Holland Lohse sits before a backdrop of framed eye photographs inside Oddyssey Noir at AREA15 (Sean Jones)

It Seems Odd and I Like It

BY BRJDEN CREWE

“Where the hell are we?”

Standing with a friend somewhere inside Oddyssey Noir on a Saturday night, I realized that although I had been to this place numerous times in preparation for its 2026 reopening, led by their new head of nightlife and events at AREA15, Steven Guttman, looking around, it seemed that I was lost. It was a lot easier to find my way around with the house lights on during the daytime hours, when I was graciously given a couple of tours leading up to tonight’s special event. Oddyssey Noir is a sensual maze and seductive living room with a pulse, complete with hidden corridors, a lounge, decadent bedrooms and most importantly, a difficult-to-explain energy. Oddyssey Noir feels like it’s living and breathing. You’re inside the space, but it feels like it’s standing next to you, having a conversation with you in the form of its own personal style. Every chair is placed in a spot deemed necessary for the area. Every painting on the wall is perfect and purposeful. The space is incredible… and I’m lost.

I pull out my phone from my jacket after receiving a call from another friend I invited to check out the spot.

“Hey, Bridge. I’m here inside Oddyssey. Where are you?” my guest asks me over the phone.

“I don’t know. This place is a maze!” I answer back.

Now begins the journey to find my friend.

Speaking with Guttman about his plans for Oddyssey Noir and AREA15 overall, I was met with the kind of manic energy you can only get from a native New Yorker.

“I see AREA15 as the Brooklyn of Las Vegas,” Guttman says.

“Meaning, I want to see AREA15 as a true cultural epicenter of Las Vegas, where music, art, fashion and creative energy collide in an authentic way.”

Recognizing that Las Vegas has been seeking a scene that reflects its evolving individual culture and distinctive local presence, Guttman’s vision may not be as far-fetched as one might think. At least not one who’s familiar with what’s been happening within the city.

From music to fashion, Las Vegas has been building a community filled with an artistic movement that grows by the minute, and AREA15 is the perfect place for that growth to reach its blossoming potential. From the beautiful murals painted by local artists, available in their newly opened Zone 2 and parking garage, to their sculptures and vibrant glow-in-the-dark ambiance located inside their original building venue, AREA15 represents the future of what Las Vegas, as a local creative space, will look like.

“But it starts here with Oddyssey,” Guttman says.

Having only arrived a few months ago from New York, Guttman has already begun making Oddyssey Noir one of the most unique nightlife spots in Las Vegas by creating a space where creatives come to play. Speaking on tonight’s special guest DJ, Hector Romero, Guttman didn’t hold back with his praise for a true master of the craft.

“The intention behind the venue is to present uncompromising excellence, so that a guest can walk in and immediately hear undeniable world-class music delivered by someone who has dedicated a lifetime to their art. The music becomes the soundtrack for the dancers, performers, models, artists and creatives who honor us with their presence organically, which sets a tone and energy that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else in Las Vegas.”

I understood exactly what Guttman was talking about when I ran into a few Cirque du Soleil dancers who I’m friends with and who perform at multiple shows on The Strip, along with a musician who sings background vocals for a very popular multiplatinum artist who has a residency here in town. All came to Oddyssey for the vibe and were passionately dancing near the DJ booth, rocking to a DJ set by Guttman himself, who was warming up the crowd before Romero with funk B-sides from the 60s and 70s that, if you’ve ever heard them before, you probably only heard once in your lifetime.

And that’s what makes Oddyssey Noir feel special. It feels like its own space without the pretentiousness of being “underground” and thumbing its nose up at the typical club scene you’d find on The Strip. It doesn’t have time for that. Nor does it care. Many of the rooms can feel Victorian in some areas, Transylvanian in other areas. There are Chinese streetlights that frame the top of the town square locations of the venue, and they have mannequins dressed up like Marie Antoinette inside a few of the bedrooms. But it all makes sense somehow. It all feels necessary and sincere, which is what makes Oddyssey Noir work. No ego. Nothing crazy. It’s just being itself. Oddyssey Noir is the answer to a question that was never asked but maybe should have been asked. Where has this place been all our lives?

Oh, and I found my friend eventually. I just told her to ask someone working there to direct her to the center dance floor near the DJ booth, where I was dancing with my Cirque friends to Guttman’s set.