I just typed a super long story and it got deleted.

So in short:
Music - Keep it more loungy until 11/12. After that you can turn up the beats more. No live bands. One thing you could go for is the combination Hed kandi and others usually do. A dj and a sax or another instrument. Keep it a mix. Pearl has the tendency to swap to arab music which makes everyone but the lebanese leave after a while. (And most don't want to come back).

Dress code - Pearl was stupid to ban jeans, they have changed it now. Keep it decent though. There is skimpy and skimpy. People should dress up a bit.

Smoking - I don't smoke. So i would prefer non smoking. But if you allow smoking make sure the ventilation is working very well. Otherwise go for an outside-inside area.

Policy - No booking tables etc way in advance to be able to get in. Full is full and that way people will just show up in time in stead of booking a table and showing up late with a club half empty half the time.

Guests- Make sure you maintain a good mixture. As soon as one nationality takes over thats it... Your done. Labled. Very hard to turn that around.

No VIP area's. Something i saw someone say earlier. Very good point. Creates a division that doesn't need to be there. Only annoys others. Will come back and bite you in the &^%.

May i ask why you are asking this?? Kind of curious now.