Vegas Ups the Ante

For folks like me, who travel in search of authentic experiences, the topic of Las Vegas elicits mixed emotions. The only thing authentic in this mecca of consumption, extravagance, and beaucoup bad taste is the sweaty, anxious quest for the gambling dollar. The fading Stardust, Riviera, and Sahara casinos are what the people who invented this place brought to the table, but their dim, smoky, fraying-at-the-edges scene is not what most of us go for nowadays.

A decade into its evolution from gambling hot spot to adult playground for the disposable-income set, Vegas has come into its own. The new Vegas, rich in beautiful hotels, sybaritic spas, seriously fine dining, and internationally renowned shopping, is less an authentic experience than an amalgam of the most lucrative aspects of international consumerism and culture, brought together by a still dusty, and often unsightly, desert county in search of its holy grail.

I can’t say Vegas feels right, but it’s tough to deny that it feels good. Here’s a rundown of the latest and greatest in its ever-changing scene.

The Hotel Scene
The talk of Las Vegas right now is the new Wynn Las Vegas resort. Casino resort impresario Steve Wynn has taken some hits in the travel press for failing to thoroughly reinvent the casino resort as he did at The Mirage in 1989 and Bellagio in 1998. But that’s a bad rap as Wynn seems to be a victim of his own success.

The Wynn, as it’s awkwardly called these days, offers as fully realized a resort experience as is available in Vegas. Wynn has taken the city beyond the realm of theming into the realm of true luxury. Good service, often the missing link in today’s Vegas, is not reserved here for high rollers or VIPs, but is part of the culture.

The Wynn’s design and décor are original, bright, and eclectic—and neither traditional nor modern. The color palette is original. The high-tech “water feature” and accompanying sounds that play each night are innovative, yet not really as surprising as the volcanoes and fountains that Wynn pioneered earlier in his career. Food service is uniformly superb, and even the room-service menu is imaginative and appealing. The rooms, in tones of orange-red, tan, and white, are spacious, the furnishings stylish and comfortable. Flat-screen televisions hang on the wall, but can be extended to suit any viewing angle. Even the antiminibar minibar is wisely reconceived.

The Wynn, on the old Desert Inn property, is the only Strip resort to boast an on-site golf course, and it shimmers. Pools, open year-round (a Vegas rarity), have an intimacy rarely in evidence in 2,716-room resorts. The on-site spa is large and full-service—but perhaps the only aspect of the resort that seems a bit perfunctory. A handful of tony shops, many unique to the city, do business off the lobby.

The only discordant note, inevitably, is the large casino that guests must walk through to get to their rooms—except those in the sumptuous Tower Suites (extra fee). The Wynn is Vegas’s attraction of the moment, so it is full of day-trippers drinking in the ambiance. Add in as many as 6,000 guests in residence, and you have the makings of a crowded and chaotic experience. But what did you expect in Vegas?

Rooms from $159/night. 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-770-7000
 That said, two other newish alternatives register as subdued. THEhotel at Mandalay Bay Resort is an all-suite tower designed to serve business travelers at Mandalay’s conference center. There is no casino in the lobby (though Mandalay Bay’s is a short walk away).

THEhotel, which is entered from a dispiriting parking ramp, evokes a W or other contemporary boutique hotel (though it boasts 1,117 rooms). The design sensibility is spare and contemporary. The color palette includes grays, browns, blacks, and whites. The feeling is masculine, but calming, and strangely dignified for Vegas. Standard rooms, at 725 square feet, are some of the largest in the city. A full living room with sofa, wet bar, forty-two-inch plasma TV, desk workspace, and a half bathroom connects to a bedroom with an easy chair, king-sized bed, and another big TV. The spacious bathroom has a separate tub and shower, another flat-screen TV, and a WC in its own room. Rooms are done in browns, grays, and dark woods, and the ones facing northeast can be dark.

THEhotel has its own all-day café, bar, and coffee lounge serving Starbucks products and is connected to the Mandalay Place shopping promenade, which has a nice array of shops and restaurants. There are also many dining options at Mandalay Bay.

Suites from $189/night. 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 877-632-7800

For those in search of a higher touch experience, but with the same contemporary feel, the SkyLofts at MGM Grand are a bit of heaven in the world’s largest hotel. With rates starting at $800 a night, this isn’t a place for everyone, but the one-, two- and three-bedroom, butler-serviced suites, occupying a full upper floor of the MGM tower, are a tour de force by New York designer Tony Chi. White limestone and neutral tones dominate the bilevel accommodations, which are as bright as THEhotel is subdued. There are spa baths and various high-tech bathroom and entertainment wizardry at your command, plus lots of staff when you don’t know which button to push. A private spa/exercise suite is reserved for SkyLofts guests who don’t want to schlep to MGM’s spa.

MGM Grand is arguably home to Las Vegas’s most storied collection of restaurants, but is otherwise a massive tourist factory, and the SkyLofts seem best designed for visitors who want to cocoon in a fabulous suite, drop down for dinner, then head back upstairs.

Lofts from $800/night. 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 877-646-5638
Food Glorious Food
The Vegas dining scene has evolved so far since Wolfgang Puck opened Spago at the Forum Shops in 1992 that Spago now feels like a quaint mall restaurant. Although much of the Strip food scene feels unnecessarily luxurious and overdesigned, there is no denying that you could eat a month’s worth of dinners and not try every worthy option from the global pantheon of chefs here, celebrity and otherwise. My one complaint is that these restaurants are often more expensive than their originals in New York, LA, or San Francisco, perhaps due to the staggering cost of creating such outsized showpieces. Las Vegas is deep into the realm of the $21 foie gras appetizer, $41 New York steak, and $14 crème brûlée. Bargain dining still exists here, but (mostly) not at places you’ll want to go.

Lacking the space to do justice to all the worthy options, I want to make special mention of the culinary array at the Wynn Las Vegas. When it comes to Vegas dining, Steve Wynn did reinvent the model here, by insisting all his chefs (except New York’s Daniel Boulud) be in residence and cook five or six nights a week in their restaurants. Though the absence of Bobby Flay at his Caesars Palace Mesa Grill or Thomas Keller at his Bouchon at the Venetian Resort didn’t diminish my meals there—they were great—the opportunity to speak to several Wynn chefs and have them customize a dining experience to my tastes and interests really made my Wynn experience memorable.

At the Wynn, don’t miss Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, chef Paul Bartolotta’s Italian seafooder, overlooking the resort’s lake. Put yourself in Chef Paul’s hands for the superb seafood he flies in daily from Italy. This unique dining experience comes highly recommended, and unlike most of Vegas’s fine-dining restaurants, Bartolotta is open for lunch. Alsatian chef Eric Klein’s SW, with views of the Wynn’s nightly water show, is a damn-good steak house, with the best creamed spinach I’ve ever tasted. Klein has peppered the menu with Alsatian specialties, such as his tart flambé and choucroute of house-made sausages, which must not be missed. Even a simple lunch at the golf course’s Country Club Grill includes imaginative takes on the BLT and a grilled cheese and tomato soup combo.

At Mandalay Place, I had a great lunch at Burger Bar, an upscale diner by noted San Francisco chef Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys), offering burgers—lamb, turkey, or Kobe or Angus beef—with an array of sauces, toppings, and two types of fries. Rbar Café is a great casual seafood café from New York chef Rick Moonen; it’s a rare treat—great food in a place that doesn’t feel stuffy or overbuilt.

Steak seekers should head to Craftsteak (MGM Grand), the Vegas branch of Tom Colicchio’s NYC Craft, while lovers of California cuisine will not be let down at the namesake restaurant of Bradley Ogden (Caesars Palace), whose Bay Area Lark Creek Inn is synonymous with the artful simplicity of northern California cuisine.

Other spots getting good word of mouth from area critics and foodies include Joël Robuchon’s eponymous dining room and counter-service L’Atelier (MGM Grand); Alain Ducasse’s Mix (THEhotel); Simon Kitchen & Bar (Hard Rock Hotel) for Kerry Simon’s reimagined comfort food; Alessandro Stratta’s Alex (Wynn), right now deemed the top fine-dining restaurant in town; and Lotus of Siam (953 Sahara Ave. E., 702-735-3033), jokingly referred to as LA’s best Thai restaurant. If you’re planning to dine at any of these restaurants on the weekend or during a convention week, be sure to book well in advance.Jewels of Retail
Next to Vegas’s emergence as a culinary force, there is no trend more pronounced than its growing stature as a temple of high-end retailing. From the new addition to the Forum Shops (Kiehl’s, Harry Winston, Longchamp, Kate Spade, Jimmy Choo) and the beautifully remodeled Fashion Show Mall (full-size versions of Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue) to the Venetian’s Grand Canal Shoppes (Burberry, Mikimoto), the Wynn Esplanade (Brioni, Manolo Blahnik, Gaultier, Graff Jewelers, a Ferrari–Maserati dealership) and the now-venerable Via Bellagio (Chanel, Gucci, Hermès, Prada, YSL), there is no greater collection of luxury and international brands west of New York, not to mention within a mile of one another. For bargains, there are also two outlet malls surprisingly close to the Strip. If you’re into unique local boutiques, alas, Vegas is not your kind of town.

Art/Culture
OK, you’re laughing. But the Venetian’s Guggenheim Hermitage Museum showcases a rotating array of works from the two world powers in art. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art presents primarily European paintings on loan from major world museums. Of greater interest perhaps is Vegas’s new Atomic Testing Museum, a fascinating trip through the history of atomic weapons testing in the Nevada desert. Though some may find the tone here too unquestioning about the value of atomic weapons, it is nonetheless a fascinating historical artifact, engagingly presented.

755 E. Flamingo Rd., 702-794-5161

Entertainment
What can I tell you? If you’re not into celebrity impersonators, derivative burlesque, Celine Dion, or third-tier comedians, I’d argue Vegas entertainment leaves a lot to be desired. My advice is to look for short-stay headliners such as Jerry Seinfeld or Bill Maher. High-quality acts that work Vegas continually include Penn & Teller (six nights a week at the Rio), the many Cirque du Soleil variants around town, including the new and risqué Zumanity at New York–New York, and the fun, but pat, Avenue Q at the Wynn—an Up With People for a politically correct age.

What It Costs
Las Vegas’s one remaining value suit is lodging costs. Keep these simple rules in mind: Rates are always highest on Friday and Saturday nights, when Vegas fills with Angelenos. You’ll pay $250 and higher for nice accommodations then. Weekdays, the variable is occupancy. Convention periods keep prices high, but during dead periods—which occur irregularly but are predictable in August and between Thanksgiving and Christmas—even the Wynn books rooms for $159.