10 New Venues in Las Vegas for Fall 2021 Meetings and Events

This new venue is a hybrid concept offering dining, sports viewing, betting, entertainment and nightlife. Opened in July 2021 at Virgin Hotels, the expansive Money, Baby! has a capacity of 730 for receptions. Designed by Davis Ink, the 15,000-square-foot space is like a lively playground for adults: Hexagonal lights surround the entry tunnel, which opens up into a pink forest of trees with custom cutout leaves, happy face graffiti, geometric fencing, a graphic ceiling and a spoked soffit above the main bar. The space flows onto the 5,500-square-foot-patio overlooking the resort’s pools for a fully indoor-outdoor experience with lawn games and fire pits. There are DJ booths indoors and out. A private dining room is only accessible by a speakeasy-style door. More than 200 HDTVs provide a 360-degree sports viewing experience, and there’s even an in-venue sportsbook.

Opened in September at the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian Resort is Sushisamba Tree Bar’s new 1,500-square-foot Tree Bar & Lounge. Designed by iCrave, the same architectural team behind the original space opened in 2008, the new bar is inspired by the sculptural design of the Sushisamba London Tree Bar. The design is meant to blend with Sushisamba Las Vegas’s structural elements, swirling ribbons and graffiti art. Tree Bar’s wooden shell exterior opens to reveal an interpretation of an ancient Banyan tree with an orange leaf canopy illuminated by lights. Warm, leather furnishings draw inspiration from midcentury-modern Brazilian designers. Other standout design features include textured stones, tropical wood and custom light fixtures. The venue holds 140 for a reception or 75 for a seated event.

This restaurant and lounge opened in May with room for as many as 12 in the private dining room and a total buyout capacity of 350. Kassi Beach House, located at the new Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, is meant to feel like an escape to the Italian seaside. It serves authentic coastal Italian cuisine alongside a wine, beer and cocktail menu. Meant to inspire a vibe similar to Italy’s relaxed trattorias, the spacious Kassi Beach House can be accessed from the pool with some poolside seating available. The venue has DJ lineups for daytime and evening groups and events.

Ryan Doherty, founder of Corner Bar Management, brings a glamorous retro-desert vibe to Fergusons Downtown Motel with the company’s latest boutique restaurant and bar, Peyote. Opened in September, the colorful 3,400-square-foot venue holds 300 for buyouts and has an open-air terrace and a menu including handcrafted cocktails, appetizers and savory main dishes. A cactus and succulent garden stands out front, setting the stage for a funky, bohemian-tinged atmosphere throughout.

In September, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas debuted Casa Playa, a coastal Mexican restaurant and lounge. Located adjacent to the Encore Beach Club, the restaurant has a menu from executive chef Sarah Thompson (think squash blossom quesadilla and Baja fried fish tacos), cocktails from Wynn resort mixologist Mariena Mercer Boarini, and a curated mezcal and tequila collection from agave expert Noah Arenstein. Decor takes inspiration from Mexican seaside towns, with rich textures and bright colors and patterns. Two fixtures of cascading marigolds decorate the main dining room. Buyouts are available and can accommodate 192 guests for a seated event or 250 for receptions.

In August, four-time James Beard Award winner Todd English opened his latest restaurant, Olives at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, part of Curio Collection by Hilton. Chef English worked with design firm iCrave to reimagine the design of his iconic restaurant Olives in Boston, which opened in 1989. The menu features the chef’s take on Mediterranean cuisine, offering his classics as well as updated plates including seafood and Italian-inspired dishes. Signature dishes include flatbreads like fig and prosciutto with fig jam, gorgonzola and prosciutto; portobello with wild mushroom puree, fontina and truffle; and handmade pastas like agnolotti with lemon ricotta and veal bolognese and bucatini with shucked Maine lobster, uni butter and crushed cherry peppers. The venue features an intimate 185-seat dining room with a stone and steel hearth kitchen. The space surrounds a raised bar with elegant lounge areas decked in stone, terra cotta, wood, cork and Renaissance-inspired hand-glazed art.

Spiegelworld, the carnies behind Las Vegas’s Atomic Saloon Show, Opium and Absinthe, debuted its first-ever dining, cocktail and live entertainment experience in September at the iconic Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Highlights of Superfrico include what Spiegelworld calls “Italian American Psychedelic cuisine” (bold interpretations of recipes and traditions passed down by generations of Sicilian family cooks), modern art from leading artists (starting with “Psycho Pop Party,” by South Korean-born, New York City-based artist Adehla Lee), and unexpected entertainment throughout. The experience kicked off in September. Groups can do full venue buyouts without the show. The Studio seats 58 guests, and the Artery seats 78. Both spaces can accommodate seated and cocktail-style events and can be used together or separately. The Departure Lounge is available cocktail-style only.

The luxury nongaming, nonsmoking Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas located in the heart of the strip is currently undergoing the first phase of a multimillion-dollar, two-year, property-wide transformation to overhaul the space with a sleek contemporary design. Phase one of the refresh, which includes all rooms, suites and meeting spaces are set to be completed by the end of year. (Phases two and three, inclusive of the hotel’s sky lobby, signature restaurants, pool and more, are set for completion in 2022.) Property highlights include 389 guest rooms and suites; the Waldorf Astoria Spa with a pool and hammam; eighth-floor outdoor pool deck and cabanas; food and beverage concepts including the stylish Tea Lounge where high tea is served; and SkyBar, which features inventive craft cocktails and 360-degree views of The Strip. In all, the property offers more than 12,200 square feet of meeting and event space, including the only space with a luxury balcony offering sweeping views of the Strip.

FlyOver in Las Vegas is a new immersive flight ride from hospitality company Pursuit. Officially launched on the Strip in September, the experience takes guests on a multisensory journey soaring over 22 of the American West’s stunning destinations, from the river valleys of the Grand Canyon to the volcanic peaks of Oregon’s Cascade Volcanic Arc. The flight ride’s film, The Real Wild West, shows in dramatic 8K high-definition on a 52.5-foot spherical screen. The attraction uses a moving platform with six degrees of motion so guests feel fully immersed in the action. Special effects include wind, mist and location-specific scents. At the beginning of the ride, the boarding and preshow experience created by Moment Factory includes a six-minute, 360-degree projection experience on wraparound walls and a central hanging medallion as it chronicles the booms and busts of the American West. The experience also features a full-service bar serving craft cocktails and bites. Groups as large as 40 may reserve their own theater. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for group ticketing.

Piezza is a DIY pizza restaurant that opened in August. The all-ages-friendly fast-casual restaurant has a weigh-and-pay concept, with 13 topping options for full customization to guests’ individual preferences. Interiors are bright and airy, done mostly in white and neutral tones for a clean look with pops of color including red bar stools, along with high ceilings and walls of windows for natural light. The venue has room for 50 people for a casual seated event.