My tip to everyone that goes to Las Vegas, especially if you end up falling in love with it (some love it, some never want to go back) is to make friends with locals.
It doesn't really matter if they work in the nightlife industry or not (it helps though) as they have all the ins and outs of where to go, what to do on the downtime and places to eat (cheap and not so cheap).
I'll give a little intro on how I got hooked on Las Vegas and how I got my foot into the door with the nightlife scene.
I was in Las Vegas back in 2002, when places like The Beach and Bikinis at the Rio were still open and busy. I didn't know much about the nightlife and went in wide-eyed. I had 200.00 for 6 nights (liquor, food, trinkets) and not much else. It was an unfortgettable experience. I learned through trial-and-error at places like Light what the importance of knowing someone, going with girls or dressing well meant. I wholeheartedly agree with many of the opinions here - dress to impress, especially if you're part of a rooster fest.
It wasn't until 2006 that I first met friends that happened to be Vegas locals. It was at Body English and Pure on a Sunday night.
In that trip, I met a guy who had just been relatively new for Pure Management. I didn't know anything about Pure, except for it looked big. It looked dead. I was with two friends and we were dressed to impress (I was in 2 button suit). He asked us if we were interested in getting in and we said we'd think about it. We walked around the casino floor and before we knew it he magically "warped" in front of us. He asked us again if we were interested in getting in and we were really interested. We had to ask honestly where "the club" to be on a Sunday night was and he mentioned Body English. I took his card and said we'd definitely be interested in coming back for my birthday (November 2006) rolling with a group of 20+ girls/guys.
So, we headed off to Body English. I was having the shattiest time ever getting shut down by a 6'4" amazon (I'm 5'4") and I just decided to get smashtimed and head to the dancefloor. I was chatting up a girl who I found out worked at Hard Rock. We danced, she gave me her number, and I gave her a call before I left for home. In the years I've been to Vegas, I'd call her up, we'd go for drinks (I'd pay for some, but she was cool to hook me up with drink chits when she worked) and went for dinners. She's moved from Nevada since then, but we still remain friends.
Back to the guy at Pure. November 2006 came around and gave him a call a few weeks before heading into town. He said he remembered who I was and said it was cool to book a table for 20+ (and in the white room no less). After some chaos, we all got in. He took good care of our group and that really stuck in my mind.
In 2007, I went to Vegas 7 times. Each time I went, I made it a point to call him up and even just say hi. I've gone to Pure pretty much each time though and now LAX too. He's invited me out to party with him at Tabu, Body English and Tryst on his nights off.
I send my groups that head down to Vegas his way because I know he'll treat them well.
Through him, I've met other hosts and he's connected me to other club hosts on the nights I didn't patronise his club.
Basically, I feel blessed to meet this guy. It's been two years since that time and I guess you could now say we're even friends.
If you get lucky like I did, treat him or her well and try not to make them feel like a commodity. There's a lot of shady characters in Las Vegas, but once in a while, you can get lucky like I did. Some people are out to make a quick buck (it's damn easy to spot), but many, I believe want to be treated like how you would want to be treated: a person.
It doesn't really matter if they work in the nightlife industry or not (it helps though) as they have all the ins and outs of where to go, what to do on the downtime and places to eat (cheap and not so cheap).
I'll give a little intro on how I got hooked on Las Vegas and how I got my foot into the door with the nightlife scene.
I was in Las Vegas back in 2002, when places like The Beach and Bikinis at the Rio were still open and busy. I didn't know much about the nightlife and went in wide-eyed. I had 200.00 for 6 nights (liquor, food, trinkets) and not much else. It was an unfortgettable experience. I learned through trial-and-error at places like Light what the importance of knowing someone, going with girls or dressing well meant. I wholeheartedly agree with many of the opinions here - dress to impress, especially if you're part of a rooster fest.
It wasn't until 2006 that I first met friends that happened to be Vegas locals. It was at Body English and Pure on a Sunday night.
In that trip, I met a guy who had just been relatively new for Pure Management. I didn't know anything about Pure, except for it looked big. It looked dead. I was with two friends and we were dressed to impress (I was in 2 button suit). He asked us if we were interested in getting in and we said we'd think about it. We walked around the casino floor and before we knew it he magically "warped" in front of us. He asked us again if we were interested in getting in and we were really interested. We had to ask honestly where "the club" to be on a Sunday night was and he mentioned Body English. I took his card and said we'd definitely be interested in coming back for my birthday (November 2006) rolling with a group of 20+ girls/guys.
So, we headed off to Body English. I was having the shattiest time ever getting shut down by a 6'4" amazon (I'm 5'4") and I just decided to get smashtimed and head to the dancefloor. I was chatting up a girl who I found out worked at Hard Rock. We danced, she gave me her number, and I gave her a call before I left for home. In the years I've been to Vegas, I'd call her up, we'd go for drinks (I'd pay for some, but she was cool to hook me up with drink chits when she worked) and went for dinners. She's moved from Nevada since then, but we still remain friends.
Back to the guy at Pure. November 2006 came around and gave him a call a few weeks before heading into town. He said he remembered who I was and said it was cool to book a table for 20+ (and in the white room no less). After some chaos, we all got in. He took good care of our group and that really stuck in my mind.
In 2007, I went to Vegas 7 times. Each time I went, I made it a point to call him up and even just say hi. I've gone to Pure pretty much each time though and now LAX too. He's invited me out to party with him at Tabu, Body English and Tryst on his nights off.
I send my groups that head down to Vegas his way because I know he'll treat them well.
Through him, I've met other hosts and he's connected me to other club hosts on the nights I didn't patronise his club.
Basically, I feel blessed to meet this guy. It's been two years since that time and I guess you could now say we're even friends.
If you get lucky like I did, treat him or her well and try not to make them feel like a commodity. There's a lot of shady characters in Las Vegas, but once in a while, you can get lucky like I did. Some people are out to make a quick buck (it's damn easy to spot), but many, I believe want to be treated like how you would want to be treated: a person.
Comment