Status : Closed
The Europa Hotel has one claim to everlasting fame, according to the Guinness Book of Records . . . it is the most bombed hotel in the world. As I write, it can stake another claim, as having Ireland’s newest and most exclusive nightclub: ‘Paradise Lost’. “Dedicated to the Pursuit of Pleasure” is their motto, and the owners have no intention of reneging on that promise.
The Europa management looks after the bars, while their partners Jim Gallagher and Eamonn McCann are in charge of the entertainment side, and together they have created a nightspot that is, unquestionably, a Paradise for party-goers. Paradise Lost is an undoubted enigma. In fact, John Milton himself would probably have approved of this spectacular new venue in the heart of Belfast.
I don’t know what to make of the unusual frontage to the Club, with its ‘lightning dash’ of gold running down it. Jim Gallagher, very experienced in the nightclub field, informed me that this is what they call a ‘Corporate Identity’ and, as you will note, this theme runs right through the club, even unto the letterheads. As you enter the plush entrance hall, with its startling classical murals, it reminded me of the entrance to the renowned Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. A wooden bridge will lead you down a mural-painted hallway into the nightclub proper. Jim informed me that Fiona Stevenson of the Bray-based Mel McNally and John Duffy Design Partnership was responsible for its design. Jim’s brief to her was nothing short of ‘epic’ – a top-class sophisticated club with real quality that would mature over the years. The result is a club which is lavishly furnished in a classical theme, stylishly combined with modern decor. Elaborate murals adorn most of the walls, and abstract arches guide patrons through the club, adopting a great amount of this Greco-Roman imagery, lending an inclination towards some sort of surrealist fantasy.
At a cost of nearly a million pounds, it’s clearly seen no expense was spared in its creation, with its statues, sunken marble dance floor, two attractive bars – one with a circular dome above, while to the back of the second bar a special VIP sector allows special visitors or ‘corporate parties’ to enjoy the evening in privacy. Somehow I expected toga-clad waitresses, but instead the management have opted for smart black trousers with silk camisole tops in various colours, while the male bar staff are dressed in black trousers and white shirts with coloured cummerbunds and bow ties.
The designers, in their own words, accurately describe the design as “excitement from strong colonnade to the excavated artefacts, from the wall murals to the gold plaster frescos. The contrast continues in sympathy with its modern counterpart, each intellectually separated by a spill of brass and gold.” Large areas of marble have been broken up by streams of brass – possibly the most luxurious and expensive way of colour-coordinating a nightclub. If this sounds over-verbose, then a visit here will certainly convince the sceptic.
Where this design is most effective is on the marble dance floor, and the Pat Murtagh Hi-tech lighting scheme complements the interior design magnificently, the centrepiece being a neon-trimmed octagon pod that moves down from the ceiling with a helicopter set of lights in the middle of the rig. Colour-changing effects are the order of the day, and in combination with the smoke machines and the unusual rich colours around the rest of the club, all work extremely well together. Truly an electronic and dazzling wonderland of coloured lights and stereo sound to match.
The name is something of an enigma. Paradise Lost? More a case of ‘Paradise Found’. This is a superb nightclub, and at long last Belfast has got a nightclub it richly deserves.