DJs make their money in Las Vegas and Miami, they gain their street cred and following in Ibiza.  Unlike Las Vegas or NYC where the hot spot might change every few years, Ibiza has a few stalwarts that are always at the top of a revelers agenda – Pacha and Space.

Pacha – Whether it is the Flower Power party on Tuesday nights or the random David Guetta (his home base in the summer is Ibiza) stop through on any given Thursday, Pacha always has something good going on.

Space – Two words: Carl Cox.  If Techno House was a religion, Tuesdays at Space would be its cathedral.

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