Best Las Vegas Nightlife - Travel

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Best Production Show: It's a total deadlock tie between Cirque du Soleil's K? and O (tel. 866/774-7117 for K?, and tel. 888/488-7111 for O). The latter is more "traditional" -- if you can call a human circus that uses a giant tank of water as a stage "traditional" -- in that it has only a loose semblance of narrative, whereas K? actually has a plot. Both are dazzling and, given the extremely high production values, seem worth the extremely high ticket price.

Best Old-Time Vegas Production: You know: big, huge stage sets, pointless production numbers, showgirls, nipples on parade, Bob Mackie headdresses. Ah, Jubilee!; this world would be dreary without you (tel. 800/237-7469).

Best Smart Show: This town isn't good enough for either Blue Man Group (tel. 866/641-7469) or Penn & Teller (tel] 888/746-7784).

Best Local Hang: Hard-core types (including punks, off-duty strippers, off-duty wait staff, and, on certain nights, Blue Men sans makeup, doing weird percussion things) gather way after hours at the Double Down Saloon, 4640 Paradise Rd. (tel. 702/791-5775).

Best Night Club. If by "best" you mean "most popular," and by "most popular" you mean "people are willing to start standing in line hours before they open and pay $30 a pop, and that's before alcohol, just to get a foot in the door," then Pure in Caesar's Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (tel. 702/731-7110), beats out the competition by a long shot.

Best Ultralounge: That's just Vegas-speak for "fancy-pants hotel bar," but most of them are pretty nice, if trying too hard to be all that. Still, we like the vibe at Tab?, at MGM Grand (tel. 702/891-7183).

Best Reason to Wait in Line: We never think there is a good enough reason, but ghostbar, in the Palms (tel. 702/938-2666), is a fantastic hotel bar, especially because of its outstanding view, perched high above the Strip. Meanwhile, there's a good reason Rain Nightclub, 4321 W. Flamingo Rd. (tel. 702/940-7246), keeps packing them in -- it's plus ne ultra for dance clubs. But the style of Body English (tel. 702/693-5000), in the Hard Rock Hotel, is terribly appealing to us as well.

Best Burlesque: Tough call, given the competition, but Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce (tel. 702/632-7000), in Mandalay Bay, was the first establishment (back in Los Angeles) to cash in on the return of the high-class hoochie girl, and still does it the best here.

Best Strip Clubs: You know you want to know. We give the honors to Treasures, 2801 Westwood Dr. (tel. 702/257-3030), because we think all strip joints should insist on production numbers with stage effects and look like old-fashioned English brothels.

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