Imagine spending 10-plus hours at Rehab and not joining the party. Sound tough? It’s actually not such a bad gig, according to Hard Rock’s Justin Simms, who works at the pool area every Sunday.
Here’s a link to an interview with Simms from his Henderson home on a rare day off.
See you on the scene!
Any beer lover owes it to themselves to enjoy a few rounds of Delirium Tremens. The Belgian ale took first place overall honors at the 1998 World Beer Cup, and a decade later the delicious beer is creating quite a buzz amongst beer connoseiurs across the country.
It’s tough to describe the taste of Delirium Tremens. It’s almost too good to be true - smooth and light, with a hint of sweetness at an 8.5% alcohol level. It’s very easy to down a few of these and get far more drunk then you intend to be, so be careful!
Enjoy Delirium Tremens on tap to truly experience this perfect beer. Go to either the Freakin’ Frog or Yard House to find Delirium on tap, and be sure to have someone else driving you home! This is as smooth a beer as you can find anywhere, but don’t be fooled into downing it like it’s Coors Light.
If you happen to know where else in Las Vegas Delirium Tremens is available, post a comment!
If you’ve been in Las Vegas for any amount of time during the scorching months of late spring and summer, then you’ve no doubt seen or heard the countless ads for the various pool clubs and parties all over the city. The pool party grows in popularity year after year on the Las Vegas Strip, and the 2007 season ushered in the era of European-style bathing, pool clubs that encourage women to bathe topless. Go somewhere like Bare not expecting this and you may be in for a bit of a surprise.
Rehab, of course, is the most notorious pool party in the city and quite possibly the entire United States! Guests from all over the world can always be found at the Hard Rock Hotel’s infamous Sunday afternoon pool party. An afternoon at Rehab is quite surreal the first time you go, with celebrities and musicians mingling with everyone else at the amazing Hard Rock pool.
If you’re not quite looking for something like Rehab, lots of options still await. Sullivan Charles frequents every pool party in Vegas as a photographer for 944 Magazine and Spy On Vegas, and the 26-year-old likes to mix it up when it comes to partying on the pool scene. “I like Bare because it’s a little bit more mellow than the rest of them,” Charles said during an interview from the 944 offices. “Tao Beach is pretty mellow too, but I think out of both of them I like Bare a little better because it’s topless.”
Justin Calipari sees pool season from a different perspective. Unlike most of the thousands of locals and tourists that descend to the pools on the weekend for a day of drinking and partying, Calipari has to stay sober and on his best behavior, or else lose his employment status at the Hard Rock pool. “The pool stays packed every day during the summer, but Rehab is just crazy,” Calipari said. “There’s definitely nothing else like it.
Looking to party poolside with hundreds of Las Vegas’ most beautiful people? Here’s the rundown:
REHAB (at Hard Rock) - The original Vegas pool party is still by far the craziest. Rehab is a world-famous event taking place every Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel pool. Doors usually open at 11 a.m. but you’ll definitely want to show up earlier than that if you want to have any chance of getting in (unless you’re willing to be brave and try to sneak in, which isn’t easy). Rehab is the pool party of choice for celebrities and musicians from the Hollywood A-list as well as beautiful people from around the world. There’s nothing like Rehab, and you have to experience it to understand!
BARE (at the Mirage)- The Mirage’s European-style pool club opened in 2007 and gets positive reviews from many that check it out. Bare is much smaller and more relaxed than Rehab, with private cabanas and a small private pool overlooking the main concourse. For a pool scene with more of a local flavor, check out Bare. Cinco de Mayo weekend went off nicely at Bare, and the party should go on all summer.
GO POOL (at the Flamingo) - The legendary Flamingo has no doubt hosted numerous guests over the decades, but Flamingo’s Go Pool is an all-new concept, bringing European-style bathing to the pool area. Lots of fountains and waterfalls and an overall great spot to relax and party.
WET REPUBLIC (at MGM Grand) - Newly open for 2008 is Wet Republic, which MGM is calling “the first-ever” ultra pool in Las Vegas.” Check out the website, it sounds like it should be a great spot.
VOODOO BEACH (at Rio) - Local women get in free at the beautiful VooDoo Beach, which like VooDoo Lounge seems to be a secret that many tourists don’t know about. Take advantage!
TAO BEACH (at Venetian) - Already an insane party place with Tao Bistro and Tao Nightclub at the top of the class in Vegas nightlife, Tao Beach just makes the Venetian’s party epicenter even better. Simply put - it’s European-style bathing mixed with the vibe, music and beautiful people that frequent Tao. You can’t lose!
MANDALAY BAY BEACH - The closest thing to an actual beach in Las Vegas can be found at Mandalay Bay. The Beach sits on 11 acres, has more than 100 cabanas and underwent a $30 million renovation in 2007. Moorea Beach Club within the Beach is an upscale European-style club, and nearby Border Grill is one of the finest Mexican restaurants in the city, with beach attire welcome on the patio that overlooks the beach and pool areas. Definitely worth checking out. If you have an friend coming to town, tell then to stay at Mandalay Bay and use the room key to get in!
DITCH FRIDAYS (at the Palms) - Not to be outdone is the Palms, Vegas’ center for youthful debauchery. The wildly popular Ditch Fridays party takes place on Friday afternoons, encouraging partygoers to call in to work with an excuse and “ditch” work for the day! Check back later for more info on Ditch Fridays (haven’t personally got to check it out yet).
FYI - Admission prices for all Las Vegas pool clubs are subject to change week to week, so check out the websites or call ahead to get the inside information. Like all Vegas clubs, these places can be tough to get in, so be prepared!
Cinco de Mayo weekend produced an opportunity/excuse to party for five days straight, if you started on Thursday (per Las Vegas locals’ custom) and didn’t stop until the early morning hours of Seis de Mayo.
Hopefully you had a chance to check out the 944 Magazine fiesta at Dos Caminos inside Palazzo
. Great food in the restaurant, but the highlight of the night came courtesy of the bar/lounge/nightclub part of the establishment. The party raged until well after 4 a.m., and nobody went home disappointed. The tequila shots flowed all night.
Dos Caminos is another potentially golden venue for Las Vegas locals. Check out the dinner menu here, but be sure to know that this isn’t just a Mexican restaurant, it’s an outstanding, crazy place to party!
On Bourbon Street in New Orleans sits an ancient bar called the Old Absinthe House. Built in the early 1800s, the building was transformed into a bar when mixologist Cayetano Ferrer invented a cocktail called the Absinthe House Frappe in 1874.
Most people in the U.S. aren’t all that familiar with Absinthe, which was a banned substance in our country for most of the 20th century. Distilleries stopped producing Absinthe, a highly alcoholic beverage with hallucinogenic qualities, in the U.S. in 1912.
The U.S. lifted the ban on Absinthe in 2007, but the legal product you’ll find on the shelves now isn’t the same psychoactive substance from the old days. Impressively, the Old Absinthe House stood for nearly 40 years before the Absinthe ban and survived 95 years while still calling itself “Old Absinthe House”. Now you can go in and actually drink Absinthe there legally! Now that’s surviving!
Las Vegas, of course, isn’t shying away from the newly legal Absinthe. Downtown Cocktail Room has a menu of interesting Absinthe cocktails. Ask for the Huntridge or the Emerald Isle if you’re trying to try it out, or just ask the bartender to mix up something for you. Absinthe is so new that mixologists are coming up with new concoctions by the day. Don’t be shy about asking for Absinthe all around the city either.
The New York Times ran a story on the return of Absinthe in December 2007, and check out another informative website on the storied alcohol here.
Want to get the Cinco de Mayo festivities off to an early start? 944 Magazine Cinco de Mayo weekend kicks off Sunday with an insane pool party at Bare (at Mirage). The lounge is advertising free drinks for all females and a complementary BBQ from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. What else could you ask for while you’re warming up for Cinco?
Doors open at 11 a.m. and the party should be raging all day. The private cabanas will be packed, and if you haven’t hit the pool this season, now is the time! 944 throws another party at Bare the following day, on May 5 itself.
If you don’t go you’ll have to read about what you missed out on here! No reason to miss out on the European-style pool club craze here in Sin City.
Can’t decide how to spend your Cinco de Mayo? You know you have to go somewhere:
DOS CAMINOS (inside Palazzo) - 944 Magazine is promoting an event at the upscale Dos Caminos, one of the newer Mexican restaurants in Vegas. Check out the Cinco de Mayo menu here. This should be a great spot for Cinco, check back next week for a detailed review on Dos Caminos.
BORDER GRILL (inside Mandalay Bay) - The two-story, indoor/outdoor Border Grill is one of the best all-around Mexican dining experiences in Las Vegas. The outdoor patio overlooks the beach and pool area at Mandalay Bay, and pool attire is welcomed. Spending Cinco de Mayo at the beach, with the option of partying at Border Grill, is a pretty good way to go.
Take a look at the restaurant’s website to see some of the awards Border Grill has collected, and check out the insane selection of tequilas. You might want to just get a room at Mandalay - because you’re not driving anywhere after spending May 5 here.
PINK TACO (inside Hard Rock) - You haven’t really partied in Vegas if you’ve never stumbled around the legendary Hard Rock. Stopping in for drunk munchies at Pink Taco goes hand-in-hand with this experience.
The food menu is simple but effective basic Mexican dishes. Actually getting in Pink Taco on Cinco de Mayo will probably prove to be pretty tough, but at least you’re at the Hard Rock! Nothing wrong with that.
ISLA (inside Treasure Island) - Interested in meeting the Tequila Goddess? Who wouldn’t be? Check out Isla Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar from 4 p.m. to midnight and enjoy specialty drinks, a live mariachi band and a special menu created by Chef Richard Sandoval.
BARE (at the Mirage) - Another 944 Magazine event is taking place here May 4-5. More on this later, there will be free drinks for all females!
All kinds of good things are happening at Town Square Las Vegas, located just south of Mandalay Bay on Las Vegas Blvd. Here are a couple of spots to check out:
BLUE MARTINI - Impressive in size, design and ability to draw huge, enthusiastic crowds, Blue Martini is the newest locals’ hot spot. Choose from all different kinds of custom martinis and enjoy the live bands that sit directly behind the bartender, like choices on the liquor shelf.
A few steps into this newly opened ultra-lounge and you’ll realize you’ve walked (or stumbled) into something hot. The bar stays open until “4 a.m.”, with waitresses doing the little quote marks thing with their hands when they say “4 a.m.”. It sometimes stays open as late as 7 a.m.
Locals wanting to avoid tourists at all costs are strongly encouraged to check out Blue Martini.
YARD HOUSE - Directly below Blue Martini is the different but equally impressive Yard House, a restaurant and bar that serves up surprisingly good food and more beers on tap than you can imagine. If it wasn’t for the Freakin’ Frog and it’s mind-boggling selection of more than 900 beers, Yard House might very well boast the best beer menu in Vegas. It definitely carries the most beers on tap hands down, hundreds to choose from. Beer enthusiasts never had it so good.
If that’s not motivation enough, it’s tourist-free just like Blue Martini. There’s no way anyone outside of Las Vegas knows about these places yet. Take advantage! The crowds are still Vegas-size, just without the annoyance of super-drunk visitors. If super-drunk locals are more your speed, check out Yard House.
Town Square Las Vegas gets the stamp of approval from this blog.
Living in Las Vegas means there’s never a good reason not to party. Even if you have only one day off a week and it falls on, let’s say, Tuesday you can still head over to somewhere like Jet and join in on that club’s weekly Monday night superbash, or even CatHouse or any of several spots that throw ridiculous Monday night parties.
This week might be a good one to hold off on the early-week stuff, however, because the weekend ahead is intense:
FRIDAY (5/2) - First Friday is back already, and with the weather warming up the turnout on Fremont Street just keeps getting better. Check out Beauty Bar, Griffin and Downtown Cocktail Room, and don’t forget about Brass! No reason to miss out on this, if you’ve never been go now!
SATURDAY-SUNDAY (5/3-5/4) - Pool season has begun (more on this soon), and you need to hit one of an ever-increasing number of insane pool parties. Rehab, at the Hard Rock, is the craziest of the crazy, taking place every Sunday. Bare at the Mirage should also be a good spot this Sunday, with 944 Magazine hosting special events all weekend.
MONDAY (5/5) - Cinco de Mayo! Dos Caminos at Palazzo and Border Grill at Mandalay Bay are both great Mexican restaurants to check out for this festive occasion.
Stay tuned for more on Cinco de Mayo and pool season!
Can’t get the party out of your system from the weekend? You’re always in luck in Las Vegas, where insane parties rage at places like Jet Nightclub on Monday nights! Be sure to keep your responsibilities in order, but check out these mid-week (by Vegas standards Monday through Thursday is mid-week) hot spots:
MONDAY 4/14 - Make a night of it at the Mirage, beginning with Spy On Vegas Open Bar at Revolution Lounge at 6 p.m. Follow up by checking out Flight Night at Jet Nightclub, consistently the hottest party in town on Monday nights. You’ll have to wait a while to get in unless you have some pretty good connections, so be prepared.
TUESDAY 4/15 - Drink for free two nights in a row and head down to another Open Bar party, this time at Puff (Flamingo and Maryland). Puff is part bar, part hookah lounge and should provide an interesting, upscale take on a traditional hookah hangout. Go to Blush (inside Wynn) later in the night for “The Real” Sean Christie’s birthday party. Christie is a nightlife superstar in Las Vegas, formerly at Jet as a marketing specialist.
WEDNESDAY 4/16 - Body English at Hard Rock is a good stop if you’re trying to party Wednesday night.
THURSDAY 4/17 - Yayo Tequila Bar and Stoney’s Rockin’ Country are both highly recommended! More to come on Thursday’s must-go events.
