Friends With Benefits

Nightlife is the right life for this VIP operations manager Kara Luden

In the world of nightlife, Kara Luden is a big deal. You can spot the Pennsylvania native at the entrance to one of the Strip’s biggest—in size and popularity—nightclubs, Drai’s at The Cromwell. “I’m manning the ship downstairs,” says Luden, the VIP operations manager for the club. “I’m quarterbacking.”

Not only is Luden a top female executive in a historically male-dominated industry, she also oversees more than 20 VIP hosts at the club and sets all the prices for table purchases for both the nightclub and dayclub, in addition to brainstorming with the marketing team on what new parties and artists to bring to the club.

Before she joined Drai’s in 2017, Luden had a long history in the Las Vegas nightlife scene, nearly two decades worth. “Once you’re in nightlife, nothing matches the energy you feel when you walk into a club and everyone is singing and dancing and around their favorite artists,” she says. And Luden has enjoyed some of the nights at Drai’s, catching incredible performances, she says, by Wiz Khalifa and Ne-Yo.

• Libation • Bottle Package

Want all eyes on the club to turn to your group? Then order six bottles of Dom Perignon Brut Luminous champagne for $6,000 and watch as a parade of servers dance the massive bottle package over to your table. The bottles glow in the dark and spotlights and sparklers will light up the parade. –KM

When Luden is not working, you can find her kicking butt on the tennis courts and spending time with her two loves, her pit bulls. But not working is rare for Luden, she says.

“I’m here during dayclub operations, I go home, spend some time with my two pit bulls, take a nap and then I’m back here for the nightclub. You have to really love nightlife to work in it. It’s wild. You have to love it to stick with it. I’ve done a lot of other things to know this is where I want to be, and here I have the most fun.” –Kiko

Miyasato

Benefit This summer, enjoy a new alcohol-infused soft serve at Drai’s Beachclub, paired with your choice of alcohol.

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