Sometimes it’s not what you know — it’s what you know about before anyone else. While you’ll always find new and inventive places opening on the Las Vegas Strip, the hottest spots are the secret enclaves that are either only spoken about in whispers, ultra-exclusive or so new they remain undiscovered.
Our best advice: research well, be flexible, get creative and, when possible, plan far ahead to take advantage of these experiences before word gets out.
Tucked Away: Easy’s Cocktail Lounge in ARIA Resort & Casino
Speakeasies have been all the rage in Las Vegas since The Laundry Room inside Downtown’s Commonwealth debuted more than a decade ago. Now, they are considered as essential as a steakhouse to a resort’s food and beverage offerings. Easy’s, hidden behind a doughnut shop in the new Proper Eats food hall, really takes the cake — or, the doughnut, more specifically. But inside, it only features one menu item: Beluga caviar. Accompanied by crème fraîche, chives, lemon wedges and two chilled glasses of Belvedere vodka, the caviar arrives on a bed of ice in a replica Fabergé egg. Cocktail presentations play to the heights of whimsy, displayed in vessels such as mushroom-shaped glasses, cigar box pipes and oversized seashells.
Hidden: Wakuda’s Secret Omakase Room & Bar
Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas elevates the precision and innovation of Japanese cuisine into uncharted territory through Wakuda’s new omakase dining experience.
Nestled at the end of a passageway behind a wall of art from Hiroyasu Tsuri, this is chef Tetsuya Wakuda’s passion project (his other standouts include Five-Star Waku Ghin in Singapore).
First, you are escorted into Omakase Room’s hidden bar and treated to a bespoke cocktail tasting — custom-made to flavor preference — and canapés.
Then you will take your place in one of only eight seats in the Omakase Room for the main event. With a $500 price tag, plus an extra $250 for drink pairings, the dining experience pulls out all the stops: live crustaceans, Japanese wagyu beef and the finest sashimi from Japan. Wakuda also collaborates with Louis XIII I by Rémy Martin on the Perfect Pour menu as an addition to the omakase.
Two seatings are offered Friday and Saturday at 6 and 9 p.m.
Behind Closed Doors: The Art of Aufguss at Awana Spa in Resorts World Las Vegas
Immersive theater meets a spa experience at Four-Star Awana Spa. Among the pools and Foot Spa Lounge, you’ll find an innovative “performance sauna” you must see to believe. The Art of Aufguss — meaning “infusion” in German — showcases a theater-inspired circular heated room with aromatherapy, choreographed music, lighting and graceful dancing. Hosted by a “sauna meister,” the 30-minute themed event relaxes, invigorates and inspires.
Book the Art of Aufguss, available Friday to Sunday, with the Fountain of Youth experience (a choose-your-own-adventure spa day with access to the six vitality pools, heated crystal laconium room, tepidarium chairs, vapor-filled steam rooms, cool mist showers and the experiential rain walk for up to three hours) or a 60-minute treatment.
Ultra-Exclusive: Wynn Tower Suites Pool
As the days get longer, allowing for more fun in the sun, there’s no better place to be in Las Vegas than the Tower Suites Pool. You’ll feel like you’re in the French Riviera, thanks to undulating tile details and the crisp citrus and azure color palette, lush green foliage and glistening waters. The private cabanas flanking dual waterscapes all invite a certain kind of mischievous wonderment.
Of course, the catch is that the pool is reserved for guests of the newly redesigned Five-Star Wynn Tower Suites, an exclusive hotel within Wynn Las Vegas. Cabana service comes with complimentary water, fruit and soft drinks upon arrival, and each oasis boasts misters, a sound system and a large television. For shade or seclusion, just draw the cabana drapes.
You won’t have to sacrifice any sunshine — each cabana comes with a terrace and chaise lounges for when it’s time to re-up on the vitamin D. At the pool, lunch and snacks come from the decadent breakfast and brunch menu at Tableau, with the additional option of ordering from the pool dining menu as well as Terrace Pointe Cafe.
So New, You Didn’t Know: Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas Remodel
Tucked inside Mandalay Bay, Four-Star Hotel Four Seasons Las Vegas has long been one of the city’s best-kept secrets for guests looking for a place slightly removed from the action but still conveniently located. Now it’s getting a chic new look with its 424 guest rooms and suites undergoing a remodel.
Kara Smith from Los Angeles-based KES Studio, responsible for the celebrated ARIA Sky Villas revamp, leads the two-phase plan. Guest rooms and executive and one-bedroom suites will open April through September, and 20 specialty suites and penthouse parlor areas October through December. Expect a residential feel with a soft palette inspired by the morning light of the Mojave Desert observed while gazing through floor-to-ceiling views of the surrounding Las Vegas Valley. The accommodations will carry all the latest in entertainment systems, lighting and other technology, too.
