The Most Astonishing Las Vegas Casinos

Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 7:22 am

The glitz, the excess and the gambling of Las Vegas makes the city an unlikely stop for a family vacation. However, families that do take the plunge into this desert oasis are pleasantly surprised that there are so many things for minors to do here, from Cirque du Soleil performances and free shows, to just perusing the Vegas hotels and casinos. While people under 21 won’t be able to touch a slot machine, they can go shopping, play in arcades, check out the tigers at the Mirage or the sharks at Mandalay Bay, ride a gondola at The Venetian, watch Lance Burton the magician at the Monte Carlo, ride the thrilling roof top Stratosphere attraction, or visit the nearby Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon for natural wonders. With the exception of The Bellagio, all other hotel-casinos are open to tours for people of all ages.

You’ll notice the palatial Bellagio on Las Vegas Boulevard by its magnificent music-themed fountain “water-ballet” amid the Romanesque 8-acre lake that sits before the behemoth Italian structure. Here you’ll find thirteen restaurants serving California, Japanese and Mediterranean cuisine, as well as Cirque du Soleil performances, the Petrossian Bar and The Bank nightclub. You’ll marvel at The Conservatory, which is arguably one of the most awe-inspiring views on the Las Vegas Strip, with its greenhouse natural lighting, brilliant towering plants, giant butterfly sculptures, vivid flower arrangements, hundred-year-old fountain and blown-glass ceiling sculpture; you’ll feel like you’re in “Honey I Shrunk The Kids.”

The rooms are cosmopolitan and bathed in sage and dark wood with plush furnishings. The health club is newly redone as well, with natural lighting, personal attendants holding iced towels and drinks and excellent plunge pools at the spa. Swimmers list The Bellagio as one of their favorite on the strip with its neoclassical Roman garden and Grand Patio featuring godly pillars and domes. Shopping amenities boast pure swankiness: Tiffany, Armani, Gucci and Prada, to name a few. The casino itself features high-limit slots, semi-secluded roulette, blackjack, craps and baccarat, and a great 7 card stud area, as well as being the host to the Texas hold’ em, World Poker Tour.

While walking through Caesar’s Palace you’ll forget you’re in Las Vegas and think you’ve been transported back to imperial Rome. The restaurant buffet offers food from Lebanon, America, Italy, Mexico and China, and is one of the best on the strip. The indoors is decked out like the outdoors with sky-painted ceilings, Roman statues, marble columns and crystal clear fountains. Here you’ll find some rooms for less than $100/night, as well as 5 and 25 cent slots at the casino. You can have your own spa deluxe suite with marble-and-brass whirlpool tubs or walk down to the Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis, Cleopatra’s Barge and Neptune Lap Pool. Outdoor concerts in the amphitheater, with guests like Elton John and Peter Frampton, also draw more people to marvel at this stunning Las Vegas Hotel. There are games for high-stakes and frugal gamblers with all the usual events and 38 video screens for racing and sports gambling too. The interior of this 40-year-old casino is huge, so bring your walking shoes to navigate this Roman Empire!

This is, of course, just a small smattering of the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. In other cities, you wouldn’t dare walk into a hotel with no intent of renting a room. Yet the hotels in Las Vegas invite you to come in, gamble a little, marvel at the scenery and architecture, catch a show, purchase a spa service or go shopping in the esplanade. More than just a place to rest your head, these behemoths are all-in-one empires that will make you feel like a king or queen while you’re in town.

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