THEhotel Mandalay Bay
I visited THEhotel almost 2 years ago in the midst of my MVP season; that summer was as hot as any here in Vegas. Looking back on that time period as I did last night, the innocence and excitement I felt during those early days of adventure and new found love, wrapped up in the most thrilling city in the country had me feeling nostalgic. I was back and nothing had really changed inside THEhotel. The only difference this time was my status and my comrades. No longer surrounded by old friends and a new lover I was now in league with Vern the 6ft 2in Filipino and Gordon the Chinese National. "Things change, people change" many will say and as much as I hate popular sayings I'd agree.
Vern and I met up for some drinks before heading out to The Beach for a comedy show featuring a Filipino comedian. I'm finding myself becoming immersed in the Filipino culture lately. Filipino comedians and then the eventual late night Filipino karaoke; it's seems I'm in line for an honorary Filipino citizenship.
I had made with arrangements earlier in the evening to speak with Steve Moberley the night Manager of MIX. After my nostalgic self pity party ended I had a stiff drink to wash it all away, and my guests I and approached the entrance to MIX. After several Gin and Tonics I was as ready as a Kennedy during spring break. We were immediately led to an elevator that was off to the left of the line. I’ll admit I was excited, anytime you need to take an elevator to get into a club you know the action is going to be good. Read my TAO review if you have any questions. There are many venues in Vegas that boast spectacular views of the Strip. I've visited Ghostbar and to a slightly lesser degree, Empire ballroom. Both have impressive views; however those are small time venues when compared to the awesome scene that opened up to us on the elevator ride up.
Once we got to the 64 th floor the doors opened up to reveal a classy and sophisticated club/lounge. The first thing you notice is the massive 18ft windows that give you the best view thus far in town. You see everything! I was so engrossed in the spectacular view I didn’t notice the beautiful women that were all around! At least not at first! My comrades were equally as awestruck. We quickly made our way to the bar to further our crusade.
The VIP section is small so you can walk around it and go outside to get air and continue taking in the view. This dear readers is the most high society scene I've been in since coming to Vegas. Yet the consistent theme that I've written about has been the friendliness extended toward me. Tonight was no different. After the view and the beautiful women you also notice the round red concave structure that wraps around the entire upper section of the bar. Very post modern, the ambient light seems to bounce off the red concave thing to give the bar area a reddish glow. Very cool.
Since Steve was not in I spoke with David Bodzin the lounge manager, Steve gave me the back round to this lavish and self indulgent scene. MIX has been in operation for 16 months, an eternity by Vegas standards. As you can guess MIX caters to the more relaxed crowd no Armani zoot suits, the crowd is high society and they like it. I could once again feel the dark side tempting me, I almost want to go back to school and get my degree in management and land a cozy job like this and forget the journalism!
Make no mistake 64 floors up and this is the place to be. I wonder how my fellow liberals in California would navigate these treacherous waters. Would they bend like cheap matchsticks or crumble under the pressure of what to wear? We might never know. MIX offers restaurant service before 10:00, which by the way is the best time to go if you don’t want to pay 25.00 to get in. The vibe here is top sophistication with no room for riff-raff or mixed levels of rampant douche-baggery. Although I did see some wankers wearing sunglasses in near total darkness; this is a crime against everything decent.
According to David if you’re a drunk tourist looking to cause a little trouble, let’s just say the security is so good and well trained, they will actually read your mind and promptly kick your ass out before you do anything naughty. Nice to know, since I was wearing my best white shirt and I couldn’t risk the sunglass wearing knuckle dragger to spill his drinks on me due to low visibility. The drink prices here are decent and I was surprised! 9.00 for a rum and coke which felt like mouthful of listerine was a nice change, I half expected a 22.00 drink always a good thing. I could really enjoy a place like this. A good retro vibe with sophistication and hot girls what more can be said? The club isn’t too big they stress the lounge aspect, which I personally like. If you want big club go downstairs and wait in line for 2 days to get into RumJungle which by the way I'm dreading to review, nothing like drunk tourists with entirely too much money grabbing your ass and laughing about it. There is a small dance area in MIX located in the corner near the elevator. The crowd here is enjoying the great view, drinking like sailors and working their respective game. I was no different. I was getting drunk on David's generosity and my companions were trying to do the same. Right before I initially got in the elevator to come up, there were some ladies who tried to trick the security guy claiming to also be journalists. They had heard me talking to the security staff and wanted to do the same…gotta give em credit. I met up with them later on in the evening. They were tourists from Colorado who were by the looks of it enjoying themselves. They claim the temptation for them to move here is enormous…motivated by cheap rent and cheaper drinks has them and most waywards wanting the "In" and the society status that comes with living in a unique place like Vegas. I wished them luck and bid them and my gracious hosts at MIX adieu.
Highlights
Decent drink prices and very liberal alcohol pouring makes MIX a nice getaway. Like the gods on Olympus looking down on the minions you are 64 floors up and it feels great! MIX in large douses of Rum and I had my comrades calling me Apollo! By the end of the night I was shooting lightning bolts.
