All About Las Vegas

Monday, March 11, 2013

Top 10 acts of escapism in Vegas

A Bible-toting Elvis kisses a giddy couple who’ve just pledged eternity in the Chapel of Love. A blue-haired granny feeds nickels into a slot machine while chain-smoking and slugging gin-and-tonics. A porn star saunters by a nightclub’s velvet rope. Welcome to Las Vegas – blink and you’ll miss it. Sleep? Forget about it.

Vegas is the ultimate escape. A few frenzied sleepless nights here can be more intoxicating than a week-long bender somewhere else. Let the everyday rules of behaviour slide a little, like a burlesque dancer’s feather boa. Be as bad as you wanna be, and make your most devilish fantasies come true. Sin City stands ready to give you an alibi: what happens here, stays here. Who can resist such seductive temptation?

Here are the top 10 ways you can have the most frenzied, fast-paced and fantastical time of your life in Vegas.

1. Dive into the free-for-all on the Strip

The sensory overload of blindingly bright neon lights signifies that yes, you’ve finally arrived on Las Vegas Blvd (aka the Strip). The infamous Strip has the lion’s share of hulking casino hotels and megaresorts, all flashily competing to lure you inside.

The opposite side of the Strip holds just as many distractions. Lean over the graceful bridges and balustrades of the Venetian and watch the singing gondoliers oar their boats through the mock canals of this Italianate casino.

2. Party with the locals on ‘First Friday’ nights

On the tattered fringes of downtown, hidden among the antique shops and vintage-clothing stores, is the city’s emerging 18b Arts District. Drive by it on any given weekday and you might not even notice pivotal landmarks like the Arts Factory. But on the first Friday night of each month, these rundown streets take on a carnival atmosphere as 10,000 art lovers, hipsters, indie musicians and hangers-on turn it into one giant block party.

3. Examine the legacy of the Cold War at the Atomic Testing Museum

During the atomic heyday of the 1950s, visitors downtown stared, mesmerised, as mushroom clouds rose from the desert behind Las Vegas. Over the next four decades, over 900 nuclear explosions were initiated at the Nevada Test Site, just 65 miles northwest of the city.

Multimedia exhibits at the Atomic Testing Museum focus on science, technology and the social history of the Atomic Age. There’s also a cool scientific- and retro-minded museum shop, where you can buy your very own A-bomb fallout shelter sign or biohazard T-shirt.

4. Shop for one-of-a-kind gambling souvenirs

The kitschy age of old-school casinos and the heyday of outrageous theme hotels may be drawing to a close as the Strip’s casino hotels trade their gaudy Egyptian gods and faux European landmarks for more chic – but ultimately boring – high-class luxury.

Fans of Old Vegas can still pick up pieces of these old-school hotels at fun, funky shops such as Gamblers General Store that collect vintage casino souvenirs, from authentic gaming chips to your very own slot machine.

5. Marvel at the avant-garde circus exploits of Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil’s circus shows rule the roost with the Strip’s longest-running spectacular (since 1993). Though founded in Québec, Cirque du Soleil seems tailor-made for Las Vegas, where spectacle is craved above all else. Whimsical multicoloured costumes, high-flying aerial acrobatics and giant-sized taiko drums add up to an electrifying atmosphere, and you can easily get caught up in the heart-pounding shows.

6. Refuel late-night at a retro hideaway Fireside Lounge

When it’s 4am and your feet hurt after shakin’ your booty all night long, where are you gonna go? Escape the other tourists at the Peppermill Casino’s 24hr Fireside Lounge. Hidden away on the North Strip, this pint-sized coffee shop with its candy-bright neon lights and faux flickering fireplaces is a beacon. The psychedelic decor and special-effects water fountains are as distracting as the cocktail waitress’s slinky dress.

7. Let it all hang out in downtown’s historic Glitter Gulch

When you’ve tired of the glitz of the Strip, ride the double-decker Deuce Bus downtown to Fremont St. There you’ll discover the city’s original hurly-burly casino row, nicknamed Glitter Gulch. This old-school gambling ghetto sprang up beside the railroad tracks back in 1905.

Although the downtown gambling halls aren’t glamorous like Vegas’ megaresorts, their proximity to one another is a real plus; you can easily stumble between half a dozen gaming joints here.

8. Make a pilgrimage to Liberace’s shrine of kitsch

Known as ‘Mr Showmanship’, the late, great entertainer Liberace has been honored by the creation of this outrageous museum, located off the Strip. While audiences enjoyed listening to Liberace’s exuberant keyboard artistry, they were also amazed and secretly amused by his outlandish style.

Time your visit to coincide with one of the free guided tours, during which no mention will be made of Liberace’s homosexuality or the more creepily bizarre rumors that he had his lover undergo plastic surgery in order to make him look more like Liberace himself.

9. Laze by the pool all day

Las Vegas’ pop culture of excess also applies to swimming pools. Bikini-clad goddesses proffer frozen grapes at Caesars Palace while the Golden Nugget’s waterslide shoots swimmers through a glass-enclosed shark tank.

The city’s most impressive (guests-only) pool complex at Mandalay Bay even has an artificial beach. Here, surfers can ride on 6ft-high artificial waves, rent a beachfront cabana or private villa to be treated like royalty for a day, or while away the hours gambling at the beachside casino.

10. Indulge in bodily bliss at a modern oasis

Seeking Hawaiian lomilomi, Japanese shiatsu or a Thai massage? Or perhaps a volcanic-mud or banana-leaf body wrap and a coconut-crème exfoliation? Or how about a lotus-flower bath and a soak in signature apothecary elixirs? Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars Palace has everything you desire, and then some. Sweat out your hangover inside the aromatic cedar sauna. Take a dip in the Roman baths. Chill in the arctic room, where dry-ice snowflakes fall. Recline in the exotic tea lounge. In the ‘Men’s Zone’, bad-boy poker players can get a royal shave or have their sore muscles kneaded like they were victorious gladiators.

Discover life in the Nevada desert

Las Vegas lies at the edge of the vast Mojave Desert, in a bowl-shaped valley in the parched rain-shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The population of the city already numbers over half a million, and if you count outlying suburbs and independent cities, the total number of people in the metro area is fast approaching two million, more than double what it was just a decade ago. Interestingly, visitors outnumber locals nearly 20 to one.

Because Las Vegas is an artificial playground built in the middle of the desert, is it any surprise that the valley may drain its entire water supply by the year 2021? Air pollution is another serious problem: the sky above the Strip is sometimes so dirty that you can’t see the mountains for the haze.

The reality is that the sustainability of this fragile desert environment is a huge concern. We think Al Gore would agree – it’s an inconvenient truth that can no longer be ignored. But there’s hope. An environmentally conscious educational complex called the Springs Preserve is literally a breath of fresh air.

Spread over 180 acres atop the site of the original springs and las vegas (Spanish for ‘the meadows’), where Southern Paiute tribes people and Old Spanish Trail traders once pitched their camps, and where Mormon missionaries and Western pioneers later settled the Las Vegas Valley, this $250-million museum complex takes visitors on an incredible trip through historical, cultural and biological time.

If you want to dig beneath the hard-scrabble surface of this desert oasis, start with the OriGen Experience. The ‘Natural Mojave’ galleries simulate flash floods and expose the variety of native wildlife that calls this desert home, from Gila monsters to big brown bats.

The ‘People of the Springs’ exhibit traces the city’s obscure history, from Native American dwellings to the arrival of the railroad on the Western frontier and the construction of Hoover Dam. The ‘New Frontier’ rooms are stocked with kid-friendly interactive multimedia games that teach about conservation, the environment and life in the modern city. Who knew slot machines could be so educational?

The touchstone of the Springs Preserve is the forward-thinking Desert Living Center. Nevada’s first platinum-certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings stand proudly here, constructed of recycled materials and rammed-earth walls, with passive cooling, renewable heating, reclaimed water and solar-electricity panels, all harvesting clean energy. Inside the centre are classrooms, learning labs and public exhibits designed to inspire visitors to consider the future of the Strip’s neon jungle.

Emerging from the main buildings, outdoor xeriscaped gardens flourish with over 30,000 plants. Out back more than two miles of walking trails feature interpretive displays that piece together Nevada’s cultural and natural history; bring along plenty of water and don’t attempt to walk the trails in the blazing midday sun.

Afterward, stop by the nature-themed gift shop, which sells gifts, books, toys and brain-teaser souvenirs. Upstairs is the healthy, ecoconscious Café Wolfgang Puck. The Springs Preserve is also the future home of the Nevada State Museum.

While other green spaces inside the city limits are rare, a few casino hotels have gardens for making your escape from the smoke-filled gaming areas. Along the Strip, ride the monorail, a zero-emissions public transportation option. For excursions out of town, the Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead and the Valley of Fire will satisfy your nature-loving soul.

Vintage Las Vegas

Wish you could swing back in time and experience the real Las Vegas? The Vegas of Sinatra and Elvis and mobsters and showgirls? The crooners may be gone but the spirit lives on – here are the best places to channel it:

Decades before garish LED screens presided over the Strip, handcrafted neon signs reigned as Vegas’ original iconic art form. While much of this neon art has been dismantled (and, unfortunately, trashed) you can view over 150 lovingly restored artifacts at the Neon Museum. A tour of the museum’s ‘Boneyard,’ full of retro signs dating back as far as 1930, is one of Vegas’ most fascinating strolls.

While you’re delving into the city’s storied history, you might want to get gussied up in a few vintage duds. How about a hot pair of cat-eye glasses, a Rat Pack-inspired suit, or a cocktail dress worthy of a femme fatale? Our retro shopping pick: The Attic.

It’s time to test your luck and possibly make your fortune. Follow the locals downtown to the original Glitter Gulch where the magic all began. We love Binion’s for its famous zero-limit poker with beginner-friendly $2 minimum hands. Home to the World Series of Poker kickoff in 1970, you can’t get more classic than this. If you’re in the mood for blackjack, head to the deliciously retro El Cortez. Not only is it the oldest continuously operating casino (going strong since 1941), it is one of the only joints in town where the slots are the real thing. If you hit the jackpot, you’ll enjoy the clatter of actual coins – none of that newfangled paper ticket nonsense.

While more than one Strip establishment has made a halfhearted attempt to recreate a vintage diner experience, locals know that that the most authentic lunch counter is hidden inside an unassuming drugstore. For cheeseburgers and malts at old-fashioned prices, head to Tiffany’s Café (inside White Cross Drugs, 1700 Las Vegas Boulevard S., 702-444-4459). This original 24-hour restaurant does not pretend to be a 1950s soda fountain, because it is a 1950s soda fountain.

Long before the Bellagio’s soaring water show drew legions of onlookers, the most awe-inspiring view in Vegas was something decidedly more provocative: mushroom clouds. Recalling an era when the word ‘atomic’ conjured modernity and mystery, the Smithsonian-run Atomic Testing Museum remains an intriguing testament to the period when the fantastical – and destructive – power of nuclear energy was tested just outside of Las Vegas.

Pay homage to Ol’ Blue Eyes at Sinatra in the spanking-new Encore, Steve Wynn’s newest showpiece casino-hotel. While home-style Italian classics in an upscale atmosphere impress, don’t miss the restaurant’s most wow-inducing feature. Check out Frank Sinatra’s gleaming Grammy and Oscar awards in a display case near the hostess stand.

There’s plenty of steak to be had in Vegas, with celebrity chefs and high-end chains all competing for diner accolades. So why not skip the competition and keep it old school? Serving steaks – along with tableside-prepared Caesar salads and Bananas Foster – since the 1950s, The Golden Steer has remained in a class of its own. Illustrious regulars of have included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and plenty of mobsters. For a scandalous story or two, head to the bar––bartender Johnny has been pouring martinis since the Rat Pack ruled town. Salty-tongued waiters charm you silly, but with no solicitous pretense.

Nevada has long welcomed starry-eyed couples – drunk, sober, or freshly divorced – into its wedding chapels. Witness a wedding at the historic Little White Wedding Chapel, once home to the 1950s nuptials that kicked off Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow’s doomed romance, as well and Paul Newman’s and Joanne Woodward’s famously lasting one. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear ‘Elvis’ serenade the bride and groom.

After a night of 21st century clubbing on the Strip, the most bewitching Vegas nightcap can be found inside the Fireside Lounge. Imagine a neon den of Swinging Sixties-era cool, where couples cozy next to the bubbling fire pit and strangers trade sultry glances over their Mai Tais. Groups should head to a booth and order a Scorpion, a giant fishbowl of a cocktail served with multiple straws. If you find it’s 5am and your craving for waffles has just hit, you’re in luck: the Fireside just happens to be inside the strip’s most outrageously fun 24-hour diner, The Peppermill.

Before you say farewell to Sin City, pick up a piece of Vegas history to bring home – say, an ashtray from the legendary Sands Hotel – from downtown’s Main Street Antiques. Pssst…you might want to nab a shot glass or a matchbook from the 1950s-era, Moroccan-themed Sahara Hotel and Casino. To the dismay of vintage lovers everywhere, it closed May 2011.

Going to the chapel

There must be something magical about Las Vegas for lovers, because a blushing couple ties the knot there every five minutes. In fact, a jaw-dropping one out of every 20 marriages in America happens in Las Vegas.

Scores of celebrity couples have exchanged vows in Sin City, from Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu to Sammy Davis Jr and Swedish model May Britt to Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. Why not you and your intended, too?

After all, the 50-50 odds of a marriage surviving ’till death us do part’ start to look pretty good in comparison to the chances of hitting a royal flush at the poker table. (You don’t have to be sober to get married in Vegas either – that helps some folks a lot.)

Choices for the perfect spot to say ‘I do’ are endless. Weddings are performed in gondolas at the Venetian or atop the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas. You can hire an Elvis impersonator to serenade you with ‘Blue Hawaii’, or you could dress up like Marilyn Monroe. Getting married after a dramatic helicopter landing on the floor of the Grand Canyon is also an option.

But to be truthful, the more Vegas wedding chapels you see, the less you may be inclined to entrust them with the happiest day of your life.

Many are pretty tacky: full of plastic flowers, fake stained-glass windows and doll’s-house pews. You may feel rushed, as these places crank out dozens of weddings every day. Expect to pay upwards of $200 for a basic service, including a chintzy limo ride to the chapel.

Before you get hitched at a wedding chapel, stop by the Clark County’s Marriage Bureau for a licence. Overseas visitors should check back home first if they’ll need any additional documentation to ‘make it official’.

It’s the low licence fee that attracts a lot of couples, as well as the no-wait period and lack of blood-test requirements that are often advertised. The services themselves range from a ten-minute drive-through with a streaming internet simulcast to a big function at a megaresort (more than two dozen casino hotels have wedding chapels).

Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Day are crush times for Vegas wedding chapels; if you want to say your vows at peak times, apply for a licence online, up to a year in advance. Make wedding-chapel reservations as far in advance as possible, too. Otherwise, civil courthouse ceremonies are performed from 8am to 10pm daily.

Several shops around Las Vegas rent tuxedos and wedding gowns for the occasion; some casinos have high-end jewellery shops that stay open late, even 24 hours. Many day spas and beauty salons offer beauty treatments and up-dos for the brides, and there are even bakeries that sell same-day wedding cakes and fresh flowers.

However, you don’t have to elope to find romance in Sin City. Steal a kiss over mega martinis atop the Stratosphere Tower, clasp hands as you watch the Bellagio’s dancing fountains or hide out with your paramour in a deluxe suite all weekend. Room-service menus feature champagne, gourmet chocolate and X-rated goodies to spice up your love life.

Top 5 luxury experiences in Las Vegas

Now more than ever, visiting Las Vegas is not just about gambling. A stopover in Sin City these days is all about the headlong, hedonistic pursuit of pleasure. Here are just a few of our top picks for over-the-top luxury, both on and off the Strip:

1. Elevate your spa rituals

The Strip harbors dozens of fantastically creative million-dollar spa oases. You can release everyday stresses with a Hawaiian lomilomi massage, an ayurvedic herbal bath or a chai-tea mud mask. Sweat out toxins in a California redwood sauna, a Turkish-style hammam or a Japanese salt cave. Afterward, chill in an arctic ice room where artificial dry-ice snowflakes fall. Romantic couples’ side-by-side spa treatments are guaranteed to bring bliss, while more adventurous spa offerings outdoors include rock climbing in Red Rock Canyon or kayaking on desert lakes. Almost all of the Strip’s spas welcome men as well as women, some upping the macho ante with high-end barber services, sports TVs in the steam room, and more.

2. Score the best seats in the house

All of the Strip’s a show, full of magicians, comedians, Broadway musical casts and leggy showgirls all competing for applause. For total escapism, let yourself be hypnotized by the artistry of La Rêve (The Dream), where surreal vignettes swing from romantic rendezvous to eerie nightmares. Aquatic acrobatic feats and choreographed underwater ballet by scuba-certified performers are the centrepiece of a custom-built theatre, which holds a one-million-gallon swimming pool. Alternatively, seek out a better-than Broadway show like Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular or one of Cirque du Soleil’s many acts – you can’t swing a cat on the Strip without hitting a troupe of whimsically-costumed acrobats. After the show, see out the wee small hours of the morning at one of the city’s hottest nightclubs – if you want the full treatment be sure to call ahead for bottle-service reservations.

3. Taste the whole world on a plate

Literally you can eat your way around the world in Las Vegas, bouncing from high-flying French dining rooms to Japanese izakaya (gastropubs) to southwest American chilli-spiced kitchens. In fact, sometimes you can taste it all in the same place. At Mandalay Bay, Fleur by Hubert Keller (the first guest chef ever invited to the White House) is a sophisticated, worldly take on a tapas bar. Atlantic halibut cheeks, Iberico ham, Russian caviar and Japanese wagyū beef all rub shoulders on the inventive fusion menu of small plates. Red-curtained cabanas make dinner feel like a private star chef-catered party for you and your friends. After-dinner affogato brings Bailey’s ice cream dramatically mixed tableside – with liquid nitrogen!

4. Shop and drive like James Bond

Calling Las Vegas a fashion-forward city doesn’t do it justice. International haute couture purveyors on the Strip carry everything from catwalk fashions fresh off this year’s runways to diamond jewels. Why not pop in on Fred Leighton – many Academy Awards night adornments are on loan from the world’s most prestigious collection of antique jewelry. Unlike at their uptight NYC outlet, they might even let you try on finery that once belonged to royalty. After you finally hit that slot-machine or video-poker jackpot, take a flashy imported sports car for a test drive at one of the Strip’s luxury auto dealerships. Vroom, vroom! If you don’t have $100,000 to drop on a brand-new Maserati, you can still strike a debonair 007 pose while taking a souvenir photo next to one of these high-performance driving machines.

5. Fly into the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is the USA’s best-known natural attraction. At over 275 miles long, roughly 10 miles wide and a mile deep, it’s an incredible spectacle of Technicolor rock strata. Carved by the Colorado River, the canyon’s uncountable peaks and buttes and its meandering rims give access to fantastic views – and perhaps none better than from the seat of a helicopter. From Las Vegas, deluxe chopper tours fly byHoover Dam, an art-deco desert masterpiece, before descending 3500ft below the canyon’s west rim. Landing at a scenic viewpoint just above the mighty Colorado, your pilot will break out a bottle for a champagne toast. Attention, lovebirds: you can exchange your wedding vows at sunset here.

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