Las Vegas, NV:
Sin City
by Carrie Miner | Photos courtesy of The Las Vegas News Bureau
 What are the odds that a remote, green valley surrounded by an in-hospitable desert could become one of the biggest boomtowns of the 21st-century?
That Las Vegas has thrived and become one of the biggest tourist destinations in the United States just proves what Lady Luck has known all along – when it comes to taking a chance, this is the place to be.
The original town of Las Vegas started out as a ranch, then took a turn as a company town for the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. That’s when fate – in the guise of the Bureau of Reclamation – intervened.
Hoover Dam was built on the Colorado River, blessing this obscure, little desert town with a continuous supply of water. Recognizing a prime opportunity was in the works,
t
he mob moved in. Quickly, the town became packed with opulent pleasure palaces – those glamorous churches of gaming, sex, gluttony and booze. Things tamed down a bit when government regulators ran the mob out of town in the 70s and 80s, in turn paving the yellow brick road for corporate development.
After a short and unsuccessful run billing Sin City as a family destination in the 90s, city officials and casino operators turned back to the more lucrative and traditional adult pleasures that gave Las Vegas its glittering nickname.
Las Vegas prefers being naughty, not nice. And with 37 million people a year visiting this den of delights, it’s no wonder that Las Vegas is known as the Entertainment Capital of the World.
Viva Las Vegas!
The famed Strip and the high-roller concept of glamour and glitz all began with the vision of one man – Billy Wilkerson II and his grand design for the fabulous Flamingo Hotel (702.733.3111 or 800.732.2111). Forcibly taken over by mobster Bugsy Siegel, the original Flamingo financially flopped just two weeks after opening its colorful doors in January 1947. Undaunted, this church of Lady Luck re-opened just a few months later and finally went on to usher in the Golden Age of Las Vegas.
Several other glamorous hotel-casinos followed in the footsteps of the Flamingo, but only a few of those debutantes from the 1950s remain -- the Sahara, the Riviera, the Fremont, the Tropicana and the Stardust. And then in 1966, the Strip got a new surprise – a slice of the Mediterranean in all of its grandeur at Caesars Palace (702.731.7110 or 800.634.6661). This extravagantly expensive themed hotel and casino brought Rome to Las Vegas. This idea was then followed up by other themed mega-resorts including the Mirage (702.791.7444 or 800.374.9000), with its erupting volcano and tropical rain forest; the Rio (702.252.7777 or 888.746.7482), which is known for its tropical atmosphere and sandy beaches; the medieval Excalibur (702.597.7700 or 800.937.7777) and its recreated Renaissance village; the Luxor (702.262.4000 or 800.288.1000), with its slice of ancient Egypt; and the largest of them all, the Grande Dame of Hollywood glam –the MGM Grand.
Added to the kitsch, visitors will find the ninth-tallest building in the world at the Stratosphere (702.380.7777 or 800.998.6937); and a startlingly-realistic caricature of the Big Apple’s skyline at New York-New York (702.740.6969 or 800.693.6763). There’s even a thrilling Coney Island-style roller coaster winding around the colorful skyscrapers and Lady Liberty. Finally, there is the Moorish architecture at the Arabian Nights-themed Aladdin 702.785.5555 or 877.333.9474).
But it’s not all fun and games on the Strip. Elegance and style sit side by side with even the most gaudy and cartoonish mega-resorts. The undisputed Queen of them all is the luxurious Bellagio (702.693.7111 or 888.987.6667). Even casual passersby stop by to watch the graceful, choreographed water ballet in the lake out front – a musical and visual spectacle in its own right. The Venetian (702.414.1000 or 877.283.6423) follows a similar style of opulence and glamour, recreating the romance of Venice -- complete with a replica of the Rialto Bridge, the Doge’s Palace, the Clock Tower and the Grand Canal.
Other favorites in the Glittering Gulch include Mandalay Bay (702.632.7777 or 877.632.7700), known for its four-story wine tower at Aureole and live music and Cajun fun and the House of Blues; and the lovely Paris (702.946.7000 or 888.266.5687), complete with replicas of the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Paris Opera House and the Louvre.
Entertainment Capital of the World
As much as Las Vegas is known for its gambling, it’s equally known for its diverse array of nightlife -- from ultra-chic lounges and trendy nightclubs to lounge acts and fully-staged shows. Some of the favorite hot spots on the Strip include Studio 54 at the MGM Grand, OPM at Caesars Palace and Coyote Ugly at New York-New York. If you want to party while drinking in the sights, check out the outdoor balconies at Aladdin’s Curve and Paris’ Risqué. And then, of course, for a more glamorous evening out, you can choose from the numerous top-billed shows that remain a staple of any Las Vegas vacation. Stunning showgirls, celebrity concerts, award-winning magic acts and outrageously funny comedy shows – what more could you ask for? To get a complete listing of ongoing and upcoming entertainment schedule, check out the listing at Las Vegas Shows (www.lasvegasshows.biz) or grab a copy of one of the local entertainment magazines in the stands lining the city streets.
Fashion Forward
While all of the glitter and glitz appeals to travelers seeking a date with Lady Luck and a glamorous night on the town, Sin City also offers untold delights in its fabulous shops. In fact, according to the Las Vegas Visitor Profile Study, 16 million visitors to Las Vegas spend time shopping in the neon city each year.
You can purchase the latest fashions while watching Italian models strut their stuff, walk the cobbled streets of Paris, browse through an Arabian bazaar, discover classic elegance in a Roman marketplace and shop eclectic boutiques along Venice’s Grand Canal.
More than 100,000-square-feet of unique boutiques stretching along the sky bridge arching between Mandalay Bay and the Luxor. Mandalay Place, which opened in October 2003, brings one-of-a-kind shopping experiences to Las Vegas with a diverse mix of 41 upscale boutiques and restaurants. Some of the featured shops include Mulholland, The Art of Shaving, Forever Silver, Vintage Ra, The Chocolate Swan, Davidoff, Lunettes, Savage, Musette, Oilily, Le Paradis, Godt-Cleary Gallery, skinklinic, Bardelli and Shoe Obsession. United States flagship stores presented for the first time at Mandalay Place include Nike Golf, Samantha Chang and 55 Degrees Win + Design – a contemporary wine shop created by the same team that designed the four-story wine tower at Charlie Palmer’s Aureole restaurant at Mandalay Bay.
Fashion Show has also added to the city’s attraction as a renowned shopping destination with a $1 billion renovation and expansion, making it the largest retail center in Nevada at nearly two million-square-feet. Fashion Show’s signature “Cloud” reaches 480-foot long, 160 feet wide and 128 feet high at its tallest point. And with the new 80-foot retractable runway and stage in Fashion Show’s Great Hall, shoppers can watch for fashion trends at fashion shows held several times a day through the week.
Las Vegas shoppers can also discover fabulous finds at Desert Passage at the Aladdin Resort Casino, the Forum Shops at Caesars, the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian and Le Boulevard at Paris Las Vegas. The world-class Desert Passage at the Aladdin Resort Casino recreates and exotic marketplace with shops tucked into an eight-story mountainside, a North African harbor complete with a docked full-sized freighter and a shopping oasis with more than 130 retailers including Tommy Bahama, Z Gallerie, Steve Madden, Aveda, Royal Seblangor Ann Taylor Loft, bebe and Hilo Hattie - The Store of Hawaii. Roman décor at The Forum Shops at Caesars sets off up-scale shops including Louis Vuitton, Escada, Gucci, Guess, Christian Dior, Fendi, Polo/Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss while Le Boulevard at Paris Las Vegas features such upscale French retail shopping destinations as Le Cave, Les Enfants, Lunettes, Le Paradis and La Boutique by Yokohama de Paris.
Cultural Offerings
Even though fashion rules Sin City’s sidewalks, not all art in Las Vegas is wearable. Many of the casinos feature stunning works of fine and pop art and a few fun museums, which add a fun and funky mix to the cultural offerings. The Bellagio adorns its lobby with the world’s largest glass sculpture, a $10 million glass flower chandelier by Dale Chihuly and features a more formal experience with an exhibit of Claude Monet’s Impressionistic masterpieces in the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. Another of the Strip’s artistic favorites is the Guggenheim Museum at the Venetian, which features select artworks from State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
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For a more light-hearted approach to the uniqueness of Las Vegas stop by the Casino Legends Hall of Fame at the Tropicana. This unusual museum traces the development of Sin City since Nevada legalized gambling in 1931. Displays feature a mix of rare casino memorabilia and celebrity photos of the movers and shakers that shaped the growth of Las Vegas into the entertainment empire of the world.
In an attempt to preserve the classic neon signs that have lit up Las Vegas for decades, the Neon Museum (702.387.NEON; www.neonmuseum.org) has refurbished several of the casinos’ older signs, which can be seen on a self-guided walking tour on Fremont Street. But if you’re interested in luminaries of a different sort, there are two fabulous museums in town dedicated to some of Las Vegas’ most famous past performers – Liberace and Elvis. The Liberace Museum (702.798.5595; www.liberace.org) glitters with a dazzling collection of the late Mr. Showmanship’s extravagant jewelry, costumes, pianos, antiques and custom cars. One of the rarest displays is Liberace’s 12 piece service of Moser crystal from Czechoslovakia: the only other one ever hand made was owned by Queen Elizabeth. And then of course, what would musical history be without the influence of the legendary King of rock and roll? Elvis fans can see more than 2,000 of the King’s personal belongings at Elvis-A-Rama Museum (702.309.7200; www.elvisarama.com), located west of the Strip on Industrial Road.
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Get Out of Town
With all of the sights to see and the overload of entertainment, many visitors to Vegas rarely make it out of town. Of the 37 million visitors traveling to Las Vegas each year, less than two million venture out of town. But a side trip is worth the time away from the tables.
For an outdoor retreat away from the electrified cityscape, take a 20-minute drive to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (702.363.1921; redrockcanyon.blm.gov) – 197,000-acres of dramatic sandstone spires and canyons in the Spring Mountains west of Las Vegas. Another popular outdoor adventure is to hop on a flight-seeing tour with Papillion Grand Canyon Helicopters (702.736.7243; www.papillion.com), the top destination being the Grand Canyon. However, if you decide to rent a car and drive to the Grand Canyon, make sure to stop and check out the Hoover Dam (702.293.8906) -- the resource that led to the development of modern Las Vegas.
Whatever your sport, take a chance, roll the dice and get a piece of the action. Explore the endless delights in the City of Sin, catch a show at the MGM Grand, go window shopping in Rome, take a gondola ride on the blue waters of Venice’s Grand Canal, sip a glass of wine and people watch in Paris and don’t forget to take a ride around New York-New York. Even if you are like most Las Vegas visitors and only have three days to spend – don’t worry.
The city never sleeps, so why should you? You can always catch up when you leave wonderland to return to the real world.
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Best of
Las Vegas, NV
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Best Season: Best Season: Even though Las Vegas is truly a year-round destination, October is traditionally the best month to visit this desert oasis. Average temperatures in September are in the mid-80s, dropping down a cool mid-70s in October. Even though days are still warm, you might want to bring a lightweight jacket just in case the air-conditioned casinos get a little too chilly.
Best Landing: The best place for private pilots to put down is at the North Las Vegas Airport (VGT), which is located only six miles from the Strip and has one FBO and three runways. Henderson Executive Airport (HND) is another another GA-friendly airport just 11 miles from Vegas. Another option is extremely busy McCarran International (LAS), which offers all of the jet traffic and services of an international airport.
Best Place To Stay: There are more than 135,000 places to sleep in Las Vegas, nearly more than are offered in Los Angeles and New York City combined. From the affordable rooms offered downtown to the stunning glamour of the hotels lining the Strip, there are plenty of hotels and motels to choose from. However, if you are looking for the best of the best, book an elegant room at the Bellagio (702.693.7111; bellagio.com). With a finished price tag of $1.8 billion, this spectacular hotel and casino is one of the most magnificent and expensive of its kind ever built. For something a little more hip, you might want to check out the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (702.693.5000; hardrockhotel.com). This rockin’ casino is located just east of the Strip and is known as a popular hangout for trend-setters seeking some celebrity style.
Best Dining: While buffets are still a popular dining option in Las Vegas, it is the high-end eateries that cater to the decadent tastes of visitors and locals alike. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Bellagio offers the some of the best dining in town. Picasso (702.693.7223), rated five diamonds by AAA, offers fine French-Mediterranean cuisine with such entrees as fallow deer and roasted pigeon. Le Cirque, another Bellagio five diamond culinary delight, serves an array of French-inspired dishes including braised rabbit in Riesling and roasted chicken in black truffle skin. For poolside dining, Italian food connoisseurs will send you to Terrazza (877.346.4642) at Caesars Palace and an undisputed favorite for a prime, dry-aged steak and a mean martini is Gallagher’s (702.740.6450) at New York-New York Hotel & Casino. Just keep in mind, that with more than 100,000 people visiting each day, reservations are a definite must.
Best Way To Get Around: If you plan taking day trips or staying off the Strip, your best bet is to rent a car. You can pick one up from Avis (800.331.1212; avis.com), Hertz (800.654.3131; hertz.com) or Budget (800.527.0700; budget.com). However, you can beat the traffic and enjoy the Strip in comfort by catching a ride on the Citizens Area Transit (CAT), which makes stops at all of the major Strip hotels, or by hailing a taxi if you’re in a hurry to get to a specific casino.
Best Planning Resources:
Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce; 711 E. Desert Rd.; 702.735.1616; lvchamber.com. Las Vegas CVA; 3150 Paradise Rd.; 702. 892.0711 or toll-free, 877.VISITLV; lasvegas24hours.com.
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