Good question, but in fact there are a lot of adult-only pools in town that aren't topless, including "daylife" meccas like Wet Republic, Rehab, Encore Beach Club, and the Palms Pool & Bungalows that cater to the young party crowd and are basically outdoor daytime clubs that are no more suitable for kids than their nightlife equivalents.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are adult-only pools that exclude children because they're designed to be havens of serenity for grown-ups wishing to relax without having shrieking, dive-bombing rugrats to contend with. For example, Caesars Palace's eight-pool Garden of the Gods complex is open only to guests aged 21 or older, ditto Azure at Palazzo and Liquid at Aria, while the GO Pool at the Flamingo is 18+ and The Hideout at the Golden Nugget describes itself as a "secluded paradise for guests ages 16 and older."
If you're looking for child-friendly pools, there are plenty to choose from, with Mandalay Bay perenially topping the list. Several hotels, like Excalibur and the Flamingo, offer the best of both worlds, with both kid-centric and adult-only pools.
As far as the proposed Sapphire Pool you refer to is concerned, the gentlemen's club had an experiment operating a European-style pool at the Rio back in 2009, which ended abruptly and ingloriously in a big drug and prostitution bust, but that's not the reason the new pool won't be topless. The reason for that is that when it opened, Sapphire was the largest strip club in the world, and the powers that be didn't want it to get any bigger. Hence, back in 2001, an agreement was signed limiting Sapphire's size to the current dimensions, so any pool that is an obvious (i.e., topless) extension of the club would be breaking the rules.
What Sapphire is apparently aiming for is to score a double whammy by capitalizing on the still thriving "daylife" scene and appealing to customers who might not otherwise venture to a strip club during daylight hours, while giving patrons the chance to hang out with sunbathing strippers (who, although not topless, will likely not be wearing much). The assumption is that customers will get friendly with dancers from whom they'll then buy dances that night in the club. The former Sapphire Pool at the Rio was a big party scene, and we imagine they'll be looking to create the same type of atmosphere, just minus the nipples.
For more information about this and the whole Vegas pool scene, check out our Cool Pools feature.
