Nightlife

[The Nightlife Issue]

Your Las Vegas nightlife bucket list

After-dark experiences everyone should have

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The Mandarin Bar at Mandarin Oriental.

A martini with a view at Mandarin Bar Cocktail lounges don’t come more alluring than this 23rd-floor haunt, where the inventive drinks and minimalist atmosphere complement floor-to-ceiling windows that lay the Strip out beneath you magic carpet-style. Just don’t get so drunk on the view that you forget the bottom line: Most cocktails cost $18.

The cover experience: Get served by Chariot When it comes to Vegas bottle presentations, sparklers practically come standard. But big bottle orders merit blowout deliveries: Enter the Chariot. Hakkasan shows its appreciation for high rollers and special guests by sending their bottle via a server on an opulent throne held aloft by a quartet of dudes. With a train of servers following behind, it’s the ultimate nightclub spectacle—and an experience you’ll never forget.

Crash a celebrity table Sometimes you’re just minding your own business two feet from Paris Hilton’s table at Tao when the velvet ropes part and a linebacker-sized security guard ushers you inside. And even though you have work in the morning, and your ride is leaving, and your better judgment says that any minute her Hilton Highness is going to spot you as an interloper and kick your ass back to GA, you stay. Because this is Vegas, and anything can happen.

Visit Seong Ha Lee’s alcoholic laboratory at 365 Tokyo Usually members-only experiences are best left to people desperate to be part of the club (we got over that in middle school), but this is a rare exception, thanks to the skillful hand of mixologist Seong Ha Lee. In a glass box jutting from Inspire, this tiny, pseudo-secret cocktail bar is a booze geek’s fantasyland, where smokers, liquid nitrogen and hand-chipped ice all contribute to a one-of-a-kind night of imbibing.

Breakfast in last night’s clothes If you haven’t ordered eggs in a micro-mini or taken down a short stack in a wrinkled suit, you’ve been missing out. There’s something shameful and thrilling about showing up for breakfast in last night’s clubwear—like a badge of questionable honor that says, Yeah, I haven’t gone to bed yet. Whataboutit?

Soak in the kitsch at the Peppermill’s Fireside Lounge Every local should spend an evening throwing back cocktails in the glow of the black lights and fire pits at this mirrored, retrotastic wonderland.

Get a famous DJ to tweet you Persistence is key. Just don’t be too persistent; that’s the key to a restraining order.

Spot a celebrity in the wild The wilds of the Hard Rock, that is. Whether it’s a Rehab host or a Joint performer, eyeballing A-listers at the off-Strip resort is a favorite past time. At Body English! At Pink Taco! Ten points if you catch one drunk at Center Bar!

The most royal of meet-and-greets.

Meet the Queen … of England It reads like the SNL sketch of a Vegas bottle service package: For $300,000 you can have Life nightclub’s the Royal Life, which includes a 30-liter Midas bottle of Ace of Spaces Champagne (clocking in around 100 pounds) and a meet-and-greet with the Queen of England(!) this coming June at the Royal Ascot horse race in Britain. Also listed on the Live Life Legendary menu: a ride on a Mardi Gras float and breakfast with Harry Connick Jr. in New Orleans, and backstage access to a runway show during New York Fashion Week.

Attend a suite party Every now and then someone rents one of the Palms’ Luxe Collection suites—like the two-story Sky Villa with cantilevered pool, the Hardwood Suite with indoor basketball court or the Real World Suite with original confessional booth—and throws down. And every now and then an invite lands in the hands of one of us mere mortals. Instagram everything.

Drink all the taps at Crown & Anchor Next time you hit this British pub, ask for one of its Down the Hatch Club cards, then prepare to order by number. You’ll have to drink all 30 draughts—and get a bartender’s initials for each one—to score that coveted free T-shirt.

Alexis Bellino and Lil Jon at Surrender on Saturday, June 28, 2014, in Encore Las Vegas.

Alexis Bellino and Lil Jon at Surrender on Saturday, June 28, 2014, in Encore Las Vegas.

Take a shot with Lil Jon The dreadlocked king of crunk is a regular at Surrender and Encore Beach Club. We hear he’s partial to Don Julio 1942.

Tables 33, 52 or 53 at 1 Oak Bottle service isn’t just about getting a table, it’s about getting the table, and at Light Group’s 1 Oak, that means Table 33. Known as the owner’s table, this prime post is on the main dancefloor and right next to the DJ booth, but it’s not the only great seat in the house. Tables 52 and 53 overlook the venue with the opportunity to chat up whoever’s manning the decks. Whichever number you land on, you’ll be in good company: Jessica Alba, Dr. Dre and Katy Perry have put their butts on this hallowed ground.

Belt one out at Dino’s The dive bar/karaoke joint/drunk haven is a Vegas classic. Get a pitcher of beer and the nerve to step to the mic, then show the regulars what’s what.

Pull a party triple-header Perhaps Vegas isn’t the only place where you can dance all day poolside, disco nap, then hit the club and rage right through into afterhours, but it is the easiest place to stage a party marathon. Mix and match your venues, or grab a room at Cosmo and make Marquee your one-stop day, night and late-night shop.

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