Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Ghosts of Vegas
By Pauline Frommer
If you think Vegas is spooky, you're not alone. Countless suicides, bloody
warfare among the settlers and Native Americans, and mafia hits have
filled this town with ghosts . . . or so say the experts (quacks?) who study
this sort of thing. According to them, there are 21 documented haunted
sites in Vegas and it was only a matter of time before someone concocted
a tour to see many of them.
Enter
Haunted Vegas Tours
(
%
702/737-5540; www.hauntedvegastours.
com;
$
46; children under 13 not admitted; Sat-Thurs 9pm),
a witching hour
bus tour that, after a hokey, blessedly short stage show at the Greek Isles,
hits the road to scout for ghosts. Led by an Alistair Cooke look-alike (he's
actually quite a funny guy with a deep knowledge of local history), it hops
from the Flamingo Hotel, where you wander the gardens looking for Mafioso
Bugsy Siegel; to a park in Henderson where a group of settlers were suppos-
edly murdered by Native Americans; to the former home of Redd Foxx, now
an office. I can't say whether it was the power of suggestion, but a number
of us on the tour were sure we saw someone moving the blinds as we parked
outside.
You'll find discount coupons for the tour all over town, so keep an eye
out for them. The tour lasts a full 2
1
⁄
2
hours.
won't find at the larger venues, but it's far from cozy. Because there are no
seats, you can select your own spot.
u
The Joint
5
(in the Hard Rock Hotel;
%
800/HRD-ROCK or 702/474
-
4000;
www.hardrockhotel.com)
should have a reputation to uphold, being in the
Hard Rock and all, but is challenged to do so considering its occupancy
limitation of 2,000, and its middle-of-the-road corporate nature. Though
The Joint is no stranger to talented niche performers such as Rufus
Wainwright and Jet, it also hosts burnt-out rockers of yesterday, such as
Twisted Sister and Guns N' Roses, and prices are always higher than they
should be for an outlet of this size. The large, cavernous room is as simple as
they come, fronted by a stage and backed by a bar.
u
The most affordable concert venue of its size in town, the
Orleans Arena
(in
the Orleans, 4500 W. Tropicana Ave.;
%
888/234
-
2334 or 702/284
-
7777; www.
orleansarena.com)
specializes in acts that appeal to the whole family, from music
to the circus to hockey games. But there's a reason for its affordability. This 8,000-
seat, off-Strip mid-tier casino, which caters to locals as much as tourists, brings in
headliners that weren't exactly A-list, even in their day, including Kenny Loggins,
Styx, and REO Speedwagon.
