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City Guide - Las Vegas - Key Attractions | ||
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Key Attractions Bellagio Hotel and Casino For a relative newcomer to Las Vegas, the Bellagio has quickly become one of the city's best-known and most visited hotel-casinos. Cashing in on the recent trend in Las Vegas towards Euro-opulence, the Bellagio sits on its own four-hectare (10-acre) 'oasis', featuring a mock northern Italian village on the shore, behind which looms the bulking mass of the large hotel. The hotel offers 3000 rooms, 12 restaurants, four 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. A popular attraction is the dancing water shows every 15 minutes 1900-2400. 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South Tel: (702) 693 7111 or (888) 987 7111. Fax: (702) 693 8585. Web site: www.bellagiolasvegas.com Transport: Bus 301 or Las Vegas Strip Trolley. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. MGM Grand Hotel and Theme Park Since its completion in 1993, the momentous MGM Grand has held the title of largest hotel in the world, with over 5000 rooms, and has also become the venue of choice for boxing matches taking place in the USA. The casino area alone is 15,300 sq metres (170,000 sq ft). Other features include eight restaurants, a coffee shop, a food court with five lounges, two showrooms, two wedding chapels, a massive pool, a lion habitat, a dance club and shopping complex. Behind the hotel is the 13-hectare (33-acre) theme park, MGM Grand Adventures, replete with bumper cars, log flume, bungee swing and inflated-samurai-costume wrestling, along with shopping and food outlets. 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South Tel: (702) 891 1111. Fax: (702) 891 3036. Web site: www.mgmgrand.com Transport: Bus 301 or Las Vegas Strip Trolley. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours (hotel and casino); daily 1100-1900 (theme park). Admission: US$2 (theme park only). Luxor The Luxor is an unmistakable landmark on the Strip. Opened in 1993, the entire casino-hotel complex is 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 9000-sq-metre (100,000 sq ft) casino with 2002 slot machines and 106 table games. 3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South Tel: (702) 262 4000. Fax: (702) 262 4404. Web site: www.luxor.com Transport: Bus 301 or Las Vegas Strip Trolley. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. Caesar's Palace An old denizen of the Strip, Caesar's 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 - Roman columns, grand staircases, manicured shrubbery, imported marble statuary and luxuriant fountains. Its two casinos, measuring a total of 10,800sq metres (120,000sq ft), feature all the regular games, as well as an 'empire' of slot machines that feature prizes like motorcycles, convertible cars and jackpots that have reached up to US$21 million. 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South Tel: (702) 731 7110. Fax: (702) 731 6636. Web site: www.caesars.com Transport: Bus 301 or Las Vegas Strip Trolley. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. 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 natural 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 and a 75,708-litre (20,000-gallon) tropical aquarium. The hotel also boasts a pool and spa, 11 restaurants, four lounge bar areas, a white tiger habitat, and the requisite casino, which features over 2000 slot machines. 2400 Las Vegas Boulevard South Tel: (702) 791 7111. Fax: (702) 791 7414. Web site: www.mirage.com Transport: Bus 301 or Las Vegas Strip Trolley. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. 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 the new hotel, but the 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 10,800sq metre (120,000sq ft) casino, featuring 2500 slot machines and 122 table games, sits behind a replica of the Doge's Palace. Twelve restaurants, five pools and a fitness centre cater to the visitor's non-gambling whims. 3355 Las Vegas Boulevard Tel: (702) 414 1000. Fax: (702) 414 2122. Web site: www.venetian.com Transport: Bus 301 or Las Vegas Strip Trolley. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. Las Vegas Natural History Museum The Las Vegas Natural History Museum brings to life the natural world of local Nevada wildlife, ancient dinosaurs, marine life and more through exhibits, displays and live exhibitions. The Dino Den features mechanical dinosaurs including ten-metre (35-ft) long Tyrannosaurus Rex, while another exhibit shows 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 rattle-snake, 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 Tel: (702) 384 3466. Fax: (702) 384 5343. Transport: Bus 301. Opening hours: Daily 0900-1600. Admission: US$5.50, concessions available. |