Bottle service at TAO

Hi folks,

Searched for quite a while but wasn't able to find any info. We are going to Vegas in May and thinking about getting a table at TAO on a Thursday night. Does anybody know how much they charge for a bottle and what the minimum is for a party of 6?

Thanx!!!

$300 up. 4 people (read: guys) per bottle.

My buddy goes to Tao pretty frequently and he says he averages about $600/bottle for top shelf booze, with one bottle per 3 guys. If you want to get a nice table without a huge walk to the dancefloor, bring one girl for every guy. If you don't have girls in your party, pick out a group of hot girls similar to the size of your group that is waiting in line and ask them if they want to join your table and skip the line.

It's usually a bottle per 3 person minimum so you're looking at a minimum of 2 bottles. They start at $350 each and you also have to pay tax and 20% tip.

TAO still has a 2 bottle min for tables pretty much every night, so no matter how many people are in your group, you're going to have to get at least 2 bottles. I'm not a fan of TAO because I get way more crap from the hosts and waitresses there than at other clubs... in the past, they have bait+switched us on table location several times, tried to hustle us for 1 bottle per 2 people at a crappy table location, and have also tried to rescind a 2 for 1 offer after we ordered.

Also, be aware that prices change frequently based on perceived demand. For example, bottle pricing usually starts at $400ish on Fri/Sat, but you'll probably see that drop to $325ish most weeks on Worship Thursday.

And, as others have mentioned, keep in mind the 20% auto gratuity, as well as the 7.75% sales tax.

$600 is kinda high, unless he's digging into really top shelf stuff - even on Super Bowl Weekend a lot of the "top shelf" was only $550... on a typical weekend it's a lot less. On Fri/Sat GG etc. goes for about $450-475. Just hope your buddy isn't getting hustled.

While having hot girls in your group never hurts, I would say that if you are getting crappy table locations because you are in a group with all guys, you need to sack your VIP host. They're just like casino hosts - the goal should be to find one that will meet your needs. I won't ever be surprised at TAO hosts/staff reaching new lows, but with table reservations girl:guy ratio should be irrelevant. In fact, many hosts/bouncers will be happy to bring girls to your table of guys. Of course, you need to keep in mind that prime table locations often require much higher bottle minimums... but that should be the requirement, not some stupid girl:guy ratio. That's for people without table reservations to worry about.

Finding girls to walk in with is, of course, a very good strategy if you don't have a table reservation.

Oh, and be certain to tip the bouncers @ TAO.

Holy crap!

I guess, we'll skip TAO Las Vegas and have a night at TAO NY before flying back to Europe instead. I'm really sorry for this dumb question but usually I'm at Pure or Ghost Bar on Tuesday nights, so I'm not aware where to go an Wednesday (NOT the Hard Rock!) or Thursday nights. Any suggestions?

If you were set on visiting Tao, you shouldn't not go just because of a couple posts on a forum or a negative news article. I'm sure people have had bad experiences with all the nightclubs in town, and I'm sure there have been out-of-court, off-the-record settlements resulting from employee behavior that the public never hears about. Overall it's a great club with a great atmosphere and most of the time it's a fun experience - I just have more problems there than other clubs.


Wednesday night is industry night at LAX although I am not a fan of the club. And you said not Hard Rock, so Body English is out. Thursdays is either Tao or Tryst.

While I get the concept of bottle service, can some one explain how it actaully works?

What excatly is bottle service? What kind of bottles do you have to order? Is it champagne, wine, liquer, beer, etc? Can you even order a beer?

Never been to a Vegas night club, just hasn't been an interest to me.

Thanks

Bottle service is popular (well not as popular as it was in the boom years) in clubs in places like NYC, LA, Las Vegas because it allows you to get a place to sit at the club usually in a semi-private area and get waitress service. However, it is expensive. Very expensive. There are no bottles of beer, but instead bottles of champagne or liquor - exactly what you would buy at a liquor store. However, instead of paying something like $50 for a liter of grey goose, you will pay something close to $300. Yes, $300. Then add sales tax and a *mandatory* 20% tip on it and you're looking to pay close to $400 for a bottle of liquor. Multiply that by the two bottle-minimum you are likely to have to abide by, and you're close to $1000 for 2 bottles of liquor for about 4 or 5 people. If you have a larger group, you will have to buy more bottles. Told ya, it gets expensive.

So...who does it? Large groups of guys who, by themselves would not get into clubs due to their "undesirable ratio" (read: not enough girls) or people who don't care how much money they spend on a night out as long as it gets them attention and hot girls.

It actually is not much more than ordering that many drinks and paying cash. If a shot is 50ml, you're getting 20 drinks per liter bottle. Multiply that by $15 per drink and you're in the ballpark. Having a table for the evening and not having to wait in line makes the opportunity cost a no brainer, IMO.

Or large groups of people, period. One lucky night at Pure I was brought back to a couple rooftop tables reserved by a bachelorette party....that was a fun night.

Plus it matters where you go. We used to go to Risque at Paris many years ago and they only made us get one bottle for the five of us. Split up, it ended up being about $75 a person, but that covered the bottle, complimentary champagne when you got in and your cover charge--plus you got your own private balcony with a phenomenal view of the Bellagio fountains. And after that one bottle was done, you could just order regular drinks--you didn't have to just get another bottle.

You can order any drinks you want - you'll just pay regular bar prices to do it. Friends have commented that it is nice to have a waitress bring the drinks to the table directly, but you'll also be paying the additional 27.75% to cover auto-grat and tax for it.

Good, keep it that way. I will admit I like the atmosphere when on that rare occasion I'm in the mood for it, but that's nothing that can't be fixed by a gambling/dining comp pass and a quick stroll through. Other than that, honestly, I'd never go to a nightclub if people who visited me didn't insist on going. You'll really see the worst of what Vegas has to offer in terms of people - both employees (esp. the hosts) and the crowd - on a nightly basis at the hotspots.