World City Guide

Key Attractions

Bellagio
The Bellagio has quickly become one of Las Vegas’ best-known and most visited hotel–casinos. Cashing in on the recent trend towards Euro-opulence, the Bellagio sits on its own four-hectare (ten-acre) ‘oasis’, featuring a mock northern Italian village on the shore, behind which looms the bulking mass of the large hotel. The hotel offers 3200 rooms and suites (see Hotels), 17 restaurants, six lounges, botanical gardens and six Mediterranean pool settings. Its 9000-sq-metre (100,000-sq-ft) casino features over 2000 slot machines and electronic games and over 100 table games. The Bellagio also has a new fine art gallery, which hosts contemporary art exhibits, as well as a 9000-sq-metre (100,000 sq ft) glass-encased shopping mall. A popular attraction is the dancing water show every 15 minutes 1900–2400.

3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 693 7111 or (888) 987 7111. Fax: (702) 693 8585.
Website: www.bellagiolasvegas.com
Transport: Bus 301; Las Vegas Strip Trolley.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free (hotel and casino); US$12 (art gallery).

MGM Grand
Since its completion in 1993, the momentous MGM Grand has held the title of largest hotel in the world, with over 5005 rooms. Its enormous Grand Garden Arena has also become one of the key venues for boxing matches in the USA. The casino area alone is 15,300 sq metres (170,000 sq ft). Other features include 15 restaurants, a coffee shop, a food court with five lounges, two showrooms, two wedding chapels, five pools including a flowing river pool, a lion habitat, a dance club and shopping complex.

3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 891 7777 or (800) 929 1111. Fax: (702) 891 3036.
Website: www.mgmgrand.com
Transport: Bus 301; Las Vegas Strip Trolley.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours (hotel and casino); daily 1100–2200 (lion habitat).
Admission: Free (hotel and casino and lion habitat).

Luxor
The Luxor is an unmistakable landmark on the Strip. Opened in 1993, the entire hotel–casino complex was inspired by ancient Egypt. The hotel itself is a 36-storey pyramid of smoked glass, from whose apex shines the most powerful artificial light beam in the world – said to be visible from planes circling Los Angeles, 435km (272 miles) west. Inside is a recreation of Tutankhamun’s Tomb, two theatres, simulator rides, 3-D movies and, of course, a 11150-sq-metre (120,000-sq-ft) casino with 2002 slot machines and 106 table games.

3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 262 4000. Fax: (702) 262 4404.
Website: www.luxor.com
Transport: Bus 301; Las Vegas Strip Trolley.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Caesars Palace
An old denizen of the Strip, Caesars Palace possesses more Las Vegas character than many of its newer neighbours. It sits in a lavish Roman setting, perhaps the historical theme best suited to this city of excess, with Roman columns, grand staircases, manicured shrubbery, imported marble statuary and luxuriant fountains. Its two casinos, measuring a total of 12,050 sq metres (129,750 sq ft), feature all the regular games, as well as an ‘empire’ of slot machines that feature prizes, such as motorcycles and convertible cars, and jackpots that have reached more than US$21 million.

3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 731 7110. Fax: (702) 731 6636.
Website: www.caesars.com
Transport: Bus 301; Las Vegas Strip Trolley.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Mirage
Of all the mega-casinos that line the Strip, the Mirage provides the biggest outdoor spectacle. The evening sees queues of people taking in the artificial volcano that erupts four times an hour. The setting is completed by an artificial lagoon with 54 artificial waterfalls that flow down the side of the volcano. As visitors make their way inside, they enter an indoor tropical rainforest, a dolphin habitat and a saltwater tropical aquarium. The hotel also boasts a pool and spa, eight restaurants, four lounge bar areas, a white tiger habitat, its famed Shadow Creek golf course and the requisite casino, which features over 2000 slot machines.

3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 791 7111. Fax: (702) 791 7414.
Website: www.mirage.com
Transport: Bus 301; Las Vegas Strip Trolley.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino
This US$2 billion addition to Las Vegas is yet another complex to cash in on a European theme. To some, it was a tragedy to see the demolition of the historic Sands Hotel and Casino to make way for this new hotel but no effort has been spared in creating the Venetian. Much of the complex features actual canals, on which gondolas carry visitors up and down the waterways. The 10,800-sq-metre (120,000-sq-ft) casino, featuring 2500 slot machines and 122 table games, sits behind a replica of the Doge’s Palace. The complex’s 17 restaurants, five pools and a fitness centre cater to the visitor’s non-gambling whims.

3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Tel: (702) 414 1000. Fax: (702) 414 2122.
Website: www.venetian.com
Transport: Bus 301; Las Vegas Strip Trolley.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Las Vegas Natural History Museum
The Las Vegas Natural History Museum brings the natural world of local Nevada wildlife to life, as well as ancient dinosaurs, marine life and more, through exhibits, displays and live exhibitions. The museum’s dinosaur exhibit features mechanical dinosaurs, including a ten-metre-long (35ft) Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as the exhibits detailing the evolution of life from fish to dinosaurs. The Wild Nevada Room explores the surprising diversity of life from the state’s own Mojave Desert. Replicas include rattlesnake, bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and burrowing rodents. The museum also has live animals on display, such as a gopher snake, a tarantula, a boa constrictor and scorpions.

900 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Downtown
Tel: (702) 384 3466. Fax: (702) 384 5343.
Website: www.lvnhm.org
Transport: Bus 301.
Opening hours: Daily 0900–1600.
Admission: US$6 (concessions available).