A club inspired by the restaurant in the film Titanic opened last week at Sokha Angkor Resort. Royal Titanic Nightclub had its soft opening on Friday, with a grand opening to come on August 29.

The club, owned by Seng Chhenghak who also owns Top Town KTV and the War Museum, will cater to a mixture of hotel guests and the older Khmer crowd looking for a place to drink and listen to live music.

“The problem here is that middle-aged Cambodians don’t really have anywhere to go if they want to enjoy upbeat music – they cannot go to Pub Street, so they mostly spend time at local bars or beer gardens,” says Seng Socheath, assistant to the club director.

“This place is perfect for them to enjoy their night. The hotel had the space and had closed down the Irish pub that was there before Mr Chhenghak had the idea to renovate.

“Basically the concept remains the same as before. The interior design is related to the Titanic, and Irish pubs. You can see the ceiling and the stairs that you walk down are the same as in the scene in the film where Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) first meet.”

The club has a big central bar which Seng says is inspired by typical Irish pub design, and drinks and bar food will be served.

“We have quite a big menu,” he says. “Mostly finger food, but also some main courses like pizza and spaghetti.”

The owner plans to have live music and DJs playing nightly.

“We want it to be a club, but at the same time a lounge, so it’ll be somewhere in the middle,” says Seng. “We’ll play upbeat music, but not too loud. The DJ will play from 7pm till 9pm, then the bands will take over on the stage. They’ll play for 45 minutes then the DJ will come back. We plan to have Filipino bands and DJs.”

Entry will be free of charge apart from when the club holds any special events, for example international guest DJs playing.

Royal Titanic is open every night, from 6pm to 2am, with a 40 per cent discount until August 28. After the grand opening on August 29, a 20 per cent discount will be in place until September 30.