When planning a trip to Vegas ....

[lalate]

.... and its nightclubs, its best to be informed. Here is a roadmap to help you.

:::1 . What is my purpose for the night:::

This is probably the number one question overall. There is nothing worse than someone saying to you "Oh, you have to go to XYZ club because its the best" because whats the best for someone else may not be what you like. Here you need to do some self analysis, questions whose answers you will already know if you party more often back home and already really know what type of clubs/scenes you do not like.

What is my purpose for the night? Am I going out to hookup, dance, chill, celebration (bacherolette, etc), hear a top dj, or no purpose at all? One person might be going out only to hookup and could care less if the dancefloor is too crowded to dance, while another person maybe going out not to hookup and only to dance. Your answer helps guides you to know what to ask about a venue to determine if its right for you.

:::2 . How well do I understand nightlife in Vegas?:::

Many people can skip this question. But for some that party in Vegas, they dont party that much back home so when they show up into town the operational part of nightlife sometimes confuses them at first until someone explains it. Are guestlists the same here in town? Whats a bottle service? Whats a bottle minimum? How different can the tables be? How long can a line be? I want to do a bottle at pure, but do I know that bottles start at over $400? I met this dude on the street that gave me for $5 a "vip card" to ghost bar, you think it works? If you dont know answers to these questions, ask someone who does so you dont spend your money in the wrong spot guessing.

:::3 . How hard do I want to party?:::

Now we hit the nuts and bolts. How hard do I want to party? With Vegas, many people are surprised to learn you can easily do 3 venues per night and can push 5 plus if you want. It depends on how hard to want to party, how late you want to party? The total expereience of Vegas is so much more rich when you are able to see numerous venues per night then wait in line for 2 hours for one venue and then leave at 3 am.

This question helps plan your itinerary. You really cant do mulitple venues on the fly without no previous thinking. But if you do just some planning, you can have an incredibly full night.

:::4 . Avoid superlatives:::

Someone recently said to me "I know this dude from OC that flies in go to just Rehab on Sundays and always hooks up. I want to do that. What do you think?" My response is - what do you know about the guy. The answer was the guy looks like Mr. Olympia that hooks up, and the guy that wants to try this out looks says he's overweight and hasnt been in the sun this year.

This type of "oh, he always hooks up there" or "I heard great stuff about that place" or "you HAVE to go this spot" way of talking is a waste of time because you have no context for the comment. Dont go somewhere because someone else describes it in broadstroke statements like "its the best". Know why its the best, why he liked it, if he has the same tastes as me, etc.

Recently, I had a girl, that is the most sophisticated cluboger you can get, go to a famous las vegas afterhours spot. Well, at that spot something so extremely graphic happened even this girl was shocked (and she left thereafter). Sadly, this is par for the course at that place. Had she asked what type of scene was there, she would have been predisposed to know that something like that might happen.

:::5 . Don't "pull rank":::

The staffs in Vegas are some of the nicest in the country. So no one likes someone that tries to pull rank. Dont assume every venue has the same priority with its crowds, cuz they dont. "There is going to be 3 of us girls and we are really hot and we are going to get comp'd all around town cuz we are so hot." I think the town wont miss not comping 3 hot girls for one night lol they got several thousand others they can get cover instead lol. "Im sending 4 girls to town and they want to get compd everywhere with press credentials". Hell, if therre are 10,000 people at the venue to night, I dont think they need anymore press lol! "We are 10 guys and we want to do line passes." Venues call this basketball team lol! Until you see a basketball net installed on the dancefloor, dont think venues want 10 guys line passing, cuz they dont. "Im coming to town with someone really sorta famous." Sorta famous is not famous lol. Dont be thinking you are going to get 3 free bottles cuz you did 4 episodes on the Discovery Channel 3 years ago. lol.

[djmasterweb]

Nice post but I disagree about the 3 to 5 venues a night. I think only some people enjoy that. Personally I'd rather not fight the traffic on the streets and the chaos in front of each club, just to leave for another venue. One great spot a night works for me and many others.

Also a point to reiterate something you said - and this has been said many times before. A 10 in most cities is a 6 in Vegas - ladies we love you - but do remember that. And fellas, nobody at the door cares if you are a 10 or a 1 so its not worth even going there

[lalate]

lol!

[greenie]

For non-locals (as well as "near-locals" that come to town 2x-3x per month), I agree with Lalate on hitting multiple venues in a night. Provided you spend the time on a little advance research and planning along with a small investment, I couldn't agree more. Wherever you hail from, so long as you're really into nightlife then I definitely back up the idea that it's worth hitting multiple spots.

That said, I agree with Masterweb that "3 to 5 venues" is a bit much... provided we're talking about major venues. And for that matter, what you do to get in to that venue, and what you do while you're in there.

For those who want to really dive into Vegas nightlife and get a good taste, I'll go with the recommendation of hitting 2 "major" venues in a single night along with 2-3 "minor" venues. Provided you're set up in advance, there won't be any hassles, other than say a 30-minute taxi line at Ceasar's.

It's also worth mentioning that infrequent visitors to LV will consider dinner to be a big stop on the night... so I'd certainly consider that a "venue."

For example, I don't think either of these example sequences of 5 "venues" (2 "majors" and 3 "minors") to take someone on a 6-7 hour journey (say 8pm to 3am) without putting a massive strain on the constitution or time spent at each stop:

Example 1: Aureole (dinner), MIX, Coyote Ugly, Teatro, ICE

Example 2: Drai's (dinner), Shadow, OPM, Mist, Tangerine

I'm not necessarily recommending these combinations, just slapping together quick examples...

In both examples, with a small amount of planning you'd only need to deal with a line and cover at one venue: the 2nd major of the night. And in these cases, hell, if you're on vacation, isn't it worth the investment in VIP and/or bottle services?

All this said, I'm not bashing on those who spend an entire night at one venue, especially as that's how my Sundays @ BE tend to be spent. Then again, afterwards I'm in the Circle Bar and then the Rainbow... so I guess maybe that's 3...

[lalate]

Yeah well very said (as always lol).

When I mentioned several venues, I really mean exactly what greenie said (and did on his last trip as I do) -- your night really is anchored, for choice of a better word, by a major venue and you supplement that with 1-2 preparty spots and 1-2 after party spots. A preparty spot can be a ultralounge, even a bar, and an afterparty spot can even be the same.

Ironically, most people you will meet will like that to . I havent taken a trip to Vegas without some girls calling me at 2 am that I met at 10 pm or 9:30 wanting to come on down the afterparty spot Im at. The spirit is really about changing it up - changing the pacing throughout the night, changing the scene, the vibe. And in Vegas where the venues are generally quite stunning or at least very original looking and worth seeing - its about change of scenery too.

For example, if I am ever partying and starting the night at center strip, I personally will try to start my evening early enough that I get my slow ass to preparty at a particular hotel bar I love for one simple reason (well, yeah, sometimes there are some hot girls there but rarely) - $8 Top shelf shots that should be $12.

And if youre the type that luvs that Vegas-New Orleans walk with your drink experience which I personally luv - taking anotherr $12 drink for the road that only cost you $8 and drink it on the street as you are talking to some chicks from Detroit outside of Boardwalk asking you if a "VIP card for ghostbar is worth $5 from the street seller" and if they can chill with you later at your #3 spot for the night - thats whats fun.

Some people like the whole arrive in the H2 hummer and come out decked out to the max expereince and get escorted to the corner table. Others of us like that but really luv meeting cool people on our ... journeys .. throughout the night, getting down and dirty on the dancefloor, meeting people, living experiences that seem often surreal in a wonderful way.

[zarjoe]

Great posts! Thanks for the ideas and advice.

[pete825]

I'd love to hear what was the act that took place in #4 and the venue because may need to include the spot in my next trip.

Maybe I too old or too jaded, but I'm still trying to be "shocked" in Veags. Been pleasantly surprised a few times, but would love to have a "did that really just happen?" moment.

[lalate]

Which #4? which post are you referring to?

[greenie]

I think he's referring to whatever graphic thing happened that caused your regular clubber to be offended/shocked/whatever and bolt.

[lalate]

Originally Posted by greenie

I think he's referring to whatever graphic thing happened that caused your regular clubber to be offended/shocked/whatever and bolt.

Oh sure as hell not posting that. lol

[pete825]

Yeah, that was the #4 i was referring to.

Late,

Maybe you'll spill it via PM??? Either that or we'll just have to hit you up at club this weekend and pry you with booze!