*If you could only choose one.....

[alyssa2014]

Hello everyone!
This will be my first time in LV and I'm beyond excited. My husband and I will be in town Sept 22-30 for a friend's wedding, and are looking for a nightclub to enjoy while we are there.
I am looking for some info on what clubs are the most highly recommended on a Tues/Wed/Thurs night.
If you had to choose ONE, where would you go and why? (This is my one shot to check it off my bucket list and I want to really experience LV nightlight and live it up)

How do I go about booking a table or reservation? Should we plan on eating at a one of these clubs? Do they even offer food? I get hungry when I drink.

I would like to dance, but also be able to sit and enjoy the atmosphere if my feet get tired in my way-too-high shoes.
I also want to get a little dressy--no jeans or pants.

I really appreciate any and all tips/pointers...if you think there is anything else I should know as a Vegas-Virgin..I'm all ears!

[maxutilsperusd]

First off you came to the right place! This forum is exactly where you'd want to ask this question. Vegas is one of the few places where you can spend almost nothing or a ton of money at every turn.

My choice would be Light on Wednesday. Sadly your options are limited somewhat because you have to go on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, and most clubs are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Luckily Light, happens to be open on Wednesdays, and is absolutely one of the better clubs in town.

Reasons Light is a great choice: not too small, not too large, great LED displays, confetti galore, high quality go-go dancers, and costumed aerialists who put on random shows throughout the night.

Reasons Light isn't perfect: only one room / DJ so if you don't like the music no where else to go, no outside portion if you want some fresh air.

You should contact a host as soon as possible since people usually recommend making bottle service arrangements 2 weeks ahead of time. Noah Ortiz works for Light and can be contacted at 323-919-6529 or [email protected].

Usually the absolute minimum budget is $800 to obtain a table but this varies with demand and how close to the DJ you want your table to be. Bottles are usually between $500-700, but then you have 8.1% tax, 10% live entertainment tax, and 20% auto-gratuity, you also are usually expected to tip your host between $100-200 to get you a better table than you otherwise might.

If that sounds like too much money, you can instead choose to enter the club using a guest list or pre-sale tickets, and then instead of sitting at a table you can dance on the dance floor, lean against a balcony, and maybe even pop outside the club to sit for a minute and rest. With a guest list you might have to show up somewhat early and wait in a line a bit, but if you have a even or better ratio of girls to guys you'll get in free, and you'll either get 1-2 drink tickets per girl, or an open bar for a portion of the night for girls. Pre-sale tickets come with none of the free drinks, but they usually have almost no line.

There are going to be other clubs that people recommend, most likely Tryst, Hyde, 1Oak, Surrender, and Hakkasan but I think for your first and only Vegas club experience Light is definitely the way to go. The only club I could see being called better than Light would be Hakkasan, and it is at most a shell of itself on a Thursday, while Light is just as great on Wednesday as on the weekend, if not even better.

With regard to food, most clubs are now detached from restaurants, Light included, so it is recommended that you eat beforehand, and usually people grab late night food after clubbing. Where to eat is a question of what hotel you are staying at and what club you are going to, since then you realistically have the options of anywhere in between. For post clubbing food, Secret Pizza at the Cosmopolitan is a personal favorite and usually ranked #1 for after clubbing food.

If you have any other questions be sure to ask and someone definitely will answer.

[tperk]

Light on Wednesday or Hakkasan on Thursday.

However, you're not going to get a place to sit down unless you're paying for a table. This goes for any top nightclubs in Vegas

[artedm]

welcome
you can't just choose one
That is like going to disneyland and seeing one part or riding on one ride.

1st- biggest tip-most important- look at all club lineups see what djs booked or the event is and compare find what you like
For example there are dubstep, trance, hip hop, open format, edm djs.
2. clubs open around 11pm with headline djs on around 1am closing around 5am
3. all of the big nightclubs are upscale and more of a show- lights/lasers/confetti/cryogenic co2 systems- if you want to eat and drink going to a bar of which there are plenty in vegas. But no food in the big clubs.
4. tables for just a couple will be very pricey per person because bottle prices are high- standard bottle prices are around $600 bottle + 28%-40% tax tip on top. low mins have bad locations. You can get bottle specials during the week but still will be hundreds a person.
5. you can do guestlist free entry would be a good way to experience them.
6. these clubs are big multiple thousand capacity
7. better to wear comfortable shoes
8. plan it out, plan it out!

What you could probably do on a guestlist free entry so you could hit 6 clubs free if you plan it right
mon- skrillex @ xs
tues- drais night pool party and 1oak
wens- light
thursday- encore beach night pool party and hakkasan

[alyssa2014]

Wow, you are all amazing for the great tips. I will take the advice to look up the djs and see what is playing. Question: what is open format or edm? Around here, we have house, top hits, country. That's about it. I think we would both enjoy either 80s/90s if they have that or chart toppers. Oh no, I sound old!
We are staying at Caesars palace. I'm hoping that we might be able to check out a club on Sunday also, but will have to wait to see if the wedding party is planning anything for that day.
I think we will have to skip table service in an effort to accommodate my large bucket list.
1oak was on my original list so I will research, contact some hosts, then come back with any others questions.

Oh!! One more...if I wanted to surprise my husband with a showgirl show, are they worth it? I was looking at jubilee..

[kp3205]

Open format is they play it all, rap, house, mash ups, EDM, current top 40/commercially recognized dance music. When you say house you are probably listening to EDM. It's a modern version of what was known as electronic music back in the 90's. Extremely popular now vs then.

[maxutilsperusd]

A big thing with DJs in Vegas clubs are that there are usually at least 3 DJs throughout the night, the pre-DJ (10pm-1am), the headline DJ (1am-3am), and the post DJ (3-5am). The music usually varies between them, so sometimes one will be radically different than the others, but most people are talking about the headline DJ since the others DJs usually aren't announced beforehand. I'm going to start talking about music with the fact that none of the terms are going to be as clearly defined as they might appear, so never make a decision because someone says someone is "open format" or that someone else is "EDM." I really suggest going on https://soundcloud.com/ and listening to DJs' sets if they post them so then you have an idea of what it might sound like at a club.

EDM is electronic dance music, it varies greatly and can be more instrumental or with more lyrics and is the more common and popular type of club music these days in Vegas. House is considered a sub-group of EDM and is usually one of the more mainstream variants while something like dubstep is more specific in it's sound. Open format is where the genre isn't defined necessarily, so you can go from more instrumental EDM to R&B to pop and back again throughout the night. You won't find a club with any country music in Vegas, lol, it's just not going to happen.

Tuesday:
1Oak: DJ Ikon + Karma (EDM with a focus on R&B)
Drai's Night Pool Party: Not listing DJs, not the best sign, usually more EDM.

Wednesday:
Light: Sultan + Ned Shepard (EDM)
Surrender: DJ Vice (Open Format)

Thursday:
Hakkasan: Ruckus (R&B)
Surrender Night Pool Party: DJ Snake (EDM)

If you check out the EDM DJs and don't care for what they are doing, I'd probably recommend DJ Vice at Surrender. Remember though that the music listings for these nights are really valid only for a 1-2 hour period starting midnight-1am and ending at 2-3am, so even if the headline DJ doesn't perfectly click for you the pre-DJ and post-DJ might be more to your liking. With respect to 80s/90s songs I've actually seen a lot of the opener DJs dabble into that, so anything is possible, and in fact I was just listening to some Sultan + Ned Shepard and they randomly threw in some Destiny's Child, so even the headliners like to experiment.

Sundays I recommend XS Nightswim, it's one of the most fun events of the week, a nighttime pool party at arguably the best club in Vegas. If you can make it, I highly recommend it.

I have never been to a showgirls show, but it isn't really my kind of thing, I'd look into seeing Absinthe if you haven't already, it's usually considered one of the best shows in town and it happens to be right in the front of Caesars. If you don't find strip clubs morally objectionable, I'd say usually those are actually cheaper than any sort of show and the guy attending is going to probably enjoy it more, plus they have the most flexible hours in Vegas.

[artedm]

For country you can go to Stoneys or Gilley's
http://www.stoneysrockingcountry.com/
http://www.gilleyslasvegas.com/

[Cirilo Medina]

My wife loves country, and we always have a great time at Gilleys. The restaurant part faces the strip too, and the food is decent in an Applebee's/Fridays way. It's been a while but is Tryst still decent on Thursday nights? They have some good bottle specials, and open format DJs

[maxutilsperusd]

Tryst is a good deal, but when you are only going out one night I'd think I'd rather be guest listed somewhere else. The venue definitely has it's positives, but they slowly have transitioned to using mostly ex-Moon and Ghostbar DJs instead of the arguably better quality DJs that have seemed to move up to XS or Surrender; Manufactured Superstars used to be a Tryst regular and now is performing only at XS. This, along with the constant promotion and bottle specials has changed the vibe to be less upscale, and I think just a very different experience than years past. Again I'm definitely not saying you couldn't have an absolutely great time at Tryst, but I don't know if you could have the absolute best time there with so many other great options available.

[alyssa2014]

Ok so, I have contacted the host for 1Oak and we will be going there on Tuesday night I hope. I have also looked up Light and Sultan/Ned and I like what they play. So if we want to do two nights of partying, that will be the other night. Thank you! I appreciate your help. As this is my first time, I feel a little...well, little fish, huge city and I don't want to miss anything.

What exactly is a guest list for? We still pay to get in right? Does that mean we don't have to wait in line? If I'm on a list around here, I basically walk right in, no payment, no waiting.

[maxutilsperusd]

Guest lists in Vegas mean you get in free and sometimes get free drinks, but are in a separate line that can vary in length. Usually there are GA (general admission), guest list, pre-sale, and table service lines for each club. The lengths can vary but typically the guest list line is shorter than the GA line, but it would typically be longer than the pre-sale or table service lines.

Price:
Table Service > GA > Pre-sale > Guest List

Time in Line:
GA > Guest List > Pre-sale > Table Service

So getting on a guest list gets your group in free with free drinks for the girls, and saves you time compared to just showing up at the door. If you buy tickets online for $27 for girls and $40 for guys beforehand you likely will get in faster but you won't get any free drinks.

So GA would be for when you haven't made any prior arrangements, guest list is if you are ok with being in line for ~-15-30 minutes but want to get in for free and get some free drinks, pre-sale tickets are for when you know where you are going but don't want to waste almost any time in line, and table service is when you are planning on drinking quite a bit and want somewhere to sit.

I suggest using http://www.vipforfreelv.com/ and/or http://www.freevegasclubpasses.com/ for your guest listing needs, both are free reputable listing services with great reviews. Vip For Free has the added benefit of free limo service to some of the clubs based on availability (always tip your driver!) and Free Vegas Club Passes has one of the better selections of club for each night. Both should be able to do guest listing for Light on Wednesday.