Escape to…

Las Vegas –
Fun City
Beautiful architecture, culturally vibrant, spectacular cuisine. Rancho became the first hotel on The Strip
Yes, it’s Las Vegas, 21st century style, says Philip Rix. And in the 1940s, followed by the Flamingo and
then the floodgates opened as the celebrities
there are other attractions too… headed for the bright lights. Today, 86 per
cent of visitors say they gamble during their

P
eople vote with their feet and
last year more than 39 million
of them voted for Las Vegas.
This year, that figure is
expected to nudge 40 million
and it’s only going to
increase: nearly $40 billion in new devel-
opment is planned between now and 2012,
including around 40,000 hotel and motel
rooms. If you’re looking to wander lonely
as a cloud on holiday, this is probably not
your wisest choice. If on the other hand
you’re looking for a bit of fun…
On The Strip
There’s much more to Las Vegas than card
games, slot machines, and sports betting but
let’s be honest, that’s what started it all when
gaming first hit town in 1931 at the
Northern Club on Fremont Street. El
visit (personally I think the other 14 per cent
are fibbing) and the latest trends are the
emergence of small themed casinos within
a casino and the re-emergence of poker
rooms, both for keen amateurs and profes-
sional players.
Cher’s 200
The gambling may have started it but what
has arguably put the city on the map is its

The Travel & Leisure Magazine 29

 nightlife. Las Vegas was the favourite hang-
out of the Rat Pack and today still attracts
the most popular of the world’s entertainers
– Cher is due to give 200 performances at
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace here over
the next three years and Cirque du Soleil
will be appearing in a new show from sum-
mer this year with their usual astonishing
fusion of acrobatics, music and puppetry, as
well as exclusive aquatic theatre with artists
performing in and above a pool containing
1.5 million gallons of water. Among other
headliners this year are Elton John, Barry
Manilow and the magicians Penn and Teller.
There really is a nightclub here for every-
one including:
● LAX: hard to get into, but worth a try
since this is one of the most popular
hangouts for the A-listers of the entertain-
ment world
● Living Room at Planet Hollywood Resort
& Casino which has a 3,000 square foot,
er, Living Room harking back to the
iconic cigar lounges of the 1940s
● Poly Esthers, only open a year but with
30 The Travel & Leisure Magazine
Las Vegas
culture
This is no oxymoron laughing matter.
Las Vegas does have a remarkable
number of Elvis look-alikes plus
museums dedicated to Liberace and
neon light signs.
But there’s also the
Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum at
the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino
and The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art
which both have regular rotating
exhibitions of high quality.
Among the many major venues is
The Smith Center for the Performing
Arts which puts on first-run Broadway
shows and will soon be the permanent
home of the Nevada Ballet Theatre
and the Las Vegas Philharmonic
Orchestra.
great themed 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s
rooms
● Beacher’s Rockhouse Bar which is rather
more ‘lively’ at the Hard Rock Hotel (it
stays open until 6am and also has go-go
dancing platforms)
● PURE at Caesars Palace has oversized
beds in its main area as well as a spectac-
ular balcony overlooking the Las Vegas
Strip
● Rain at Palms offers its clientele bursts of
fire, fog, water and lightning above the
dance floor.
Indeed, when you think of Las Vegas you
think of luxury. The accommodation certain-
ly can be pretty impressive. For example,
Wynn Las Vegas has an 18-hold private golf
course, Skylofts comes with a 24-hour but-
ler service, and suites at Palms Casino
Resort contain full-size bowling lanes and
half-sized basketball court. For something
more sensible, speak to your local travel
agent or take a look at lastminute.com. You
can stay in a motel but most people stay in a
hotel-casino as this is the most convenient

and all have good facilities including gyms,
pools and restaurants.
The food in Las Vegas is similarly spec-
tacular and international. For something
swanky, try the Yellowtail Sushi Restaurant
& Bar at Bellagio due to open this summer,
specializing in Japanese cuisine. Or go for a
Mexican at T&T (Tacos & Tequila) at Luxor,
again due to open in mid-2008 which fuses
modern and traditional cuisine from south of
the border. For a top class burger, head for
BLT Burger at The Mirage which also offers
tasty Ahi tuna burgers as well as milkshake
and onion rings. Fans of Star Trek should
also try Quark’s Bar & Grill at Star Trek:
The Experience inside the Las Vegas Hilton
where Klingons and Ferrengis will visit your
table and you can order appropriate food
such as Romulan Ale. Or consider adding a
cookery course to your trip. Many restau-
rants run courses including the Giorgio
Caffè & Ristorante at Mandalay Place.
The cosmopolitan theme to the food is
also echoed in the city’s other attractions.
For example you can take a Gondola Ride at
The Venetian along the quarter-mile replica
of the Grand Canal in Venice or take an ele-
vator ride to the observation deck atop the
50-story replica of the Eiffel Tower at Paris
Las Vegas for a panoramic view of the Las
Vegas Valley.
As well as the late night delights, there
are plenty of other good reasons to come to
‘There’s also all the
fun of the fair...’
Las Vegas. Although most people don’t nor-
mally associate Las Vegas with golf, it’s
actually one of the most up and coming des-
tinations for golfing tourists, not least
because the weather is so good that you can
expect all year play. There are over 60 cours-
es designed by big names such as Tom
Weiskopf, Arnold Palmer and Jack
Nicklaus: Bear’s Best features 18 replicas of
his favourite designed holes around the
country. And of course you can take lessons
Teri’s
Top
Tips
When the bright lights all get too much,
enjoy some peace and quite in the
wonderful landscape around Las Vegas.
Only 30 miles from the city is Mount
Charleston which is great for horseriding,
hiking and camping.Although the Grand
Canyon is around 300 miles away, it is also
only a one-hour flight away so very much
within reach.
But if you don’t want to go that far, Red
Rock Canyon and the Mojave National
Preserve offer a similar, if slightly less
spectacular, array of rock formations and
canyon environments less than 60 miles
from the main drag.
Cowboy-fixated children will also enjoy
a trip to Rhyolite, a preserved ghost town
100 miles north of Las Vegas: Old Nevada,
only 20 miles away, puts on recreations of
wild west shootouts and riding
demonstrations.
too. At the Butch Harmon School of Golf at
the Rio Secco Golf Club, state-of-the-art
computer equipment will analyse and help
you improve your swing.
Las Vegas is also great for families (chil-
dren under 12 can often stay free in their
parents’ rooms and good value buffets are
ideal for families) and is particularly strong
on animal-themed attractions such as
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and
Dolphin Habitat at The Mirage which is
home to white lions, black panthers, and
even a very rare snow leopard. And these
animals are well treated – the lions at The
Lion Habitat at MGM Grand live on an eight
acre ranch 12 miles away and visit it every
day. You can also have an excellent shark
experience at Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef
walking through a replica of an ancient
ruined temple and a sunken pirate ship, both
the playground of numerous varieties of
sharks.
There’s also all the fun of the fair. Among
the many rollercoasters are the three at
Stratosphere, Xscream (which reaches 900ft
The Travel & Leisure Magazine 31

Your Las Vegas Facts
Many airlines fly to Las Vegas including bmi (www.flybmi.com)
who depart from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London
Heathrow and Manchester, British Airways
(www.britishairways.com),Virgin (who also provide full
packages - www.virginholidays.co.uk) and American Airlines
(www.americanairlines.co.uk). Las Vegas is pretty compact
so getting around isn’t a problem, although don’t think you can
walk everywhere as The Strip is surprisingly long. Hiring a car is
easy and parking is plentiful and free.
It goes without saying that the shopping experience in Las Vegas is
unique, although you’ll find lots of big names, including a 85,000-
square-foot Barneys New York. All the casino resorts have a very
wide range of shops. For great deals on hundreds of designer
named goods, head for one of the Las Vegas Premium Outlets.
Remember that Las Vegas is basically a city in the desert so
remember to keep your fluid intake up (water, that is) and put
on plenty of sunscreen.
The age restrictions are a little unusual and it’s best to check these
beforehand with your travel adviser, but the rule is that visitors
under 21 are not allowed to loiter in casinos and there is a
curfew on the Strip so that children under 18 are not allowed
to be out after 9pm unless accompanied by an adult.
There are also dozens of spas in Las Vegas offering pretty much
anything you could want from Shiatsu and Swedish massages to
herbal baths, pedicures, and wellness centres staffed by trained
experts. If you’re after a full-body grape seed oil massage
followed by a sea salt scrub and a wine body wrap, you’ve come
to the right place.
The main tourist website is www.VisitLasVegas.com which has a
huge amount of detail on all aspects of planning your trip.
Thomson Cities & Short Breaks www.thomsoncities.co.uk
32 The Travel & Leisure Magazine
above the ground),
Big Shot, which exerts 4G’s on its riders as
it lobs them into the air, and Insanity, which
whizzes people around at 40mph. If you
enjoyed Quark’s Bar, then have a nose
around the rest of the Star Trek: The
Experience which has a recreations of the
U.S.S. Enterprise’s bridge, lift and grand
corridor. And then there’s the volcano at The
Mirage, which fires smoke and fire 100ft up
‘This is no
oxymoron
laughing matter...’
into the air.
From fire to water. If you enjoy a swim in
the pool back home, be prepared for some-
thing rather different. Mandalay Bay, for
instance, brought in over 1,700 tons of sand
from Southern California for its 11-acre
tropical water area with waves up to five feet
tall in its wave pool. For an interesting pool
experience, nip along to The Palms and its
Glass Bar under a glass-bottomed swim-
ming pool: having a drink and watching the
swimmers directly overhead is a strange
experience. And finally, top off your trip by
visiting one of the icons of the city, Caesars
Palace, where you can really kick back and
relax in ancient Roman surroundings at the
Garden of the Gods Pool. Go on, you know
you deserve it. TL