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Las Vegas Ultra-Lounges | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Blush
Wynn Las Vegas 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S. 702-770-3375 website Open Daily 5pm-late Cover Varies Blush is the new ultra-lounge at Wynn Las Vegas. It replaces the former ultra-lounge Lure but with an all new design, a dance floor, an open-air patio and bar, a VIP room, and more. It’ll open every day at 5pm as a lounge and transform into a full fledged nightclub on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights starting at 10pm.
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The name is about more than just the caramel colored design scheme (warm and comfortable as it may be). Instead it refers to their signature drinks featuring various forms of candy either coating the glass (ie: caramel or chocolate) or in the actual drink (jawbreakers). Alcohol and sugar at the same time? Genius!!
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Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce is the latest in a wave of burlesque clubs opening around Vegas, this particular example at Mandalay Bay just as you enter the Mandalay Place shopping mall near the House of Blues.
What is burlesque, you may be asking? Isn’t that just a fancy word for a strip club? Well, at a respectable business with gaming and liquor licenses to defend, no it’s not a strip club even though there is, technically, a woman stripping. But with burlesque the woman doesn’t actually show anything that couldn’t be seen in a PG-13 rated movie, starting out fully dressed and ending in skimpy shorts and a flesh-colored bra with pasties. And instead of dancing to some mindless canned music, they dance to a live-jazz trio playing Rat Pack era favorites including “Fever” and “The Pink Panther Theme.”
There are no lap dances, no dollar bills in g-strings, no nudity, and no touching the dancers (at least that part is the same). This is not the kind of place for single men in long black coats, an unfortunate fashion choice I came to regret after enduring several suspicious glances from staff members. In fact, the evening I attended there were more women in the audience than men, all mostly in their early to mid-twenties although there were a few of us “older” folk in attendance.
The performances are presented as shows (several times a night, call ahead) with a single lady strutting her stuff followed by some live music from the jazz trio. In between comes pounding music (hip-hop during my visit), loud and bass-pumping enough to rattle the glasses on the bar and send vibrations through the chairs. A great groove at first but it got tiresome after awhile, especially without a dance floor to express oneself upon.
The club is small, or at least appears that way with lots of dark reds and wood tones on the surfaces and furnishings giving it an intimate feeling. Get there early to get a coveted seat at the bar so you can be up close to the girls.
And what about those girls? Strictly my opinion, but classier than what you’ll find in the strip clubs and pretty talented for the genre. The word limber came to mind often.
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ghostbar (sic) has two things going for it - the view and the reputation as being THE hottest of hot spots in all of Las Vegas.
I can't argue with the first point. From high atop the Palms hotel the view is stunning, offering unparalleled vistas of The Strip from both inside the bar and an adjoining outdoor patio. This really would be a great place to go have a frothy concoction, sit outside, and watch the city come to life at night.
It is worth noting however that The Palms is playing the same games that next-door neighbor Rio plays with their hotel tower. They bill ghostbar as being on the 55th floor of the hotel, which would be fine if in fact there were actually 55 stories, but there aren't. There are only 42. Some interesting and culturally sensitive floor numbering (4 is bad luck in certain Asian cultures) has transformed the 42nd floor into the 55th floor and although I understand the concept behind it is ultimately an altruistic one, they are milking it for all it's worth and that kind of bugs me a little.
But it still doesn't change the fact that you're not going to find a view like this anywhere else in Vegas.
The bar itself is done in ultra-retro mod-chic - a phrase I just made up to cover the sort of "Austin Powers" 60s and 70s futuristic look that has become very popular in bars like this. While fun to look at, it comes off as very sleek and cold with acres of gleaming white, silver, and grey surfaces competing for attention. I'm still not sure why anyone thinks austere is a good thing when trying to create a livable environment but I guess that's why they don't ask me to design places like this.
Despite the live DJ, there is no dance floor per se but the crowd on the night I visited was turning any available space into a bump and grind. And there wasn't too much available space. Even on a Sunday night the place was packed to the rafters with the young and trendy crowd.
And that's where I get into my problems with the place. ghostbar has gotten an almost immediate reputation as being a great place to party and dance the night away, especially for the celebrity set. Almost every week the local gossip columns are talking about spotting a movie or rock star sipping cocktails while lounging in the trendy couches of the club.
Unfortunately, what that seems to have done to the place is draw a crowd that wants to be noticed more than they want to have fun. Everyone is dressed to impress, with hair and make-up high, and skin showing wherever possible all so they can, for the most part, stand around and try to be noticed while pretending to be too cool to care. The "I'm prettier than you" atmosphere is overwhelming here from the moment you step into the room and I found it to be exhausting.
Cover and drink prices are pretty high - $10 - $20 to get in and $5-7 for beers, more for mixed drinks. That's about average when compared to other clubs of this caliber but unlike some other places I wouldn't have felt as though I got my money's worth here.
I am judging the place on my one night visit and I have heard that some of the slower weeknights draw a more mature crowd both in terms of age and attitude, but I saw the line to get in on Wednesday night and it seemed to be more of the same.
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If you don't know what a hookah is, you probably don't want to go. If you do, keep in mind that it's probably not used for what you usually use it for. An oddly entertaining joint with fun music, a full bar, and very knowledgable Hookah Masters who will guide you to the right selection of fine tobacco for your pipe. And although it is (seriously) just tobacco, they spice it up with all sorts of extras to make it more fun. No, not those types of extras! More like strawberry. Sorry.
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Mix Las Vegas is perched high atop the new as of 2003 THEhotel tower at Mandalay Bay. Entry is via a dramatic (and head-spinning for the height-phobic) glass-elevator ride up more than forty floors where you are deposited into the virtually all black lounge side of the establishment, while the adjacent restaurant portion is virtually all white.
The all-black color(less) scheme has both positives and negatives. Yes, it’s good to deemphasize the interior with black floors, ceiling, walls, and furnishings when you’ve got such amazing views from the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking The Strip, but even with those enormous windows it results in a distinctly cave-like feeling, enclosed and a bit claustrophobic (especially when you throw in dozens of people also dressed mostly in black). I found myself continually going to the outdoor balcony not only for the fresh air and dramatic vistas but just to feel a little less confined.
A steady stream of music comes from a live DJ - mostly hip-hop when I was there but they play all types of club-appropriate tunes I’m told. There is no formal dance floor but people are encouraged to shake their groove thing wherever there’s room.
Drink prices are totally outrageous if you have any sense of perspective but not out of line with what you’ll pay at most other clubs on and around The Strip. $6-8 for beer, $8 and up for well drinks, $12 and up for call. Oh, and don’t order a bottle of water thinking you can get away cheap – it’s going to run you $8. Yep – and $8 bottle of water. It comes in a pretty glass container though.
One cool touch – even the bathrooms take advantage of the unimpeded views by putting the urinals in the men’s room and toilets in the ladies’ facing giant windows. Just do me a favor and pay attention to what you’re doing, especially if you’re standing next to me.
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In the battle for the title of "Hottest Nightclub in Las Vegas," the focus has been on new, hip, original, and exclusive. Moon works that angle, while its sister Playboy Club does something new by going retro, turning a known brand on its ear and turning it into something still relevant in the new millennium.
Located atop the new tower at The Palms, the two clubs are distinct yet linked together by an escalator, elevators, and the long lines and high cover prices required to get in (an eye-popping $40, which merely gets you in the door).
After an interminable wait for one of the high-speed elevators you are whisked to the top floor of the tower and unleashed into the Moon universe. Done in futuristic silvers, whites, and mirror effects the club is a multi-level paradise of party-all-the-time insanity. There are multiple bars, a balcony overlooking the sizeable dance floor, two outdoor patios (warning: it gets really windy up here so make sure you are paying attention to what is happening with that little black dress), and even a retractable roof.
The overall vibe of the place seems to be more frat house-y than you normally find at a place like this, but that impression may have been due to the 80s and 90s rock that was playing while I happened to be there. Surprisingly Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" and Nirvana's "Lithium" not only make great sing-along club jams but actually mix well together. I'm sure that a different selection of music may have reduced the "duuuuuude" atmosphere a little but the crowd definitely seemed to be a lot more interested in having a good time and a lot less interested in standing and posing, something that afflicts many clubs of this ilk. Although well past my party animal phase, this was a welcome change of pace.
The Playboy Club, located one level down, is a retro-chic version of Hugh Hefner's mansion, with clubby nooks done with stone and wood wall treatments, new-millennium takes on leather wing-back chairs, and flat panel monitors over the fireplaces instead of paintings. Throw in the dozens of cotton-tailed servers and you have a deliriously over-the-top take on the Playboy mystique, complete with gaming tables to bring out the 007 in you. A tuxedo is not required, but you almost feel like you want to throw one on, grab a martini, and throw the dice with one arm while you put the other around a girl wearing bunny ears.
The crowds are epic, the drink prices sky-high, and while the rooftop locations offer great views, waiting for those elevators to make your entrance or you escape are a pain in the cotton-tail. Still, this is the kind of club that makes club-going entertaining again.
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Don't Cha want to go to the place where the Pussycat Dolls hang out and perform? Well, don't expect the singing group to be there every night but representatives of the sultry burlesque dancers take the stage and do a bump and grind worthy of the better strip clubs in town (even if they don't take all of their clothes off). A fun and funky space enlivened by the entertainment that gives you something more to look at than the other people standing around drinking.
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Risque at Paris Las Vegas has been open for awhile but it still pops up on the “cool” radar often, which makes it worth noting. Located at the top of a sweeping staircase off the main casino, this is one of those trendy “ultra-lounges,” which is a moniker ascribed mostly to places that don’t have formal dance floors but still have live DJs pumping the tunes.
Of course not having a dance floor never stopped people from dancing and as with many of the lounges people grab a spot and start grooving – corners, walkways, table tops – it’s all good.
The place is small at least in comparison to other clubs of its ilk but the dramatic red lighting effects, cave like booths, and low-slung furnishings lend an air of drama to the proceedings. And although the staff was not exactly what I’d call friendly, the clientele on the night I visited was much less attitudinal than what you’ll find at most of these types of places.
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Sixties modernism meets a Strip club as swanky décor frames large opaque panels with what appears to be naked (but really aren't) women dancing behind them.
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Continuing my epic and exhausting tour of some of the hottest and hippest nightclubs in town, I moseyed on over to the MGM Grand for a peek at Tabu, the ultra-lounge concept that leapt on the ghostbar (the similar and successful club at the Palms) bandwagon and rode it for all it was worth.
The fact that Tabu still packs them in a year after its opening speaks volumes, especially in this segment of the market where the cool crowds often move on to the newest cool thing quickly, leaving some clubs packed for a few months and then empty after that. But while other clubs shoot themselves in the foot by trying too hard, Tabu has succeeded by taking the minimalist approach, keeping things simple and focusing on the fun.
The space is smallish, certainly nowhere near as big as Studio 54, the other hot club in the MGM Grand. The design is spare with dark walls and fixtures fading into the background so you can focus your attention on the few colorful features in the place: a multi-colored glass tube wall behind the bar and the spotlighted seating areas at the center of the club. The latter is where you’ll find most people dancing up on the low tables or in the aisles since, as with most of these “ultra-lounges,” there is no formal dance floor.
Those tables draw a lot of attention owing to the constantly changing patterns projected onto them or through them – a couple actually respond to touch.
The DJ behind the megawatt sound system was spinning a good mix of danceable hip-hop and funky pop on the evening I attended, keeping the party vibe going and the customers entertained. My limited interaction with the rest of the staff was mostly a positive one – they seem a touch less intimidating here than at similar clubs around town. I guess that’s because their servers are referred to as “models,” with one night dedicated of them wearing the latest fashions in a showing of haute couture.
As usual, the crowd was young – at 38 I was easily the oldest person in the room by a solid ten years, although it was dark and botox does amazing things so there may have been more of us oldsters lurking in the corners.
Also as usual, the cover and drink prices verge on the heartbreaking, although certainly not any more expensive than any other club in this town. The entry price varies but on weekends if you can do the admission plus three drinks for less than $50 you’ve totally done something wrong.
Of all the ultra-lounges in this town (and there are a lot), Tabu is by far my favorite.
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Located high atop the Rio Suites tower (about 40 stories despite the fact that they bill it as being 50 - it's a long story), the Voodoo Lounge offers two floors of entertainment, drinks, food, and terrific views. The big multi-level outdoor patio is a must for anyone who isn't afraid of heights but be warned it gets really windy up there so make sure the little black dress is firmly in place and the hair is properly sprayed.
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