Drai’s popular with those up all night

By Melissa Arseniuk

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 | 10:42 p.m.

There’s nothing like the feel of the morning sun on your face as you walk out into a bright new day.

Especially when you realize, “Oh crap. I haven’t gone to bed yet.”

That fresh feeling quickly fades as the stale smell of last night’s party – the smoke, sweat and lord knows what else – lingers. You squint in the morning sunshine.

This is the inevitable experience that follows a night of nocturnal fun at an after-hours club.

The rest of the city is starting a new day before you put the last one to bed. Should you grab breakfast and join the land of the living as they get their days underway, or go find your bed, draw the blinds and get some sleep?

What time is it, anyway?

It could be 7, 8 or 9 a.m. Ten in the morning, even. Not that it matters; the time becomes irrelevant after 5 a.m.

There are a handful of after-hours clubs in Las Vegas, but Drai’s, in the basement of Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, is one of the oldest and most popular.

“In the beginning the only kind of after hours (places) at the time were strip joints,” the club’s owner, Victor Drai, says.

The late night hot spot has been open for 11 years now. Considering Las Vegas nightclubs’ typically short lifespans, Drai’s longevity and continued popularity is particularly impressive.

“That speaks to the service and the vibe that he’s created,” the president of Bill's Gamblin’ Hall and four other Harrah’s properties, Don Marrandino, said. “Three or four years seems to be the lifecycle (for a nightclub).”

“I think Victor is one of the pioneers of Vegas nightclubs,” he said. “He kind of brought the L.A. cool to Vegas.”

Marrandino says the club hasn’t changed all that much over the years.

“It was L.A. cool then and it’s L.A. cool now but L.A. cool has kind of evolved over the years,” he said.

Drai says the changes have been subtle.

“It’s more mainstream now than it was in the beginning,” he said.

Drai’s After Hours was the first Vegas-based venture for the former Hollywood producer. The club opened just as the L.A. restaurant of the same name ended its tenure as a celebrity favorite on Restaurant Row.

After opening his namesake after hours hangout, he opened Tryst at the Wynn and plans on opening two more ventures – one nightclub and one restaurant – at the Encore in the coming months.

He says he has no plans – or need to – open another after hours spot.

“I own the market,” he says flatly.

After hours clubs fill the void between party and pancakes for those who are still rarin’ to go but don’t want to watch dancers take their clothes off.

Drai’s doesn’t open its doors until 1 a.m. but the club keeps things going until the sun isn’t just up, but way up in the sky – usually around 10 a.m. – four nights a week.

The party feels like it’s being thrown in the basement of a 1970s-era mansion, complete with mirrored walls, hardwood floors, heavy area rugs, framed paintings, and potted ferns – yet it has a modern and alluring cool to it, too.

The club is small – it holds about 500 people – and its low ceilings, exposed beams and deep red walls create a sensual, surreal scene. The space is aglow with attractive lighting and dozens of candles that flicker across built-in bookshelves, mantle and tabletops.

A comfortable lounge area welcomes the weary with several oversized couches and a candle-filled fireplace. While bottle service is encouraged, it’s not required.

Further inside, Euro-house and R&B are heard in two separate but equally-sized rooms.

While the prevalent animal print upholstery may scream sex, seduction and scandal, the dominant bookshelves, dark wooden accents and calming fireplace suggest the place could double as a study, if it weren’t for the pulsating music and people dancing and drinking everywhere.

The bar line can be long at times, yet few seem to mind. By 4 or 5 a.m., most of the hard drinkers have already checked out and those who remain aren’t really the tequila-shooting, beer-pounding sort.

Drai says it’s all part of the design. Instead of an all-night bender, his nocturnal nightspot caters to a more sophisticated late night crowd.

“I just want people to have fun and feel safe and be comfortable,” he says. “If anybody’s awake at 4 o’clock they’re there.”

He acknowledges that things do “get crazy” at times – but crazy in a good way. He says he wants his clientele to have “the freedom to get a little bit wild and not worry about it.”

Drai insists problems with obnoxious, overly intoxicated patrons are rare.

“If somebody’s too drunk they’re already gone at four in the morning,” he says.

The crowd is a hodgepodge of eager clubbers, service industry insiders, trust fund babies, hipsters and fun-loving insomniacs – but they’re united in their mission to keep the party going.

The club hosts its share of celebrities and local glitterati but Drai is modest when it comes to his clientele and declines to name names.

“A lot of these people are friends of mine,” he says nonchalantly. “I don’t name friends names.”

Drai’s embodies its owner’s relaxed, its-really-no-big-deal attitude. While the line to get in can be as long as any other pretentious club on the Strip, the atmosphere inside is decidedly different.

The club has a VIP room but it’s not totally isolated or elevated. The Very Important People don’t party above the common folk or away from outsiders’ eyes. Instead, the space is right there, next to the main area with large windows connecting the two rooms.

And when the owner comes by, he avoids the VIP section and instead relaxes with the rest in the front parlor.

“I like the basic lounge,” he says. “That’s Drai’s for me.”

The 60-year-old club owner goes to his namesake nightspot at least once a week – though he acknowledges at times it can be rough.

“When I go to Drai’s I’m not home until six (a.m.), minimum,” he says. “Sometimes it’s a little tough on me.”

Like Drai, most patrons stay ‘til dawn, then party some more before throwing in the towel.

They eventually emerge from the relative darkness and stagger past the slot machines to make their way out into the new day that waits.

Outside they are greeted by a familiar feeling as the morning sun shines down upon them. Then comes the squinting of the eyes, followed by the realization that, “Oh, crap. I haven’t gone to bed yet.”

Meantime, eager tourists walk by as they start their day. Most don’t realize the weary partiers who are filtering out from the casino’s doors as they make their way along the Strip.

The well-rested sightseers pass quickly, eyes bright and cameras in hand, completely oblivious to the night that was had while they were sleeping soundly.

Collections of after hours alumni gather and stand motionless, seemingly stunned by the light of day. They contemplate breakfast as their eyes adjust to the light, then set about their way.

It’s this kind of experience that makes Vegas Vegas. And why we love this crazy town.