A recent Thursday, 8 p.m.
If you think Vegas’ many million-dollar pool oases can only be enjoyed when the sun is baking the pavement, your skin and your contact lenses to a crackly crisp, I’d beg you to think again. Our beloved club marketing gurus figured out a long time ago that once the sun has set—or better yet, while it’s still setting—the breathtaking Sin City backdrop and later the dark canopy of the sky along with whatever couple of stars one can pick out make a mighty fine setting for a party. But that needn’t always mean topless, table-dancing fillies or bottle service so expensive as to require the sale of a kidney. There are plenty of options for those who’d prefer chill over thrill.
I consider this ever-growing list as I slip into the South Point’s pool complex just as the sun ducks behind the mountains. Mix 94.1-FM’s JC Fernandez and a live band are keeping a very large gathering entertained with Name That Tune for beer and some danceable, nonexplicit covers of U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers tunes. Danceable especially if you’ve used both of the two free drink tickets you get with your $7 entry fee. Keeping the people happy and sober enough are hot and cold appetizer stations, also complimentary with your paid admission. I hit the crudité hard. The X-Rated fusion liqueur goes down far too easy, prompting spirited girl talk about guys who kiss you before they know you and others who give lingering, meaningful hugs when they really should just be kissing you. You know, the usual. The conversation and the drinks flow until 10 p.m.
The Tank pool and shark habitat at Downtown’s Golden Nugget is another spiffy spot to meet up with friends for a post-work brew and maybe even a hand of blackjack; the casino’s gaming tables have been relocated for your poolside betting pleasure. I stare like a toddler at the sleek sharks and the fearsome slide that travels through the tank to a shallow splash-down area; I just know I would skip like a stone and eat concrete.
But the tank isn’t nearly as mesmerizing as watching the day’s leftover sunbathers doze away, oblivious to the hour and the extremely loud music Star 102.7-FM is pumping into the pool area. Buckets of beer are the bevvie of choice. But laughter trickles down from the top tier of the three-story wedding-cake island in the venue’s middle, and everyone seems to be having fun, letting the day’s less savory details fade away.
The only thing seeming a little out of place are the go-go dancers grinding away while the beat drones “There’s some hos in this house” for the couples who stand around politely tapping a foot. Daddy brings his little tottering angel to watch the nice lady dance, but Angel splashes water on the half-naked lady’s cube. She storms off to fetch a towel and exchanges glances with her partner across the pool. Daddy and Angel slink back to Mommy.
Beyond these two I can personally recommend Tao Beach’s Sunset Sessions, which kick off every Sunday evening at 5:30 and cruises into night with some exceptional cocktails and wicked beats. On my personal agenda this month are visits to Voodoo Beach’s Calor Wednesdays, featuring live and DJ’d Latin sounds from 6 to 10 p.m.; the Flamingo’s new Go pool weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m. with music by Lefty Lucy and guest DJs; and the Artisan’s new Lavish pool party Sundays at 2 p.m. As if that wouldn’t keep one busy enough, I will have to return to the Hard Rock pool for the Friday Night Live concert series, which keeps the fresh talent rolling in all summer. But something tells me I’ll find or make time in my schedule for those and more. All work and no play makes for a very un-Vegas day.
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at [email protected] and visit thecircuitlv.com to sign up for Xania’s free weekly newsletter.