9 Best Nightlife in North Strip, Las Vegas

Pining for a genuine taste of retro Las Vegas? This kitschy and shagadelic lounge that dates to 1972 remains one of the town's truly essential nightspots. Just north of Encore, this evergreen romantic getaway serves food, but what you're really here for is the firepit—a sunken area with a raised pond with flames shooting out of the center—and signature cocktails such as the Bubble Bath and the lethal, 64-ounce Scorpion. Happy hour's from 3 to 6 pm daily.

Nowhere else in Vegas furnishes you with the four Ds—dining, drinking, dancing, and drooling—in quite as alluring a mix as this multilevel (and multimillion-dollar) playground. The ground floor and mezzanine levels are exquisite enough (you almost tumble into the women in rose-petal baths before you're in the door), but once you get off the elevator at the top floor, where an army of dramatically lighted stone deities greets you, the party truly begins. Chinese antiques, crimson chandeliers, and a so-called Opium Room set the mood. It's still one of the best dance clubs in Vegas. In spring and summer, Tao Beach opens with daytime pool parties.

This club backs up onto a pool that converts into one of the most spacious open-air dance floors in town. The resort's signature attention to detail shines through with motifs throughout evoking "the sexy curves of the human body," such as walls imprinted with golden naked body casts (the waitresses reportedly modeled for them). At the pool are cabanas, another bar, and outdoor gaming, where the sexiest croupiers in town ply their trade. Excess is a pretty good word for all of this.

Ayu Dayclub, part of the opulent outdoor oasis that is Resorts World’s pool area, is designed to bring to mind the islands of Southeast Asia. The 41,000-square-foot space features music from a variety of genres, including EDM, hip hop, R&B, and new wave, from artists including Tiesto, Cash Cash, and Louis the Child. The DJs curate special playlists for big-event weekends.

Definitely not your father’s cigar bar, this sexy lounge filled with sexy people (and known to attract a few celebrities) has a custom-crafted humidor, popular and limited-edition stogies, and a drinks menu tailored to the smokes and designed to foster relaxation.

The sleek, sophisticated Gatsby’s is known for its vintage and rare Champagnes and classic and artisanal cocktails, including one that’s served in a miniature bathtub, complete with rubber duckies. Every first Friday brings the Return of the Gatz, a 1920s-theme party with music and dancing.

“Enter a hidden world of sin,” implore the operators of Here Kitty Kitty, a speakeasy tucked away in a “secret” spot in the Famous Foods food hall. The sin is tame by some Las Vegas standards, limited to specialty cocktails such as One Night Stand, which is Don Julio blanco tequila, lime, strawberries, serrano, and Tajin. Can’t decide? Name a spirit, and one of the talented bartenders will surprise you. There also are extensive collections of tequila and mezcal, Scotch, bourbon, and Asian whiskey.

Lounges in Las Vegas have lots of varying vistas, but few can equal the Overlook Lounge, which, appropriately, overlooks the Wynn resort’s Lake of Dreams. The interior is elegant, with draping fabrics that seclude it from the adjacent casino, lots of wood grain, crystal lamps on the tables, and a ceiling with ornate moldings. It serves all the classic cocktails, plus a large list of innovative ones created by Wynn’s accomplished mixologist, Mariena Mercer Boarini, that are designed to appeal to all five senses. Try the Hudson, an amber-hued blend of blanco tequila, grapefruit liqueur, thyme, and pink grapefruit bubbles, finished with edible perfume.

Zouk is, as you would expect from Las Vegas’s newest resort, a pulsating, throbbing bazaar of more than 2,000 dancing bodies, bright big-city lights, strobes, and lasers in what the operators say is the most technologically advanced club in town. Kaskade is the resident artist, and the club also books superstars such as Tiesto, Ludacris, Zedd, and Slander.