The Hollywood Reporter reports: The San Vicente Clubs’ extravagantly connected membership czar Gabé Doppelt returned home to NYC to launch SVC West Village. Her caustic newsletter is worth the price of admission. Gabé Doppelt was born in South Africa, raised in London, worked in New York and became the ultimate L.A.
power broker — first as the maître d’ at Jeff Klein’s Sunset Tower, then as the global membership director at his San Vicente Clubs. She began her professional life as an assistant for legendary media maven Tina Brown at Tatler in 1979. She then made her way to New York and eventually bounced between the coasts as an editor for Vogue, W, Mademoiselle and The Daily Beast, finally leaving media in 2014 for a career in hospitality.
Background
She returned to Manhattan last year to oversee the launch of SVC’s West Village outpost, in the former Jane Hotel. It was meant to be an eight-month gig. “Within a week of landing in New York, which by the way was in the middle of a snowstorm, I knew there was no way I was going back,” explains Doppelt.
Key facts
- The San Vicente Clubs’ extravagantly connected membership czar Gabé Doppelt returned home to NYC to launch SVC West Village.
- Her caustic newsletter is worth the price of admission.
- Gabé Doppelt was born in South Africa, raised in London, worked in New York and became the ultimate L.A.
- power broker — first as the maître d’ at Jeff Klein’s Sunset Tower, then as the global membership director at his San Vicente Clubs.
- She began her professional life as an assistant for legendary media maven Tina Brown at Tatler in 1979.
What this means
It’s a good thing she settled in so quickly because the task facing Klein and crew required full focus: San Vicente West Village opened last March in a redbrick building built in 1908, fresh out of a massive overhaul. Steered by designer Rose Uniacke, the club features a restaurant (with head chef Nicholas Ugliarolo), drawing room, sushi room, disco, billiard room, screening room and nine well-appointed rooms and suites. To say the opening was warmly embraced is an understatement.
The New York Times reported that it was “greeted with a sense of urgency that is second only to the future of democracy.” “Opening a club in New York is quite intense because New Yorkers certainly let you know when they’re not happy. They’re a little more forgiving in L.A.,” says Doppelt. “Any new property has the same problems; things you think will go well don’t and things you think are going to be a shit show are always perfect.
Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter. This story has been edited and re-presented by BRIC Team.
