Hotel EDC: Transforming Virgin Hotels Las Vegas Into a Raver's Paradise

^{The “Welcome to Fabulous Hotel EDC” sign helps to set the tone in the lobby before the party even starts. (Photo: Vanessa Alves-Johnson / Casinos.com)}

LAS VEGAS – Virgin Hotels Las Vegas had a special treat for the three-day Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) this year, and I got an exclusive look at how the property celebrates the festival more than any other hotel in the city. 

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the largest electronic dance music festival in North America on May 15-17. For the special occasion, many Las Vegas casino properties upped the ante with their nightlife programming during EDC Week, but Virgin Hotels went all in with a full property takeover: Hotel EDC. I sat down with Calvin Lau, Director of Partnerships at Virgin Hotels, to talk about how Hotel EDC has finally given the festival a home right in the center of the city every year. 

Upon walking into the property, I immediately noticed the decorations all around the hotel lobby, a DJ blasting music at the entrance, and even a "Welcome to Hotel EDC" sign similar to the famous one at the end of the Strip.

I finally got to experience the festival for the first time this year after years of suffering FOMO seeing others attend it back in college. As a local, I’d seen the Hotel EDC ads but never had as much reason to pay much attention until now.

‘Headliners’ Have a Home at Hotel EDC

Hotel EDC encompasses a weekend special package at Virgin built around the raving spirit of North America’s largest dance music festival. The entire resort is decorated, and there's always music playing that makes you want to dance. The mini golf course below the hotel tower is even shaped like the EDC logo.

This is the second consecutive year Virgin Hotels has hosted it, and this time the hotel was fully booked out. The concept works better here than when it was previously hosted at Resorts World on the Strip, since it isn’t limited to a single hotel tower on the property.  The immersion could only go so far in that case compared to how it was able to take over Virgin Hotels fully.

Packages for the experience come in three tiers. The Hotel EDC Experience starts at $1,253 per person and includes a three-night stay with the option to add Thursday night for early arrivals. Packages that include a GA+ festival pass start at $1,719, while a VIP festival pass package starts at $1,822.

“About 90% of the hotel is booked out for this specifically,” Lau said. “We want to embrace the spirit of EDC and make it the ultimate destination for our Headliners.”

“Headliners,” in EDC culture, refers to both the artists performing and every single person in the crowd. The festival’s philosophy is that the audience is just as much a part of the show as the acts on stage.

Hotel EDC offers “Headliners” unique, decked-out rooms with festival vibes written all over them. Literally. (Photo: courtesy of Insomniac)

The rooms at Hotel EDC can accommodate up to four people, and each guest receives a “Headliner Party Pack” loaded with exclusive merchandise, including bathrobes, pashminas, and other 30th-anniversary swag.

For those wanting extra convenience, the Vibee concierge team is on-site to help assist with transportation to and from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. They help guide people towards stress-free options like the EDC official shuttles that service the property directly and private cars, but there’s always the option to drive or use a rideshare app. According to Insomniac, Maverick Helicopters will soon become an option for those who want to arrive in style.

“There's so much planning involved with getting to EDC, so we want to help people worry less about researching all the little details and options,” Lau said. “We want them to spend more time planning all the other fun stuff that's going on at the festival and explore.”

Kandi-Making, Yoga, and Surprisingly Good Speed Dating

Everyone staying at Hotel EDC got access to Headliner HQ, an exclusive space where people can get festival-ready. Here, guests were able to make kandi bracelets to trade with others at the festival, or decorate totem poles to carry high above the crowd to find each other amid the seas of people at each stage. There's also the Volta Beauty Bar on site, a free option for all guests to get some fun festival makeup before heading out to the Speedway. 

Hotel EDC offers “Headliner HQ has DJs playing around the clock while attendees make kandi or totems, and get their makeup done. (Photo: Vanessa Alves-Johnson / Casinos.com)

There was also other programming throughout the festival, like yoga sessions at dawn and sunset for those returning from a long night at the festival, looking to decompress. For solo attendees, the property also hosts mixers and speed-dating events to help create community between. 

According to Lau, the speed-dating events were especially popular because they were a great way for people to meet other attendees outside their group.

“The speed dating was fascinating,” Lau said. “It's not always about looking for a date. Some people come and want to meet new friends in the crew, so it's such a big hit.”

For this year's 30th anniversary of EDC Las Vegas, they added more layers to the experience for people to enjoy. More decorations were added this year in two areas that weren't included last year, including the shuttle staging area in the back lot.

Restaurants across the property also got into the spirit by adding new EDC-inspired dishes inspired by the international cities where Insomniac has hosted the festival, such as Korea, Mexico, and Colombia. In honor of that global expansion, they have new dishes like strawberry churros at Lucia Mexican Grill for EDC Mexico, or a rainbow roll cake at Funny Library inspired by EDC Korea.

Festival Fun for Everyone 

One of the great things about Hotel EDC is that you can still get in on the fun if you’re just visiting the property or don’t have a festival ticket.

Lau noted that the property is housing around 2,000 headliners for the weekend, not counting those who chose to camp or are visiting just for the day parties. 

“We're really fortunate that our guests have enjoyed their stays here, and some are even ready to book for next year,” he said. “We want their memories here to be pleasant and give them a reason to come back.”

The property hosts pool parties at the resort pool throughout the weekend with no cover charge and open to anyone over 21. The talent booked for the pool parties included some artists set to perform at EDC that same weekend. For example, San Diego-based DJ Bolo played a poolside set at Virgin Hotels before heading to the Speedway to close out Saturday’s festivities with a 4:30 am set as the sun rose. 

Whether you’re visiting or a local, the number one thing you don’t want to miss during Hotel EDC is one of their pool parties with festival headliners.(Photo: Vanessa Alves-Johnson / Casinos.com)

This is great for people who may have been priced out of the festival or don’t want to deal with the crowds. Parking is also free, and it’s close to the Strip without being in the center of it. All of those factors make it easy to visit, whether you're a local or just curious about what’s going on.

EDC Week as a whole stretches far beyond the festival grounds, bringing special nightlife events to the Strip and pop-ups at properties like the Cosmopolitan and Luxor, where people can pick up rave gear. Compared to the other properties, Virgin Hotels is the one place in Las Vegas where the full festival atmosphere is locked in from check-in to check-out.

As a local attending EDC, it would be a dream to do a staycation during EDC to fully live the tourist experience. Though I’ll opt to save money and sleep in my own bed, I completely understood the value of the experience, and I'd feel differently if I were flying in from out of town.

There's a lot of stress that can come with attending a music festival of this scale. Whether it’s transportation logistics, figuring out where to stay, or feeling self-conscious walking through a regular casino lobby in a rave outfit, Hotel EDC takes care of all of those in one package. Everyone staying there is joining the same world as you for a weekend, regardless if you’re a first-time attendee or a festival veteran. The fact that Hotel EDC sold out completely this year says everything, but year three may bring even more fun perks as the experience continues to develop.