Consider hanging out, as the locals quickly began doing, at Aureole, Red Square, and the House of Blues, all in Mandalay Bay. There's a separate bar at Aureole facing the wine tower, where your wish for wine sends comely lasses flying up four stories, courtesy of Peter Pan-style harnesses, to fetch your desired bottle. At Red Square, keep your drink nicely chilled all night long on the ice bar, created by water that's freshly poured and frozen daily. Or hang out and feel the blues at the small bottle-cap-bedecked bar in the corner of the House of Blues restaurant, which gets quite lively with off-duty locals after midnight.

You might also check out the incredible nighttime view at the bar atop the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower -- nothing beats it.

There's also the Viva Las Vegas Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel, which every rock-connected person in Vegas will eventually pass through.

And the Petrossian Bar in Bellagio offers class along with its cocktails (to say nothing of caviar and other delicacies) -- but come for the cocktails, as those in the know claim it's not only the best bar in Vegas for such matters, but maybe the best bar in the West.

Piano Bars--Cafe Nicolle has a small, but agreeable piano bar.