Las Vegas Weekly

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In a way, Rehab is the Starbucks of Vegas pool parties—I mean that in a good way. In the mid-2000s, when consumers complained that Starbucks had grown too corporate and too expensive, the company began pushing its smaller subsidiary, Seattle’s Best, instead of altering its brand or letting customers drip away.

Hard Rock has done something similar with Rehab. Vegas’ biggest weekly pool party is not for everybody. It’s loud and it’s intense and it’s bridge and it’s tunnel—and Hard Rock understands this. So last week Hard Rock opened an intended-for-locals (and VIPs) pool party-within-a-pool party. They call it Skybar. “It’s kind of like the anti-Rehab,” a security guard told me. You can find Skybar above the tattooed, enhanced, pulsating masses—around the raised pool, beyond the palm trees and the pink flowers.

I went on Sunday afternoon with my friend L. We ordered a Corona and a Rum & Diet ($42.70, gratuity automatically included) and took a seat overlooking the balcony. We watched a tattooed redhead lose her cool and then her top. We listened to Wyclef Jean welcome in the Vegas summer, and we had a great time doing it. So the moral of the story is: Even if Rehab isn’t your scene, Rehab just might be your scene.