What’s an ultra lounge, you ask? Start with the best elements of a private club, bar, nightclub, strip club and LA celebrity hangout, then add a healthy dash of mind-bending technology. Top it off with scores of A-list ultra-hot ladies and guys and you’ve got a perfect recipe for sophisticated socializing.
A lot of money and promotion have fueled several new Vegas venues billing themselves as the latest and greatest in this newly-named category, including Tabú, Risqué, OPM and Caramel. But arguably Vegas had a couple of ultra lounges already well-established, namely V Bar and The Foundation Room, before the recent tsunami of openings. Let’s take a look at what makes an ultra lounge.
Design - The first criterion is architectural design that sets an atmosphere of sensuality, intimacy, sophistication, mystery, elegance, style and energy. Each of Vegas’ ultra lounges excel in this area, with their own distinctive flair. OPM inside The Forum Shops at Caesars above Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois restaurant, is one of the newest and strives to be a place “where Eastern style meets Western energy.” Noted southwest interior designer Stacia Lamb has combined ultra modern visuals with Zen Asian and feng shui decorator touches. Visitors to the Foundation Room, a private club atop Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, are greeted when they step off the elevator by a giant Buddha. Oriental rugs and fabrics create a lush, exotic, eclectic atmosphere.
V Bar on restaurant row in the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, takes a completely different slant with a sleek, techno, minimalist décor modeled after New York City’s hip supper club Lotus, and LA’s star-filled Sunset Room. The patrons are the show at V Bar. People are an important part of the show at Tabú as well, but in some very unexpected ways. Here Roger Parent, former executive producer for Cirque de Soleil, teamed with Reactrix Systems, to utilize sensual, intriguing images of the human body as the moving and movable images projected on the main bar and two low tables. The special effects technology makes the tables come alive to the touch. For its outside walls, Tabú uses frosted glass to allow tempting silhouettes of the activity inside.
Music/Dancing - It’s all about the music. When it’s right, everything else just falls into place. Good DJs find the groove and work it all night. Get the ladies up on their feet. What music each of these lounges plays is as varied as where the actual dancing occurs. At super chic Risqué in Paris Las Vegas, they play an energized world music mix to an intimate dance floor. The Foundation Room mixes favorites from the 80s, 90s and today and the walkways become a spontaneous dance floor. At Tabú, the interactive tables serve double duty as dance platforms for hostesses in lingerie and Hotties in not much more. And Caramel has a little something for everyone playing a versatile mix of hip-hop, Tony Bennett, ’80s and the Rolling Stones.
Drinks and Eats - Here the various lounges differ wildly. On the tame side, the Foundation Room offers a standard alcohol menu and appetizers/desserts from the House of Blues restaurant. At OPM, Risqué and Tabú, the “ultra” concept extends to the food and beverage choices as well. A late night menu of Wolfgang Puck cuisine is available at OPM even in the wee pre-dawn hours. Risqué kicks it up a notch with one-of-a-kind desserts and pastries and a coffee bar, and a sensually-dressed staff to keep the drink glasses well attended. Caramel in Bellagio offers an exotic medley of Martinis, infused vodkas, sake, and specialty drinks. But Tabú has gone so far as to dedicate entire rooms to specific beverages. The circular Tantra Room is a vodka room made of ice illuminated by custom-created light fixtures and dozens of flickering candles. Champagne is the featured cocktail in the VIP room in the back. Table service includes bottles of vodka accompanied by decanters of mixers and chocolate strawberries, an erotic 1-2 punch accentuated by the lingerie-clad model-attendants serving it to you.
Eye Candy and Star Power - Carmen Electra. Jessica Alba. Rosario Dawson. Jessica Biel. Christina Aguilera. Carol Alt. Whitney Houston. Sandy and Mandy Bentley. Ultra lounges attract the ultra chic. It’s almost impossible not to run into an actress, model, actor, sports all-star, rock star, mogul, comedian on any given night at one of these hip hangouts.
Velvet Ropes - Hey, this is Vegas baby. If we could put a velvet rope in front of a bathroom we would. All the lounges have them and getting past them gets harder the later on Friday or Saturday you try to get in. If you’re not a player in the casino, or on the list, expect to wait. But if you want be a player, you may want to check out our Vegas V.I.P. packages that whisk you past the ropes and doormen, and seat you at your own private table.
