my vegas clubbing experience 4/28 n 4/29

[nooob]

I'm not really sure what else was going on this weekend but on Friday we went to XS for Avicci and were expecting a huge asss mother fucking line up, txted a host a for a $200 hand shake to let us skip the line, not including the cover charge, he said okie but be there before 10...kind of early but okies, showed up at 10, and there was litteraly 15 ppl in line !!so of coarse we said screw that and just waited. Our group was of equal ratio, 4 girls n 3 guys, onces we got inside it was a little empty at first but quickly quickly got busy. Great club with great outdoor space !

Second night we decided on a whim to go to Tao, there was a line up but it was moving fairly quickly it was round 10:15. as we got closer to the entry point a host for the club kindly approached us and asked us if we wanted to do bs 1 bottle minimum including cover charge.big enough to seat all 7 of us, sweet that worked out to be under a 100 bucks a person and with cover and 2 drinks each or something, we ended up getting two bottles for around 1270 after all the taxes and 20% tip. We got the seat in the hall way right outside the Opium room, nothing special but a place to sit n drink and party with our group. If your a group of guys lookin for girls than maybe you'll feel like theres not enough foot "traffric" for you, but our group was there with our significant other so its not a factor for us, the music was pretty fun, but still the main room is the best music. a very good mix of house and top 40s, tooo friggin crowded to really dance in the main room so we mostly stayed at our table, I saw shit loads of empty tables in the Opimum room though. Seems Vegas clubs aren't as busy as I rememberd them last time.

Over all I just wanted to say that reading these forums really really made me stress out about the whole BS thing because majority of the ppl are all like ohh you need bs service, you need bs service, oh call this guy, call that guy his great. I tried contacting a good handful of them and was ignored because I wasn't looking for a 3k minimum, not to mention on top of all that folks are all like you gotta tip this guy 400 bucks just because your getting two bottles, and tip this guy 100 bucks because his walking you to your table, and tip security 100 bucks just for being security...other wise they will ruin your night...The Tao host who offered us the table walked us to the front, was very polite and funny,told us to have a good night and handed us off to a polite hostess who took us up stairs, who than handed us to our waitress for the knight. The End. Didn't shell out a million dollars for 2 min interactions with each person we met, and no one harassed us, or "ruined" our night. If you can afford to be super generous wonderful ! if you wanted something extra special done, money talks ! but if your just regular john doe like me, don't stress all this extravagant tipping customs posted on here. Professionals don't shun customer and rear their big ugly head because they didn't get a tip. And that's exactly what the folks at Tao were, professionals.

I know some of you may not agree with me, I just wanted to give Vegas goers a different perspective. My advice is, if you on a budget to just arrive nice and early.

[boags]

Some fair points raised. There's no real rules about cash tipping, and its basically at your discretion.

Got to a club early, with an equal ratio group and not much of a line? No problem - stand in the line, pay your cover and in you go.

Walk up a club and decide to do BS on the spot, and don't care where the table is? No problem - you don't have to tip anyone out if you don't want to.

Happy to mind your business on the table - and not looking for anything above and beyond from security? No prob, don't tip security.

On the flipside, many of the posters here are vegas regulars, who have built up relationships with hosts, the people who can help take a 'good' night and turn it into a 'great' night. Personally, I always use hosts and for me its as much as anything about insurance - making sure the night goes smoothly, and that I have a blast in the process. Straight into the club, no waiting, no matter how crazy the hordes of people outside might be. Table location we wanted, no shitty surprises. Checking back all through the night to make sure we're ok and everything is going well. Check.

Same for security. I always look after security. Those times when a buddy is drunk and walking the thin line, and your table security sorts it out so he doesn't get punted from the club. Ladies getting escorted through the crowd to the restrooms and back. Security staff who keep catching your eye to see if you want more girls brought to the table...or the ones already there to be taken away

Bit different with the runner though. Tipping the runner doesn't make the ice melt any slower, but those poor bastards work their backsides off and the pay sucks, so I always look after the runner. Figure its good karma.

So you're absolutely right that money talks...and that you don't need to go that path if you don't want to. There are LOTS of different ways to enjoy vegas. The important thing is to find the way that works for you.

I do have to disagree though about hosts not wanting to deal with anyone spending less than a $3K table. When you total up all the tables in all the clubs in a normal week, the vast majority are not $3K+ tables.

Most hosts are professional and quick to respond, especially via text, and it doesn't matter if you're looking for a 1 bottle or a $10K table.

BTW, which hosts didn't respond to you, and how did you contact them?

[Chuck]

That's awesome it worked out well for you. If I weren't planning a "special" night I'd have no problem just showing up and seeing what I end up with. It's certainly good to keep in mind if you're not planning your whole trip around maximizing your club experience and just looking for a good time you can get it done a bit cheaper this way.

I agree it's not as complicated as it can sound sometimes when people (including myself) are describing the process. And in most cases everything goes off smoothly. Once you've done it, like with most things, it seems much more simple.

Re: the host tip. Yeah I tipped $400 when I went. But I REALLY wanted a good location and knew my minimum was borderline. Would I have gotten the same location with less tip...eh maybe. But, this was my wifes 30th Birthday Celebration that I spent two months planning. The extra $200 for "insurance" or whatever you want to call it, was well spent in my mind. At the end of it, I felt I got a great value for the experience and that's all that really matters. That said, everyone is going to have a different feeling of "value" when it comes to an experience.

[Drew]

I don't think your information contradicts anything that is said here constantly. If you're looking to avoid the lines without BS and are willing to risk it, then the best options are to arrive early and a good ratio definitely helps. The other options if there is a long line already is to grease.

Some people prefer not to (or can't...) go to the club at 9:45, some prefer not to risk it (there's been many times I've been and the line is long at open as well) and to have everything taken care of beforehand.

Other than my friends on here, most of my other friends go budget to vegas and I always advise them to go early if they want to avoid a long line and if you're all guys... prepare to grease just in case.

[Drew]

I don't think your information contradicts anything that is said here constantly. If you're looking to avoid the lines without BS and are willing to risk it, then the best options are to arrive early and a good ratio definitely helps. The other options if there is a long line already is to grease.

Some people prefer not to (or can't...) go to the club at 9:45, some prefer not to risk it (there's been many times I've been and the line is long at open as well) and to have everything taken care of beforehand.

Other than my friends on here, most of my other friends go budget to vegas and I always advise them to go early if they want to avoid a long line and if you're all guys... prepare to grease just in case.

[tc3]

We got the seat in the hall way right outside the Opium room, nothing special but a place to sit n drink and party with our group.

I'm not a big fan of tipping hosts that just walk you to your table and yes i beleive that some hosts give a bad reputation to the good ones.


However, the table that you were seated at has to be one of the worst locations in the entire club. So for a few hundred dollar tip to the host you would have probably been seated in the Main Room or the Opium Room (any area is better then a hallway). I'm pretty sure that this would have changed your night from good to GREAT.

Last time I was at TAO i was wondering who would possibly purchase a table in the hallway. So thanks for answering my question

[BigPimp]

That is a good heads up on the Opium room noob. I am contemplating Tao on a Friday night and would have considered the Opium room. Looks like I should spend the extra $ for the main room. I will use a host - and tip well - because I am part of a group of all guys that will want a good main room table.

Your tipping experience looks right in part. In Vegas - like anywhere - you tip either in advance to improve service to be provided or at the end of the night for service actually provided. You didn't need tip a host because a host did not provide a service for you. I don't know where you got the fear that no tip to the host, security or runner would make them ruin your night. That makes no sense. There are 1200 people at the club. You are a cog in the machine. You would tip security in advance if you wanted special attention. It is cool to tip security and then have security escort your woman to the restroom - security clears the crowd on the way and takes her to the front of the line. A well tipped security will give your drunk buddy a second chance after he falls over the ropes. But that's it - you are tipping in advance to try to get special attention. If you don't need special attention, there is no need to tip in advance. Where you missed the point is that you also tip at the end of the night to reward service. Much like a restaurant where you do not have to tip your waitress/waiter but you do. That is where you should tipped your runner. No doubt your runner worked hard for you. Otherwise your experience was spot on. Your expectation/understanding was way off. And as a constant reader of this message board, your expectation/understanding does not match what has been discussed.

[HiImJoe]

That is a good heads up on the Opium room noob. I am contemplating Tao on a Friday night and would have considered the Opium room. Looks like I should spend the extra $ for the main room. I will use a host - and tip well - because I am part of a group of all guys that will want a good main room table.

We had an experience similar to the OP on a Thursday night in March. We were approached in line, and took a table in the Opium Room. I really enjoyed it. It was lowkey with hiphop (which I enjoy) and we could walk the 30 steps to the Main Room when we wanted.

The waitress took our bottle anytime we all left, and we could bring girls back and actually talk to them. We tipped her, but it was the standard 20% on the receipt.

Like anything, it comes down to personal preference. The Main Room was PACKED, so I liked having a table away from that to take a break every once in a while. I get the sense most people here like being in the middle of it all night.

[Drew]

That is a good heads up on the Opium room noob. I am contemplating Tao on a Friday night and would have considered the Opium room. Looks like I should spend the extra $ for the main room. I will use a host - and tip well - because I am part of a group of all guys that will want a good main room table.

We had an experience similar to the OP on a Thursday night in March. We were approached in line, and took a table in the Opium Room. I really enjoyed it. It was lowkey with hiphop (which I enjoy) and we could walk the 30 steps to the Main Room when we wanted.

The waitress took our bottle anytime we all left, and we could bring girls back and actually talk to them. We tipped her, but it was the standard 20% on the receipt.

Like anything, it comes down to personal preference. The Main Room was PACKED, so I liked having a table away from that to take a break every once in a while. I get the sense most people here like being in the middle of it all night.

I like Opium Room as well. Also big fan of the upstairs/tao beach level at night.

[WarreN]

Thanks for sharing your experience noooob

Though I would keep in mind that planning Vegas trips IS stressful sometimes and the people on this forum do their best to prepare you with the best plan of action. We can't account for all variables and situations that may arise, but we do cover most topics and try to prepare new people and veterans alike the best we can.

I think that your experience reflects just that; sure we may have over-prepared you, but that also probably gave you the confidence and the knowledge to step out on your own because you knew your options

[WarreN]

Thanks for sharing your experience noooob

Though I would keep in mind that planning Vegas trips IS stressful sometimes and the people on this forum do their best to prepare you with the best plan of action. We can't account for all variables and situations that may arise, but we do cover most topics and try to prepare new people and veterans alike the best we can.

I think that your experience reflects just that; sure we may have over-prepared you, but that also probably gave you the confidence and the knowledge to step out on your own because you knew your options

[Chuck]

Another recent experience using a different approach:

http://forums.jackcolton.com/showthr...t=11311&page=9 SEE ENTRY BY TXguntoter on 5/1/12

This is the difference (IMO) between doing it the way OP of this thread did and setting things up ahead of time + tipping your host well. Both nights were great nights and there's definitely nothing wrong with the OP's approach as I'm sure they spent less than this fella did. But I think we would all agree "TXguntoter" got a LOT of bang for his buck.

[dnix]

$1300 night in the hallway? Certainly wouldn't be a positive night for me. Different strokes though.

[Chuck]

$1300 night in the hallway? Certainly wouldn't be a positive night for me. Different strokes though.

[Doc1200]

Another fan here for the Opium room, took care of our runner and he brought girls to us all night plus the group I was with preferred the music over what was playing in the main room and we had a really nice table right on the back wall.