Bungalow 8 is a nightclub chain created in 2001 that was located in Chelsea, Manhattan on 27th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues.
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New York
Founded by Amy Sacco in late 2002, the club was modeled after the enclave of the same name at the Beverly Hills Hotel and was meant to resemble a California bungalow. The interior was replete with palm trees and poolside murals. Clients are provided with a portable phone and mini-bar at each table. A concierge service could book flights and order late-night pizza.
The New York Observer served up a front-page story on December 7, 2006 headlined, "A Nightclub Queen Gets Ready to Sell Her Chilly Nightspot." Owner Amy Sacco later revealed in an interview that, "The whole thing is a fabrication." She admits she complained to reporter Spencer Morgan that too many liquor licenses had been issued for her West 27th Street block and that the unwashed masses were scaring away her wealthy, celebrity clientele. "I had calls from about 800 brokers," Sacco said, "But I'm not selling Bungalow 8."
Bungalow 8 was renovated in May 2007. The renovation included new floors, live palm trees and ferns, new paint, and new BoConcept furniture. Despite these renovations, the nightclub closed in late 2009.
In 2012, it was said that the Bungalow 8 was to reopen, on 16th street in the Meatpacking District. However, it would no longer be named "Bungalow 8" but instead, "No.8". It was said that No.8 would be "A place where celebrities went to escape the hassle of... lesser celebrities. Where you once watched Kate Moss karate-chop Owen Wilson in the neck".
London
With partner Ben Pundole, Sacco opened the United Kingdom version of Bungalow 8 during September 2007 at the St. Martin's Lane Hotel in London with a series of Fashion Week parties that drew such people as pop star Prince, Courtney Love, Kevin Spacey, and Sophie Dahl. EastEnders actresses Samantha Janus and Rita Simons ended their night out at Bungalow 8 in December. Unlike New York's Bungalow 8, the London club was designed to be members only, so that Sacco, despite being in New York, can ensure that only "the right kinda people" are getting in.
In popular culture
Nightclub Maisonette 9 in Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony was based on Bungalow 8. Amy Sacco seems to approve of the reference, because in the same video game she does a very small amount of voice work, playing a budding club owner, much like herself, named Larissa Slalom.
It was also the venue in Lauren Weisberger's second novel Everyone Worth Knowing.
In the fourth season of the popular HBO series Sex and the City, Carrie is asked for a night out to Bungalow 8 which she refers to as a "completely pretentious, members only, tiny, crowded club, that you need a key to get into."
Rapper Talib Kweli mentioned that he liked to go to Bungalow 8 in his song "Lonely People".
Rapper P Diddy mentions that he visits the venue on Mondays in the remix of "Welcome To Atlanta".
In the movie August, the main character frequents the club.
Fictitious character Pam Beesly of the television show The Office joked that she was going to dance on tables at Bungalow 8 with John Mayer while she was studying at the Pratt Institute.
Bungalow 8 is mentioned in the first season of the CW television teen drama Gossip Girl as the place where the gang used to hang out.
In the last pages of The Good Life, the 2006 novel by Jay McInerney, the night club is briefly mentioned as a place where Courtney Love and Damien Hirst showed off.