Las Vegas Weekly

A waste of Wasted Space? Plus the Party Awards winners

Wasted Space is now a way-to-crowded space.

Photo: Scott Doctor

A waste of Wasted Space?

A recent renovation to Wasted Space has oddly reconverted the lounge portion of the tiny nightclub venue back to more of an actual casino lounge, thereby cutting the size of the successful “anti-club” by almost a full third  and restricting customer access to the main room’s one and only bar.

So far, the changes consist of removing the three end booths and corresponding walls of Wasted Space’s lounge, thus exposing the club directly to the casino at all times; the exit guard stand has been relocated; and the once decorative curtain between the venues is closed. Sources within the Hard Rock say that the hasty decision to renovate came directly from the hotel’s executive level, and that even club management were unaware of what was going on until pretty much the time sledgehammers arrived. 

To understand the true peculiarity of this decision, it is important to keep in mind that the real estate Wasted Space now occupies within the Hard Rock was formerly a spacious and largely underperforming casino lounge, hence its being turned it into a nightclub in the first place. Several customers who have visited the newly cleft-in-twain Wasted Space have expressed frustration that they no longer have the extra room to move around, and that ordering drinks from the bar has now become “nearly impossible” during peak club hours because of the sheer gridlock of people.

The reasoning behind the renovations is rumored to be an effort to increase daytime bar and gaming revenues for the lounge, but it is too soon to tell what effect this will have on the bar sales from Wasted Space’s evening customers. With no shortage of available bars and poker machines inside the Hard Rock Hotel, we look forward to seeing if any further renovations will allow nightclub customer access to the lounge when necessary, or if the lounge side will live up to its name while the club side is bursting at the seams.

The Las Vegas Party Awards

A party to honor parties? Yes! The first annual Las Vegas Party Awards took place on Sunday, July 19,  inside the Bank Nightclub. With categories limited to events that occur annually or semi-annually within local nightclubs, winners were selected by way of invitation-only voting on jackcolton.com (maintained by Weekly contributor Jack Colton). The event planners and marketing directors of the winning annual events received elaborate disco “Party Ball” trophies to commemorate their successful endeavors.

And the winners are … Hottest “I Kissed a Girl” Contest: Tao Nightclub. Best List Party: Socialite Holiday Party. Most-Anticipated Annual Event: Vegas Prom. Best Annual Contest: Tao-a-Go-Go. Best Theme Party: Midsummer Night’s Dream, Palms  Las Vegas. Best Rally Party: Womanizer, The Bank Nightclub. Most Popular Locals’ Birthday: Zee Zandi and Justin Bueltel. Most-Original Annual Event: 9-to-5: Because Partying is a Full Time Job, JET Nightclub and Jack Colton. Most Popular Sleepover: The Big Sleepover, Palms Las Vegas. Greatest Giveaway: LAX’s $100,000 Bikini Contest.