Set apart from the bustling Strip, several new casinos have opened in suburban Las Vegas, appealing to luxury vacation seekers who want more intimate casino-resort experiences without sacrificing spa facilities, fine restaurants and night clubs. One example is the recently opened Green Valley Ranch Resort and Casino (GVR), located several miles off the strip in the Vegas suburb of Henderson. The 201-room resort, complete with spa and private vineyard, has a fabulous view of the twinkling lights on the strip to the north, which distracts from the monochromatic housing developments to the west and south. Though elegant in its own right, the GVR would be just another cookie cutter casino-resort if it weren’t for designer Michael Czysz, dubbed the "Master of Maximalism" and the creator of GVR’s luscious nightclub, Whiskey Sky, the sexy Drop Bar and the sprawling outdoor lounge and pool area, Whiskey Beach.

Whiskey Sky is the highlight of the GVR. Located just off the lobby with an adjacent outdoor patio, Whiskey Sky emits a cool, seductive vibe that draws restless gamblers from the casinos and party-ready singles. The interior is a minimalist stage set reminiscent of a groovy sixties love pad, with the funk of a seventies disco. Cocktail-sipping guests melt into the sybaritic spectacle as they sit upon a Moroccan bed heaped with faux fur pillows and warmed by a 12 foot-long fireplace. Intimate booths line the periphery, made private behind heavy velvet curtains. Discreetly located off the main bar, a small dance floor creates a bump-and-grind hotbox, complete with disco ball and wall mirrors. In spite of the crowds, the main room feels exceptionally open, and amber lighting (a Czysz signature) casts an alluring glow over the beautiful people who come to see and be seen. Finally, guests enter and exit the club along a broad white staircase that recalls a reclining woman’s body, appearing to undulate with use.

On hot Vegas nights (and there are plenty of those), Whiskey Sky guests can wander out to Whiskey Beach, a sprawling, outdoor environment for celestial worship, cooling dips in the infinity pool, or risque encounters in one of the poolside "dens", complete with an opium bed, flat screen TV, mist system, stereo/CD player and computer portal. Across the yard, a small poolside bar counters Whiskey Sky with its minimal chic. There, full height, yellow-tinted glass curtain walls provide a visual connection to the outdoor activities, and a sultry respite from mid-day heat. Czysz’s molded bar stools of translucent, yellow acrylic line a bar of (surprisingly) restrained detail. Back in the casino, Drop Bar provides a breather from the din of slots and diode signs. Wrapped in glass and shimmering curtains, Drop Bar is all rounded shapes, with cocktail-waitresses-Vegas pedigreed in white platform go-go boots, nude fishnet stockings and hot-pants to match. Flat screens broadcast cult movies from the sixties and seventies, viewable from any of the low, curving white banquettes. Momentarily isolated from the frenzy of gaming, guests sip crystal clear martinis and gratefully re-adjust to human contact.