Las Vegas
“Did you win?” It’s the clichéd question every air steward asks on flights leaving Las Vegas. The fact that you’re cramped in cattle class hiding your martini-weary eyes behind fist-sized shades should tell them everything.
Everyone knows that Vegas is all about betting (there’s boozing and boobs as well, but mainly betting). However – as sure as the house all ways wins – after an hour in Vegas your ears will be ringing from the monotonous combination of chiming slot machines and moaning Rick Astley classics. You’ll try and escape to the casino next door but you’ll just find more of the same. There’s only so much you can say about the casinos: they’re kitsch, gaudy, money sucking establishments (I lost, obviously). But there’s plenty more to Vegas. $21 billion worth, in fact. Of the $39 billion Vegas made in 2007, only $8 billion was from gambling. It would appear people are looking beyond the slots.
Try experiencing a holocaust (see below). Or test-driving a Maserati down the Strip. Maybe you’d like your very own Britney and K Fed-themed wedding, filled with trailer-trash guests and a plastic bump for under your wedding dress – to give that shotgun wedding effect. It truly is a modern wonder of the world – least of all because they’ve re-created most of the ancient ones in the one town.
Plus, there’s more beyond the Strip. In the surrounding desert you’ve got the grandest of canyons, rolling scrublands to play ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and if you’re still not satisfied, look up – to the most UFO-filled skies on earth. In and around America’s playground you’ll find every type of amusement that’ll ensure you win big every time.
Striptease
Ironically weddings became so popular in Vegas because of Nevada’s soft divorce laws. Quick divorces led to quick re-marriages. And so, for 50 years Elvis has been marrying folk at The Graceland Chapel (001 702-493-2401 619 Las Vegas Blvd), including celebs such as Jon Bon Jovi and Def Lepard. It’s now a Vegas institution worth seeing even if you don’t intend to tie the knot.
Gals will love the romance (but more the shopping) to be found at the Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. Take the serenaded gondola ride from St Mark’s Square through the canals of Venice. Then stroll, arm-in-arm, through the cobbled streets towards the Guggenheim exhibition – of course, stopping on the way to try on the shoes at Jimmy Choo and Kenneth Cole.
Outrageous shows such as The Blue Man Group could only have started in Vegas. But one of the hot tickets right now is Cirque du Soleil's Love, at The Mirage (001 702 792-7777), tickets from £40. The spectacular circus show combines surreal acrobatics with a psychedelic light show, all to the sound of original Beatles recordings. Book tickets long before you go as it sells out long in advance.
Of course, Hugh Heffner has a joint in Vegas. His Playboy Club, The Palms, 4321 West Flamingo Road is surprisingly classy. Sure the bunny girls serve you martinis while you lounge in zebra-skin armchairs. But the playmate Blackjack dealers do keep their clothes on, which is refined for Sin City.
In the early Fifties the Nevada atomic testing site was so close that tourists could see the mushroom clouds from the strip! The Atomic Testing Museum, 755 Flaming Drive, has quirky displays of test site memorabilia but the big draw is the nerve-shattering Ground Zero Theatre that simulates an earth-trembling atomic explosion. Entry £6
Just Deserts
Stand with only six inches of glass between you and the 4000ft drop into the rocky abyss known as the Grand Canyon. Appropriately, Buzz Aldrin was the first person to step out into the newly opened Skywalk – a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that juts out onto the canyon. Only a 45 minute chopper ride from Vegas, All Las Vegas Tours has tours from £80pp.
Lounge on the golden shores of Lake Las Vegas. Nevada’s only beaches are found on the manmade lake’s edges. Folk escape the neon madness of the strip to fish, sail or golf. For soul-soothing after the excesses of Sin City, slink off to the waterside Ritz Carlton Spa (00 1 702 567 4700, www.ritzcarlton.com) where men’s pedicures are kept masculine by combining the treatment with beer tasting.
Don your chaps and spurs and trot off into mid-west sunset. John Wayne wanabes can gallop through the cactus-filled desert up to Red Rock Canyon. Dusty desert views sprawl across the scrubby highlands – even as far as the Grand Canyon on a clear day. Cowboy Trail Rides (00 1 702 2457) has a tours from £55pp.
Opened in 2007, the Spring Preserve Project (www.springpreserve.org) is a uniquely un-Vegas experience with 180 acres of botanical gardens, museums, amphitheatres and even an area dedicated to the research of sustainable desert living. Sin City’s guilty conscience no less.
Spot the flying saucers on the Extraterrestrial Highway. 100 miles north of Vegas, Route 375, on the edge of Area 51, claims more alien sighting than anywhere else in the world. Call in to the Little A’Le’Inn, Rachel, to hear the local’s stories of alien encounters, or just to pick up one of those silly alien face mugs.
WHERE TO STAY
No Expense Spared
The Wynn (3131 Las Vegas Bl, 00 1 702 770 7000, www.wynnlasvegas.com). The newest kid on the strip is awash with opulence ($2.9 billion worth, to be exact). From the gargantuan beds with floor-to-ceiling views of the desert to the shiny Ferrari dealership, you know you’re mixing with the high-rollers here. Doubles from £200
The Bellagio (3600 Las Vegas Bl, 00 1 702 693 7111. www.bellagio.com). The Italian-themed hotel is full to the brim of gaudy treats you could only get away with in Vegas. Marble is everywhere, from the grand reception to Roman garden-themed pool. Bag a room facing the strip for views of the dancing fountains and neon metropolis behind. Doubles from £200
Middle of the Road
Hard Rock Hotel 4455 Paradise Ave, (00 1 702 693 5000, www.hardrockhotel.com)
The hippest digs in town is where Hollywood ‘does’ Vegas. Celebs and the beautiful people lounge at the artificial poolside beach where it’s great fun to watch the bobbing silicone at the swim-up blackjack table. Doubles from £150
The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Bl (00 1 632 7777,
Run as a sister tower to Mandalay Bay, the all-suite non-casino hotel is the only design hotel in Vegas. Slick black marble is at every turn, while rooms keep the elegant allure with satin shades and metre-deep tubs. Double from £140.
Budget
Luxor 3900 Las Vegas Bl (00 1 702 262 4000, www.luxor.com)
The Luxor is such a fun over-the-top hotel. Set in a pyramid – with a sphinx standing guard outside – you’ll find, instead of lifts, the hotel has ‘inclinators’ which zip up the corners of the pyramid at a 39 degree angle. Rooms are Egyptian themed with hieroglyphic bedspreads and tiger-print touches. Doubles from £60.
Flamingo 3555 Las Vegas Bl (00 1 702 733 311, www.flamingolv.com)
The first hotel in town, the former mafia-owned establishment was the spark that started the Las Vegas fire. Check out the swaying palms and lagoon style swimming pools where there’s an island with live flamingos and African penguins. Doubles from £30.
WHERE TO EAT
No Expense Spared
Mix, The Hotel
Multi-Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse comes to Vegas bringing French fare with a Vegas twist. Try the lobster BLT or sautéed scallops with 64th floor neon views whilst sat in space-age white and silver surrounds. Mains from £16.
Aureole, Mandalay Bay
The centre piece here is the 42-foot wine tower from where ‘wine angels’ – dressed in cat suits – are zipped up by wire to retrieve the highest bottles. Beyond the gimmicks, the food is the best in town serving dishes such as fennel steamed Alaskan salmon. Three-course fixed price menu from £40pp, excluding wine.
Middle of the Road
Makino Sushi 1101 West Charleston Blvd, (00 1 702.797 7777)
Strangely, in this land-locked town you can get some excellent seafood. Flown in daily from San Francisco, Makino serves all-you-can-eat sushi to an outstandingly high standard. Buffet costs £15 pp
Bootlegger Bistro (7700 Las Vegas Boulevard South, 702-736-4939)
Bootlegger has been serving veal and linguine to the original mafia hoods that set up this town since the 40’s. Big band and swing play nightly, plus there’s good celeb-spotting to be had. Mains from £8
On the Cheap
Pink Taco, Hard Rock Hotel
One of the city's trendiest bites caused quite a stir due to its risqué name. But the Margarita-swilling crowd don’t seem to mind as they tuck in to over-flowing plates of beer-battered rock shrimp. Mains from £4.
Jodi Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom, New York, New York 3790 Las Vegas Bl
Originally a hot dog stand on LA’s Venice beachfront, Jodi Marioni’s is simple food stand serving all manner of ‘dog’ from bratwurst to chorizo. Hot dogs from £3.50.
BARS & CLUBS
Body English, Hard Rock Hotel
A regular feature in Us Weekly and the like, the chandelier-lit dance floors are celeb-filled and teaming with paps outside.
Light, Bellagio
The refined ‘ultralounge’ is the hippest bar in town. Pick your A-lister and slink off to one of the purple cushioned corners for champers and romance… it could happen!
Bar ar Time Square, New York, New York
A raucous Manhattan-style boozer where a pianist belts out classics from Sinatra to Elton John – singing along is mandatory.
SHOPPING
Forum Shops, Caesars Palace, 3500 Las Vegas Bl
Stroll through ancient Rome’s forum where you’ll find more than togas and wreaths. Diesel, Boss, Louis Vuitton and Banana Republic are a few of the names that were big in antiquity, apparently.
Las Vegas Outlet Centre 7400 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (00 1 702 896 5599)
For real bargains head a few miles from the strip for warehouse shopping. You’ll get everything from Bose speakers to Cartier watches for under half price.
Ask a Local
Brandon Reed is Elvis at the Graceland Wedding Chapel and has lived in Vegas for 16 years.
An old favourite for us locals is Chicago Joe's 4th St, (www.chicagojoesrestaurant.com). It’s a converted little house that serves unfussy Italian fare and has been around for 30 years – longer than most of the casinos.
You’ll meet a lot of folk from Vegas at the Ice House Lounge, a South Beach-style club that hosts live music and has a chilled hookah (not hooker, as you’ll find elsewhere in town) lounge.
Every local knows that the best ice cream in town comes from Luv-it Custard 505 E. Oakey Bl (luvitfrozencustard.com). It’s frozen custard so it comes thicker and richer than ice-cream, my favourite is the butter pecan flavour.
If you can, come on the first Friday of the month when Vegas holds its monthly arts fair; with art, music, fire breathers, ice sculptures and sidewalk artists. It's the coolest cultural scene in Vegas.
For less manic shopping head to the tree-lined suburb known as The District, here you’ll find quaint little boutiques and bakeries. It’s where normal people in Vegas hang out.
GETTING THERE
Maxjet (0800 023 4300, www.maxjet.com) flies only business class from Stansted, from £900.
Virgin Atlantic (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com) flies from Gatwick, from £470
British Midland (0870 6070 222, www.flybmi.com) flies from Manchester, from £490
Tour Operators
Expedia has seven-night trips to Las Vegas from £807pp, departing Gatwick, staying at the Luxor Hotel. Regional add-ons available departing Manchester and Heathrow.
Further Info
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