TR Last Weekend in Feb - Las Vegas Nightclubs - Message Board, Forum & Trip Reports

TR Last Weekend in Feb

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  • TR Last Weekend in Feb

    Off to Vegas with my wife, brother, and sister- in-law. We flew in on Thurs. night and I surprised them all with the (recommended by JCers) Presidential Limo “Champagne and Roses” special, which was one of the greatest ideas ever! No worry about luggage, waiting in line for an hour for a cab or the tour bus to fill up, etc.
    After arriving pretty late at the Flamingo the wife and I headed straight to ‘Ritaville for their signature drinks. I prefer the Ultimate, the wife the Italian ‘rita. We ended up downing a couple of those pretty quick while enjoying the sounds of a typically bad cover band playing the same crappy 80’s tunes my band does. Realizing that we had to meet my (non-drinker) brother the next morning we called it a night.
    Morning comes and we were walking the Strip just South of Planet Hollywood when we happened upon a cast of characters. No, not the usual ones you’d expect to see in Vegas, but Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and Ironman. Waiting for the light to change a crowd gathered and the various superheroes started striking poses in the hopes of conning someone into a pic with them. Never one to tolerate the porn slappers I was very curious how my brother would react to this bunch of clowns. In true brotherly fashion he waits for the most opportune moment then points towards the posing heroes and yells, “Oh my God, it’s the Invisible Man!” Each of the superheroes turned in unison shocked that their imaginary friend had showed up. I’ve never heard a crowd heckle and laugh as hard as they did at that.
    Fri night we joined my brother and sis in law for a nice Mexican dinner over at Caesar’s. The wife and I had been maintaining a steady diet of Cazadores and ginger ale throughout the day so after another couple ritas at dinner we knew game time had finally arrived. We were unsure of which club we wanted to hit and knew all the rumors of how difficult it could be for an “older” couple to gain entry.
    The line at Pure wasn’t all that bad and it’s a club we’d wanted to experience for a couple of years so we figured this would be our shot. We stood in a long line behind the velvet ropes but something just wasn’t sitting right with me. Catching the attention of one of the Hosts I asked, “Is this the line for schmucks?” He looked at me a little funny so I asked again, “Schmucks, you know.. nobodys. I don’t know anybody and I’m sure not going to ask if you know who I am. We’re just schmucks. Which line should we be in?” He laughed then pointed to another set of ropes. “You’ll get in faster over there than these wannabe VIP’s do. Have a good time.” Off to the appropriate line for us and after a 20 minute wait we were in!
    Being our first experience in a top tier Las Vegas Club we’re totally stoked! Walking down a long hall we run into a sea of people. Decided to head straight to the bar on the right then take a quick walk around the club to get our bearings. We’re soaking in the ambiance, the crowd is getting thicker (in more ways than one) and very douche heavy. Unfortunately our first thought was, “When did Carnival Court move?” Not quite the experience we expected.
    Went for the overly crowded dance floor and somehow managed to squeeze just enough room to shake our tail-feathers for a few songs. We like to people watch so we’re scanning the crowd when the wife asks, “Why is nobody dancing?” The packed dance floor is gently swaying to Cee Lo but the majority of the crowd is oblivious. Decent music, awful vibe, so we gave up and headed out.
    We dejectedly walked back towards our room when we stumbled past ‘Ritaville. Even though we were not in jeans and tees I was in the mood for a couple of shooters so I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her in. The same cover band from the night before was playing and the crowd, while nobody was dancing at least had a “fun” vibe to it. We downed a couple quick shots with a ‘rita chaser. Before too long we were the lone idiots on the dance floor and way over dressed at that. Of course, once you start something everyone follows. Within 2 songs the floor was pretty full, at least by their standards.
    At this point I’ve got no idea how many shots / drinks we’ve put away over the course of the night, nor do I really care but the old lady says she needs to use the facilities. I walk her to the ladies room and head off to relieve myself as well. There’s a line so it takes me a little longer than usual.
    Now I’m waiting a safe distance outside the ladies room for my wife to come out. One minute becomes 5, 5 becomes 10 so I’m getting a little concerned. I get a garbled text message from her but that’s nothing new. I send her a text back to hurry up as I’m starting to get worried. Within the next 10 minutes I receive 4 more texts, each one making less sense than the next and the final one is just a jumble of letters. Concern quickly turns into terror.
    I asked a few girls walking in to the washroom if they could please check to see if my wife was OK as I’m worried that she passed out on the toilet. As the ladies come out they tell me that nobody is answering to her name but there was a stall with someone in it and it could be her. I try calling her on the phone and sending a few more text messages with no answer. Again, I ask another group of ladies if they could please check on her. One of them comes right back out of the washroom, says that nobody answered but there’s one lady in the stall closest to the door that didn’t respond and she thinks it might be my girl. <and this is where it all goes wrong>
    I ask her if there’s any way that when the coast is clear I can check. She says, “Sure, we’re all decent. Come on in.” I put one foot in the door, pound on the occupied stall and scream at the top of my lungs, “HEY, wife! (name omitted for legal reasons) Time to go!” then walk right back out. No answer from stall so this isn’t going well.
    Not three minutes later I see a Security making a bee line towards me looking none too happy. He pushes me then asks what the hell I’m doing. I backed away from the restroom, quickly explained what was going on and that I wasn’t looking for trouble. Thankfully I’d been friendly with him earlier in the evening and he was professional enough to give me the benefit of the doubt. He poked his head into the restroom, came out and told me that she wasn’t in there. I could wait 15 more minutes until they closed and check for myself if I didn’t believe it, which I didn’t. I tried texting and calling again to no avail.

  • #2
    Now the images running through my head are that she’s A. really passed on the floor in the washroom / B. Someone drugged and took her / C. She decided that this was a good time to go have a fling with someone else. All of those were nightmare scenarios and I just couldn’t believe she was gone until I could see for myself. I waited for close and was able to find.. an empty Ladies Room. <sigh>
    So, my JC friends, before I continue I’d like to remind you that this section clearly states, “We don’t judge”. I’d like to pass along my sincerest apologies to any JC members that happened to be disturbed in the ladies washroom at Margaritaville the last Friday in Feb by a drunken idiot trying to find his Wife. I promise it wasn’t a made up story or the world’s worst pick up line!
    I quickly walk out of ‘Ritaville and head back to the Flamingo as fast as I can without attracting attention. Made it up to our floor and sprinted out of the elevator. Thankfully the long hallway was empty as I was pulling my best Usain Bolt until I reached the room. Slid in the key, swung open the door, low and behold, guess who is passed out on the bed? Yep. Never in the hundreds of nights of getting faced and partying our assets off out on the town has either of us EVER left the other like that. Granted, Vegas tends to bring out the worst in us when it comes to partying but that was the first time I ever freaked out. Hopefully it will be the last.
    Needless to say, we woke up hours later for our usual gathering at breakfast with my brother, still drunk. I won’t bore you with the details of the next day as I vaguely remember them and they just aren’t that interesting except for one minor hiccup. As we made our way through City Center to go check out the new Cosmo I saw Planet Hollywood across LV Blvd. For some stupid reason, probably something to do with the bottle of tequila still swimming through my veins, I tried convincing everyone that we needed to cross the street to get to the Cosmo. After a brief argument I sheepishly accepted the title of “Lush” from my sober for 10 years brother.
    Sunday night, our last night in our fave city rolls around. After an evening of Legends in Concert (that Liberace guy and Marilyn were absolutely amazing!) we do some gambling and decide to head off away from the other couple. We’d picked up a free wristband earlier in the day from a guy promoting the soft opening of the Chateau beer garden. We were very excited to check out the new club before anyone else so we headed for Paris. Upon our arrival we showed off the wristband to a lady that was working and she looked at us like we were crazy. Only the main downstairs restaurant was running for the soft open but she didn’t know anything about the beer garden. We walked out front in the hopes of finding the same promoter but had no luck. Walked around the side entrance and found a “closed” sign. My wife was not happy.
    We decided we’d head for the Miracle Mile Shops to see what was going on when my wife ran into one of the various street promoters. At this point she’d decided that with our bad experience at Pure and getting shafted on the Chateau thing she wasn’t interested in any more clubs. I catch her asking one of the lady promoters about Industry Nights and which clubs are the best. Next thing I know, she’s roped into talking to some older guy playing the old “nightclub pass” game. After talking to him for a few I’m convinced the wife really wants to have a good club experience in-spite of what she’s saying so I agree to take a couple passes for XS. I remembered that it had a decent rep from the JC boards but couldn’t remember much else about it.

    We walked to Paris and snagged a cab to take us up to Encore. The whole time my wife is bitching at me for getting the passes, ruining her night because she isn’t prepared for this experience, would have dressed sexier, etc. She runs the gamut of insecurities a lady in her early 40’s experiences when faced with the prospect of having to deal with 21-28 year old “hotties”. I reminded her what the <cough / choke> “competition” at Pure was like and I think that helped ease her fears a little.
    Walking though Encore was like nothing we’d ever seen. The entire place is a work of art. No wonder Steve Wynn rose from selling junk bonds to one of the greatest casino / hotel owners in the world.
    We found the entrance to XS and got in line at 10pm as she was supposed to get free drinks from 10-12. The doors weren’t open yet but the line was beginning to form. “See, I told you.” She says as a group of very pretty young woman dressed to the nines gets in line with us. We waited patiently until 10:40 or so when they finally started letting people in.
    From the moment we stepped past the Wall of Faces we knew we’d finally found the experience we’d been looking for. The club was as beautiful as anything we’d ever seen and was head and shoulders above anything we have here in the Chi. That’s how a club SHOULD be done!
    We checked out the go-go dancers and huge outdoor area then went for the bar toward the corner of the room away from the dance floor. The bartender was very pretty and flashed a million dollar smile. I ordered a simple cocktail before I asked about the “Woman drink free from 10-12” deal. The bartender loses the smile then says she has no idea what we’re talking about. I explained about the club passes and she responded very apprehensively that “XS doesn’t do free drinks” obviously expecting an argument from me. I told her that it wasn’t that big a deal and it sure wasn’t worth ruining the night over. I paid for both drinks and left her a very nice tip.
    We settled on a small area in between some empty VIP booths on the first level that had a great view of the dance floor and soaked in our last night of freedom. When it was time for a refresher I went back to the same bartender. After ordering I told her that I wasn’t trying to give her a hard time before and was just there to have a good time. We had a very nice conversation while she was making the drinks and she told me to make sure we let her know if we needed anything.
    I saw a VIP Host walk a group through and this guy looked just like Mikey T so I had to ask but he said he wasn’t. Heck, even if it was I sure wouldn’t blame the guy for denying it expecting some chooch to ask for special treatment. Just wanted to give a JC shout out to ya, that’s it, bro. Either way, you gotta twin out there somewhere, Mikey!
    Finished the night up on the dance floor with a happy buzz then caught a cab back to the old “Shitbird”. I have to send a special shout-out to the crew of XS and we look forward to going back SOON! I’d also like to thank JC and all of you contributors and Hosts. Without your indispensable info on all things Vegas our trip would not have been one for the memories!

    Chitown Rik

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you for the great review.

      I've heard a lot of good things about Chicago and want to check it out one day.
      FO SHO.
      Originally posted by redbullvodka
      you're not ditching them, they're ditching you by not going.
      Originally posted by kimball
      You want to be at the club where girls want to be... not where guys get good bottle deals.

      Comment


      • #4
        Nice TR, scary scene with your wife. But glad to hear everythign worked out in the end.

        leaving for Vegas in 2 hours!!! hope my TR can compare.
        Previous Trips

        May 2010
        Sept 2010
        April 2011
        August 2011
        4/3/12 -- 1 Night Ninja Mission
        mAyOD 2012
        January 2013
        November 2013
        August 2014
        September 2014

        Upcoming Trips
        April 2015
        May 2015 -- Fight Weekend

        Comment


        • #5
          Nice and funny TR. Scary situation with wife. It is normal in Vegas to lose your friends at some point but losing your wife is scary. I am glad your final night ended on a good note.
          ''In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.'' - George Best

          www.armyofdrinkers.com- Join the revolution!

          Vegas Trips;

          September 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 (Birthday trips). Jan 2009 (CES Trip). March 2009 and 2010 (St.Patty's Weekend).RNYE 2011, mAyOD Invasion 2011, MDW 2011, AOD Halloween Weekend Invasion, mAyOD 2012, EDC 2012. MARCH 29th 2013 thru APRIL 1st 2013 Next trip: May 2013 Invasion

          Comment


          • #6
            Thanks for the nice words! Yes, that night it was pretty scary at least for me, but we get a good laugh out of it now. We're pretty out going people so it's not unusual to dissappear for a little while but that was a crazy night. Precisely why we love Vegas!

            Comment


            • #7
              Great TR,

              The drunken "where are you" text's are always the best.
              Originally posted by Godzuki
              I rely on Rohypnol, Ether and my dashing good looks.

              Comment


              • #8
                Love your work Chitown, great TR!

                I love the 'next and the final one is just a jumble of letters' call, haha we've all done that/read that.

                Glad you and your wife had a good experience at XS, it's a massive club. No wonder Stevey W decided to put it in
                March 2011 was easily the best time of my life! Currently saving for MDW 2012 - who's coming with!?!?!?

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