Amy Sacco: New York's most celebrated socialite opens a branch of her A-list nightclub in London

Will her new venture prove to be the celebrity magnet she's banking on?

The Americans are coming. Last week, on the first floor of Covent Garden's St Martin Lane Hotel and away from the flashing light bulbs of London Fashion Week, a discreet new watering hole quietly opened its doors for a very selective list of clientele. Behind the heavily guarded entrance at this preview event, Sienna Miller clinked champagne flutes with designer Matthew Williamson, Jade Jagger sashayed away to her ex Dan Macmillan's DJing while publisher Jefferson Hack talked shop with the week's most talked-about new British designer, Christopher Kane. Its opening marked the first assault for years by an American on London's booming clubland.

At the centre of the glitzy A-list melee was the hulking 6ft frame of Amy Sacco, founder, owner, and hostess of the new West End club Bungalow 8, and for five years the undisputed Queen of New York social life.

Sacco, a 39-year-old New Jersey girl with the energy and mischief of a St Trinians tearaway, has finally brought her nightclub to London after the stratospheric six year success of "Bungalow" in New York.

Opened in an abandoned area of West Chelsea back in 2001, the club has remained a magnet for Manhattan's hottest celebrities ever since. In a city where new restaurants and nightclubs open and close in the space of a week, her success has been almost unprecedented.

"Most clubs don't last for more than two years here," says Paula Froelich, co-author of the New York Post's formidable Page 6 gossip column. "Bungalow's now done six, so Amy is in a hugely enviable position."

At the heart of the club's success has been Sacco's talent as a hostess. Ben Elliott, the New York-based British entrepreneur and owner of the concierge company Quintessentially says: "She is the best; she knows how to make everyone feel special and is an old-fashioned hostess who wants to know each and every one of her clients."

The club itself is unremarkable. If you're lucky enough to have passed behind its velvet rope (once manned by the now renowned Armin Amiri, who went on to set up his own club, Socialista), you'll know its décor is smart yet simple. But once inside, you're likely to find yourself sharing the 120-person capacity room with some of the headiest names from the world of showbiz.

On the two occasions I visited, Donatella Versace chatted quietly at a corner table to Hollywood star John Cusack. The next evening, Lenny Kravitz was there along with Benicio Del Toro and Sophie Dahl. Customers are free to order just about anything they want. You feel like dialling for a Domino's pizza? You got it. Need to reserve airline tickets? No problem. Private jet? Done. Sacco is always on hand, eager to cater for her customers' every need.

"It's that kind of commitment that ensures a club endures the test of time," reckons fellow nightclub owner Piers Adam, who owns Prince William and Harry's favoured London hang-out, Mahiki.

"If you look at all the really successful guys to have graced the London scene – Mark Birley at Annabel's, Johnny Gold at Tramp, Peter Stringfellow – they've been in their clubs looking after customers every night. And Amy is a similarly amazing hostess."

Sacco's personal story is not quite rags to riches, but it is an inspiring success tale tinged with tragedy. The youngest of eight siblings (hence Bungalow 8), she grew up in New Jersey where her father ran the family removal business. Bored with life in the suburbs, she moved to Manhattan in 1990 in pursuit of her own glitter-filtered vision of American dream.

She worked in various bars and restaurants and began dating Gilbert Le Cose, owner of the acclaimed seafood restaurant Le Bernardin, situated just off Park Avenue. In 1994, after four years of living together, and with Sacco ready to begin a family, Le Cose dropped down dead after suffering a heart attack while working out on a treadmill.

"Since then," says a friend, "with Amy, it has been work, work, work."

After posts as a "door-whore" in various New York dives, Sacco managed to raise a million dollars thanks to an old art dealer friend called Yvonne Force, and in 1998 opened a bar in West Chelsea called Lot 61. Three years later, she could boast the likes of George Clooney and Benicio Del Toro as close personal friends, and Bungalow 8 was born. '

So far, with the London Bungalow not yet officially opened, the details of its operation are still a safely guarded secret, but it is likely to be open to members only, with WAGs and Big Brother contestants politely ushered on in the direction of the nightclubs down the road in Leicester Square.

One thing's for sure, it won't be the sort of haunt which will allow PRs to go leaking copies of hefty bar tabs racked up by over-excited City types to the red tops. Nor, for that matter, will it be a place for wannabe hip-hop moguls to go spraying their Methuselahs of Cristal around the dancefloor.

Unlike other West End haunts such as Movida or Crystal, Bungalow doesn't do vulgar excess. On one occasion, a regular at the New York club tells me Sacco was approached by a mutual acquaintance wishing to relay a message from a Middle-Eastern businessmen interested in visiting the club, in return for placing a heavy dent in his black Amex card behind the bar. Sacco's response was to reveal the very heart of her business mantra. "It's not about the money, honey," she said. "I just wanna know if he's cute. "

Says Froelich: "Oh, I remember there was this one time in New York when [technology billionaire] Mark Cuban was waiting outside the door being totally obnoxious. He offered a thousand bucks to get in. Sure enough, he was told: "Now you're never getting in." Amy knows it's better for her in the long-term not to have people like that in the club."

There's a ruthless side to Sacco, but everyone who knows her only has good words to say about her. "She knows how to work it and is incredibly impressive," says Matt Hermer, owner of London members club Boujis. "She's sassy, fun and very accessible," adds Adam. "And of course she's hot."

But can her magic work over here? As Gordon Ramsay is discovering with his much-hyped New York restaurant the London, what's hot in one city, isn't guaranteed a right of passage in the next. Sacco, while an established brand in the Big Apple is relatively unknown on these shores. And, of course, unlike in New York, she's not going to be there every night.

Nick Jones, owner of the soon-to-be ubiquitous Soho Hotel group of bars and hotels, who has enjoyed massive success both here and in New York doesn't see it as problem.

"Look, it's not as if it's a mammoth space that she's got to fill every night," he says. "It will be interesting to see how she splits her time between here and New York, but she's got an amazing amount of energy. I think people in London love the idea of a place that has a sort of New York twist to it, so I'm sure she's got a huge hit on her hands. I think it'll be great for London."

Others have been sceptical about Bungalow's location. London is now bustling with trendy members' bars such as Boujis and the Electric (also owned by Jones) which are all situated in west and south-west London where most of their members live. Travelling all the way up to the West End and having to mix with the area's "bridge and tunnel" crowd at weekends doesn't hold the same appeal as it did 10 years ago.

"I don't think that'll be an issue," says Adam. "Covent Garden is near London's media centre and of course you're not far from hedge-fund central and all the American bankers.

"And when you're not part of an indigenous population, you don't mind travelling three or four miles to get somewhere."

For now, we'll have to wait to find out more when the club opens. Though sadly you're unlikely to hear too much about its clients' comings and goings in your average weekly celebrity title. As it says on the door, what goes on in the 8, stays in the 8. *

The rivals: The men behind four of London's most exclusive nightspots

Matt Hermer, Boujis

Hermer, 36, began his career as a fund manager in the City until he stumbled across the struggling Knightsbridge bar Bardo, which he then bought and revived in 1998.

He went on to found The Ignite Group, which now owns the Eclipse bars, Bumpkin, Cocoon and Volstead in the West End and Boujis in South Kensington.

Boujis, of course, has attracted column inches not just because the Princes have both chosen to party there on several occasions, but because it has also attracted a strong A-list crop of celebrities over the years.

In a fickle business, the club has managed to enjoy a sustained period of success for five years now, while also maintaining its discretion about the goings on inside. In this respect, it enjoys a similar pantheon to Bungalow 8 in New York, though Hermer isn't bothered about the competition.

"We don't see her as a threat to us at all," he says. "A lot of our members don't want to go out in the West End. Bungalow will probably occupy the same territory as the Met Bar a few years ago, as a place that was very difficult to get into. Overall I think it will be great for London."

Where: South Kensington

Who: goes A mix of film stars, musicians and trustafarians. Mickey Rourke, Mischa Barton, Paris Hilton and Sienna Miller have all visited.

What to drink: The Crack Baby: vodka, passionfruit raspberry and champagne.

Piers Adam, Mahiki

Although still only 43, Adam is already a veteran of the London nightclub scene.

He dropped out of Oxford Brookes University to set up the (now defunct) K-Bar chain and went on to pursue other ventures such as London Rock and The Stork Rooms, which he opened with chum Marco Pierre White.

Charming and popular, Adam's impeccable contacts range from A-list celebrities such as Madonna (he was Guy Ritchie's best man) to high-flying toffs like Ben Elliot and the Goldsmith brothers.

Adam's former West End boite Kabaret was of a strikingly similar ilk to Bungalow 8. A small, simple bar on Soho's Beak Street, anyone from Bono to Kate Moss would regularly pop their heads around the door.

His latest outfit, Mahiki, in Mayfair, shows he still has pulling power. At its re-launch last year, Scarlett Johansson and her (then) squeeze turned up to show their support, as did Naomi Campbell and Stephen Dorff.

"There's likely to be a bit of crossover between Mahiki and Bungalow," he admits. "But if it draws more people up to the West End, than that can only be good for both of us."

Where: Mayfair

Who goes: Princes William and Harry, Madonna and Guy Ritchie, Girls Aloud, out-of-town A-listers.

What to drink: The Treasure Chest. At £100, it's meant for eight people, though Harry and Chelsea apparently prefer to share one between themselves.

Nick Jones, Soho House

If Amy Sacco is looking for a career trajectory to emulate, she need look no further than British hotelier Nick Jones.

Jones has accomplished that rare thing in the business by succeeding in both London and New York. His Soho House chain of private members' clubs in London attracts luminaries from the worlds of media and showbusiness and the members' bar at Soho House New York is one of the chicest hang-outs in town.

His empire in London also includes the Electric in Notting Hill and the Mayfair eatery Cecconis.

Jones is married to the presenter Kirsty Young, and notwithstanding his media connections, was classically trained in catering at Trusthouse Forte. Currently, he's planning expansion across the States with sites earmarked in LA and Miami.

"Amy Sacco does something different to us," he says. " Bungalow won't get going until 11pm, so I see no reason why our places can't compliment each other."

Where: London, New York, LA, Miami...

Who goes: Showbiz and media bigwigs. Jude Law, Sophie Dahl, Steve Coogan.

What to drink: Give the Circlebar Martini a whirl.

Charlie Gilkes, Kitts

Aged just 23, old Etonian Gilkes is the babe of London's clubland. His club, Kitts, opened in Sloane Square last December and played host to Noel Gallagher's 40th birthday bash not long after. Other celebrities such as Orlando Bloom and Kristen Scott Thomas have visited and it is also a favourite of the young Chelsea set (including Kate Middelton).

"One of the ways I have tried to emulate Amy is her refusal follow the money," he says. "Once you let the floodgates open and give tables to any old folk, a place loses its edge."

Where: Sloane Square

Who goes: Kate Middleton, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Daniel Craig.

What to drink: The Floral Daiquiri