++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Opening Thoughts: From the perspective of someone who has lived many places, Las Vegas has changed over the years. In many regards, it is at its finest now. In the 1980s and 1990s, the notion was for a hotel to have you walk through its casino, hundreds of yards at a time, to get to your destination. Now the focus is definitely less on gambling. Enter: clubs, bars, lounges, bakeries, indoor gardens, shopping. In fact, while years ago the notion would be to shift traffic through pits after pits, now you even find a separate valet entrance feet away to the entrance to Gucci, Prada, or Armani. For nightlife, this shift to upscale attracts a fundamental different caliber. You see packs, huge packs that is, of girls girls and more girls. Shopping, getting their hair done, at the cafe. You see less of the 21 year old girl from the south with her tiny shorts and hand-grenade-drink in hand and more of very upscale, very stunning, young urban professionals. Forget a frat scene or the drunk college kids from Havasu stopping in Vegas with torn wife beaters; you don't see it as much. Dress Code: Whoever tells you there is a special dress code in Las Vegas for nightlife, they are incorrect. Los Angeles' dress code is arguably much more strict than Vegas. In Vegas, girls so long as they have shoes on can get away with any attire. For guys, people tend to say that in Vegas you have to wear a button down dress shirt. False. Every single venue we went to we entered in such a shirt, once we were in, we removed the shirt and partied in typical presentable Hollywood-trendy attire all night long along side similar such guys. Just look presentable at the door, wear dress shoes, wear a dress shirt at the door, and you are fine. Drinks: One thing noticeable in town was the absence of full bars. Most non-hotel spots lacked full bars for making standard drinks. In other parts of this country, the martini still rains king. Here, most bars did not stock fundamental items neccessary for making even normal mixed drinks. Cabs: Cabs cannot be hailed on the street. So if you want a cab, go to a hotel. And do not opt for a limo for basic transportation. Limos start generally at $35 an hour. Cabs do not charge for additional passengers. Finally, do not ask hotel attendants if there is traffic outside. One night we did that and was told our cab fare would be double because of traffic; in fact, there was no traffic once we started walking. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Venues ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Wednesday Night. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ___________________ First stop: 8 pm Mix. ___________________ Description. Mandalay Bay's Foundation Room has what many call the best views of the city. So arguably the next best views in the city are Mix. Don't go looking for Mix at the Mandalay Baybecause it's not there. It's at THEhotel, a separate hotel in the Mandalay Baycomplex. We believe that THEhotel, based upon look, crowd, and vibe will unseat Hard Rock soon enough as the "cool" crowd hotel. The lobby to the THEHotel is very W, Standard, Ian Schrager designed. Mix is located on the top floor of THEHotel. It's a lounge, bar that has stunning views in a space drapped with black sofas, black walls, black floors, even black doornobs. It abuts a neighboring restaurant with equal stunning views. The Scene. Mix is a preparty spot. Hit it up at 8. The crowd is mainly stunning, and we mean stunning, tall girls in dresses with guys in dress pants. Vital lalate stats: Capacity: Roughly 350 Location: Top of THEhotel at the Mandalay Bay Views: Northward of Las Vegas Boulevard Scene: Lounge Dancefloor: None DJ: None Dresscode: Dress shoes for guys Cover: Free before 10:30, $20 after, or free w/ lalate Drinks: Average price Staff: Extremely friendly. Drink strength: Strong. Music: Progressive, Moody House. ___________________ Second stop: 11 pm Tangerine ___________________ Description. Tangerine is located at Wynn's new TI (formerly Treasure Island). An average venue with a good location and a not so good crowd. Tangerine is located at the edge of TI's corner. Very very packed, with 4 guys to 1 girl, and tons of working girls in the venue. Two rooms, one on the "island bay" outside right on the Strip The Scene. We walked to the front of the line and stepped right in. Thank god. The line was extremely long, even for a Wednesday night. We liked the venue's location, didn't like the crowd. Not enough girls, too overly crowded, bad locations for the bars. Vital lalate stats: Capacity: Roughly 500 Location: TI Views: street level location at the corner of TI Scene: Nightclub Dancefloor: Two (if you could see them) DJ: Yes Dresscode: Dress shoes for guys Cover: $20, or free with lalate Staff: Average Drink strength: Average Music Format: 2 areas of sound - house outside, hiphop inside ___________________ Third stop: 2 am Drais ___________________ Description. Drais is located at the Barnaby Coast. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thursday Night. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ___________________ First stop: 7pm Mix ___________________ Mix was even better this night. This place never gets packed. But if you want to me very upscale persons, this is the ticket. ___________________ Second stop: 9:30 pm Planet Hollywood ___________________ Description: Planet Hollywood is in the Forum Shops at Caesar. It's on your walking path to OPM. While not good for a scene, it is a good place to stop. Why? The walk to OPM through the Forum shops is endless. You walk and walk and walk. And along the way, we stopped by this rocking bar for two reasons - to rest our feet and also because they have a happy hour 9 to 10 pm (yes you heard right) of $2.30 well drinks. Capacity: Roughly 100 Location: Forum Shops at Caesar Views: none Scene: Bar Dancefloor: No DJ: No Dresscode: No Cover: No Staff: Extremely friendly Drink strength: Strong Music Format: Rock in roll ___________________ Third stop: 10 pm OPM ___________________ Description. OPM is located in what some persons in Caeasars called the older section of the Forum shops. It takes a huge walk to get there. But definitely worth it. OPM has a second floor that wraps around one of the sections of the Forum Shops. The Scene. We got at OPM very early and met the man himself, DJMasterWeb. What a wonderful person and incredible host. This was our second visit to OPM and definitely will not be our last. We loved the place. Unfortunately, we didn't get much time to see much for one reason - girls girls girls. We stayed in the venue from about 10 to 12 midnight. Within roughly 3 minutes after entering the venue, I was chilling with 7 stunning DR girls from Astoria New York, and was able to based upon another dude's rude grabbing of another girl's hands. Til midnight, the crowd was roughly 5 girls for every guy. And these guys were not talking to the girls. We left the venue at 12 for a business meeting and returned at 1 and found a change in the crowd. The ratios were now equal and the look and vibe had definitely changed. The early bird definitely would get the worm at this party. Vital lalate stats: Capacity: Roughly 700? Location: Forum Shops at Caesars Views: Balcony view of the shops Scene: Nightclub Dancefloor: 2 DJ: Yes. Dresscode: Dress shoes for guys Cover: Free on the guestlist Drinks: Average price. Staff: Extremely friendly. Drink strength: Strong. Music Format: HipHop, and funky Hiphop ___________________ Fourth stop: 1 am Rio ___________________ Description. Rio nightclub was the intended stop. However, our friends got to the club which apparently was packed and decided for dinner. The Scene. The next day on the way to parties I ran into two girls from Ohio you went to Rio on Thursday and said it was wonderful. They said the crowd was incredible and the views were stunning. Cover: $20 or free with lalate ___________________ Fifth stop: 2 am Teatro ___________________ Description. Teatro is lalate's diamond in the rough. This was the place that made our trip what it was. It's a hidden spot, and what we would like to keep as that. Therefore, our review of it will be less detailed ... for a reason. We loved this place. The Scene. Most people don't know where Teatro is that we spoke to. On certain specified nights, Teatro runs an afterhours. This night was one of them. The venue is small, intimate, designed like a space ship or a circus tent, bathed in Ferrari red and black. The crowd was unbelievable and so was the experience. Vital lalate stats: Capacity: Roughly 400 Location: MGM Views: Of the dancers Scene: Lounge Dancefloor: 1 DJ: Yes. Dresscode: Dress shoes for guys Cover: $15-$20 depending on the night, free with lalate Drinks: Average price. Staff: Extremely friendly. Drink strength: Very very Strong. Music Format: Euro house ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday Night ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ___________________ First stop: 7pm Lounge at Paris ___________________ Inside the Paris hotel is a cool bar on the main ... Croissette. It's a bar in the lounge. Let me tell you. For a $9 shot, they don't pour you a shot. They pour you a bathtub, definitely a double shot. Follow that up with a drink to go in a plastic cup and you are off to go. Yes, in Vegas you can drink on the streets. Hitting up the right preparty place will give you the drink you need as you head out. Trust us. Many venues are long walking distances, so try to get a drink to go. And don't think the drink will have much effect on you, because you will in many cases be walking so far you will remain sober. Capacity: Roughly 100 Location: Paris Hotel Views: none Scene: Bar Dancefloor: No DJ: No Dresscode: No Cover: No Staff: Extremely friendly Drink strength: Very Strong Music Format: None. ___________________ Second stop: 10:00 pm Strip ___________________ It seems the obvious thing to do, but you don't realize to do it, until you do it. Make a reservation at two or three clubs for the night and then hit the strip and start walking to your venue. Why? Because you will run into 1/2 dozen other people on the strip that have no clue where to go, are dressed for a venue, and have no hookups. And they will join you. If you dont know, many streets have persons selling vip "cards" to venues. Whether the cards work or not, one thing is certain. The friends you meet along the way walking will join you because with you they will get in. Note: This also happened while walking through MGM. When the people found out Studio 54 wanted $50 for cover this night, they all asked where I was going ... and away we went. Teatro! ___________________ Third stop: 10:30 pm Teatro ___________________ Different night, different music, now regular hours not afterhours. So any different? Even better than the night before! Don't expect much of a detailed review from us. We arent going to tell you how great this place was. Music Format: 80s, hiphop ___________________ Fourth Stop: 11:30 pm Wickedville at Studio 54 ___________________ We have nothing good to say about this party or this venue. So we aren't going to say it. When 1) you show up at 11:30 pm and there is no one in line, 2) you run into people leaving the venue throughout the night, 3) you go into the venue and see what looks the worse glorified rave you've ever seen, 4) the doormen outside say "hey, we would not have thrown this party if it was, and 5) guys are walking around with plucked/trimmed eyebrows and lycra shirts, you know it's time to bounce. Cover: $40 presale, $55 at door, or free with lalate ___________________ Fifth Stop: 12 am Return to Teatro ___________________ Teatro honors hand stamps for return entry. Many venues often do not. Check ahead of time. ___________________ Sixth Stop: 3 am Bar in MGM ___________________ We do not know what this bar is called. But we would go back ANY night to this bar. Maybe the best afterhours, non dj'd, bar we've seen in ages. At 3 am, there was so many hot hot drunk "too" young people having a blast. Reaaons? No cover. No dress code. Strong drinks. Great piped music. Very young crowd. And machine gambling right there on your bar counter. Through your dollars in the machine, grab a hot person, and enjoy the night away. Capacity: Roughly 200 Location: MGM Hotel Views: none Scene: Bar Dancefloor: No, but room to dance DJ: No Dresscode: No Cover: No Staff: Friendly Drink strength: Strong Music Format: hiphop, rock-in-roll ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Closing Thoughts: Las Vegas is a fascinating city. There is something you can not put your hands on it with Vegas that creates a unusual, surreal mystique. People winning thousands, others loosing the same, sex and lies and power. People coming to Vegas for a new beginning, people leaving every night with sometimes a less brighter life ahead of them. Perhaps that is what makes Vegas so fascinating, and hence, so sexual, the uncertainity, the confusion, the hustle. In a way, when you walk into the shop of your favorite designer from Milan, it seems so perfect. But only 300 yards outside, there is a hustle happening on its street. You will walk the streets and never see a cop, but enter a casino and see one after another. Simply, Vegas is almost like how it appears when you approach it on 15 from the south. Highway 15 turns and suddenly there an oasis is before you. As the buddy we met named "John" in Vegas that was throwing $500 at beautiful gogo dancers in the nightclub for hours saying he just won almost $30,000 on craps said to us the first night lalate hung out with him, "don't ask". In Vegas, you don't ask, you don't wonder. You live. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
