The Strip's lounge scene quietly got very good

Ask most people about Las Vegas nightlife and they will name four nightclubs. Meanwhile the Strip has quietly built something like thirty cocktail lounges worth going out of your way for, spread across nearly every major property, and almost nobody plans around them.

They should. A lounge charges no cover, serves drinks that are genuinely better than anything you will get in a club, holds a few hundred people rather than a few thousand, and lets you have a conversation. For a large share of the people who message us, it is the correct answer and nobody has suggested it to them.

Who a lounge is right for

• Anyone who has said they are too old for clubs. You are not, but this is a better night.
• Mixed age groups where not everyone wants a dance floor.
• People entertaining clients or colleagues, where a conversation is the point.
• Anyone not drinking much, or not drinking at all. Lounges make the best non alcoholic drinks in the city.
• Couples.
• Anyone whose budget went on the pool day.
• Your first night in town, which should never be a nightclub.

Where to start, by property

The Cosmopolitan has three: The Chandelier, which is three floors inside a chandelier and is the single most photographed drink in Las Vegas for good reason, plus Vesper Bar and Clique Bar and Lounge.

The Venetian and Palazzo have the densest concentration on the Strip: The Dorsey for jazz and soul, Rosina, Electra Cocktail Club, Juliet Cocktail Room, Bellini Bar, and Bar Luca over at the Palazzo. You can do a genuinely good crawl without leaving the building.

Caesars Palace runs Vanderpump Cocktail Garden, Vista Cocktail Lounge and Montecristo Cigar Bar.

Bellagio has The Pinky Ring, which is a proper Rat Pack style room with live music, and Petrossian Bar.

Wynn and Encore have Bar Parasol, Overlook Lounge and Eastside Lounge.

ARIA has Easy's Cocktail Lounge for jazz and soul, and Alibi Ultra Lounge.

Park MGM has Juniper Cocktail Lounge, and On The Record, which is a lounge that turns into something closer to a club as the night goes on.

Resorts World has Gatsby's Lounge. Delano has Skyfall Lounge with the view. Virgin has The Shag Room and The Bar at Commons Club. And off Strip, Red Rock has Rouge Room, Lobby Bar and Rocks Lounge, and Durango has Bel-Aire Lounge.

How to use them properly

As the whole evening. Dinner, then two lounges, home by one. This is a genuinely excellent Las Vegas night that costs a fraction of a club night and that everyone remembers fondly.

As the warm up. A lounge from nine to ten thirty, then the club before the list cutoff. Far better than sitting in a restaurant until eleven and missing it.

As the landing. A quiet drink after the club, when the group wants to actually talk about the night.

As the first night. Nobody has a good first night in a nightclub. Fly in, eat, go to a lounge, sleep. Night two works.

The practical notes

• No cover, generally. You are paying for drinks and that is it.
• Dress code is softer than a nightclub but these are not dive bars. Smart casual clears everywhere.
• Reservations exist at several of them and are worth making for a group, particularly at weekends.
• They are 21 and over in most cases, same as everywhere on a casino floor.
• Live music is a real feature at several, particularly The Pinky Ring, The Dorsey and Easy's.

We list every one of them, with the music, the resort and the room, on our lounges page. If you want a route rather than a list, tell a host what your group is like and which property you are staying at, and we will build you a two or three stop evening that fits. It costs nothing, there is no booking fee, and we will happily tell you when a lounge night is a better idea than the club you were about to pay for.