Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
simulacrum of its neoclassical facade, claiming trademark infringement (they
lost). Wander through a leafy “Central Park” to a garish food court set among the
cobbled streets of “Greenwich Village.”
Though not nearly as fun since it ditched the
Wizard of Oz
theming, the
MGM
Grand
5
is still worth a quick visit mostly for its grand size—it was once the
largest hotel in the world, now it's number 3—and the splendor of its restaurants
and shops. If you're like me you'll find yourself hooting out loud when you read
the prices on these menus. Most visitors pay their respects to the MGM Lions
(p. 145) at the front, a free exhibit.
Head next to the
Monte Carlo
for the handsome Renaissance sculptures, foun-
tain, and colonnade that adorn the exterior. Unless you have a yen to see a magic
show (the fab Lance Burton performs here), you don't need to go inside.
Ah, Paree . . . well, really, ah,
Paris Las Vegas
55
. It should be your next stop
(unless you want to see
Planet Hollywood;
I can't comment on it or the attached
mall as both were in the midst of a makeover as this topic went to press). With a
vaulting
trompe l'oeil
ceiling/sky depicting a perfect drizzly Paris day—in this it's
accurate, as Paris gets as much rain as London—the Paris does a better job than
New York-New York at simulating the looks of its parent city. Be sure to wander
the Marais-like winding street of shops and eateries in the back. Every once in a
while, fellows with berets and black-and-white striped shirts burst into song on
the casino floor, just like in, um, Paris Disneyland? The food court here is a par-
ticularly good place to get an affordable snack if you're feeling peckish (the buffet's
topnotch, too). As for the Eiffel Tower experience, I have mixed feelings (read my
comments on p. 146). Be sure to get a peek at the facade, with its nifty recreations
of the Louvre, Paris Opera, and Arc du Triomphe (out back, where the taxis pull
in). The fountain out front is a near perfect replica of Les Fontaines de Mers (it's
missing a couple of mermaids) from the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
When the
Bellagio
55
opened in 1998, it was the most expensive building
ever constructed at a whopping $1.7 billion. Unabashedly high end in its focus,
it crammed its 6 million square feet of interior space (another record . . . back
then) with Armani and Gucci boutiques, inlaid marble floors and walls, and a
small museum where the art was actually real (a radical paradigm shift). If you
ignore the track-suited, fanny-pack wearing tourists and concentrate on the decor,
it will still look quite glam, from its canopied gambling tables and grand chande-
liers to the Dale Chihuly installation that graces the ceiling of the reception area.
Five tons of steel hold up the 2,164 individual glass flowers on that ceiling, mak-
ing it the largest glass sculpture in the world. (If you're like me, you're going to
look up and think that the darn thing looks too crowded, its colors muddied.
Don't blame Chihuly for that, though. The property's original owner, Steve
Wynn, personally oversaw the installation of the piece, periodically climbing up
on a ladder to peer at it as he suffers from macular degeneration and couldn't see
it well from the ground. From that close-up angle, it apparently didn't look
“grand” enough, so Wynn ordered the artist to add more and more and more
flowers, until the number of buds had more than doubled and the price tag sky-
rocketed to $10 million.) The real flowers of the conservatory gardens are better
eye candy, I think; when the casino first opened, Wynn hired Martha Stewart to
design the first Christmas conservatory. Today, the casino spends $8 million a year
