For people like myself, whose formative experiences of Las Vegas took place 10-plus years ago, it’s important to go with the flow. For instance, the ever-burgeoning and remunerative nightclub business. When SLS Las Vegas opens Life, bottle service will be delivered by acrobat. Seriously.
You don’t have to patronize these establishments, with their pile-driving “music” and single-name disc jockeys. You certainly don’t have to like the douchebag clientele they lure. But you have to understand and accept them as part of Las Vegas’ evolution. As Sam Nazarian puts it, clubgoers no longer want to watch the show, they want to be the show. (Much the same, if not more, could be said of the pool-party culture.)
Besides, all the revenue is guaranteed upfront. When Steve Wynn says, “It’s all cash and credit cards—no markers,” you can just hear the satisfaction in his voice. Wynn, who once vowed never to have a nightclub in his casinos, now outdoes everyone in the Bells & Whistles Dept. Those rooftop fireworks for heavy spenders coming to The Cromwell‘s pool parties are the sound of the competition trying to keep pace. “We get girls. Guys chase them and spend money,” says Wynn’s nightclub supremo, Jesse Waits. Continue reading
