We love Las Vegas!! It's the adult's playground. It's a gambler's paradise, but don't let that keep you away if you're not into gambling. There's lots to see and do for everyone.
New: Treasure Island hotel. Also, "Top of the World", the revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere Tower.
Hotels We Recommend
Mandalay Bay
A GREAT place to stay in the summer! The real draw to this hotel is the pool area, which is in itself an attraction. There are 2 big pools, a lazy river, and a wave pool. It's a great place to cool off and have fun, definitely the best pool area (known as the Beach) in town. They're VERY strict-anyone entering MUST have a room key, kids included! A good thing about the pool area is that you don't have to walk through the casino to get to them. The walkway to the pool area entrance is a floor below the casino. The rooms at Mandalay Bay are quite nice, as well. They're pretty big, and very clean. There's enough closet and drawer space to hold your clothes, unlike Treasure Island, where you gotta live out of your suitcase. The bathrooms are huge, with big soaking tubs and separate showers. We would definitely stay here again on a summer trip. Las Vegas Hilton
A nice place to stay. It's off the strip, on Paradise Road, so if you are staying there, a rental car is a must. It's a long walk to the strip, and we've already said how iffy the public transportation is. The rooms have all been remodeled recently and are very nice. The room we got was a step up from the standard room (they bumped us up for free) and it was very roomy, clean, and had a great view of the strip, especially at night. You can get to your room without having to go through the casino, too, which is a plus. A couple of drawbacks-no refrigerator, and the safe isn't free.
Luxor
If you want a really romantic getaway, stay in a jacuzzi suite at the Luxor. They're all on the corners of the pyramid shaped building, so be sure to request one that has a view of the strip. The jacuzzi is right next to the window. Don't worry! The windows are tinted so noone can see in! And we stayed there again in 1998 (our previous visit was 1994) and the rooms are just as nice and clean.
Bellagio
This hotel has got to be one of the swankiest on the strip. The rooms are beautifully appointed, all having a great view. Strip view rooms also get treated to the water show on the lake in front of the hotel. Rather than join the crowd outside, you can tune your television to channel 31 and listen to a simulcast of the show's music while being comfortable in your own room. Cool. Rooms on the other side don't get the water show, but the view of the mountains and the pool area is quite nice. The rooms are huge-you get a choice of a king or 2 queen beds. The maid service is top notch, coming twice daily (the second time around to turn your bed down and leave chocolates).
A Comparison of Bellagio and Luxor General Access One drawback which seems to be a rule at all Vegas hotels is that no matter where you want to go in the hotel, you've no choice but to go through the casino to get there. (This rule has just been broken by the newly built Aladdin-the casino is separate from the hotel rooms and pool area.) The Bellagio seems to be worse for this than the Luxor, and I would venture a guess that anything that is built in the style that Bellagio is built in, such as Monte Carlo, Mandalay Bay, Treasure Island, Mirage, and Venetian, would probably be the same way. One example is getting to the restaurants. There is only one set of guest elevators, which seem to be in the exact middle of the casino. All of the restaurants are on the outer edges of the casino in little clusters. Even the lobby and Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art are on the outer edges. The Luxor elevators, on the other hand, are on the outer edges, since that's where all the rooms are. This seems to make things easier to get to, since you could just walk through the outer hall of rooms on the first level until you get to the part of the hotel you want to be in. It's at least a way to avoid the casino altogether. Room Amenities The Luxor jacuzzi suite has a refrigerator and a separate sitting room, but no safe. The bathroom only has a shower. The Bellagio's regular room was much bigger than the Luxor's regular (non jacuzzi) room, but a little smaller than the Luxor's jacuzzi suite, and has a safe. The bathroom has a walk in shower and a separate semi-sunken tub. The Pools The same is true for the Luxor pool. We could avoid walking in a conspicuous place to get to the Luxor pool area by going through the first level room hall. The Bellagio pool area, although much nicer than the Luxor's, was more of a problem to get to. Although it's the ONE thing you don't have to walk through the casino to get to, you still have to walk through a big hall with a couple of shops and restaurants in it. In other words, you'll look (and feel) rather funny in your pool clothes. One good thing about the Bellagio pool area that Luxor didn't have is service flags on every seat. At Luxor, we had to wave down a waitress to order a drink. At Bellagio, there is a little flag on each lounge chair. Raise it and the waitress will come to you. Neato idea. Smoking or Non Smoking? The Luxor does have smoking and non smoking rooms, which is fine. However, the Bellagio has smoking and non smoking floors, which is better!
Treasure Island
Not a bad hotel. For the price, it was well worth it. We stayed in December for 3 nights, and at $55/night, what the heck. The hotel has a nice decor, with a pirate theme, and is clean and set up pretty well. The elevator to the rooms isn't terribly far from the front desk and valet car pickup, so the walk isn't too bad. You still have to go through part of the casino to get to the elevators, but it's not as long a walk as in Bellagio. The rooms are nicely decorated, and very clean, possibly recently remodeled. The bathroom is nice, with a big marble counter and lots of room. There is only one drawback to the room. There is only one small dresser with 3 small drawers, not really enough for 2 people with winter clothes for 3 nights. We called the front desk to ask about this and they said that's standard for all rooms-the usual guest only stays 2 nights. It must be one of the ways they could go on the cheap-we don't really like having to live out of suitcases. All in all, though, if the deal is good enough, it's a nice place to stay.
Hotel to avoid
Excalibur
For being one of the newer hotels, this one sure needs a remodeling job. (I consider newer as being less than 10 years old-that's sparkling compared to some of them!) The rooms aren't that great-cigarette burns on the bathroom sinks (What the heck are ashtrays for-decoration??), worn out carpet, peeling wallpaper, too much hallway noise (We were on the 22nd floor and it always sounded like the marines were doing drills running up and down the hallway past the door all the time!), bathroom tile that needed a really good scrubbing or replacement altogether, and too many kids. I don't have a problem with kids going to Vegas, but I do have a problem staying in a hotel with a million of them. If you have a family, you'll probably like it, but if you're trying for at least a semi-romantic getaway, forget the Excalibur.
UPDATE-We read somewhere that the rooms are getting a remodeling job, which they were in need of when we went 5 years ago! We still won't stay there, but this might make some of you out there feel better.
Getting Around Las Vegas
Rent a car. The strip is pretty long, so you'll never be able to walk it all. Especially as hot as it gets during the day. All of the casinos have free parking, so you can make your way down the strip parking at a casino, taking in a few blocks, then moving your car down to the next set of casinos. It's better than their public transportation, which is crowded and not frequent enough. Besides, if you rent a car, you can easily drive to Hoover Dam and Liberace's home, instead of spending money on those rip off bus trips that take you there and empty your wallet at the same time. One very important tip-make sure the rental agency you rent from has a counter in the airport. It saves loads of time. See the difference between our Alamo experience as compared with our Dollar experience, in the reviews below. DOLLAR RENT A CAR The best. There is a counter in the airport, so you grab your bags, go to the counter, where there wasn't a line at all (unlike every time we go to Alamo, where there's a line a mile long). We paid for the car, and all we had to do was climb on the shuttle which took us directly to our car (which was upgraded free because there weren't any in our size). Simple and fast. Returning the car was quick and easy, too. A Word About ALAMO Rent a car. Now that there seems to be a glut of new hotels, it appears that the rental agencies can't handle all the extra business. We got into Vegas on a Tuesday and the line at Alamo was outrageous and slow. We found out that the other rental agencies had run out of cars and were sending people to ALAMO. Alamo doesn't have enough people working the counters to handle all the business they're getting, which makes the wait absolutely intolerable. However, if you're renting a car, you haven't got much of a choice. One good thing is that the agent upgraded us from mid-size to full size, which was nice. One other problem is the location. Some of the car rental places don't have counters at the airport, and this is one, so you have to take a shuttle to it. It's easy to get to the strip from Alamo, but after 4 days in Las Vegas, who'll remember how to get back??!! Naturally, we got lost trying to return the car, so PAY ATTENTION when leaving Alamo, so you'll remember how to get back to it. There are NO "ALAMO" signs in view anywhere, so remembering the street name is a must.
Where to Eat
BAY CITY DINER at the Golden Gate (Fremont Street): A nice, clean little diner in the oldest casino/hotel in Vegas. The prices are outstanding, and the food has a yummy, homecooked style to it.
BELLAGIO CAFE at the Bellagio: A 24 hour cafe. They'll fix anything you want any time of the day. One morning(9 a.m.) we ordered salads and they were more than happy to get them. The Shrimp Louie salad was HUGE, with lots of really big shrimp and very tasty. Real breakfast items also come in big servings-a short stack of 4 pancakes was enough for 2 of us to share. Sandwiches are enormous-a BLT sandwich seemed to have half a pound of bacon on it! Desserts also come in generous portions-enough for 2 to share, which seems to be par for the course for anything you order. Good food and good prices-check it out!
BENIHANA at the Las Vegas Hilton: Japanese teppan grill that's great fun! Sit around a table and watch the chef as he cooks your meal before you on a big grill. The food is great.
CAESAR'S MAGICAL EMPIRE: A more expensive theme restaurant located inside Caesar's Palace. Your gourmet lunch ($50) or dinner ($75) is built around a cool magic act. After you eat, you go out into an atrium where you can see 4 more magic shows, all included in the price. Since the food is excellent and the whole experience takes about 3 hours (or more if you'd like to sit in the bar and take in the atmosphere or play the video poker machines on the bar itself for awhile), the money is well spent.
CAFE GELATO at Bellagio: A nice little pastry and gelato shop. Huge pastries and large, inexpensive cups of coffee are served as well as gelato, which is Italian style ice cream and very similar to mousse. You can have it like regular ice cream, or in a milk shake. The banana toffee crunch milkshake is delicious.
CANALETTO at the Venetian: A nice italian cafe in the middle of St. Marks Square. It's like eating at an outdoor cafe in Venice-lots of atmosphere, but indoors! The salads are big enough to share, if you're going to have an entree, and they're very good. The pizzas are the size of a big dinner plate and are also almost enough to share-we ended up taking some with us. The pizzas are quite good. For dessert, get the Tiramisu-the coffee flavored cake. It's very good. The service here is good, and the setting is neat-especially when the entertainment in St. Marks Square gets going-sometimes there are opera singers.
CARNIVAL WORLD BUFFET at the Rio Suites hotel: One of the top 2 buffets in Las Vegas. It's a little more expensive, but if you'd like to eat someplace that has better food and more variety than the others, this is the place for you. It has a number of stations including: Italian, American, Jamaican Stir Fry (made while you wait according to YOUR specifications!), Japanese (including sushi for those of you that get into that stuff), McDonalds type stuff (burgers, fries, shakes), desserts galore, and even a station where you pick out a steak and pay another couple of dollars while they cook it for you. YUM! And we keep going back every time we go to Vegas and it's still just as good.
CHINOIS at Caesar's Palace: Wolfgang Puck's version of Chinese food. Yummy. For lunch, they have great combination deals. We had the snake combo, which has pork potstickers, chinois chicken salad, and thai basil shrimp. There are other combos available, too. The food is terrific! This is not your regular chinese food here-it's upscale, and very tasty. The service here is great, too.
COMMANDER'S PALACE at the Aladdin: The Brennan brothers bring their famous New Orleans restaurant to Las Vegas. If you want the best Cajun/Creole food, you've got to try this place. We've been to Brennan's in New Orleans and knew we would not be dissapointed. The pecan crusted catfish was great! And don't miss their signature dessert, bananas foster. We went for lunch, and the atmosphere is casual. The service is very good.
COYOTE CAFE AND GRILL at MGM Grand: If you want to try real southwestern food, this is the place. The grill room is more formal than the cafe area and the menus are quite different, especially price wise. We ate in the grill room, which is more expensive, but well worth it. The food is fantastic. If you want to try something different, try the ostrich. Believe it or not, it tastes like beef!
DIVE! Used to be in the Fashion Show Mall on the strip. Steven Spielberg's venture into restauranting. The whole place, inside and out, looked like a brightly pained submarine. The food was great and fairly inexpensive. As theme restaurants go, this one was right up there with Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood. Unfortunately, it closed a while ago. Too bad-the sweet potato fries were good, and the simulated dive every few minutes was cool.
GATSBY'S at MGM Grand: Posh, posh. They claim to be the best restaurant in Vegas and they're right. They're also the most expensive and they do require jackets, but if you want an experience like none other, by all means go there. The food is fabulous and they've got lots of exotic dishes that'll make your mouth water.
GHIRARDELLI CHOCOLATE SHOP AND SODA FOUNTAIN at Harrah's: If you want the best ice cream sundae anywhere, this is a must for you. Ice cream and toppings made with Ghirardelli chocolate make for sinful sundaes. Pick up a box of your favorite chocolates here, too.
GORDON BIERSCHT on Paradise Road: The microbrewery restaurant has a location in Vegas now. The food is great, and so is the beer. If you're unsure of which kind you'd like to try, the waiter will gladly bring you out a free sample of each. We love the garlic fries here. Keep in mind, you get a LOT of food here, so if you're not a big eater, two people can easily share any of the entrees. With the garlic fries as a side, it's more than enough food. The asian chicken salad was huge and tasted great, with lots of chicken and crispy wonton noodles.
HARD ROCK CAFE at the Hard Rock Hotel: Just one of our favorite little theme restaurants. Good food, good prices.
LE CAFE ST. LOUIS at the Paris: A 24 hour cafe located right in the casino, but still accessible to the shopping areas, if you're with children. The view is nice, and the food is tasty and reasonably priced. The portions are big-the salads as well as the sandwiches are huge.
LE VILLAGE BUFFET at the Paris: The best buffet in Las Vegas by far. The stations are divided into regions of France, serving some excellent French food. Most other buffets serve the same old, tired food, but this one is different. Mainly French dishes, are served here and are quite tasty, so it's a nice change of pace. The highlight is definitely the dessert station, which has lots of sinful desserts, as well as a crepe station, where a chef will make a crepe right before your eyes, with your choice of fillings. If you eat at one buffet while here, this is the one. Be prepared for a wait at peak dining hours.
NOODLES at Bellagio: Chinese food, but not like your everyday Chinese restaurant. Most everything on the menu involves noodles (hence the name). If you want to blend in, at least TRY to eat with the chopsticks they provide you. For an appetizer, the braised bamboo shoots were really good. One entree was Mandarin Beef Stew. The meat was melt in your mouth tender, with some vegetables and rice in a good brown sauce. Another entree was Chicken and Shrimp Chow Mein, which was also excellent. A word about west coast chow meins-they are more like what we east coast folks call lo mein. This chow mein had spaghetti type noodles, which is typical of lo mein in our area. East coast chow mein doesnt have spaghetti noodles-just vegetables, meat and is served with rice and crunchy noodles as a topper. The service was a little slow, but not enough to keep us away.
OLIVES at Bellagio: A good little restaurant in the Bellagio shops area. A nice view of the lake if you can get an outside table. As with most Vegas restaurants, portions are huge. Knowing that, we figured a couple of side dishes would do the trick for lunch. One side was the Tower O rings-a huge bowl of crispy thin onion rings, which was enough for 4 to share. Another side was the garlicky spinach, which came in a little bowl and was plenty for 2 to share. Yummy. 2 in our party ordered dessert only, which was a good idea, since the portions were big enough to be a lunch. Great food and good service.
PLANET HOLLYWOOD at Caesar's Palace: Another of our theme restaurant hangouts. Good food and reasonable prices. You just can't go wrong at the theme restaurants.
PRIME at Bellagio: Wow. This is a fantastic place. We thought it would be a jackets required kind of place, but as long as you're dressed neatly (no shorts or sloppy stuff) you'll be fine. The service is top notch and the food is fabulous. They have 3 sizes to choose from if you order steamed or broiled whole lobster. One person ordered the 1 1/2 lb at $45, which seems pricey, but well worth it. (The other 2 sizes are 2 1/2 lb. at $80 and 5 lb. at $120. Who the heck could eat all that?!) When it comes, the waiter takes it all out of the shell for you, which we thought was super. It came with braised artichokes and as an extra side, we ordered the "27 vegetables". (It sure looked like 27 to us!) Someone else ordered the filet mignon, which was melt in your mouth tender and done just right. Both the lobster and the filet mignon were the best we'd ever had, prepared wonderfully and served nicely. Dessert was also an experience. Bananas and pineapples with white pepper ice cream was great. (The ice cream tasted like mint-the pepper must combine with the vanilla ice cream to fool your tongue into thinking you're eating mint. Neato.) Naturally, this is one restaurant you MUST try. And if you're a nonsmoker, be sure to reserve a table by the window (they're all in the nonsmoking section) so you can see the water show while you eat.
PYRAMID CAFE at the Luxor: A nice little cafe in the middle of the casino floor serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. And you can order either at any time of the day. The food is really good, inexpensive, and served quickly. Besides, it's fun to people watch while you eat-it's not totally enclosed so you can watch all the action on the floor depending on where you sit.
QUARK'S BAR AND RESTAURANT at the Las Vegas Hilton: A themed restaurant inside the Star Trek: The Experience area. The food isn't bad, but there isn't much variety.
RAINFOREST CAFE at MGM Grand: Another theme restaurant. It looks and sounds like a huge rainforest, complete with a thunderstorm every 20 minutes. There is so much on their menu, it's hard to choose. The food is great, but it can get quite noisy, so if you really want to talk with the people you're eating with, you might want to go elsewhere.
SACRED SEA ROOM at the Luxor: A posh seafood restaurant serving the best gourmet seafood anywhere on the Strip. A nice romantic restaurant with service out of this world. Jackets required.
SPAGO at Caesar's Palace: A franchise of the famous Wolfgang Puck restaurant. We ordered 2 of the exotic pizzas, which were really tasty, and veggie chips (like potato chips except they were beets, carrots, and some other stuff-really good!) The food was good, but the service was slow. Don't go here if you're in a hurry. Also the arrangement of the smoking and non smoking sections is a bit queer-the smoking section is inside the restaurant and the nonsmoking is outside (figuratively-remember that it's all undercover inside the "Forum Shops" anyway). Nonsmoking being "outside" is fine, because it gets a better view, however, the "Forum Shops" area is NOT nonsmoking, so people with smelly cigarettes and (worse!) cigars will pass by you while you're eating anyway. Yuk.
TREASURE ISLAND BUFFET: We just wanted something quick-it was late and we'd had a big lunch anyway. We had a coupon for buy one get one free, so at the price (I think it ended up being $15 for 2 people) it was worth it, since you'd spend more than that at the coffee shop, and not get as much food. The selection wasn't really great, and the food for the most part was just average. We'd say it's not worth it unless you have a coupon.
TOP OF THE WORLD at the Stratosphere: If you want a nice romantic dinner with a fabulous view and great service, this is the place for you. The tallest building west of the Mississippi river has a revolving restaurant perched on the top. The food can't be beat! We had the chateaubriand for 2 menu, starting with the escargot aux champignon-escargot isn't for everyone, but it is quite good, especially in a mushroom cap. Next was lobster bisque-very creamy with nice chunks of lobster. The entree was the chateaubriand (basically a filet mignon roast), which was very tender. The food was excellent, the service was excellent. And for dessert, you've got to have the chocolate stratosphere tower. It's very rich-share it with someone. And to top it all off, the view is unbelievable-the restaurant makes a full revolution every hour, and you get a great view of the lights of the Las Vegas strip while having a great meal.
VILLAGE SEAFOOD BUFFET at the Rio: We didn't even bother to eat here. A friend recommended this as being good, but it didn't look up to snuff. There was a long line, so we took the opportunity to check it out to see what it looked like before we got in the line to wait, and we weren't impressed. There wasn't much there to warrant the $30 they charge to eat here. Too much bready, fried seafood, too many cheap looking dishes. For $30, there should have been at least small rock lobster tails. If you're at the Rio, don't bother-it's not worth the money-go to the Carnival World Buffet (reviewed above) instead.
WB STAGE 16 at the Venetian: Wow. We loved it. Even if you don't eat here, it's someplace you've gotta at least walk in and see. There are 4 dining rooms here, each designed to look like a different movie set. There's the Casablanca room, which looks like Rick's cafe; Gotham City from the Batman movie; the club at the Sands where the Rat Pack wowed 'em; and the Gold Diggers of 1933 set, which is where we ate. The food is fantastic, and the service is top notch. We started with the wok fried duck spring rolls, which were yummy. The pepper crusted filet mignon was tender and melt in your mouth, and the red pepper painted swordfish was also excellent. If you've still got room after all that, the triple chocolate fudge cake is scrumptious. The great thing about this place is that it's elegant service in a casual setting-as long as you look decent, you're fine.
Shows
CELINE DION: A NEW DAY at Caesar's Palace. THIS SHOW IS WORTH EVERY PENNY, especially if you're a fan of Celine Dion. When the show was first being advertised, we balked at the ticket prices, just like everyone else ($85, $125, and $250), but the CBS tv special sold us. It's not just a concert, it's a spectacle. The show was designed by Franco Dragone, the guy who does the Cirque du Soleil shows, so if you like Cirque du Soleil, you'll like this. The numbers have a very eclectic feel to them, with lots of colorful sets, costumes, and cameras placed throughout the collosseum enhance the show by being incorporated into the images on the jumbotron screen at the back of the stage. Celine Dion participates in all the dance numbers, giving the whole show a very energetic feel. She really looks like she has a great time doing it. The show lasted about 1 hour 45 minutes with no intermission, believe it or not. We sat in the $125 seats (first mezzanine), and had no trouble seeing. Oh, and by the way, to all the people complaining about her short blonde haircut-we LIKE it. The Collosseum was designed especially for this show, and they pulled all the stops out for sure. It's a safe bet that NO SEAT IS A BAD ONE. The seats are angled perfectly, even in the Orchestra sections, so you get a full view no matter where you are. To say we LOVED THIS SHOW would be an UNDERSTATEMENT! When we travel to Las Vegas, we'll definitely be seeing Celine Dion again. A word of advice: DON'T CARRY A CAMERA WITH YOU AT ALL. THEY CONFISCATE THEM. Don't worry, you'll get it back after the show, but it still made us very nervous. They check all bags and purses and give you a claim check for the camera equipment they keep. If it's a digital camera you're checking in, they WILL let you keep the memory card from it. (We took our memory card because the camera can be replaced, but the pictures on the memory card can't-better safe than sorry, just in case they do lose it.) Also, if you want souvenirs, either at the counter inside the Collosseum, or at the Celine shop just outside, get them BEFORE the show-the lines are loooong after the show.
RITA RUDNER at New York New York. Celine Dion isn't the only one with a permanent residence at a Las Vegas casino! Rita Rudner has taken up residence in the New York New York casino, doing her comedy routine in a more intimate setting-it's a small theatre, only about 600 people. If you're looking for something really funny, but clean (no swearing), then you must see this show. She has a very relaxed, easygoing style, and is VERY funny! She talks about women's issues, relationships between men and women, and problems related to that stuff. After the show, she even signs copies of her books and you can get your picture taken (with your own camera-how refreshing in a city of people asking if they can sell you a picture of you!).
JUBILEE! at Bally's. Jubilee has been playing at Bally's since it was still called the MGM Grand (before the big fire). This show has something for everyone. It is topless, but done in a tasteful manner. Being a woman, I was worried that there wouldn't be any other women, but other reviews reassured me otherwise. Of course, the main reason for wanting to see the show was the sinking of the Titanic sequence (the only non topless part of the show-it wouldn't make sense if it was), which we enjoyed. They've been doing the sinking of the Titanic since show started 20 years ago, way before the trend started by the Cameron movie. The Titanic set is pretty good, and the sinking effect was pretty cool. The storyline and songs leading up to it are enjoyable, as well. The other acts of Jubilee were just as enjoyable. As with most other Vegas shows, there's lots of feathers and big costumes, lots of singing and dancing. If you go, do NOT sit in the area with table seating-it's way too cramped and too close to the stage for you to see everything well. Request the theater style seating and you'll be much happier. If you always wanted to see a Vegas show, we highly recommend this one. The girls (and guys) put on a great show.
So Just What Is There For Non-Gamblers?
If you like people watching, just walking in all the casinos will be an experience. The first thing you should do is just walk in some of the huge casinos out on the strip-the decor of these places is a sight to see. THEME PARKS-There are 2 theme parks, MGM Grand Adventures at the MGM Grand, Grand Slam Canyon at Circus Circus. There is also a Wet 'n' Wild water park. HOOVER DAM-Guided tours explaining the inner workings of the dam are given. It's pretty interesting. It's also neat to walk halfway across the dam and be in 2 different states at the same time. GRAND CANYON-There are 2 ways to do it. Bus trips are loooong. The whole trip is about 12 hours, but if you're on a budget, this is the cheapest way you'll get to see the Grand Canyon. If you've got a few more bucks to spend, definitely take the air tour instead. A bus will pick you up from you're hotel, but you'll board a small plane (a 10 seater usually), which will take you to the Grand Canyon and land where a bus will pick you up and take you to a few spots around the canyon. When your bus tour is over, you board the plane again for your journey back to Las Vegas. Even though the plane was kinda cramped, the scenery was great from the air! LIBERACE MUSEUM A huge collection of his stuff, including costumes, cars, awards, jewelry, you name it. Even if you don't know anything about Liberace, you'd still get a kick out of all this stuff. FACTORY TOURS Just a short drive away, in Henderson, NV, there are 3 factories which offer free tours. Ocean Spray's Cranberry World West has a juice bottling plant and a nice exhibit to walk through. At the end is a free juice bar with every flavor they make. Take as much as you want while you shop for their products and logo items. The Famous Brands Marshmallow factory is nearby, but call ahead before you go. The tour just isn't as interesting when they're not making marshmallows, and that is frequently. Ethel M. Chocolates (an upscale subsidiary of M&M Mars) also has a factory in the area, with a tour that'll make your mouth water. Watch the chocolates being made and get free samples. Don't forget to try a freshly dipped Dove ice cream bar. M&M WORLD In the building right next to the MGM Grand.
OTHER INTERESTING NON-GAMBLING ATTRACTIONS IN THE CASINO HOTELS
Bellagio-Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art An exquisite display of original paintings by famous artists such as Matisse, Renoir and others. You get a personal listening device when you enter, which will tell you the background of each painting you are looking at. Admission is $12. Children are only allowed in the exhibit from 9 to 11 a.m. This exhibit has become an off and on one, since Steve Wynn (the owner of the paintings in the original exhibit) sold the hotel to the MGM Grand. Sometimes you can still find a fine art exhibit there, though. And don't miss the Dancing Water Fountain, right in front of the hotel. It's a spectacular thing to see-water jets choreographed by computer to loads of different songs, ranging from Frank Sinatra stuff to classical pieces sung by Andrea Bocelli. It's best seen at night, and it usually runs every 15 minutes, a different song each time, so you could spend an entire evening watching if you wanted to. Caesar's Palace-Caesar's Magical Empire See the "where to eat" section above. Race For Atlantis A neat 3D Imax adventure with the added bonus of moving seats-it's a very short film but the 3D motion effects are well worth it. Freemont Street Experience Although not technically in the casinos along Freemont Street, it seems to belong in this category because there's not enough to do and see to keep a non-gambler busy. At the top of each hour between 7 and midnight, there is a 7 minute light and music show which takes place on the new screen that they covered the street with to turn it into a pedestrian mall. Each hour is different. Las Vegas Hilton-Star Trek: The Experience Along with a brand new casino built completely around a Star Trek theme, there are also a couple of interesting attractions to go with it. First, go through a museum with lots of props, costumes, and other stuff used in all the TV shows and movies. Next, there is a shuttlecraft ride simulator like the Star Wars ride at Disney World, but much more involved, which deposits you onto a replica of Deep Space Nine, complete with a theme restaurant and shops. Luxor-In Search of the Obelisk A motion movie ride that takes you through the archaeological dig site that preceded the casino (not really, but it's fun to pretend!); Imax 3D movies; and King Tutankhamun's Tomb, which is a pretty good replica of the one in Egypt. New York New York-The Manhattan Express rollercoaster surrounds the hotel. Keep in mind though, that it's $7 per person, which is a little steep, but look in the free guide books and you should find a coupon. It's a pretty cool roller coaster, starting out in the middle of the casino, then blasting you outside, where there are lots of loops and corkscrews, not to mention great views of the Vegas strip. It's a little rough, though-the padding on the shoulder harness doesn't help much when your head gets tossed around. Sahara-Speed the Ride-A roller coaster even better than the Manhattan Express. Stratosphere-In addition to an observation deck which makes for great pictures, there are 2 rides on TOP of the Stratosphere tower: High Roller, a roller coaster that winds around the outside, and the Big Shot shoots the seated riders up the mast of the tower, feeling 4 G's on the way up and negative G's on the way down. Treasure Island-A pirate battle takes place every half hour on the lagoon in front of the hotel. Venetian-Gondola rides, complete with a singing boatsman, just like in the real Venice.
Shopping
Most hotel/casinos have some shops, but these are the ones worth going to: Aladdin's Dessert Passage Caesar's Palace- Forum Shops Paris-Le Boulevard Venetian-Canal Shops
People Movers and Moving Sidewalks
Tired of walking? Some of the hotels have people movers or monorails between them, so you can get there and still rest your tootsies. Some of the hotels look too far back to get to, but have moving sidewalks to get you from the strip to the casino. We'll list those here, too. Bellagio to Monte Carlo monorail (both ways). Excalibur to Mandalay Bay monorail (both ways) Mirage to Treasure Island monorail Bally's to MGM Grand monorail (both ways) Luxor to Excalibur moving sidewalks between the 2 (both ways) Bally's moving sidewalk from strip to casino (both ways) Bellagio moving sidewalk from strip to casino (both ways) Caesar's moving sidewalk from strip to casino (one way) Excalibur moving sidewalk from strip to casino (one way)
Questions? E-mail The Litterbox at knighton@cablespeed.com!
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