Hey guys! So next up is all about the nightlife in Vegas.  Las Vegas is home to some of the most extravagant clubs in the world and let me tell you we definitely went to some of them.  In total went went to four nightclubs, some better than others, and they were all different in terms of layout, crowd, music, etc.

We went to JET Nightclub at the Mirage our first night because it was in our hotel and we got passes when we checked in.  JET will be closing on September 5 and rebranded in something else, hopefully something geared more towards women.  They market the club as “Three rooms, three sounds”, when we were there only one room was open and they were playing good stuff, mostly top 40.  As for the crowd, I would say it was 60/40, the 60 being guys.  Everywhere we went we got creepy guys hitting on us, and not in a good way, it was actually too much.  Even when we left after about 45 minutes this weird guy wouldn’t leave us alone.  The decor of the place was nice but if you want to meet creepy guys, then go there (although you don’t really have too much time left to do that).

The Beatles Revolution Lounge

As we were walking through the casino we passed by The Beatles Revolution Lounge, which is a smaller nightclub associated with The Beatles LOVE show.  The only reason we went in there was because I saw a woman with a water bottle and asked where I could get one (I was dying of thirst), she took us into the club so we decided to stick around for a bit.

Now the outside of this club is kind of deceiving, it was very hip with white furniture and smooth sleek lines, but then when you go inside there was graffiti on the walls.  I’m not sure if those were projections or what, but it was kind of weird.  They were also playing rap music which I’m not really that into.

The line up outside Tao

The next night (Friday) we decided to go to Tao Nightclub, I really wanted to go there because it’s always on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.  I really had high hopes for this place, however, reading the Yelp! reviews ahead of time kind of made me nervous about going here.  On Yelp! a lot of people said that it was just hip hop music and a ton of people. They were exactly right.  We got guestlisted plus wristbands for open bar between 10:30 and 11:30 (always plan ahead, the promoter I got in touch with was Shella) but still had to wait in line for about half an hour.  The line was huge at 9:45 p.m. (they open at 10).  Just a tip, if there is a group of guys, make sure you have a ton of females with you, there was a group of about eight guys and three girls and we heard the bouncer tell them “maybe if there was the same amount of girls as you, but otherwise you are going to have to wait.”

Once we got in, the place was packed.  It’s not that big of a space to begin with but man that dance floor gets crowded.  The whole place is Asian inspired, the main floor is the Tao Bistro and the upper floor is the club.  On the roof I believe is Tao Beach (which was closed the night we were there).

Tao Nightclub

Just like what I read on Yelp! they were mainly playing hip hop, but it wasn’t even good hip hop, it was stuff from early 2000’s to like 2008, really disappointing.  If you are into that kind of music then I recommend this place, otherwise I would say to skip it.  The space was nice, they had female dancers in bathtubs with flowers on their lady parts, so that was kind of cool because you don’t see that at home.  Also, I found the ladies washrooms on the second floor balcony really cool.  The doors are glass but then when you lock them they fog up, I thought that was super cool.

Would I go here again, probably not. Would I recommend it?  Only if you like hip hop and crowded places.  It was cool to go and now I can say that I’ve been there, but that will for sure be my first and last time at Tao.

We ended up leaving Tao around 11:30 p.m. and still had time to browse around the Christian Louboutin store, Herve Leger, and Barneys.

Now on to the best club… XS!! I heard a lot about XS prior to going to Vegas and it was the one club that I really wanted to go to.  I made sure we were guest listed ahead of time (we got in touch with Anthony Connolly, I got his info from the Jack Colton website).  XS is located inside Encore at the Wynn and when we got there we thought for sure we were going to stand in line for at least an hour.  The guest list line was huge and the regular line even longer.  With that being said though, we actually got in in about two minutes.

This place is hands down the nicest night club I have ever been to. The inside was dead as everyone was out on the patio (if you could even call it that).  The outside area had a pool, a huge DJ booth with light show, blackjack tables, cabanas, and so much more.

Inside XS

The guest DJs the night we went (Sunday) were Manufactured Superstars, whom I have never heard of but they rocked!  The whole night was house and techno, so I had a great time.  Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson were even there just to party, if that’s not Vegas I don’t know what is!

By the time we were all sweaty from dancing we decided to hit the pool where there were beach balls, floaties, etc.  It was such an awesome time, I mean what kind of nightclub has a pool?

Drinks were quite expensive, a vodka cran cost me $12 plus tip, so I only got one, but honestly I was on such a high from pure excitement and having a good time that I didn’t even need the drinks.  That’s how good XS was.

If you only plan on going to one nightclub in Vegas, definitely make it XS, if you don’t like the music, then you will love the ambiance, it’s just such an experience being there.  Everything about it was excessive.

So that’s it!  We were on the guest list for Rain at the Palms but we didn’t make it out that night.  Oh well, another time!  Like I mentioned earlier, if you plan on going clubbing in Vegas I highly recommend doing research beforehand and get on guest lists.  You do get accosted by promoters as you are walking down the Strip, but I have heard stories of those passes not working.  The people I got in touch with have been proven to work by other people so I knew I was in good hands.  Also, because we were on lists we didn’t have to pay cover for anywhere we went (we even got free drinks at Tao).

Have you been to any of the places I listed?  What were your thoughts?  Do you have any tip or tricks?  Leave me a comment below!

Hi everyone!  So first up on my little Vegas series is the hotel we stayed at, which was the Mirage.  The Mirage Resort and Casino is located near the middle of the Strip right between Caesars Palace and Treasure Island and pretty much across from the Venetian.  In my opinion, I think it is the perfect location if you want to do some shopping because it is literally steps away from the Forum Shops and a few blocks from Fashion Show Mall.

Sorry for the messy sheets, I literally took this photo as we were leaving the room to check out

The hotel opened in 1989 but I believe that they updated the rooms in 2008. We managed to get a Tower Deluxe Room which has a huge bathroom (jacuzzi tub and glass shower as well as two sinks).  I believe that all the rooms feature 42 inch LCD televisions, iHome docking systems, etc.  They also had a mini fridge stocked with stuff you can buy but we never opened it because it was weighted (if you move something you will be charged). The bed (we had a king size) was one of the most comfiest things I have ever slept on (it even rivalled a W Hotel bed).  According to the Mirage website they are Sealy Posturepedic pillow-top mattresses, which is really nice after a long day and night of shopping, walking, and partying.  Other cool things in the room were the closets on either side of the bed (my friend and I totally made good use of those) and of course, the bath robes.

The view from our room

The Tower Deluxe rooms are located on the 24th and 25th floors and are only accessible via a separate elevator.  You have to use your room key to access the floor from the elevator which got kind of annoying because it took us forever to figure out how to swipe the card and press the number.  We saw a lot of people that didn’t know how to work the elevators.

As for the rest of the hotel, I absolutely loved it!  The casino floor is huge (I even found $70 lying around), but it is kind of annoying that you have to walk through the whole casino to get to the hotel or the front doors. A definite highlight for me was the pool.  The Mirage pool is like being in a tropical paradise.  There is lush foliage, waterfalls, tropical music, birds, etc. It really was like being in a nice oasis away from the bright lights and chaos of Vegas. Like anywhere in Vegas, you can drink by the pool and man did those drinks look good.  However, with that being said a large mojito costs $20 (according to the nice Australians we met), and although it would be nice to down a mojito in plus-40 F weather, I would rather spend that $20 somewhere else.  There are signs saying no outside food or beverages but we totally saw people with Blizz frozen yogurts by the pool.

Just a tip for you guys if you plan to stay at the Mirage, if you plan on laying by the pool when you wake up, get up early.  The pool opens at 8 a.m. and you better start claiming your loungers early.  We looked out our window at around 9 a.m. the first morning and we thought that they chairs were white. When we got downstairs it turned out they were all draped in towels because people reserve them then leave.  We did go to the pool around noon on our last day and had no problems finding spots in the sun, so maybe stay away from the pool in the morning hours.  There is also Bare, which is an adult pool/day club where you can tan topless.  We didn’t check that out because you have to pay to get in, although check out the gift shop, there are passes in there (we found that out too late).

As for entertainment, the Mirage is home to The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil, which I saw last time (it was okay, not amazing in my opinion).  There is also Terry Factor, he won America’s Got Talent or something…  If you want nightlife, JET Nightclub is there (soon to be rebranded into another club) as well as The Beatles Revolution Lounge (I’ll get into that stuff in another post).

Lastly, if you are into touristy things, check out the volcano show nightly or Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.

In total we paid $397.60 for five nights, which is a heck of a deal.  Sign up for the M Life card, they often send promotions through email (that’s why we got it so cheap).  I also did the “$20 trick” when we checked in so we got upgraded into the Tower Deluxe (I asked for a suite but they were sold out). The Mirage does charge a $20 resort fee per night but that includes a variety of things like free wi-fi and local calls which we did use.

So would I recommend it?  Yes! I would for sure stay there again. In Vegas, the first question you get asked is where you are from and then where you are staying.  The Mirage is a super nice hotel in a great location, can’t go wrong!

Have you stayed at The Mirage?  What were your opinions?

Long time no blogging! This has actually been the longest I have gone without doing a blog post!  I sincerely apologize, I have just been so busy and I was out of town for five nights in Las Vegas!

I was in Vegas previously in February of this year, so it was kind of weird going back six months later, but fun nonetheless!  Since Vegas is a crazy city that is filled with partying, shopping, gambling, sight-seeing, and so much more I thought I would do a fun little series about my trip. I went with a girlfriend of mine and we had an absolute blast!  We stayed five nights at the Mirage (which I highly recommend) and did a little bit of everything.  It was a crazy trip but very tiring at the same time.  I had a blast though.   Anyways, I’m going to save the stories for the upcoming posts, make sure you check out my blog in the the upcoming days for everything from our hotel, the nightclubs, shopping, blow outs, gambling, etc., as well as a few tips and tricks to maximize your Vegas vacation. Let me know if you guys want to see a haul post as well.  Truth be told, I think I spent the most money on makeup (again!), aside from one big special purchase.  Sephora is way cheaper in the States and Vegas has a MAC Pro store, so I usually stock up.

Yours Truly

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