Last night as The Cosmopolitan opened to its first guests and moments after The Killers singer Brandon Flowers performed a welcome three-song set in the tri-level Chandelier Bar, I received a private tour of Marquee with my longtime friends Tao and Lavo partners Jason Strauss and Lou Albin.

The main level of the stadium-seated nightclub where international deejays will mastermind music and video parties with performance artists and go-go dancers above, below and alongside them opens up to a sprawling adult dayclub. The party can start late or early. In fact, it can go around the clock because there’s an outdoor detox garden to grab some shuteye as dawn breaks and then start all over again.

The dayclub is lined with 10 individual triplex bungalows alongside the first of the pools and face an opposite line of eight luxury cabanas each with its own infinity plunge pool. Unique beyond words, and groups will simply live it up in those without ever bothering to go to their hotel rooms. The triplexes come with an open top deck for tanning by day and temptations by night. This is Tao Beach on steroids and more reminiscent of the European playgrounds of Ibiza and St. Tropez than anything created before on The Strip.

It’s a good guess that the dayclub and nightclub level will hold nearly 4,000 at any time. Then to escape the music and mayhem, there’s the upper-level Library, complete with fireplace, pool table and a gallery to look down on the deejay and dancers on the main level. If you want a different experience, Marquee provides that, too, with the lower-level Boom Box Room for mash-up music.

Sister nightclubs Tao in The Venetian and Lavo in the Palazzo have restaurants, but Marquee has only dayclub and private dining rather than an attached restaurant. The partners will work with the other eateries of The Cosmopolitan. Tao and Lavo will continue with their celebrity-driven parties, while Marquee will be home to the world’s most well known deejays.

Perhaps one of the main attractions of Marquee will be the amazing women serving as hostesses and cocktail servers. It may be the top collection of femme fatales ever seen under one roof Dressed in their provocative mini-dresses with naughty garters and stockings, the ladies will have customers running into one another in open-mouth stares.

Veteran operators Lou, Jason, Marc Packer, Rich Wolf and Noah Tepperberg will debut the Las Vegas outpost of Marquee, a Manhattan nightlife fixture, on New Year’s Eve, when Jay-Z and Coldplay officially open it and kick off the New Year.

“Marquee will unite the very best of every great international city’s music scene into one spectacular and singular setting,” Lou proudly told me during last night’s private advance tour. “The club’s truly unique attributes serve as the ideal nightlife complement to The Cosmopolitan.

"We intend to be the No. 1 destination for the world’s premier music talent, and we have already secured a number of top international acts and DJs to take center stage at Marquee’s unveiling. In conjunction with The Cosmopolitan resort’s grand opening, British sensation Florence and the Machine will kick off the pre-grand opening with an invitation-only event Dec. 30, followed by a set from Tao/Lavo resident DJ Vice. Global superstar DJ Erick Morillo will begin his residency with the club’s grand opening on New Year’s Eve, and closing out the weekend’s all-star line-up will be American sensation Kaskade headlining the party on New Year’s Day.”

As one of the most expansive nightclub venues in the country, the monumental 60,000-square-foot, David Rockwell-designed space encompasses seven bars that transitions guests between three lavish rooms with their unique music experiences.

Plush coliseum-style banquette seating surrounds the Main Room’s 40-foot-tall LED DJ booth and projection stage and two dance floors. It’s overlooked by the lavish Library that offers its own intimate ultra-lounge experience with a fireplace, a billiard table and vintage books capturing the unique history of Las Vegas, from gangsters to gambling to showgirls to showstoppers. The lower level Boom Box Room is an intimate space with Strip views and separate DJ and its own state-of- the-art sound system for mash-ups.

Beyond the nightclub, Marquee will debut the Dayclub this spring and showcase its eight cabanas with individual infinity plunge pools and the 10 three-story bungalow lofts complete with living quarters and open-air party-deck. The lavish adults-only outdoor facility also will feature sun beds, gaming tables, two pools and a daytime food menu from Tao corporate Executive Chef Ralph Scamardella, with around-the-clock parties and deejays seven days a week during the warmer weather months.

The massive $60 million Marquee bet on the future of Las Vegas nightlife will certainly set new standards and simultaneously raise questions about whether it will bring in all-new business The Strip hasn't enjoyed before or if it will cannibalize what’s already here. Stand on the deck at Marquee and look up and down The Strip and ponder that question.

Yes, it’s true that we still have even more springtime nightlife openings ahead: Gallery and The Pussycat Dolls ultra lounge directly opposite at Planet Hollywood and the Chateau and Sugar Factory at the Paris. The answer will come later when the 2011 pool season opens for business as the most competitive ever.