Couple in their late 30's try to handle 3 day clubs + 3 nightclubs in 3 days

[kp3205]

Outstanding report. Looking forward to more.

[tony67]

This is some great info. Thanks! Im liking this report bud.

[Dyur21]

Friday (night) marquee (visit 2)

We walk back to marquee thru the Cosmo casino. I had never been in here before, it is very cool although we were not in the mood to gamble I would love to play here great atmosphere and a great crowd.

We head back up to Marquee to re-enter and we are told to hit the stairs, again this makes no sense to me. We get back into marquee around 2:45.

It is still very full, we head to the back bar I get three drinks (1 for her two for me) all handled with the same treatment as before by the same bartender (hers mixed normal , mine 90% booze. My wife wanted to hit the main dance floor, we pound the drinks and head over.

The dance floor is still pretty packed but we manage to find a spot. The ec twins are performing and people are acting crazy. They are making hand gestures (doves, hearts and such) I feel it looked kind of like what they do on that kids show the wiggles but man everyone was into it including my wife. So while I was not into the music or the antics it was good because the general energy from how excited everyone else was was pretty cool. Earlier in this trip report I talked about how dark the main part of this club was, well now the lighting was awesome, great effects really make it a one of a kind experience, the all red with shadows effect was crazy.

We hung out until a little before 4; my wife did not want to leave but I could feel my body shutting down and we had rehab in the morning.

Final thoughts on Marquee:

The bathroom by the pool never had a line for men or women and it is close enough by that If I was in the main club I would use it.

If I were getting a cabana at any of the venues that we were at in vegas it would be the grand cabana at mdc, that little pool in the front looks badass and with it you are very much so in the action.

I would go to this place again on a future trip. While there is not really anything jaw dropping here it seems like it would be a consistently quality good time.

When we left we both wanted pizza but secret pizza's line was very very long. We walked across the street to some place in planet hollywood, it was fine. About a 15 minute walk back to aria, made sure we did the same coconut water magnesium cocktail, probably fell asleep at 5:30.

Next post will be Rehab, we had a daybed. I really could not find much recon on recent rehab experiences on this site so Hopefully this next post will answer some questions.

[Dyur21]

Saturday (day) - rehab part 1 (really daybeds for dummies)

So for full disclosure we had been to rehab once before on a Saturday in 2012. It was not technically rehab they called it something else. That was a crazy day because I had woke up dead to the world, the people we were with had plans to go shopping. My wife begged to try to get into rehab (yes how lucky am I, she would rather go party her tail off than shop) I was so freaking hungover I was very reluctant but after continuous begging I relented and we went without even eating breakfast. I went in with $300 in my pocket an $20 hid in a bag and no credit cards (we did not have to pay a cover because of that v card). We went and got nuts I spent every dollar I had on booze and panicked at the end until I realized that the sober version of myself had hidden 20 for emergency cab fair. Until this trip this was the best day we had ever spent in vegas, so we vowed to return to rehab whenever we got back to vegas. One other thing from this trip to rehab, it was hard not having a place to leave some stuff or just relax for a few minutes, I had also decided that if I was to hit rehab again I would need to get some real estate.

I had never gotten a daybed, cabana or table service anywhere so I was a little lost. I contacted a host listed on this site from MDC and Liquid about Friday chair, couch or daybed prices, I was told that the minimums would be $500 before tax and gratuity, for the two of us that did not make sense, I think that I spent a little over $300 at mdc anyway but that still would not have cut it.

This site has no host listed for rehab so I submitted a online request form. I was quoted $250 for a daybed in the South pool, $300 for upper rehab $500 for rehab deck, and $750 for rehab poolside. Each of these were food and beverage minimums meaning food ate into the minimum. These all also would come with up to 6 free admissions, my math on this was that we would save $65 here alone ($45 for men and $20 for women). I figured that these minimums were so small compared to those quoted by other places I had to take advantage so I got the upper rehab area daybed with a $300 minimum. The minimum was subject to 41% tax and gratuity (10% Extra tax was tacked on at the end because they added a performer to the line up, a little more on this later). One last point on this, I reserved this a little over a month before the trip before they had the talent listed (I was going for the venue not the talent); this may have played into the low minimums because others around us said they were higher.

They assigned me a host after the reservation was made, his name was Oliver Porter. I had a bunch of dumb questions he got back to me very quickly anytime I emailed him. I don't know if I am allowed to post his contact info on here but I still have it.

I might as well cover the bill now and explain how that process worked. Our bill was in the low $500's after everything, including a $35 extra tip for our waitress, one thing I am not sure about is if I was fair on this tip the total tip if my calculations are correct would be over $110 (or about 30%) because they already assessed 18% right off the top. Any thoughts anyone has on this would be appreciated because the whole thing was a weird interaction.

When they sit us down the waitress comes over to explain things. Because I knew our minimum was low by comparison I was worried we would get bad service (we received great service but more on that later) so I wanted to ask the waitress what she would consider to be a good additional tip on a $300 minimum with the thought that as long as she did not say something crazy I would commit to that figure up front to insure prompt service; my wife thought this was a dumb idea and I chickened out. In hindsight I wish I would have because when they give you the bill at the end it is a weird process. After 7 hours of drinking they come over with this giagantic bill, you have to assess whether it is correct (they charged me for a bucket of beer, we were not drinking beer so they took it off) then they sit there with puppy eyes and explain that the 18% goes to everyone but this extra tip only goes to them. I was going to tip them extra anyway, they dealt with us for a day so it was not a big deal that they were asking it was just awkward and kind of a buzz kill because I had to turn on my drunk mind and I wish I would have stuck to my plan to deal with this sober at 11 in the morning.

Sorry for all of these back story details but these are all issues that I wish I would have seen addressed or asked beforehand. Now back to the actual trip.

We wake up around 10:00am. We look at each other I think kindof afraid to realize how we are feeling, we are both tired and a little queezy but not badly hungover. I turn on my phone and the host from hard rock has texted me that we should arrive by 11:00, not knowing if this is a big deal we get moving. Now in hind site we didn't need to rush because things did not get crazy at the daybeds until around 1:00 but whatever it all worked out. We take a short cab ride from aria to hard rock (I think $15 after tip) and head in.

Finding rehab is a bit of a mess, after many consultations with staff we enter the self serve parking lot and there it is. Not a big line but there are about 5 groups ahead of us for VIP seating.

I took a bag with an extra set of clothing and extra Sandels just in case, they have a bag check next I the lines for $10.

As I am waiting for the bag check an ambulance pulls in, two emt's get out and roll a stretcher Into rehab, it was strange, just a pro caution but made me start to wonder what the hell was going to go on here.

It takes 10 minutes to get checked in and the host takes us up to our daybed, I give the guy $10 (cheap I know but I kind of booked the thing through the Venue and the guy taking us up is not even Oliver).

Our daybed is in the second row overlooking the main pool with the breathe pool about 15 yards behind us. There re probably 20 daybeds up here 4 rows deep. The breathe pool is relaxed all day, it is really just a circle about 3 feet deep. Nice to cool off after sitting on the daybed. There are VIP only restrooms right behind the breathe pool.

Our waitress comes over, very attractive, With another attractive girl, they sit down explain how things will work and take our order for food and drinks. These girls were great, we did not have to wait for one drink the entire day. They were by far the friendliest staff (really everyone at this pool was) we encountered in vegas; we really felt like VIPs. Again not to overdo this but these two and the ice guy assigned to us were so over the top kind and attentive.

In my planning for this trip virtually every post I read about rehab was bad so I am a little concerned that this could suck or it could be so out of control it is too much. It is only 11:30 or so but people are already starting to get crazy by the pool. I head to the restroom and I notice two more things that have me alarmed about how this day is going to go:

1) the vegas police department has two cops walking around in swat gear, real over the top. Given the drug problem of a few years ago I guess I get it but bike cop gear would have been a little less concerning.

2) there is a sharps container in every bathroom, for needles.

As I go back to our daybed I notice how many daybeds and cabanas are here, only about 15% are occupied at this point. I really start worrying how this is going to be because of the stretcher + swat + needles + empty VIP + crazy twerking at 11:30 and to top things off my wife is now saying she is feeling a little sick.

I will continue this post with part 2 of rehab because I do not know how much these boxes can handle. I have lots of details on what this place is like these days; we were there until after 6:00 so you already know things went just fine.

[TimWhalen]

Friday (day): marquee day club

The hottest girl at this place (well except my wife ) hung out by us much of the day, initially when we talked to her she seemed very innocent and shy. The day progresses and the waitresses throw those penguins our way some random guy grabs the penguin and this girl goes crazy, she starts screaming I want that penguin, she proceeds to mount the penguin in a bear hug while screaming I want this penguin in and effort to grab the penguin off the guy but the dude would not let go; seeing this she decides the best course of action is to hold him under until the water until he let go. It was hysterical seeing the transformation, she got her bird and away she went to be with her new friend, the penguin.

I feel like that might have been my friend (the dude) he was going hard for the Penguins and beach balls. A guy called him the "Dennis Rodman of the pool". I started trying to get her and my friend in for a jump ball but she was having none of it. Anywho it was an awesome day at MDC, glad you enjoyed it as well.

[Kinar100]

We're gonna need a selfie too!

You guys are champs running this kind of drunken party gauntlet.

[matt1983]

Enjoying the tr for the story and also the tips about the clubs. Can't wait for more!

[Dyur21]

I feel like that might have been my friend (the dude) he was going hard for the Penguins and beach balls. A guy called him the "Dennis Rodman of the pool". I started trying to get her and my friend in for a jump ball but she was having none of it. Anywho it was an awesome day at MDC, glad you enjoyed it as well.

Hahaha, were you one of the Canadian guys? That guy going for the balls was nuts, it was hilarious. We definitely had to have talked at some point because I remember us bs'ing with the ball guy and his boys between him devastating people with his elbows. Your group was defiantly a fun one. I hope the rest of your trip was good!

[JuiceJH]

awesome TR thanks for sharing

[msavard]

MOAR!

nice post... pic of you guys and finishing out the thread would be awesome. LOVE all the details. Nice work.

[TimWhalen]

Hahaha, were you one of the Canadian guys? That guy going for the balls was nuts, it was hilarious. We definitely had to have talked at some point because I remember us bs'ing with the ball guy and his boys between him devastating people with his elbows. Your group was defiantly a fun one. I hope the rest of your trip was good!

Guilty as charged!! Funny thing about the ball guy is he doesnt drink. Glad you had a great time. Mdc was certainly the highlight. Look forward to reading the rest

[Dyur21]

Saturday (day) part 2 - as I said earlier it is around 11:30 and I am a little concerned on how this is all going to go. The music is kind of low and not great.

Our food arrived at the daybed quickly, as did our drinks. We wolfed down the equivalent of our breakfast (it was fine like something you would get at Applebee's) and my wife began to feel fine.

We were having some trouble getting motivated until something changed with the music, right around noon it got a lot louder and they started playing some better music really liberal mix of stuff at the start, I don't know why I remember this but they played bob Marley, into some mix of nirvana and the chilli peppers to a mix of wu tang stuff from the 36 chambers of death; I am by no means a big hip hop guy but the wu tang woke me up probably because it was so random and for some reason I am a big fan of that album. The music mix here was very good, just the right amount of edm v hip hop v popular stuff.

We are now motivated so we head down to the main pool, we put our Sandels on the side of the pool by a tree. This was a great benefit of having the daybed, it had a drawer on one side and a safe on the other. We were above the pool and had to take a set of stairs down to the pool.

A couple of things about this place:

1) the pool is huge and aestheticly it is awesome. The main pool is giagantic, surprisingly the water was clean all day even though it got packed shoulder to shoulder (in the parts that were not deep). There is a long river that leads from the main pool over to a big pool that is more like a bay with beaches on each side, I think this place gets forgotten about, it is calm over here and really cool. There is a hot tub hidden in a grove of trees above the "bay" and another pool hidden in the same grove. Unlike Mdc or liquid you could easily escape craziness by going to either of these places.

2) the ratio of guys to girls is similar to mdc, this always ends up being a criticism of this place on these threads but in my mind it was not a whole lot different than mdc. Yes there were more older people (we felt completely comfortable here) but there was not a dramatic difference in the crowd other than the fact that there were a lot more people at rehab due to the size.

3) everyone we encountered here was cool, no jerks whatsoever.

4) people were way more out of control here compared to mdc. This was not in a bad way just crazier.

We head into the pool, the water is warm, the drinks are strong the music is cranked and life is good. We spent much of the day in the main pool. We would have to walk up to our daybed occasionally to get more drinks (we were both drinking mixed drinks from those big rehab cups) this was kind of a blessing because I think we lasted longer this way. Although it is only 12:30, things are already pretty interesting in the rehab pool, girls are going nuts on the sides of the pool an balls are being tossed around.

We head back up to the daybed to grab a drink and while we are waiting we start taking with the people around us, the daybeds are now pretty much all full. It is sort of like another whole different party up there and there is a whole different scene in the breathe pool.

While we are waiting for the drinks things start to get filthy at a daybed next two over from ours, not real sure how detailed to be but two women were "inspecting" each other. It goes on for a few minutes until a security guard comes over and tells them to knock it off or leave.

We head back down to the pool and people are starting to get filthy there as well and it was still not even 2. When we headed back up to get more drinks one of the girls from before was now testing the limits of how far she could go on a daybed with a guy, well she pretty much got as far as she could theoretically go before the security guard came over, he flipped out "how many times do I have to tell you you can't keep doing this stuff, I CAN'T believe you are actually doing that here!". So not that I was watching (please it was a train wreck) but the funniest part was that the guy just put his hands up like he was getting arrested when the security guard came over. My wife was laying down and when she heard the crowds reaction she asks me what us going on, I tell her, she thinks I am joking and keeps her eyes closed only to hear the security guard flipping out later, then she realizes that I was serious. So it goes without saying that this place is getting out of control.

We continue to hang in the large pool until about 3:30, we then head over to the calm area, nice change of pace. There are a decent amount of people over there it is just not as nuts. They used to have a waters slide but that was closed (yeah cause having a slide here was not asking for disaster). We hang in the hot tub for a while and head back to the daybed.

We order nachos an more drinks and this is when the performer comes on, it is a guy called kid ink, this was a waste of time if you ask me. I look down and the main pool is completely packed. He comes on sings a song, dj's a little bit and then tells everyone he is done performing but he is still hanging out, thanks bro. This was pointless, with that said if it was a legitimate act (I saw some stuff that they had sublime w/Rome here earlier in the year and snoop here a year ago) I could get where this would be awesome but hey this is how things are done and we were not affected in any way because by the time we are done eating he is gone.

We go back down to the pool, for the rest of the time the music is pretty much edm which is fine because everyone is acting crazy splashing water like idiots, who would think that this would be fun but it is. We are pretty destroyed from the drinks. My wife goes and instigates a splash battle with a bunch of dudes from Brazil that we talked to earlier; she then unwisely decided to wink at me and lick her lips to be cheesy. One of the brazillians gives her a "who me? Alright!!!" Look. I am a little far away from her talking to another group but I see it all take place because she was looking at me and even pointing at me. The guy charges toward my wife, it takes her about three seconds to realize what she has done and she starts this laugh scream thing and starts efforting to get to me (she is a wreck so this is easier said than done). The group of eight or so dudes then sort of surround her in a circle, like a pride of lions surrounding prey, dude picks her up just as I get there, his intentions are obvious. I point at my wedding ring (hers is of course back in the safe and not on), he is now horrified. Her and I start laughing and I say "I want to do that to her too all the time", dude and his boys high five me and all is back to being normal. Moral of the story, don't start a splashing battle without backup.

We go to get more drinks and my Sandels are gone, someone took them. This was my wort nightmare so I purchased a pair of B1G1 from kohl's before we left on this trip so it is not big deal because the other paid are in the bag check. Being prepared paid off big!!!

We head back down and it is getting close to six, my wife is dancing with me in a pretty crazy way now (we are on the verge of being "those people"). She calms down says she is done drinking.

We hang out splashing and drinking until sometime around 6:30 we go recover our stuff from the bag check and the day is over.

We had a really great time! I can understand how this is not for some people but if you want to get crazy in an over the top environment this place is for you, if you don't want craziness this place is not for you I think it is that simple, we would come here again. One last time, I was incredibly impressed by the service here it was really good!!!

We head to the taxi line, the line is nuts so we decide to play craps. I throw down a wet $50 everyone is turned off by us except the stickman who is by us, we are drunk a holes and dripping wet to some extent (my wife forgot To put her shorts on so she was jut in a cover up. It was a $10 minimum table, some uppity lady was giving us the stankeye (we were probably obnoxious and the stickman was encouraging it) and she got the dice, three crap outs a 6 and then a crap out and I say screw this I was not going to hang if everyone was looking like they want to kill us. I make the stickman give me an exploding fist bump just to be over the top obnoxious and we headed back to taxis.

We get back to aria at 7:30, there is a band playing at a bar right by the elevators, some guy is singing the wrecking ball song in a really high pitch way, my wife runs up to the dance floor because she thinks it is hysterical starts dancing in her bikini an a cover up, everyone else is dressed for the evening in regular now clothes we have officially become "those people". I collect her. We head to the room this is all a blur now, what is bad is that we have dinner reservations at tao for 10:30; I figure we will tap out here.

Next post: amazingly we make it to tao!

[Vegasnoob2014]

Kid Ink is known for his song "Show Me" with Chris Brown, which is a hip-hop take on the 1990s Robin S. song "Show Me Love." His album wasn't bad.

[Dyur21]

Kid Ink is known for his song "Show Me" with Chris Brown, which is a hip-hop take on the 1990s Robin S. song "Show Me Love." His album wasn't bad.

Other people there were very into him, the pool was packed when he performed, I just think that if you are "headlining" that should mean more than 15 minutes on stage. Again, this seems like this is how things are done just real fast and somewhat weird, we could care less we were there for the pool and the scene.

[Dyur21]

Saturday night (tao an the attempt to go to Drai's after hours) -

We passed out at some point around 8, i had conceited that we were not going to pull tao off. We both woke up after a very very restful sleep at midnight. I had set my phone alarm for 11 and out it on the other side of the room, in a closet, on as loud a volume as it has the people in the next room probably hate us because I think the alarm may have been going off for over an hour. We are now up and very hungry which is a good thing because If not for our hunger we would not have left bed at all. Although we were awake we were in that, vegas just kicked our ass mode.

We headed downstairs to lemongrass, the food was good, hell it was probably great but we were in a hungover stupor. I have to say one of the fantastic things about vegas is that you can get a great meal at quarter till one in the morning with the ease of just riding an elevator.

Now we are at a decision crossroads, to go out or not to go out. I would have been fine if my wife said lets just take it easy. It was already a little after 1:00. So as we leave lemongrass I say, why don't we head upstairs and figure out our plan, she insists that this is a bad idea and that if we was up there we will not come back out so we head directly to the taxi line. We decide on hitting tao because we had never been there and I had those free V card passes. I was more in favor of going to Ghostbar because I am a fan but she said that the lack of a dance floor necessitated Tao (I seem to remember reading that they expanded ghostbar but the lack of any evidence on their website prevented me from making the case). After a 15 minute cab ride we are at the venitian.

We walk up to Tao and there is a line, as I said I am anti lines and given the advanced time of night I am concerned. Most of the people in line are young, right at 21, this turns out to be a benefit because once it is clear that tao is charging men $30 and women $20 most of the young folks scatter. We wait five minutes and get in for free with the cards. It is now a little before 2am.

We grab a drink at the lounge, it is hard to see initially in here because it is dark and a bit of a maze. We head upstairs to the main rooms. There is a long hallway separating the main room an a hip hop room. The place is still very full and we spend our time looking for a place to set up shop.

The hip hop room is not very large, but when we get there it is packed. The main room is very full so we spend a good bit of time walking around trying to find a place to hang where we are not going to have to move ever two seconds. When you go into the main room there are two bars, a big square one near the dance floor and a long straight one by the balcony overlooking the strip. There is a walkway by the balcony about three feet above the dance floor, we set up shop there for a while, we were on the other side of the dance floor so no one bothered us and we actually had some space.

I grab some drinks after a little bit of a wait, I give the bartender $20 and tell him we are getting a late start so I need him to help us operate a two minute offense. Now at this point this place is somewhat unmanageable it is so crowded but unwittingly the dj helps our cause, he plays some weirdly placed set of Michael Jackson music, this drives some people off of the dance floor and out of Tao. This opened space for us, from this point forward the dj played great music and now my wife has some place to dance so everything is right with the world.

The crowd at Tao is older than the other places we went to, which for us is good, I would guess the average age was early 30's.

Due to my tip the bartender consistently hooks me up, again we never wait, further he comps me a few drinks at the end of the night. The best part of this comes after last call when we motions me over and has two ready for me.

If I were to get a table here my first option would not be the tables on the dance floor, I would instead opt for the tables above the dance floor as it seems like there are 6 tables ( 3 on each side) that all face each other with a common area in between.

The only bad things I can say about Tao are these:

1) the bathroom situation is bad, only one set of bathrooms and at least the mens room is way too small, there is a huge line for this all night. I have seen this problem alluded to on this site before but to see it in person is eye opening. Dumb design.

2) I read a lot on this site about tier 1, 2, and 3 clubs and I could never understand what tier 2 looked like, for some reason I could imagine the difference between something like voodoo and Hak but could not visualize the difference between a 1 and a 2. I have no idea if Marquee or Drai's are regarded as tier 1's at this point but assuming they are I can see how Tao is now tier 2. Look, this is not to say that it is bad but you can see a difference in the actual venue. The furnishings look old and the lighting and sound are not as good as Marquee and Drai's, this does not mean that it sucks, no not at all, it just means that I could see the difference from tier 1 to 2

We hang out and close this place, they close sometime around 5. We both had a good time but my wife is whining because she doesn't want to head back to the hotel yet. I am stumbling drunk at this point because my 2 minute offense lasted 3 hours.

We go get a cab to Drai's, foggy on the time but around 5:30 I think. As soon as we walk into the Cromwell it is crazy, like busier than I have ever seen a casino busy. People are not being jackasses or anything it is just freaking nuts. We meander around a bit and find the line for Drai's, it is 8 people across and looks kindof like the letter Y as it has two different ending points, it is freakishly long. I tell my wife, this is not going to happen and we head out to find a cab but the line is a mess too so we start walking towards the bellagio looking for a cab.

If I could do this all again I would have gone and grabbed something to eat at hash house a go go and come back around 6:30 in hope that the line would have sorted itself out; I wasn't thinking. I asked when the place closed and they told me 9:00am so this would have been a truly epic way to have ended our binge drinking trip to vegas. Oh well, one misfire isn't bad for a trip like this.

We get a cab back to aria and get to our room, my wife is obsessed with hitting one last club, she rummages through the promo material in the room to find out when liquid opens and sets her alarm for 10:00, it seems that she is hellbent on checking out liquid which opens at 11:00. We pass out sometime after it is very, very light outside.

Next post : general thoughts on Aria and the last stop Liquid