Author: Derrick Cole
Derrick Cole
I am your nightlife navigator. I used to bartend before becoming a freelance writer, so I know which Vegas spots are actually lit and which are just loud. If there is a new lounge, speakeasy, or rooftop DJ in town, I have already been and I have already judged the cocktails.
Saturday afternoons at The Palazzo are about to get loud again. Tao Group’s champagne-soaked LAVO Party Brunch kicks off its new season this month in a newly reimagined dining room, with a live DJ, bottle service, and dancing on the tables. LAVO Party Brunch Is Back on October 17 The LAVO Party Brunch returns Saturday, October 17, and it runs every Saturday from October through March. For anyone who has been waiting for the weekend afternoon scene to come back to the Strip, this is the start of the cooler-weather season at LAVO, inside The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort.…
Three stories, 800 guests, and a rooftop terrace with Strip views. A champagne bar tucked inside the women’s restroom. A bourbon lounge named after Luke Combs’s own songwriting. A display wall of caps from his personal collection, next to the ones sent in by fans. Category 10 just locked in its opening date, and the whole weekend is built to feel like a party, not a ribbon-cutting. The Date Is Set Luke Combs will officially open Category 10 Las Vegas at 11am on Thursday, October 15, inside Flamingo Las Vegas, at 3555 S Las Vegas Blvd. Opening day starts with…
Halloween nightlife in 2026 comes with a bonus night: October 31 falls on a Saturday, so the costume parties stretch from Thursday straight through Sunday. One wristband covers the biggest Strip nightclubs, a costume ball takes over Paradise Road, downtown runs a bar crawl out of Fremont Street, and XS reopens just days later. Here is the whole weekend, night by night. The Weekend at a Glance WhenWhatWhereThursday, Oct 29Las Vegas Party Pass window opensParticipating Tao Group Hospitality nightclubsFriday, Oct 30THRILLER Halloween Party, 8pm, 21+24 Oxford at Virgin Hotels Las VegasFriday, Oct 30Tiësto, Halloween Weekend, 10:30pmOMNIA at Caesars PalaceSaturday, Oct…
One of the World’s 50 Best Bars, flown in from Mexico City for two nights only. Sweeping 66th-floor Strip views. A mixologist known for classic cocktails and understated sophistication, building an exclusive menu just for this takeover. Hanky Panky lands at Resorts World this Friday and Saturday, and it will not be back anytime soon. A World-Class Bar, Sixty-Six Floors Above the Strip Hanky Panky, the acclaimed Mexico City cocktail bar recognized among the World’s 50 Best Bars, takes over Allē Lounge on 66 at Conrad Las Vegas inside Resorts World this Friday, September 18, and Saturday, September 19, from 7pm to…
Opened in 1946 on Fremont Street. A shark tank in the middle of the pool. Four hotel towers built across four decades. A young Steve Wynn who once dealt blackjack elsewhere in town before buying his way into ownership and reshaping the property’s future. Golden Nugget Las Vegas turned 80 this year, and it remains one of downtown’s defining landmarks. Eighty Years on Fremont Street Golden Nugget Las Vegas opened its doors on August 30, 1946, at 129 Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, built around a Gold Rush theme that still defines its identity today. It is one of the…
A former UFC heavyweight champion cracking open a keg. The Las Vegas mayor doing the same the following week. Imported Munich Oktoberfestbier, a Bavarian meats tower on Sundays, and live music every single night. Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas just kicked off its 22nd annual Oktoberfest, and at 51 days long, it outlasts the actual festival in Munich by more than a month. Fifty-One Days of Oktoberfest, Munich Only Gets Sixteen Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas opened in January 2004 directly across from Paradise Road’s former Hard Rock Hotel, now Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, built as the only exact architectural replica of the original Hofbräuhaus…
Neon vines climbing over vintage TVs. Color-changing cocktails that hit the table like liquid light shows. Floating ghost noodles gliding through the room. A glowing altar called the God Machine anchoring the whole space. And bathrooms so strange and immersive that regulars tell first-timers to go check them out before they even order a drink. Pachi-Pachi is downtown Las Vegas’s strangest, most talked-about night out, and it lives inside a building with a much more ordinary past. A Post Office Reimagined as a Portal Pachi-Pachi occupies 211 S. Las Vegas Blvd, Portal 120, at the corner of 6th and Carson in…
The old Foundation Room space, completely reimagined. A 1970s Japanese listening lounge aesthetic. Thousands of vinyl records spanning Las Vegas entertainment history. Panoramic Strip views stretching 40 to 50 miles. An Asian-inspired menu, cocktails named after iconic songs, and seven nights a week of music-first programming. Vinyl Room opened August 8 and it might be the most genuinely different nightlife concept the Strip has seen in years. A Room Built Around Listening, Not Just Looking Vinyl Room opened August 8, 2026, on the 63rd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, taking over the storied perch that hosted the Foundation Room for…
Black velvet banquettes. Deep red chandelier shades. A 62-inch resin statue of Lisa Vanderpump’s late Pomeranian standing at the center of the room. A martini for two with an oversized olive-stuffed skewer. A locked vault where you can whisper a secret into a tiny envelope. Gigolo is the most intimate room Vanderpump has ever built on the Strip, and it opened inside her own hotel this past May. Moody, Sultry, and Named After Giggy Gigolo opened May 29, 2026, inside The Vanderpump Hotel at 3595 S Las Vegas Blvd, occupying the space formerly known as Bound Bar, next to the hotel’s check-in area…
Free entry. Free singing. A live band backing every performance. 10,000 songs. Craft cocktails from $16. A 100-ounce punch bowl for $65. Cat-themed everything. An outdoor patio open to the Strip. Themed nights, high-energy competitions, and a crowd that is there to have the actual best time. Smelly Cat Karaoke at the Grand Bazaar Shops is one of the most fun and most accessible nightlife experiences on the Strip and almost nobody knows it exists. Free Entry, Free Singing, Live Band Behind You Every Night Smelly Cat Karaoke is located at Suite 100, 3619 Las Vegas Blvd S inside the Grand Bazaar…
An open-air rooftop underneath the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas. Direct views of the Bellagio fountains across the street. French-inspired cuisine, Champagne, and craft cocktails. A mid-century Parisian garden party aesthetic with custom upscale decor and unique furnishings. Brunch daily, dinner nightly, and a late-night bar on weekends. Chéri Rooftop is one of the most atmospheric places to spend an evening on the Las Vegas Strip. Paris on the Strip, Literally Chéri Rooftop sits on the outdoor terrace of Paris Las Vegas at 3655 S Las Vegas Blvd, positioned directly underneath the resort’s replica Eiffel Tower with unobstructed sightlines across Las Vegas…
Tickets from $15. Three burlesque shows per night. A live rock band playing two full sets. A jazz trio. Open-format DJs between every act. Six Deuce Dancers on a rotating stage. Colored smoke jets and a laser show synced to the music. Animal print everywhere. And a room that does something no other nightlife venue on the Strip attempts. This is Forty Deuce at Mandalay Bay. The Strip Has Nightclubs. This Is Something Else. Most Las Vegas nightlife asks you to choose. You go to a club for a DJ. You go to a show for a performance. You go…
3,262 square feet on the 66th floor of Resorts World Las Vegas. Floor-to-ceiling windows looking straight down the Strip. Live music and DJs nightly. A two-drink minimum that pays for itself in the view alone. And a space so discreet that the SVP of Resorts World’s own hospitality team described most guests as genuinely surprised it exists. Here is everything you need to know before you go. Sixty-Six Floors Up and Most People Walk Right Past It Allée Lounge on 66 sits at the top of Resorts World Las Vegas at 3000 S Las Vegas Blvd, accessed through its own dedicated elevators down…
3,600 square feet of dark wood, atrium garden, and moody sophistication tucked into the Arts District. A membership program that selects members based on personality and passion rather than status. A cocktail program from one of the most decorated mixologists in the city. No photography. No laptops. No athletic wear. And a happy hour that makes it the most accessible luxury evening in downtown Las Vegas. Here is everything you need to know about one of the most interesting bars in the city. A Den for the Sharp and Curious Doberman Drawing Room opened April 30, 2025 at 1025 S. First…
Thirty-five thousand square feet of pool deck, festival-grade production, a 2026 residency lineup that reads like a summer festival poster, and a Sunday wellness concept that nobody saw coming. LIV Beach is not just a dayclub, it is a full statement about what Las Vegas pool season looks like when someone actually raises the bar. Step Inside and the Strip Disappears LIV Beach at Fontainebleau Las Vegas is the Las Vegas home of the LIV brand, the same operation behind one of Miami’s most celebrated nightlife venues, and one of the most production-forward dayclubs on the Strip. The pool deck was purpose-designed for…
Resorts World Las Vegas at 3000 S Las Vegas Blvd sits at the north end of the Strip where the Las Vegas Convention Center meets the Vegas Loop and the pool setup here operates on a scale that matches the property’s overall ambition. With Fontainebleau now anchoring the corner and the Vegas Loop connecting Resorts World to Encore, Westgate, Fontainebleau, the Convention Center, and (as of March 2026) Harry Reid International Airport, this end of the Strip is no longer the outpost it felt like a couple of years ago. If you have not experienced the Resorts World pool complex…
Free concerts every night. The world’s largest LED canopy. A free open bar at the oldest casino in Las Vegas. A zipline that launches you 114 feet above the crowd. No velvet ropes, low table minimums, and an energy completely unlike anything on the Strip. The Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas is its own world and this is how to do it right. Where Vegas Actually Began Fremont Street Experience is a five-block open-air pedestrian district in historic downtown Las Vegas, covered by the Viva Vision Canopy, a 1,375-foot-long, 90-foot-wide LED screen suspended 90 feet above the street. It…
A 200-person cocktail lounge designed like a private penthouse party. An eight-piece house band in powder pink tuxedos. Cocktails named after every musician on stage. And a no-phone policy that makes the whole room feel alive. This is what nightlife looks like when a world-class entertainer builds exactly what he wants. This Is What Happens When Bruno Mars Gets Creative Control Bruno Mars has been one of Las Vegas’s biggest residency draws for nearly a decade at Dolby Live at Park MGM. But performing in someone else’s venue was never going to be enough. In February 2024, The Pinky Ring opened inside…
Forget the generic “hidden gem” tropes. In 2026, the Las Vegas speakeasy scene has moved past simple secret doors into a realm of high-concept mixology and digital gatekeeping. If you aren’t booking through the right platforms or scanning the correct QR codes, you aren’t getting in. From the high-roller enclaves of the Bellagio to the neon-drenched corridors of Resorts World, this is your technical guide to the current underground landscape. 1. The Vault (Bellagio) This is currently the most exclusive door on the Strip. Tucked behind the Bellagio casino floor, specifically near the cashier cage, The Vault functions as a…
In a city that often measures success by decibel levels and strobe lights, Eight Lounge at Resorts World Las Vegas is staging a quiet revolution. It is a venue built on the radical idea that a night out should be savored, not survived. Tucked away from the frantic energy of the casino floor, Eight Lounge offers a masterclass in “intentional nightlife.” It’s a space where the clock slows down, the smoke curls lazily toward the ceiling, and the art of conversation is treated with the same respect as a rare vintage of bourbon. The Space: A Sanctuary of Leather and…