Wander through the parts of Green Valley Ranch Resort where only hotel guests go and you might remember. It says “Lobby Bar” right there, “Open daily at 5 p.m.” But those huge white doors make it seem like something greater lies within, and it once did. Rande Gerber opened a real nightclub, Whiskey Sky, in this space when GVR arrived in December 2001. It was dramatic. Patrons descended a staircase to enter a bustling bar area, a separate room contained the dance floor and the place opened up to the 8-acre backyard pool yard equipped with cabanas and daybeds and another bar. It was fancy.
And it wasn’t the only one. Station Casinos teamed up with Gerber again for Cherry at Red Rock Resort in April 2006, another club with an outdoor component. Today the Cherry space is used for special events, and its patio has turned into the Cabana Club, a more exclusive pool experience wrapping around Red Rock’s famed backyard. Sometimes there are DJs.
Green Valley’s pool, the Pond, is also slightly dayclub-ish. There are DJs and occasional live music, like reggae on Friday nights, and there’s no cover for locals.
Stuff like that’s a big tease for anyone who thinks the time might be right again for a real nightclub in the suburbs. It makes sense that these venues had to be shuttered during the recession, but things are better now, proven by Station’s recent multimillion-dollar improvements to its bookend resorts on opposite ends of the Valley. At Red Rock, where a restaurant overhaul (and last year’s Downtown Summerlin opening next door) has the property thriving, the highest profile is that of Hearthstone, a restaurant from former Light Group owner Andy Masi. His next project here is Salute, a new Italian restaurant. Is it crazy to think Masi could re-engineer the Cherry space? Downtown Summerlin brought plenty of restaurants and bars to the area, but nothing like what used to exist inside this room.
It’s not like Station doesn’t know how to do nightlife. In the northwest, Santa Fe Station’s Revolver country bar and club just celebrated its fifth anniversary. With other local country bars relocating and closing in recent years, Revolver looks rock solid, an example of Station doing what it does best—fitting appropriate programming neatly into a specific neighborhood. Now all we have to do is let ’em know how we want to party in Green Valley and Summerlin, right?
