VEGAS NIGHTLIFE NEWS: Drai’s De-basement, Cosmo Re-Cliques, XS & Foundation Room Temporarily Closing
Posted on: September 14, 2025, 12:37h.
Last updated on: September 16, 2025, 09:26h.
Lots of happenings to report about the Las Vegas nightlife scene in the past couple of weeks. The biggest is that Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub at the Cromwell has been evicted — at least from the rooftop perch it has occupied since 2014. The Cromwell is currently undergoing a rebrand into the Vanderpump Hotel, and owner Caesars Entertainment has other ideas for the prime real estate.
Drai’s will close there on Oct. 31, and just the nightclub half will reopen two days later in the casino resort’s basement. That’s where Victor Drai first debuted his nightclub in 2007, when the Cromwell was still known as the Barbary Coast.
This represents a drastic downsizing — from 65,000 feet of combined indoor and outdoor space on the roof to only 13,000 in the basement. (That’s one-fifth the size!) Indeed, according to documents filed with the state and obtained by KLAS-TV/Las Vegas, the move will cost 351 employees their jobs — 236 at Drai’s Nightclub, 108 at Drai’s Beach Club and seven at Drai’s Afterhours.
Drai’s has brought Caesars a steady onslaught of almost exclusively negative national publicity over the years.
It was the site of a fatal shooting in 2013, a large brawl following the Mayweather-McGregor boxing match in 2017, and a violent assault by New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara that left his victim severely injured in 2022.
Two years ago, it was also the scene of a very public dispute that saw rapper Cardi B. hurl her microphone at an audience member.
When the Cromwell reopens as the Vanderpump in summer 2026, the former Drai’s Beachclub space will host an upscale pool, a la the Go Pool at the Flamingo. No word yet on what will occupy the former rooftop nightclub space.
Lights On & Lights Out
Clique Bar & Lounge, which closed for renovations at the Cosmopolitan on May 1, has reopened following a renovation by design firm Petermax Co. (nothing to do with the pop-art painter).
“Lush banquettes and private nooks welcome intimate gatherings, while an open floor plan invites conversation and dancing,” reads a press release from the nightclub company. “Striking paintings by artist Lisa Ledson adorn the walls, and a brilliant disco ball, surrounded by a wreath of handcrafted, golden-hued flowers, hangs from the ceiling to complete the space, making the reinvention equal parts chic cocktail lounge and electric social haven.”
Wynn Las Vegas will close its XS nightclub for renovations for 90 days beginning next August, according to Vital Vegas, reopening in time for the hotspot’s 18th anniversary on New Year’s Eve
The Foundation Room atop Mandalay Bay has already closed for its renovation. Also according to Vital Vegas, it could be offline for up to a year, though its website claims only that it’s “temporarily closed.”
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