Saying hello from LA =)

[klawing]

I've made several trips to Vegas in the past few years, and I've been reading these forums for a while now as a guest. I've had a couple fun and hassle free trips with just my girlfriends to Vegas, but I've really needed this forum when I've had to plan trips for mixed groups or guy friends hosting bachelor parties. I can't begin to explain how helpful the information on here has been.

It's time I gave back.

I'm making a trip out to Las Vegas this weekend - Nov 16-18 - and am helping a girlfriend put together her birthday party. It's a mixed group (about 14-16 people but all even ratio). We are trying to visit Bagatelle on Friday for their grand opening. If all works out with Bagatelle, I'm putting up a review here to contribute to the forums (we're still sorting out issues with getting everyone on a guestlist because of the grand opening party). I've never been to Hyde, but if Bagatelle doesn't work out, we're going to try to get into Hyde before it turns into a nightclub and see if there's any way we can skip the cover and line hassle.

If anyone has any advice about this weekend, would love to hear from you!

[Rhythmz]

Sounds like a wonderful weekend. I can't wait to see what you think of Bagatelle. I'm looking forward to a trip report after the weekend! Welcome to the forums!

[CantStopGrindin]

LOL, I didn't see this earlier but I was there with a group the same size this weekend. Big groups are fun, but man its easier to organize with smaller groups.

[klawing]

The weekend turned out to be an incredible trip. I think I've figured out the ultimate way to make a mixed ratio group work.

We had an amazing time at Bagatelle and getting on the guestlist was easy as pie for everyone. I'm not sure if it will always be like that, but it wasn't too difficult for the grand opening. I'll be posting an update of Bagatelle in the Bagatelle thread. Because Bagatelle started thinning out around 11:30pm, a few of us (6 from the group, even ratio), decided to head over to Hyde Bellagio. The rest had gotten too plastered from the Bagatelle open bar and had to call it a night (heh). Hyde is now my favorite spot in Las Vegas. We ran into a really friendly guy named Corey who told us to mention his name at the door. I had already put the girl's on Anthony's list, but we mentioned both names and girls got in free, guys paid $30. Everyone skipped the line.
Best part about Hyde was the view, the crowd, and the fact that they play both hip hop and EDM. The music selection definitely pleased everyone in the group. I am 100% certain I'll be coming back to this spot.

The next night after dinner, we all headed to XS. I read on here that presale tickets were the way to go for guys so we bugged all of them to purchase the $30 tickets before 6pm that day. Maybe because Kaskade was playing at Marque, but the guys all got there to the presale ticket line around 11pm and got in almost immediately. Funny enough, one of our girlfriends tried to get in with them and was denied because she didn't have a presale ticket. One of my guys had a huge laugh about the fact that all the guys got in except her. I put all the girls on the guestlist, but because I had seen XS with huge lines before, I found a host who said she'd walk us all in for $100 for 11 girls through the table line with comped cover. 10 of the girls put down $10 so the birthday girl didn't have to, but looking back, I do feel like it wasn't necessary. I had wanted to be absolutely sure that the birthday girl didn't have to wait and would feel special, but in the end, the line wasn't even that long at 11pm and we would have been fine waiting 10-15 minutes without tipping a host. I think it's only worth it if you've got some grotesque girls that aren't dressed right or there's a special DJ. Lesson learned.