Step behind the rope at Velvet, the Hard Rock Hotel’s cushy cocktail lounge perennially named the best hotel bar in O-Town. Slide back in your animal print chair and let the lead singer of that just-signed band get the next round. The rich mahogany bar and red velvet-upholstered chairs are the perfect vantage point for finding your next crush. Schedule your trip wisely, for the last Thursday of the month means Velvet Sessions, a happening culinary and cocktail event featuring some of the nation’s best tunesmiths playing their hearts out up close and personal.