In weeding through the candidates for the country's best VIP lounges, we considered the fact that the general public will probably never see the inside of these dens of debauchery. (That is the point.) We also know that Average Joe can't shell out thousands of dollars for a few bottles of Cristal just so he can get the star treatment. But we wanted to show what the big deal is behind the velvet ropes of America's most lavish party palaces, some so small they could fit inside Mariah Carey's second shoe closet. We polled nightlife insiders, did a lot of digging around and even tipped a few cocktails to narrow the field down to include a place in L.A. more ridiculously exclusive than you can imagine, and a not-so-obvious lounge in San Francisco that calls people like Sean Penn and Bono regulars and where Hunter S. Thompson used to drink. So, in alphabetical order, consider this your VIP pass to the nation's top 10 drinking establishments among America's most rich and famous.