This party bus exec wants you to experience ‘The Hangover’

Todd Harrington is all about having a good time, Las Vegas style.

That applies to you, however, and not himself.

The chief executive officer of Party Tours Las Vegas, the 43-year-old Harrington wants his guests to have their own version of the hit movie “The Hangover” when they come to town. Parties go to night clubs and strip clubs if they want via a bus that features a bar, televisions and even a stripper pole.

In September 2011 when Harrington’s business partner Chris Balestrere approached him with the idea and asked for help in getting it launched, Harrington said he made his role clear: His arrangement was to run the company as far as the financing, accounting, marketing and sales, but he didn’t want to be going out to night clubs.

“I have two kids and don’t have time to do that,” Harrington said. “His arrangement was he will handle everything outside of the office. We’ll set it up and he knocks it down. He handles all of the clients and deals with the night clubs. It’s a good partnership between us because his fortè is out there in the field.”

The party buses have become a staple of the Las Vegas night life and were event featured on a television episode of “Real Housewives of Miami” and has gotten a reputation as a place for people who don’t know each other to meet. About 10 percent to 15 percent of the customers are from Las Vegas.

Question: What was behind the concept?

Answer: Our first two weeks in operation, we did 1,200 tours, which was scary because we weren’t prepared for it but we made it work. What happens is when these people go to a night club in Vegas is they stand in line to go to the club for an hour or two hours and once they get to the top of the line they’re paying $50 per guy and $30 per girl to get into the night club. If they want to bypass that line, they can pay an additional $100 to go through the VIP line. And they can spend on bottle service and that’s expensive in Vegas. You’re paying anywhere from $400 to $1,200 a bottle but you’re not just paying for the bottle. You’re paying for the table, ambiance and status.

Question: What did you do?

Answer: What we did was create the all-in party tour where it included access into three top night clubs. We take them on our party bus. They don’t walk from anywhere. We offer free alcoholic beverages with their ticket price, which is nice because when they go to the night club they’re spending 20 bucks a drink. They also get free VIP-hosted entry into the night club, which is a huge value to them. If you tried to do this yourself in one night, there’s no way you could do it unless you knew someone in the club.

Question: How does it work?

Answer: We will have up to 30 people on a party bus and out of those 30 people you may have 15 couples or you may have a group of eight, a group of four, another group of four or a group of two. They don’t know each other but by the end of the night they are Facebook friends. What we realized is we created an environment where we do research so on our buses we will have 15 guys and 15 girls but we go the next step to match them up without even knowing it so we don’t have 21-year-olds partying with 65-year-olds. We don’t have cowboys from Iowa partying with people from Los Angeles.

Question: How is the business doing?

Answer: We are doing 35,000 to 50,000 tours a year just on that tour. We do our bachelorette parties and bachelor parties and we do our strip club tours. We were first company to do an LBGT tour. It caters to gay and lesbian groups so they are comfortable together. We take them to clubs that are club-friendly to them.

Question: What is the cost?

Answer: The full house is $99 per person. We build a Web site for the bachelor party and we get a picture of the bachelor and send a link to the guest so they can pay individually. We will have a party bus pick them up at 8 p.m. at the main valet of their hotel and you hop on the bus with a host and drive you over to (the strip club). Normally, you would pay $30 to get in, but that cover charge is waived. You got a table and shot and while in there you pay for own drinks and lap dances. Ninety minutes later we will pick you up and from here we will take you to the Hard Rock Café and put 15 other girls that are coming from their bachelorette party. Everybody is revved up and ready to go. We start with a champagne toast and we drive off to a club with VIP access and walk right in. While you are in the club, you pay for all of your drinks. From there, 90 minutes later we do a booze cruise down the strip and we stop at the Vegas sign and do photos with the group. Your host will take photos the entire night and you can download those for free from your Facebook page. Now we head over to another club for 90 minutes and then head over (to another club.)

Question: What is the cheapest and most expensive package?

Answer: The least expensive package is we pick you at the hotel and we give you VIP access into a strip club of your choice and that cost $20 a person. We get our money from the strip club on the back end. Our most expensive package is $399 per guest. It’s dinner at the Hard Rock Café. You go the strip clubs and other clubs and at the last club we do bottle service.

Question: Do you get a lot of “What Happens Here, Stays Here” kind of stuff?

Answer: Every weekend there are five of those stories. We have a Wall of Shame internally that we don’t post to the Web site that we can’t show you. … We have never had a fight believe it or not and you’re dealing with hundreds of people who are drunk. Our hosts are good at what they do. If I were a parent and my son or daughter was turning 21 and heading to Vegas, I would buy this package because I know they’re going to be safe and taken care of with a host all night long, and that they will get home safely. Our hosts are not their parents but they are good at telling someone to slow down or have a water. We want you to enjoy the night and not puking at the second stop in and not be able to get what you paid for. It does happens when people go overboard and can’t finish the night.

Question: Do you have people come by themselves?

Answer: The party of one will have more fun than the party of eight because they’re the one that will meet people. They’re more outgoing and friendlier. The party of eight tends to talk to themselves and the people next to them. The party of one are hopping all over the place. If the host finds out they are by themselves, I guarantee the by the next club they are dancing with one of the other girls or guys on the bus. Any of my friends that have broken up with a girl call me right away and say I need to get out of my funk. Get me on a tour. It gets them out of their funk quick. I don’t want to say we’re a hookup bus, but it’s hard not to when you have some many people coming to Vegas looking for a great time.