Bars, Clubs & Other Nighttime Diversions - Las Vegas - page 207

CENTRAL STRIP LOUNGES & CLUBS
Contrary to its name Light 5 (in Bellagio; % 888/987 - 3456 or 702/693 - 8300;
www.lightgroup.com; cover $ 30, local ladies always free, local men free Sun;
Thurs-Sun 10:30pm-4am) is actually extremely dark. So dark that you'll want to
hold your hands in front of you when walking down the entry corridor, lit only
by candles sensually floating in water. But that sexy lighting is part of its appeal,
and certainly makes it stand out from its competitors. From the cocktail waitresses
in not-too-revealing gowns to the red fabrics draped luxuriously across its walls,
there's an elegance here that's unusual among dance spots on The Strip. Like all
of the popular clubs, Light aims to fill itself with only the most beautiful partiers,
but Vegas tends to have less supply than demand, so the crowd runs the gamut
but tends towards the late-20s early-30s set. Light is the second in a franchise that
began in New York City and is owned by the Light Group, which also owns a
number of clubs and restaurants around town, including JET.
If you add two rooms, a larger dance floor and an injection of youth to Light,
you have JET 55 (in The Mirage; % 800/374 - 9000 or 702/792 - 7900; www.jetlv.
com, cover $ 30 for men, $ 20 for women, Fri and Mon. Mirage guests with room
keys are free, local ladies always free; Fri-Sat and Mon 10:30pm-4:30am;).
Designed by Jeffrey Beers, this is the club of the moment on the music and dance
scene. With three different rooms and three different DJs, choose from house,
rock, or hip-hop. Above the main dance floor is a one-of-a-kind video lighting
grid made of 68 panels that projects colors and images onto the dance floor below,
and can be quite a trip for someone a few Red Bulls and vodkas into the evening.
The clientele is attractive here, on par with Tryst, Tao, and Light. Though it's
packed around the bars and on the dance floor, some of the outlying areas are
actually fairly spacious, and there are small shelves on the walls where you can rest
your drink, which is a rarity in the club world.
Pronounced with a “T” and not a “D” as in the religion, Las Vegas' Tao 55 (in
The Venetian; % 877/883 - 6423 or 702/388 - 8588; www.taolasvegas.com; cover
$ 20, except Sat when men are $ 30, local ladies are free; Tues-Wed 11pm-5am,
Thurs-Sat 10pm-5am) is four times the size of the original New York location, and
the line to get in rivals the population of a small village. If you're a glutton for pun-
ishment bent on seeing A-list celebs, this is one of their destinations. I was dining
here (there's a surprisingly decent-but-overpriced restaurant and lounge in addition
to the club) when Britney Spears threw a birthday party for her then-husband,
Kevin Federline, which featured little people running up and down a long table car-
rying his birthday cake. Charming.
Once inside, the line and celeb appeal make sense. The club is stunning, and
as over-the-top as themed Vegas gets. It was built to resemble an Asian temple and
is strewn with statues of Buddha (271 of them in just one room), red gothic chan-
deliers, and a koi pond. But what's distinctly un-Zen is that not only can you not
sit anywhere unless you're having bottle service (such is the case with every club),
you're also pretty much forbidden from standing still, as security orders people to
keep moving and herding them with flashlights. In fact, the only folks at all still
are the poor folks the club employs as decorations: As you enter you'll see models
lying in bathtubs filled with water and rose petals staring blankly (or was that
erotically) at passersby.