The Las Vegas Strip’s Newest Bar Is Eye

Jul 22, 2023

A new bar is open on the Las Vegas Strip and, unlike most “hidden gems” that are more open secrets than proper speakeasies, this one can only be accessed with an exclusive reservation. The Vault at the Bellagio Resort and Casino is tucked away behind a nondescript doorway near the table games, just off the casino floor. But beyond the unassuming hallway is a broodingly dark lounge with velvety banquettes, sparkling accents, and a bar stocked with some of the most expensive bottles found in Las Vegas.

“We have never created something of this magnitude,” says Craig Schoettler, the executive director of beverage for MGM Resorts International. “This is for our highest-end guests.” Schoettler describes the bar’s offerings as more luxurious and more expensive than those found in any of the high roller lounges across MGM’s properties. He ranks the cocktail program above even those found within the Mansion at MGM — the resort reserved for whales, the city’s most elite customers.

Inside the Vault, signature cocktails are each around $55. That includes the Liberty’s Torch — a cocktail poured tableside after a server torches a bundle of rosemary and orange on a slice of oak before trapping the smoky fragrance inside a glass with a cocktail of whiskey, saffron and orange sweet vermouth, fresh lemon, and vanilla tincture. The $90 Rosé Romance, a blend of rosé Champagne, vodka, dragonfruit, St. Germain, and lemon, is designed to be shared by two people.

The main attraction here, though, is the bar’s collection of vintage and hard-to-find spirits. Schoettler says that the process of acquiring the coveted bottles has taken more than two months — with some still on the way. Presently, he has 12 bottles of Bacardi from the 1960s, when the rum was bottled in the Bahamas, unlike Puerto Rico today. The bar has Remy Martin cognac from the 1930s and Ricard vermouth from the 1960s. “It’s like drinking liquid history,” says Schoettler. He says that the vintage spirits aren’t dated so the challenge is comparing the importer information on each bottle’s tax stamp. “It’s like dating a Birkin Bag,” he says.

The spirits can be ordered straight up, but many of them are featured in the bar’s vintage cocktails. Available at market price, usually around $135 each, the classic cocktails are takes on old fashioneds, sidecars, and daiquiris, but incorporating the coveted spirits. Beyond the decades-old bottles, the bar is stocked with top-shelf selections, including a shelf of O.F.C., which retails at around $8,000 on the low end, and a bottle of Highland Park 50 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky — which would be served via an elaborate and very heavy gold and glass decanter, should anyone ever order a pour of the $30,000 bottle.

Lounging at the Vault is intended to be an hours-long affair — Schoettler says that 30 customers is a cozy number for the space. “We’re not doing 400 covers a night,” he says. Service opens with a strawberry-elderflower-ginger-beer amuse-bouche in a Bacarrat shot glass and a sampling of bites including gnocchi eggplant with crème fraîche, olives stuffed with chorizo and goat cheese, and spiced peanuts. A dish of fried potatoes that are cut and shaped like croissants, served with crème fraîche and caviar, is $42. Caviar and crème fraîche also come in a bowl with lemon zest and deviled eggs, a fancy version of chips and dip — this one offered with potato chips and toast points, for around $275, depending on your choice of caviar.

Just like the crew in Ocean’s Eleven wondered, how do you gain entry into the Vault? The primary way is to send a direct message on Instagram to @thevaultbellagio and request a reservation or use the link in the Instagram page bio. “If a guest were dining at Le Cirque, a reservation may be offered as an amenity,” says Schoettler, mentioning the formal French restaurant within the Bellagio. “The [general manager] would contact the GM here and coordinate a reservation.” He says walk-ins may be allowed — depending on availability and if the prospective customer meets the strict dress code (no stumbling in from the pool.)

The Vault name bears a couple meanings: the inaccessible nature of the bar, as well as its proximity to the casino cage — the space used to be a casino hosts’s office, with the cage opening right into what is now a dimly lit onyx-enrobed lounge. It’s also an early project for Schoettler, who returned to MGM just four months ago, after leaving the company in 2021 to join Tao Group as their vice president of beverage. “Bellagio is an iconic brand. It makes sense to have the jewel box of cocktail bars on this property,” he says.

It’s also auspicious timing, with the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix fewer than three months away — when visitors with deep pockets are almost guaranteed to make use of that Highland Park decanter. Schoettler says the Vault has yet to finalize its plans for race-adjacent offerings, but there will be something. The Vault is open daily from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m.