Liquid

Review

When passing by CityCenter you are in awe of the massive structure unlike anything you've ever seen in Vegas. But unless you go in and explore for yourself, you will never actually know what is tucked inside this city within a city.

The same could be said about Liquid at Aria. You won't find signs leading you around the casino floor to the pool club - actually you won't even find one sign until you are almost on top of the pool area itself. Liquid is tucked in neatly behind the resort's three other pristine pools in a world all to itself.

Nothing seems to escape Liquid, not even the sound of the music being played inside. Once you reach this quaint location you know you've stumbled onto something a little different.  

When you walk in, the first thing you will notice is that despite its relatively small size (16,000 square feet compared to more than 50,000 square feet in some of the bigger pool clubs) there isn't anything missing.

After rounding your way past the entrance, you'll find the bar, complete with a pleasant selection of mojitos including pineapple and dragon berry. The lunch menu is just as promising as the drink selection. The item that Keoni Cargill, Liquid's general manager, boasted about the most was the fish tacos, which he described as a blend of some of the best fish tacos he ever consumed in his hometown of San Diego inside of one tortilla.

If you don't have time to enjoy the pool at Liquid, but have a fix for one of those tacos, you can come just for lunch without paying a cover charge.

Once you do finally get past the bar and the food (even if takes a few tacos) you will see eight cabanas located along two of the richly-colored wood walls, which can comfortably sit 12-14 people on an extraordinarily long sofa. Cabanas feature two 40-inch plasmas and a PS3 with a selection of Madden, NBA Live and Tiger Woods Golf games among others. Additionally, you will have access to your own private pool, two daybeds and bevy of other perks such as a gift basket and robes.

Daybeds and lounges made with handcrafted wicker surround the outer edge of the pool and are within perfect viewing distance of the DJ booth where you will see a mix of local DJ talent and some of the industry's best. DJ Scene, who mixes for a number of radio shows in California including one of San Francisco's biggest stations, is the resident DJ on Thursdays. DJ Loczi has performed at some of the top events of the last decade and can be heard on Saturdays.

Liquid may as well have been designed by the intuitive folks over at IKEA, who always seem to find a way to pack a lot inside of a little space. Liquid finds a way to cram up to 800 people in the pool club without ever feeling too confined.

The impressive part about the club is that while it has everything the bigger clubs have, it will come to you at a less-than-expected price. Cabanas can be had for as little as a $1,500 food, beverage or retail minimum, depending on the day or event. Yes, that says retail. So when you see another girl with the exact same bikini on, you can buy a new one that will go toward your minimum.

Liquid is one of those pool clubs that manages to fit everything you want inside of a small package.

-- Review by Justin Lawson