Some destinations are about culture; others about relaxation. Las Vegas is an attention deficit arena designed to douse its patrons with pure, distilled, exhilaration and ignite their senses. Lady Luck spirits the clocks from the casinos, doses the air-con with oxygen and massages the shoulders of gamblers as hours gently slide by unnoticed. Rollercoasters scream into the night. Daiquiris frost glasses, and beautiful women hustle. Straddling the strip like deities, showmen and singers grin from colossal billboards. All is light, colour, and movement. Part theme park, part circus, Las Vegas is best served over optimism, with a dash of humour and consumed with all the passion of a twenty four hour prognosis.
The hotels on the strip all have their theme. The Mirage channels old school Vegas. Modelled on paradise, its miniature volcano erupts to char the skyline, white tigers prowl its lush zoo and the poolside comprises a rushing waterfall, verdant palms and tiny, twitchy finches fluttering and chirping for crumbs. The Luxor is a pyramid which shoots a beam of white light from its apex to pierce the skyline. Inside, statues, hieroglyphics and gold lame stamp its Egyptian theme home. Gondolas drift outside the Venetian, the Eiffel tower pinpoints Paris and water climbs the air outside the Bellagio. Treasure Island’s pirate ship erupts with canon fire and swordfights, just behind it the turrets of a fairytale castle called Excalibur glow blue and orange. The indoor mall of Caesar’s palace has a ceiling painted in clouds, occasionally surprising it’s patrons with a sprinking of rainwater.
Once checked in to your fantasy hotel, it’s worth checking out the array of culinary delights on offer. Most notorious is the Vegas buffet. Almost all hotels have one; a necessary one stop shop for gamblers to cram food and energy, usually located close enough to the slot machines to hear their clang, and bursting with variety and value. Beyond this, there are various themed restaurants and bars in every hotel, from the trendy ice bar serving vodkas and stroganoff in Russian eatery Red Square in Caesar’s Palace, to the fire pit dishing out scorpion cocktails in Peppermill’s Fireside Lounge.
Like everything else in Vegas, the shows are larger than life. The Blue Man Group stamp, drum and flick luminous neon ink and hilarity at their audiences in equal measure. Cirque du Soleil create nothing short of physical poetry as they contort, dive and synchronise in their new aquatic opera ‘O’. The feathered burlesque dancers of the Flamingo flounce and sparkle. Whether it’s the gyrating hips of Tom Jones or the scathing wit of Joan Rivers, celebrity icons are never far away.
Something should always be said of the gambling. Visitors entering the arrivals lounge in McCarran International Airport will be welcomed by the chime of video poker machines. Newlyweds can be spotted, honeymoon on hold, optimistically feeding chips from their plastic buckets into the mouths of gleaming slot machines. High rollers stride confidently, marked out by a chip of diamond in their ear, or a beautiful woman at their side. All the Vegas clichés are to be believed; entertained, and thoroughly enjoyed. Just try not to be one.
Last Edit by HT Helper on 9/11/2011 EDIT NOW >>
