Drummer, rapper seek ‘group shower’ record

This afternoon at Planet Hollywood, drummer Tommy Lee (the ex-Mr. Pam Anderson) joins rapper Ludacris to attempt a world record for the most people "showering" in a pool.

Ludacris and Lee say they're trying to raise awareness for water conservation. This may sound ludicrous, since they're using many gallons of water to encourage you to use fewer gallons of water.

But Ludacris and Lee have the blessing of Scott Huntley, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Valley Water District. He says the pool water Lee dirties up may look like a symbol of waste, but it will be drained, cleaned and recycled to Lake Mead.

Lee is a super grungy-looking guy, so I asked Huntley if the water Lee touches can feasibly be scrubbed for reuse.

Well, Huntley joked, "Dump a lot of chlorine in there."

This "group shower" is just the latest stunt to draw attention to hotel pools, which are the daytime answer to nightclubs, except they're friendlier, much less druggy and less desperate.

There's also more skin to see. Mirage's upscale "Bare" pool party lets women go topless, while TI's new "Exposed" pool party features tattooed strippers who don't strip; they go-go dance.

Like most things on the Strip, the key to success for a pool party is to entice women to attend while wearing next to nothing. In turn, women serve as magnets for men who tug on corporate credit cards and personal cash.

To make this demographic juggling act happen sleekly, several hotels hired nightclub companies to manage pool parties. Club workers troll nearby grounds for thin and pretty women, who get in free. Local ladies almost always get in free. And at Bare, local women and men get in free Thursdays and Sundays.

It's the men who shell out cash for most everything. At Bare, you can pay $1,200 (including tip, taxes and drink minimums) for a cabana, although a dozen friends can chip in to cut the cost to $100 each for a full day of lounging in comfort while listening to DJ mash-ups of pop, rock and dance vibes.

On Saturday at Bare, a lifeguard was on duty, but the pool isn't deep, and a handful of topless, surgically enhanced women flaunted their own floatation devices, so to speak.

Bare lived up to its marketing as an upscale boutique party atmosphere of calm, fairly fit and happy-looking people, mostly in their 20s, with no clearly disgruntled clients in sight.

The downside: Just as many men flashed clumpy back hair as women dropped tops. Come to think of it, every hotel pool should offer not just the masseuses they already employ, but also back waxers. Just a suggestion-box thought.

If Bare goes topless, MGM's Wet Republic pool party goes bottomless, sort of. Oh, the women wear bottoms. But on Sunday, there were more flossy cheeks than at a dentists' convention.

Raising the hot-bod factor, waitresses at Wet Republic must also be professional models. But there's always one thing wrong at every party. At Wet Republic, terrible music speakers blurred thump-thump bass beats.

Prices are nuts. At Wet Republic, a bottle of Crown Royal fetches $525. On the other hand, cheesecake on a stick? That's just 12 bucks. Weird, right?

Cabanas and VIP bungalows start at $750. Bungalows come with Xbox 360s and king-size beds obscured behind drawn curtains (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

There are, of course, other pool parties, which generally run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily or on weekends. Most notable is the Spring Break-esque sardine-ing of tourists at Hard Rock's "Rehab."

And pools at Palazzo and TI are kicking in pre-Memorial Day Weekend promotions.

On Tuesday, Palazzo hosts Kim Cattrall, who plays naughty Samantha in "Sex and the City." She launches the grand opening of the hotel's pool. TI goes further with those strippers-who-don't-strip from Seamless Gentleman's Club, on Sundays.

Yesterday's Exposed was a trial run, so it was kind of a mess of dancing strippers, 20-somethings wading in the pool, and older hotel guests looking on curiously. But this is the Strip. Today's mess could be tomorrow's must-see. And no matter how good or bad it all turns out, men will dig deep in their pockets to tread the shallow end.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.