Monday, July 9, 10:40 p.m.
No rest for the weary? Bah! Google Maps tells me Red Rock Casino Resort Spa is only about 10 miles off-Strip, and though Summerlin is not quite far enough away to slough off the city smog and grit entirely, it feels somewhat like a road trip. Funny how a foreign bed, cool sheets, tiny shampoo and a good party can take you away even further than Calgon and your own bathtub.
I peeled into the hotel valet in the middle of the night Sunday for Red Rock Retreat, a branded two-day, one-and-a-half-night sleepover party with a few hundred of your closest friends every week this summer for just $139. Check-in goes smoothly at that hour and starts as early as 3 a.m., with many coming straight from work.
Monday, everyone heads to the Cherry pool, where DJ Eric Forbes is spinning from 1 to 6 p.m. They lounge by the pool, soaking up the blissful lack of an agenda that extends beyond the next chilled shot or frozen blended something. The Retreat’s getaway atmosphere is broken only when Blackberries jangle and VIP hosts leap into metaphorical action from the comfort and serenity of their chaise lounge or daybed.
Like it’s a cruise without a stuffy director, everyone is free to wash up, head to dinner or take a disco nap. Actually, you’re free to do whatever you want, but Act 1 Promotions Creative Nightlife Director Frankie Anobile has provided a suggested itinerary that includes daytime pool parties Monday and Tuesday, a bowling tournament, a nighttime pool party and late checkout at 4 p.m.
I stand here, 10-pound camouflage bowling ball in hand, a little tipsy after a long dinner at T-Bones. The pins dance a bit, but that could also be the bass thumping in the exclusive Ultralanes VIP bowling alley. Nothing outside the doors hints at the madness that lies just within. “I’m gonna put my balls in your gutter,” my friend Bo texted me earlier, but even with 12 lanes, there is no way everyone can play, so the non-bowling hosts, DJs, cocktailers and promoters entertain themselves in the posh seating and at the bars, filling every inch of the place.
I’m one of few girls bowling, and the muscular hosts charge past me when it’s their turn, ball in one hand, beer and cigarette in the other. Tao’s team is cleaning up with strike after spare. “You gonna do this again next week?” I ask over the music and the cheering; final scores are rolling in just before the lanes close. Host Corey Negrelli nods deeply, “Oh yeah!”
The party relocates to the Cherry pool, bright blue in the darkness. DJ Leo Teo is spinning away some house music, and LA band Transfer lounges poolside, the young twentysomething boys very much enjoying the profound number of beautiful women and the profound lack of clothing actually on them. Some gals just dip a toe in the tepid water; others slide right in. One guy belly-flops and sends water to the far corners of the pool deck.
At 3:30 a.m. the pool deck clears out, everyone heading off to their suites in pairs and groups. They may not sleep tonight, but I intend to take full advantage of the retreat part of this Retreat and that begins with the Olympic-size tub and the utterly delicious bed. I do not emerge from either until late Tuesday afternoon when I finally reappear at the Cherry pool. DJ Hope is now at the helm from 1 to 6 p.m., his beats sounding even stronger than from up in my room or the pounding inside my head.
Act 1’s marketing managers Natalia Badzjo and Brian Buechner are already fielding texts and calls for next week’s Retreat. “The most important thing to us was showing the locals the Red Rock the way we see it, the beauty,” says Badzjo. “When you see how upscale and exclusive it is, it’s worth the trip.” Sunlight bounces off the hotel and treats each cabana to one final dose before dipping out of sight. I should probably head out, get back to the world outside of Red Rock. “Stay for dinner and bowling again?” Badjzo blinks big, earnest eyes. I fold. “All right, twist my arm.”
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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.