Vegas on a roll: the capital of glitz keeps adding new layers and now offers an easy way to get around

John Handley

EXCITED PASSENGERS CROWD ABOARD the sleek monorail for a ride to fantasyland. Though this town may look Disneyesque with all its make-believe buildings, the new monorail was intended as a ticket to strictly adult action--along the Las Vegas Strip.

The long-awaited Las Vegas Monorail speeds passengers along an elevated track for lout miles, stopping at seven stations on the way--MGM Grand, Bally's/Paris, Flamingo, Harrall's/Imperial Palace, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Hilton, and Sahara.

The $650-million transit system makes it taster mid more convenient for the town's 35 million annual visitors to move along the glitzy resort corridor. Just ask anyone who has taken a taxi or driven along traffic-choked Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the Strip.

The monorail is the way to fly. Though not the town's first monorail, this one is by far the longest and whisks you from one end of the Strip to the other in just 14 minutes. Each four-car train can seat 72 passengers and has standing room for another 228 riders. The fare is $3 a fide, but savings are offered when you buy multi-ride or multi-day tickets.

Within walking distance of the monorail stations are 25,000 hotel rooms, some 37 attractions, and countless slot machines. All aboard!

The monorail is just one of many new lures in Vegas. Anyone who hasn't visited the gambling capital in recent years is in for some big surprises.

The old Las Vegas--the one built by mobsters and later bought by billionaire Howard Hughes--is gradually being blown away. The garish neon palaces are being demolished to make way for mega resorts with themes that transport you around the world and back in time.

Starting in 1989, the first wave of new casino-hotels included Mirage with its erupting volcano, Treasure Island with its pirate show, MGM Grand with its 5,000 rooms, Excalibur with its King Arthur theme, Luxor with its pyramid and sphinx, Monte Carlo with a Riviera gaming theme, and New York-New York with its Big Apple skyline.

In 1998, the next wave of new fantasy resorts burst on the scene with lakeside Bellagio, the most luxurious of them all; Paris, topped by a 50-story replica of the Eiffel Tower; The Venetian, marked by a replica of the clock tower in St. Mark's Square and gondolas cruising inside and out; and Mandalay Bay, which brought its very own beach to the desert.

Now everyone is eagerly waiting for the next big event--the opening in April 2005 of the Strip's most expensive new mega resort. Named Wynn's Las Vegas, it is the latest creation of Steve Wynn, the imaginative casino mogul who created Mirage, Treasure Island, and Bellagio.

With a price tag of about $2.5 billion, expectations are high for Wynn's new venture. Here's a sampling of what guests will experience: Relaxing in a Japanese garden beside a lagoon at the foot of a mountain. Dining near waterfalls cascading from a pine-covered hillside. Staying in a suite with its own massage room. Shopping for a Ferrari or Maserati in a showroom adjacent to the hotel's lobby. Playing golf at the only 18-hole course on the Strip.

Attending a show in a 2,000-seat theater with water flowing above, below, and around the audience.

Wynn's Las Vegas is being built on land that was the site of the old Desert Inn, which had its 14-story hotel tower imploded in October 2001. Even before the spring opening, Wynn is already planning an addition, a 1,300-room hotel-casino on the property.

Gambling shaped the destiny of Vegas, but the new high-stakes game in town is shopping. That's apparent when you look across the street from Wynn's Las Vegas at the $1-billion expansion of the Fashion Show Mall.

Normally, it's sunny every day at the mall, but now there's a permanent cloud hanging over the Strip. "The Cloud" is a 400-foot-long steel canopy suspended over the plaza in front of the mall. The Cloud provides shade during the day and doubles as an image projection surface at night. Huge screens below the Cloud broadcast special events, such as fashion shows taking place inside on an 80-foot-long runway in the Great Hall.

The Cloud is the architectural icon of the pricey rehab, which makes Fashion Show Mall the only shopping center in the country with eight department store anchors under one roof--Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Dillard's, Robinson-May, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, and Bloomingdale's Home Store. They are estimated to produce $1 billion in annual sales. In addition, the mall has some 200 specialty stores.

Not to be outdone, Caesars Palace has just completed an expansion of its Forum Shops at Caesars, one of the nation's highest grossing malls on a square-foot basis. In October, 60 more stores joined the 100 existing ones at the Forum Shops.

Shopping in ancient Rome was never like this, but the Forum Shops try to suggest that experience with Roman-like streetscapes decorated with classical statuary and columns. Combining shopping and entertainment, this mall features a Festival Fountain with robotic statues of Bacchus, Plutus, Venus, and Apollo that come to life for shows every hour. Another free show tells the story of the wrath of the gods being unleashed against the city of Atlantis. Adding to the presentation is a 50,000-gallon saltwater aquarium with hundreds of tropical fish. Though totally inside, the Forum Shops give the illusion of day and night as the painted sky changes from light to dark.

Another spectacular mix of shopping and entertainment can be viewed inside The Venetian, where the Grand Canal Shoppes line a waterway. Gondolas glide by with tourists, and gondoliers break into song at regular intervals, drawing crowds of spectators.

For a change of pace, head to North Africa to shop at Desert Passage at Aladdin. More than 140 stores sell their wares in this exotic marketplace.

Vacationers will never have to worry about finding a place to stay in Vegas. The boom in hotel construction continues.

The Venezia, a 1,013-suite hotel tower, has opened at The Venetian. Plus, developer Sheldon Adelson plans to put up a 53-story hotel next door that will be called The Palazzo.

Mandalay Bay's new 1,120-suite addition is called The Hotel, while Bellagio's new 928-room spa tower is scheduled to open this December.

Even Donald Trump wants to take a chance in Vegas, and he's no apprentice at risk. The famed New York developer and TV star has announced plans to build the tallest hotel on the Strip. Surprisingly, the 64-story hotel-condo would not include a casino. It would be built on part of the Frontier property, next to Fashion Square Mall.

A few years ago, Las Vegas tried to widen its appeal with an advertising campaign that touted Sin City as a family vacation destination. Promoted were such wholesome attractions as the mid way games at Circus Circus, the lion habitat at MGM Grand, the thrill rides atop Stratosphere Tower, and side trips to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Mount Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, and the Valley of Fire.

But now the tide has turned and Vegas is returning to its adult image, as an increasing number of ads featuring nude and topless shows attest. Despite everything new, nothing really changes in Vegas.

Contact: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, (702) 892-0711; www.vegasfreedom.com.

COPYRIGHT 2004 World Publishing, Co. (Illinois)
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group