The ultimate guide to Vegas nightclubs

Twenty-thousand-pound chandeliers, lighting rigs designed to look like spacecraft and $40,000 bottle service.

No, there’s nothing quite like the nightlife scene in Las Vegas.

But with so many high-end clubs vying for your dollar (dollars by the thousand, to be more accurate), where to begin?

Right here with this guide to some of the biggest and best spots on the Strip:

Drai’s Nightclub, The Cromwell

The 80-sided LED disco ball beckons.

Heed its call at Drai’s.

Ensconced on the 11th floor atop The Cromwell, Drai’s Nightclub is the leading hip-hop nightspot in Vegas — or anywhere, arguably.

This is the place to see rap prime movers like Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, DaBaby and others perform live on a weekly basis.

The setting is expansive, with over 150 VIP tables, eight pools and two VIP balconies. There’s also more than 7,000 square feet of LED screens.

Oh, and don’t forget the aforementioned, asteroid-sized dance floor accoutrement looming above it all.

Hakkasan, MGM Grand

At 80,000 square feet, the only thing bigger than Hakkasan is your potential bar tab — remember, this is the place that once offered a $500,000 Armand de Brignac Dynastie Collection bottle service package, the most expensive in the world.

A labyrinthine nightspot that spans five levels (the first two being Hakkasan Restaurant), the club encompasses a main room the size of an airplane hangar, the 10,000-square-foot Ling Ling Club (and private Ling Ling Lounge), The Pavilion, which is also in the main room and a mezzanine overlooking all the action.

A space this large needs talent to fill it, which is why popular draws like Steve Aoki, Tyga and DJ Pauly D are regulars here.

And while many clubs go dark on Hump Day, Hakkasan hosts popular R&B party “SaadiQ Wednesdays” in The Studio for some midweek slow jams.

Jewel, Aria

Who wants to party on a Monday?

Rhetorical question there, chief.

Yet most clubs are closed at the onset of the workweek.

But not Jewel, whose “Flawless Mondays” party is the place to be on the day in question.

As sparkly and luminescent as its namesake, Jewel occupies the space that once housed Haze.

The most eye-popping feature here is The Wonderwall behind the DJ booth, which comes adorned with dual-sided LED video screens and dazzling effects lighting capable of shape-shifting 360-degree movement.

There are also five themed skyboxes — The G.O.A.T., for instance, comes decorated with sports memorabilia.

And while Jewel doesn’t really chase the big-name DJs like some other spots, stars like Steve Aoki and Lil Jon have been known to drop by. You should, too, if fun is your thing.

Liv, Fontainebleau

Because who doesn’t want a 6-liter bottle of Methuselah Ace of Spades Brut Champagne delivered to your table in a Tesla Cybertruck surrounded by a phalanx of servers?

It’ll set you back a mere $40K, but it’s one of the many awesomely decadent attractions at Vegas’ newest megawatt nightspot.

Like its sister property in Miami, Liv is all about the extravagantly extravagant, from its customized, state-of-the-art sound system to visual flourishes that conjure the sensation of having one’s pupils replaced with strobe lights.

The resident DJs range from EDM kingpins (Tiesto, David Guetta, John Summit) to a sprinkle of hip-hop (Metro Boomin).

And if your bank account rivals the GDP of Eritrea, you can even score an onstage table near the DJ booth.

Marquee Nightclub, The Cosmopolitan

This club is a chameleon, with three different rooms catering to as many different vibes in the 40,000-square-foot venue.

There’s the EDM-heavy main room, the hip-hop-leaning Boombox and the book-strewn alcove the Library, where the “LowKey in the Library” series features deep house sounds every Wednesday.

One of a handful of clubs that ushered in the EDM boom on the Strip, Marquee doesn’t feature as many heavyweight DJ-producers as it once did, but it still books esteemed scene vets like DJ Vice and Benny Benassi and plenty of rising stars.

And their year-round “Sundays Under the Dome” pool parties remain hot, hot, hot even when the weather outside gets cold, cold, cold.

Omnia, Caesars Palace

The first thing you see is the last thing you’ll forget: Hovering above the main room at Omnia like a spaceship powered by Champagne and pockets deeper than King Kong’s navel looms a giant kinetic chandelier unlike anything else you’ll experience in Vegas.

With eight rings and a weight of 22,000 pounds, the gargantuan contraption was created by U2 stage designer Willie Williams.

It’s a fittingly over-the-top centerpiece for one of the city’s largest, most lavish clubs, which also features an outdoor terrace overlooking the Strip and the luxe Heart of Omnia ultralounge.

True high rollers can spring for the $21,000 Artist Meet & Greet bottle service package, which includes six bottles of premium sips as well as the opportunity to potentially rub elbows with some of the big names who perform here, including Tiesto, Martin Garrix and others.

Tao, The Venetian

Nightclubs tend to age in dog years with a similarly limited life expectancy — even for the biggest and best.

But Tao turns 20 this September, a remarkable feat in a city posited on perpetual reinvention.

How’d they do it?

By helping to revolutionize the Vegas club experience two decades ago, upping the ante on high-end nightlife and pricey bottle service as one of the first — if not the first — mega-clubs on the Strip with a bevy of celebrities vying for space amid the numerous Buddha statues.

Tao has evolved with the times, as the club no longer participates in the superstar DJ arms race, favoring more open-format sounds and bang for the buck. (Ladies, get on the guest list and enjoy an open bar from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. most nights).

As Vegas has ascended into the nightlife stratosphere, this place supplied that initial tank of rocket fuel.

XS, Wynn Las Vegas

If Tao opened the door to a new era of Vegas nightlife, XS kicked the sucker down for good upon debuting at Wynn Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve 2008.

From day one, the indoor/outdoor club booked the biggest names in the most opulent, golden-hued, 40,000-square-foot setting that helped elevate Vegas into a major player for the type of superstar DJ-producers who largely avoided Vegas at the time.

Oh, how those times have changed, as exemplified by some of the regulars here: Diplo, Marshmello, The Chainsmokers, Dillon Francis, to name a few.

And the club’s “Night Swim” series on Sundays in the spring and summer remains the gold standard, literally, of evening pool parties.

Zouk, Resorts World

It’s like Electric Daisy Carnival with a roof, such is the array of EDM superstars who come here regularly: Kaskade, Illenium, Alison Wonderland, DJ Snake, etc.

Throw in occasional visits from hip-hop favorites like Lil Wayne, Nelly and T-Pain, and Zouk’s roster of acts rivals pretty much anyone’s.

The setting here is as expansive as the lineup of performers: The main room is dominated by The Mothership, an aptly named, custom-designed lighting rig that does, in fact, look like a massive, luminous spacecraft transporting a payload of good times in place of little green men.

Beam us up.

Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @jasonbracelin76 on Instagram.