Just visited the Vegas club :)

[BunnyFan]

I Just came back from spending a week in Las Vegas where finally made my pilgrimage to the new Playboy club.

I thought you guys might be interested so I wrote down a few observations. :D

The Club:

Walking into the club was quite overwhelming, I had to take a moment to just take it all in... I bet it's the same way the original key holders felt when they visited the old clubs.:)

The interior design of the club is gorgeous, very modern and different from the old clubs but then again the old clubs were very modern for their day.
The first thing I noticed was how dark it was in there, the only real lighting were lights lighting up the cards at the blackjack tales and the decorations on the walls and it made it very difficult to see the bunnies, the only real look I got of them was from the pictures i took.

The music was modern hip hop and too loud for any sort of real conversation, I tried to speak with one of the bunnies but had to ask her to repeat herself a few times. The only place one could converse was a the bar.
One thing the new club had in common with the old clubs were the centrefolds arrangement on the walls, but this time the frames had slide shows of pictures of centerfolds, bunnies, Hef and his crew and celebrities... the naughty parts were blurred out, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think they were at the old clubs.

I did visit all 4 nightclubs at the Palms, Ghostbar, Rain, The Playboy club and Moon, and to me the Playboy club seemed very similar to the other clubs, just a nightclub with bunnies in it.
For my part I wish they had gone more the way of a full blown Playboy club with dining even and a set mood... but I guess that wouldn't be profitable in today's entertainment business.

The Bunnies:

After viewing the club we found a table and sat down, then we had to wait quite a while before a bunny made it's way to our side of the room. When she did come over all she said was "are you OK for drinks"... I was hoping for the whole introduction.
She never returned to our table so I guess they don't have any special table procedures.
The bunnies didn't do the bunny dip while serving and there is actually a chair at the end of some tables that when not occupied the bunny will actually sit on ?? and chat with the patrons.
I also didn't see them carry themselves in any special manner, no stance or perch so they seemed more like waitresses in bunny costumes than bunnies waitressing.

They did mingle with the guests on the dance floor but often times they would stand together in a group behind a service station type table in one corner of the club.

The dealer bunnies looked very serious most of the time, one of them was bored to tears yawning like crazy waiting for someone to sit at her table.
While watching them deal I was very impressed with their movements, they were very professional and it was like watching a show.
They get a half an hour break every hour, when it was their time to go on break they but their heads down and stormed through the club to the back room.

I struck me as odd that there were 14 blackjack tables in the club and only 1 roulette, and by the roulette table there was a guy... not a bunny.

At the bar there are no bunnies either, a mix of men and women bartenders in vests and corsets.

No door bunnies, just a burly, stern and not very welcoming security guard.


The new costume is made from a similar but a bit coarser and thicker satin type material than the old costumes (I made a note of it while with my hand on a bunnies back while posing for a picture he he) and I was sad to see that many of the tails in the club were very flat, only one bunny had a really fluffy round tail.
The bunny ears are very similar to the original ones and I didn't see any Cavalli type ears (those long and pointy ones).
The bunnies seemed not to bother much with them and some of the seemed like they needed to be replace as they were very wrinkled and crumpled. I also didn't see any clever ear folds.

Overall it was a fun and interesting experience.
Since I never visited the old clubs I can't compare them but I'm pretty confident that they were much much better in the past.

I'll add more if I think of anything else.

BunnyFan

[Alan]

Thank you for the excellent review.

Very interesting read.

I'm surprised they don't do the Bunny Dip. But even in the old clubs, Bunnies working in crowded rooms didn't bother with the procedure.

As for the tails... well, I said it when I first saw the Roberto Cavalli redesigns and I still say it - the new costumes and especially the tails look like cheap costume shop imitations (of a design classic).

It's as if the tail is a microcosm of the Bunny empire.

When the first few clubs opened, they were quite small, like the burgeoning empire itself.

Then the tails blossomed to their biggest and fluffiest as the Playboy Clubs reached their operational height in the mid to late sixties.

And then from 1970 onward the tails were replaced by the more durable, less expensive (and alas) non-fluffy version as the Playboy Clubs became just another chain operation as profit margins took precedence over the original magic.

I've even noticed that the tails on the current Playmate Bunny costumes (worn by Playmates appearing at promotions and mansion parties), are smaller than they were two or three years ago. As I said, the tail is an unintentional microcosm for the shrinking Playboy 'Empire'.

The Vegas Playboy Club, with the costumes and the tails, all combine to leave an empression that it is a half-hearted attempt to recreate the original magic. They know it's kitsch to recreate a faded icon, so they throw in even more kitsch by asking Cavalli to redesign. The original costume(s) are still far better than Cavalli's redesigns.

I'll say this though, the Vegas Bunnies are as beautiful as the originals. The service leaves a little to be desired though.

But they all look like they are having fun (or as much fun as you can have among preening exhibitionists, lecherous men, jaded vacationers and D-list 'celebrities').

So not much change from the original clubs after all!!


_________________
Alan, Webmaster
Ex Playboy Bunnies

[JG]

I've been looking forward to going there for some time now. This review reminds me a phrase, something about 'Beware of meeting your heroes'?

I want to show up to the old Continental Hotel here in Kansas City, go up to suite 2220 and present my key for my own personal "Field of Dreams" experience.
_________________
I just can't get enough.

[BunnyFan]

Good theory on the bunny tails Alan! It makes perfect sense.

The Vegas tails are even so small that one button clasp in the middle is enough to attach it to the costumes, not 3 hooks like on the old ones.

And for me atleast the "meeting your heroes" saying doesn't go here cause I knew this club was different and more of a novelty... the real heroes are the bunnies at the old clubs.... and man do I wish hose were still around. :D

BunnyFan

[Alan]

[BunnyFan]

[hefdream]

Hi , I am 58 years old and I visited the Playboy Clubs from New York , Chicago and Los Angeles in 1981 . I am going to Las Vegas specially to see the Playboy Club. The old Playboy Clubs are very sophisticated places and the members could dinner and be attendant with real bunnies . I hope to see Las Vegas Playboy Club and after I will tell you what I think.