We hired Kai, whom we first connected
with through Instagram in Las Vegas, because he represented himself as someone with expertise in both Las Vegas and Tokyo nightlife. He said he had a relatively new company, about a year and a half old, and presented himself as knowledgeable, connected, and capable of handling high-end nightlife arrangements for a serious
private client program.

Because Kai could not answer most of the Tokyo-specific questions himself, we requested direct access to Renaud. We then had a three-way video conference call with Kai and Renaud and went through the Wednesday night plan in detail.

That Wednesday night required very specific execution. We needed two VIP areas in the same venue: one upstairs as the karaoke room, and one downstairs as a distraction space so that we could move the guests out of the karaoke room temporarily while a surprise entertainment element was staged upstairs. The plan was for the guests to sing karaoke for a while, then be lured downstairs to the second VIP booth with bottle service, and then be brought back upstairs to discover what had been staged in the karaoke room.

We also made it extremely clear that this could not be eight men alone in a karaoke room. That would not create the atmosphere we were trying to produce. We said that there needed to be women present in a natural-looking way, but that under no circumstances were they to look staged or paid for in an obvious way. We specifically explained that we could not have eight women just sitting there waiting for the guests. If women were to be present, they needed to come in gradually, two or three at a time, and even appear to come from different places, dressed in different styles, so the room would feel organic rather than contrived.

The main staged element for the evening was a nyotaimori-inspired sushi presentation. Because post-COVID it had become difficult to source someone for that, we went to considerable effort to secure a promotional model from Osaka, the only person we could get to do it. We also arranged for our chef to dress the table with banana leaves and flowers so the sushi and fruit could be presented tastefully, without actual nudity at the end of the day. This required timing, staffing, approvals, coordination with club management, and considerable extra cost.

During the planning process, Kai and Renaud gave us repeated assurances that this could be done. At first, we were told that after COVID this kind of experience no longer happened. We then explained that this was not traditional nudity but a modified presentation using our own model and chef. After that, we were told that this changed things, and we were specifically told that management was okay with it, that Renaud had a close relationship with the general manager, and that the venue would provide the sushi and the table as long as we brought the model. Based on that, we proceeded.

On the day of the event, communication fell apart.

Because Kai was in Las Vegas and asleep during Tokyo hours, we understandably could not get much from him in real time. But the far more serious issue was Renaud. We sent repeated messages and made repeated calls trying to confirm final details, because that is what serious operators do before a live event involving high-paying clients. We had approximately 11 ground staff in play across the overall guest program at various points for these eight guests, so confirmation and coordination mattered. Instead of proper answers, we got one-sentence messages such as “I can’t talk right now,” and then, hours later, partial or two-word replies to one of several questions.

Then, one hour before the event, Renaud informed us by text message that there could be no nude women and no nyotaimori, saying that it was illegal, the model could go to jail, and the venue could lose its license.
That information would have been useful before we spent approximately ¥166,000 on the model, the chef, train tickets, and related arrangements.

Our reaction was exactly what anyone’s reaction would be. We reminded Renaud of his claimed relationship with the general manager, of the repeated approvals we had been told were in place, and of the money we had paid him, including an additional $300 bonus specifically tied to making this special piece happen. He then reversed himself yet again and said that the general manager had in fact approved it after all, but that we would need to provide the sushi ourselves. We then had to scramble and make that happen within roughly an hour.

To this day, I do not believe he ever had proper approval in the first place.

The larger issue is not just the reversal. It is that Renaud showed no grasp whatsoever of communication, follow-through, timing, confirmations, or management of client expectations. This was not a casual bar night. This was a highly curated private program for eight serious clients. His handling of it was amateur.

At one point, when I asked him why he never told us during our long planning call that there would be no crowd in the nightclub or karaoke area until long after we arrived, and why he did not proactively surface these obvious problems, his answer was: “Because you didn’t ask me.”

That response alone tells you everything you need to know.
At that point I considered the $1,200 we had prepaid for his so-called advisory and guide services to be essentially worthless.

I then called Kai. Kai’s manner throughout was passive. He listened, but in a way that suggested distance rather than responsibility. He kept repeating, “Well, I’m a bit confused, I remember that we did speak to you about the club not having a crowd until 1:00 a.m.” The problem with that statement is that he was referring to the next night’s club, not the Wednesday karaoke venue. We had already designed the next night around that issue by building other stops into the evening so that the group would enter the club closer to 12:30 or 12:45 a.m. Kai and Renaud either did not understand the difference, did not listen, or did not care enough to distinguish one night from another.

As for Wednesday itself, what we actually received in exchange for all of this money was essentially two bottle service VIP areas in the same club, one upstairs and one downstairs, in a venue that had no real crowd yet, no meaningful atmosphere, and no properly supported experience. Nobody useful showed up. The club was not expected to have its first real customers until around 1:00 a.m. So what we paid for, in practical terms, was almost worthless. We left almost immediately.

The beverage side was also handled terribly. They could not even get us a proper menu of bottles until roughly 20 minutes before. In the days leading up to the event, the options being sent to us included $600 to $1,000 bottles of champagne, even though our guests were not champagne drinkers and that had already been made clear. When we asked for very basic international bottles such as Grey Goose, Jack Daniel’s, and Monkey 47, none of what we wanted was available, nor were sensible substitutes arranged. These are not obscure requests. These are standard bottles that can be sourced almost anywhere in the world when someone actually knows what they are doing.

The guide service was another complete failure. We paid in advance for four days of guide support, and we did not receive the first minute of actual tour guide service. Not once on the first night. Not meaningfully at all. Nobody was there delivering what had been sold to us. After the Wednesday disaster, we canceled further services and made it clear we wanted nothing more to do with them. The second night also turned into a disaster for other reasons, but I am not putting that second night on Kai and Renaud, because by then we had already bailed on them operationally. What I am putting on them is what they were paid for and failed to deliver.

Afterward, Kai briefly asked how we could settle the matter, and I do believe there was a moment when he was close to refunding approximately $1,249. In hindsight, I should probably have simply taken that and moved on. Instead, I pressed the point harder because the underlying conduct was so bad, and after that they stopped returning calls.
That leaves the matter where it stands now: Kai and Renaud took advance payment for nightlife planning, tour guide services, and on-the-ground support that they did not deliver. They overrepresented their knowledge, failed to communicate, failed to confirm critical approvals, failed to manage expectations, failed to provide the guide services paid for, and then failed to make it right.

This matters because our clients paid approximately $280,000 for a short, highly customized trip for eight people. Everything else on the program was handled properly. These two nights were the exception, and they hurt the trip badly. More importantly, they hurt us badly because we are the ones responsible for protecting the client experience.
The point of this review is not that we are upset about the money itself. It is that Kai and Renaud should not be taking advance money from people for high-end nightlife management in Tokyo when they are plainly not capable of delivering it.

There is one other important point future clients should understand. You do not need a promoter like Kai or Renaud just to book a table, bottle service, or entry into a club. In many cases, you can contact the club directly and save 40% to 50% or more. In our case, we chose to use intermediaries because we were dealing with Japan, a different language, a different culture, unusual guest expectations, and a need for precise execution. We erred on the side of caution. In return, what we got was a middleman markup, poor communication, weak execution, and no accountability.

So my advice is very simple: do not pay Kai in advance, do not rely on Renaud’s claimed experience, and do not assume that either of them can execute a serious Tokyo nightlife program just because they speak confidently on a call. If they could not handle this properly in Tokyo, where Renaud supposedly has 20 years of experience and Kai claimed access and expertise, I would have no confidence in their ability to handle anything serious in Las Vegas either.

People should be warned.