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What's Your Favorite Place in Vegas
In Las Vegas
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
It only takes a short drive along Las Vegas Boulevard, a k a the Strip, to understand why Las Vegas (www.ci.las-vegas.nv.us) remains one of the most popular destination cities in the country. The attraction, as it has been since the Rat Pack days, is the spacious casinos, the name entertainment and now the enormous theme-park hotels, one of which is shaped like an Egyptian pyramid.
The problem is where to lighten the wallet on rooms, restaurants and slot machines. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority lists 225 hotels and motels in the city, and almost all of them hum with the constant movement of coins, cards, wheels and dice, a sound that first hits most travelers upon entering any concourse at McCarran International Airport.
Gambling is the city's lifeline, the major reason hundreds of conventions are held here each year, and why Las Vegas is one of the few American cities where chambermaids and waiters live stable middle-class lives.
For visitors, renting a car can be more of a nuisance than a need. Many of the larger hotels are bunched together on the Strip, which is adjacent to the airport, and they provide shuttle service to the Las Vegas Convention Center. A car might make more sense for those with business downtown, several miles from the Strip, or for anyone with free time to venture beyond the casinos to such attractions as the Hoover Dam, some 60 golf courses and Yucca Mountain, where the Bush Administration wants to bury nuclear waste.
HOTELS
Where to begin? Las Vegas provides such a full range, from the budget-friendly MOTEL 6 (800-466-8356, $33.99 to $49.99 for a single room), to the lavish BELLAGIO (888-987-6667, $159 to $399), that a trusted travel agent and the Internet are invaluable resources for finding accommodations for specific needs.
Dik Shimizu, the director of corporate communications for the Las Vegas-based National Airlines, advises business travelers to ask about business centers and high-speed computer lines at hotels before booking a room. "In general, the new hotels tend to be the best wired for communications and computer hook-ups," he said. "But they market mainly to leisure travelers, so they may have this stuff and not advertise it. You just need to ask."
Selecting the right hotel also depends on the size and context of the traveling party. A lone executive might prefer the quiet of the FOUR SEASONS (877-632-5000, $325 to $600), which occupies the top floors of the MANDALAY BAY (877-632-7000, $129 to $299), has its own entrance and remains one of the few hotels in town without a casino. If you bring your spouse and children kids along, you might prefer one of the many theme hotels along the Strip, like the ALADDIN RESORT AND CASINO (702-736-7114, $99 to $200), where belly dancers and contortionists often entertain in the lobby and which is connected to a huge shopping mall.
Other theme hotels along the Strip include the NEW YORK-NEW YORK HOTEL AND CASINO (800-693-6763, $59 to $229), which sits behind a replica of the Statue of Liberty and has a huge roller coaster; the VENETIAN (888-283-6423, $249 to $649), which features grottoes and singing gondoliers, and PARIS LAS VEGAS (888-266-5687, $153 to $2530), which features an Eiffel Towel large enough to house a restaurant.
A Strip favorite among low-rollers is the CASINO ROYALE HOTEL (800-854-7666, $49 to $109), notable for 1-cent slot machines.
But some hotels off the Strip have attractions beyond casinos and entertainment, including one of the city's newest, the PALMS CASINO RESORT (866-942-7777, $99 to $239), where Botox treatments are available. The HYATT REGENCY LAKE LAS VEGAS RESORT (800-233-1234), $179 to $574, is a 20-minute drive from the Strip, situated on a secluded 320-acre lake that provides fishing and boating equipment.
DINING OUT
Many of the restaurants on and around the Strip are outposts of their famous cousins in New York and other cities, including versions of New York favorites LE CIRQUE (702-693-7223), LUTÈCE (702-414-2220), NOBU (702-693-5090), BICE (702-732-4210) and CHINA GRILL (702-632-7404). Figure at least $150 for dinner for two including a bottle of wine and tip at any one of these places.
Imports from Los Angeles include two Wolfgang Puck offspring, SPAGO (702-369-6300) and CHINOIS (702-737-9700), and a newer Puck entry, CILI (702-856-1000) on the Bali Hai golf course, all about $125.
Among the more moderately priced restaurants, which run $50 to $80, BORDER GRILL (702-632-7403) serves nuevo Mexican. For old-style Italian, try PIEROS (702-369-2305). The AUREOLE (702-632-7401) in the Mandalay Bay Hotel features a fine seafood menu and outstanding wine selection. Steak eaters have plenty of well-known choices, including BINION'S STEAKHOUSE (702-382-1600), PRIME IN THE BELLAGIO (702-693-7223) and the PALM (702-732-7256).
Mr. Shimizu of National Airlines says business travelers shouldn't miss the casino buffets, which remain a bargain. "You can get a good lunch for under $15 and a good dinner for under $25," he said. "And I'm talking about shrimp and lobster and king crab legs."
NIGHT LIFE
Las Vegas is famous for its entertainment, which ranges from headliners like Jay Leno, Robin Williams and Alanis Morrisette to longtime Vegas performers like Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Wayne Newton to stage extravaganzas like Cirque du Soleil's O at the Bellagio, Siegfried and Roy at the MIRAGE (800-627-6667) and Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance at New York-New York.
ON YOUR OWN
For the visitor with an hour to spare, the new GUGGENHEIM HERMITAGE MUSEUM in the Venetian is featuring an inaugural exhibit of paintings from the Guggenheim in New York and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. With fewer than 50 Impressionist and early modern paintings, the show is more hors d'oeuvre than entree, but it is nonetheless an impressive effort for this city and a rare chance to see Hermitage paintings outside of Russia. Entry is $15.
For another indulgence, PAPILLION (888-635-7272) offers helicopter flights into the Grand Canyon, a round trip that takes about two hours and costs $317 a person unless the helicopter is filled with four to six passengers. Then the price is $277.
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
It only takes a short drive along Las Vegas Boulevard, a k a the Strip, to understand why Las Vegas (www.ci.las-vegas.nv.us) remains one of the most popular destination cities in the country. The attraction, as it has been since the Rat Pack days, is the spacious casinos, the name entertainment and now the enormous theme-park hotels, one of which is shaped like an Egyptian pyramid.
The problem is where to lighten the wallet on rooms, restaurants and slot machines. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority lists 225 hotels and motels in the city, and almost all of them hum with the constant movement of coins, cards, wheels and dice, a sound that first hits most travelers upon entering any concourse at McCarran International Airport.
Gambling is the city's lifeline, the major reason hundreds of conventions are held here each year, and why Las Vegas is one of the few American cities where chambermaids and waiters live stable middle-class lives.
For visitors, renting a car can be more of a nuisance than a need. Many of the larger hotels are bunched together on the Strip, which is adjacent to the airport, and they provide shuttle service to the Las Vegas Convention Center. A car might make more sense for those with business downtown, several miles from the Strip, or for anyone with free time to venture beyond the casinos to such attractions as the Hoover Dam, some 60 golf courses and Yucca Mountain, where the Bush Administration wants to bury nuclear waste.
HOTELS
Where to begin? Las Vegas provides such a full range, from the budget-friendly MOTEL 6 (800-466-8356, $33.99 to $49.99 for a single room), to the lavish BELLAGIO (888-987-6667, $159 to $399), that a trusted travel agent and the Internet are invaluable resources for finding accommodations for specific needs.
Dik Shimizu, the director of corporate communications for the Las Vegas-based National Airlines, advises business travelers to ask about business centers and high-speed computer lines at hotels before booking a room. "In general, the new hotels tend to be the best wired for communications and computer hook-ups," he said. "But they market mainly to leisure travelers, so they may have this stuff and not advertise it. You just need to ask."
Selecting the right hotel also depends on the size and context of the traveling party. A lone executive might prefer the quiet of the FOUR SEASONS (877-632-5000, $325 to $600), which occupies the top floors of the MANDALAY BAY (877-632-7000, $129 to $299), has its own entrance and remains one of the few hotels in town without a casino. If you bring your spouse and children kids along, you might prefer one of the many theme hotels along the Strip, like the ALADDIN RESORT AND CASINO (702-736-7114, $99 to $200), where belly dancers and contortionists often entertain in the lobby and which is connected to a huge shopping mall.
Other theme hotels along the Strip include the NEW YORK-NEW YORK HOTEL AND CASINO (800-693-6763, $59 to $229), which sits behind a replica of the Statue of Liberty and has a huge roller coaster; the VENETIAN (888-283-6423, $249 to $649), which features grottoes and singing gondoliers, and PARIS LAS VEGAS (888-266-5687, $153 to $2530), which features an Eiffel Towel large enough to house a restaurant.
A Strip favorite among low-rollers is the CASINO ROYALE HOTEL (800-854-7666, $49 to $109), notable for 1-cent slot machines.
But some hotels off the Strip have attractions beyond casinos and entertainment, including one of the city's newest, the PALMS CASINO RESORT (866-942-7777, $99 to $239), where Botox treatments are available. The HYATT REGENCY LAKE LAS VEGAS RESORT (800-233-1234), $179 to $574, is a 20-minute drive from the Strip, situated on a secluded 320-acre lake that provides fishing and boating equipment.
DINING OUT
Many of the restaurants on and around the Strip are outposts of their famous cousins in New York and other cities, including versions of New York favorites LE CIRQUE (702-693-7223), LUTÈCE (702-414-2220), NOBU (702-693-5090), BICE (702-732-4210) and CHINA GRILL (702-632-7404). Figure at least $150 for dinner for two including a bottle of wine and tip at any one of these places.
Imports from Los Angeles include two Wolfgang Puck offspring, SPAGO (702-369-6300) and CHINOIS (702-737-9700), and a newer Puck entry, CILI (702-856-1000) on the Bali Hai golf course, all about $125.
Among the more moderately priced restaurants, which run $50 to $80, BORDER GRILL (702-632-7403) serves nuevo Mexican. For old-style Italian, try PIEROS (702-369-2305). The AUREOLE (702-632-7401) in the Mandalay Bay Hotel features a fine seafood menu and outstanding wine selection. Steak eaters have plenty of well-known choices, including BINION'S STEAKHOUSE (702-382-1600), PRIME IN THE BELLAGIO (702-693-7223) and the PALM (702-732-7256).
Mr. Shimizu of National Airlines says business travelers shouldn't miss the casino buffets, which remain a bargain. "You can get a good lunch for under $15 and a good dinner for under $25," he said. "And I'm talking about shrimp and lobster and king crab legs."
NIGHT LIFE
Las Vegas is famous for its entertainment, which ranges from headliners like Jay Leno, Robin Williams and Alanis Morrisette to longtime Vegas performers like Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Wayne Newton to stage extravaganzas like Cirque du Soleil's O at the Bellagio, Siegfried and Roy at the MIRAGE (800-627-6667) and Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance at New York-New York.
ON YOUR OWN
For the visitor with an hour to spare, the new GUGGENHEIM HERMITAGE MUSEUM in the Venetian is featuring an inaugural exhibit of paintings from the Guggenheim in New York and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. With fewer than 50 Impressionist and early modern paintings, the show is more hors d'oeuvre than entree, but it is nonetheless an impressive effort for this city and a rare chance to see Hermitage paintings outside of Russia. Entry is $15.
For another indulgence, PAPILLION (888-635-7272) offers helicopter flights into the Grand Canyon, a round trip that takes about two hours and costs $317 a person unless the helicopter is filled with four to six passengers. Then the price is $277.
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