A guided elevator ride (surcharge) whisks guests to the top of the half-scale Eiffel Tower, rising 460 feet above the street. A two-thirds-scale Arc de Triomphe sets the tone at the hotel’s entrance. Partial replications of the Louvre, the Paris Opera House, and the Hotel de Ville (city hall) augment the Parisian flavor. All are noteworthy shutterbug opportunities.

Dining temptations include the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, with panoramic views; the chic Les Artistes Steakhouse; a French-inspired buffet; a sidewalk café; and a bistro with alfresco seating.

Both self-parking and valet parking are complimentary (gratuity not included).

With a design based on Zen philosophy, the 65,000-square-foot Spa & Salon at Bellagio (surcharge) features travertine marble, granite, bleached walnut, onyx, reflecting pools, water walls, and illuminated aqua-colored glass. The spa has 54 treatment rooms, men’s and women’s saunas, steam rooms, and spa tubs of varying temperatures. A fitness center offers yoga, Pilates, and spinning classes.

Via Bellagio hosts such luxury boutiques as Prada, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and Hermès. An ornate vault of glass and green wrought iron, the Conservatory shelters a seasonal flower garden. A Mediterranean garden with fruit trees houses five heated pools, three with oversize fountains.

Meeting and event space includes two grand ballrooms and 14 meeting rooms from 1,000 to 10,000 square feet. A business center provides high-speed Internet access, printing, faxing, copying, shipping, and other services (surcharges).

What to expect:

Exquisite, opulent, gracious—these descriptions convey the appeal of Bellagio to world travelers who wish to vacation like royalty. A marble lobby features a ceiling of 2,000 glass blossoms created by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. Via Bellagio offers shops and designer boutiques under a ceiling of etched glass and green wrought iron.

If you enter the casino via the Brooklyn Bridge (the walkway from the Strip), you’ll find yourself in a replica of Greenwich Village, down to the cobblestones, the manhole covers, the tenement-style buildings, and the graffiti. (Yes, they even re-created that. You should see the subway station.) The reception area and lobby are done in an Art Deco, golden-age-of-Manhattan style; you’ll feel like breaking into a 1930s musical number while standing there. It’s a wow! all right. The word “subtle” was obviously not in the lexicon of the designers. We will leave it to you to decide, based on your own aesthetic values, if all this is a good or bad thing. Let’s just say that to us, it’s very, very good indeed. This is exactly what we come to Vegas for — unbridled, unrepentant, theme-gone-wild.

Upstairs — oh, yes, there’s much more — is the arcade, which is Coney Island-themed (naturally), and just as crowded as the real thing. Kids play boardwalk games in the hopes of winning tickets redeemable for cheap prizes. (You’re never too young to start learning about gambling.) The line for the roller coaster starts here. There are many restaurants, all housed in buildings that fit the theme of whatever New York neighborhood is represented in that particular part of the hotel.

Park Avenue Deluxe

Broadway Deluxe

Rooms are housed in different towers, each with a New York-inspired name. The place is so massive and mazelike that finding your way to your room can take a while. There are 64 different layouts for the rooms, which are currently undergoing their third makeover, probably moving them ever farther from the original Deco-inspired decor to something bland. Still, they should be comfortable, and though the bathrooms are small, they are done in a pleasing gray marble. There can be a loooonnnggg walk from the elevators, so if you have ambulatory issues, you had best mention this while booking. Rooms in the single digits seem to be in the Empire Tower, if that helps give you a clue to location. Light sleepers should request a room away from the roller coaster. The health club and spa just got an expensive new makeover and are much larger. The mediocre pool is right next to the parking structure.

In addition to a particularly nice food court and a number of more-than-decent restaurants, including reliable Italian chain Il Fornaio, there are several festive and beautifully decorated bars throughout the property. Coyote Ugly is a party-hearty bar where dancing on furniture is encouraged and the female bartenders are hired just to be sassy. At The Bar at Times Square, dueling pianos set the mood for a lively neighborhood bar conviviality. This is home to the topless and adults-only Cirque du Soleil production Zumanity, which we think is overrated.

The main casino area is done as Central Park, complete with trees, babbling brooks, streetlamps, and footbridges. The change carts are little yellow cabs.

Facilities:

7 restaurants; food court; casino; showrooms; outdoor pool; health club; spa; Jacuzzi; video-game arcade w/midway games; tour desk; business center; salon; 24-hr. room service; laundry service; dry cleaning; executive-level rooms

Why on Earth are we recommending it? Because to come here is to come to a gobsmackingly beautiful resort — between the sparkling water and the crisp mountains, all the better in the early evening with a warm breeze blowing, this is the serene oasis everyone dreams of when he or she comes to the desert. Plus, it has all the pampering bells and whistles you could want. Here’s the thing you have to remember: Those Strip “resorts” aren’t in the hotel business; they are in the casino business, and the hotel is just a sideline. Ritz-Carlton is a proper hotelier, and you are the beneficiary. Certainly, the price is not cheap (though watch the website for some great deals), but once you realize what’s included — all manner of treats that Strip “resorts” will charge you for as extras, plus impeccable service and a setting that’s a dream — it’s not a bad deal. Come here for a true getaway, and treat Vegas as a nearby attraction, an additional perk for your vacation.

Set right on the shores of the man-made (but so’s Lake Mead, and we’ve gotten over it) Lake Las Vegas, and styled like an Italian lakeside resort, this property couldn’t be more handsome, from the lobby to the cool-palette rooms, with plump beds, comforters, and Frette linens. All bathrooms are large and fully marbled (not tile, but real marble), with deep and long soaking tubs and amenities for miles. Most rooms have water views (make sure you get one of those) either of the serpentine lake (our favorite) or of the little bay that abuts the property. Some have balconies, and all have windows that open. Keep an eye on the lake for sightings of the big fish that occasionally cruise just below the surface.

The health club is the sort where all machines have flatscreen TVs, and the spa offers hot and cold plunge pools, plus a 360-degree Vichy shower and Prada skin treatments and products. There is one basic pool (with nice gazebos for shade) and one little “sandy beach” dipping area. And the overall service? We felt like if we sneezed, three people would have rushed at us with tissues, and four would have called doctors, just to make sure we were okay. It’s also quiet, a great change from the hurly-burly found at most Strip hotels. And yet, it’s not at all stuffy; no one minds if you run around in a bathing suit and bare feet.

The activities are the best around, from a large array of desert and mountain hikes, both on your own and guided (including a restful one that includes a round of Tai Chi in the evening), to stargazing (you are far enough from city lights, so the looking is good) to boating on the lake to honest-to-gosh fly-fishing. Daily yoga sessions and other physical fitness classes are also offered. And the hotel has access to two high-level golf courses.

Medi Cafe Terrace

Firenze Lobby Lounge

Parents, in particular, should note that the club-level rooms offer, for an extra $100 a night, access to a lounge (complete with its own concierge and even more fabulous service), with nearly ’round-the-clock free “snacks,” generous (and most of the time, rather fancy) enough to cover all your meal needs — that, plus free drinks, alcoholic and otherwise, makes this option a bargain. Think how much you spend on meals and drinks, and tell us that it doesn’t routinely go over an extra $100 a day. Right next door is a charming faux-Italian village with nearly 40 shops and restaurants (so you need not rely on the hotel’s restaurant, though it is excellent), plus a large, if borderline dull, casino, if you want that kind of action but don’t want to drive to the Strip. There are regular shuttles to the Strip for a $35 fee, though why anyone would leave here is beyond us.

Facilities:

Restaurant; bar; casino; 2 pools; health club w/some free exercise classes; spa; summer children’s program; concierge; tour desk; business center; shuttle to Strip; salon; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; laundry service; dry cleaning; executive-level rooms.

In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies, Nintendo, dataport, high-speed Internet access (for a fee), Wi-Fi (included in resort fee), minibar, hair dryer, iron/ironing board, safe.

Mandalay Bay is one of our favorite hotels. Why? Well, we love that the lobby (impossibly high ceilings, calm, gleaming with marble, and housing a large aquarium), and the other public areas really do make this seem more like an actual resort hotel than just a Vegas version of one. You don’t have to walk through the crasino to get to any of these public areas or the guest-room elevators, the pool area is spiffy, and the entire complex is marginally less confusing and certainly less overwhelming than some of the neighboring behemoths.

We wouldn’t say it really evokes colonial Southeast Asia — oh, maybe around the edges, if you squint, thanks to the odd bit of foliage or Balinese carving. This may well keep out the gawkers, who are looking for bigger visual thrills, but we find a place whose theme doesn’t bop you over the head refreshing.

The freshly redone spacious rooms are among the most desirable on the Strip. There is no tropical influence; they’ve gone with geometrics like everyone else, though theirs are very handsome indeed. The bathrooms are the crowning glory: downright large with impressive, slightly sunken tubs, glassed-in showers, double sinks, and separate water closets, plus lots of fab amenities. Rooms on higher floors have some of the best Strip views in town, but usually cost an additional fee.

Service overall is pretty good, and those pool-area employees are the tops in Vegas, though there were no security guards at the guest elevators. A monorail system connects the hotel with Luxor and Excalibur, which are located in the heart of the Strip action, and this should more than help you get over any feelings of isolation.

The restaurants in Mandalay Bay feature some of the most innovative interiors in Vegas, each one more whimsical and imaginative than the next. Even if you don’t eat at the hotel, drop in and poke around the restaurants: Aureole, a highly rated branch of Charlie Palmer’s renowned New York City restaurant. And then there’s rumjungle, which features a dramatically skewered all-you-can-eat multicourse Brazilian feast, which you’ll enjoy while listening to world-beat drums, surrounded by walls of fire and water and other striking visual features. More casual food can be found at House of Blues, whose Southern delicacies are often quite palate-pleasing; HOB is probably the best place in town to see rock bands. Mandalay Bay has a showroom where Mamma Mia!, just finished a years-long run, and a separate arena that was inaugurated by none other than the late Luciano Pavarotti. There’s also a big, comfortable casino, airier and less claustrophobic than most, plus three bars, often featuring live music at night.

There are no fewer than four pools (entering this area is like going to a water park, thanks to upgraded security — all guests, regardless of age, must show a room key), including the touted wave pool, which is, unfortunately, a classic example of Vegas bait-and-switch. It can’t handle waves of any serious size, but bobbing in the miniwaves is delightful, as is floating happily in the lazy river (tubes are available for rental — we say save some bucks and share a tube with friends, taking turns using it). Though it was already the finest pool area in town, recent overhauls have given it even more style, adding in a poolside casino, restaurant, and bar. All in all, this area alone makes this resort a top choice for families (except, perhaps, in the topless swimming area).

The health club is sufficiently stocked to give you a good workout (it should be, as they charge guests $27 per day to use it — $20 for the gym only at THEhotel’s facility). The spa area proper — featuring hot and warm pools, plus a cold plunge pool — is exotically designed, as close to those found in the Turkish spas in Eastern Europe as we’ve come across, though without the weathered decay of decades or centuries, which can be a good thing. Load up on that rich moisturizer when dressing — it costs $17 a bottle in the store outside the door.

Facilities:
22 restaurants; casino; 12,000-seat events center; 1,700-seat performing-arts theater; aquarium; wedding chapels; 4 outdoor pools w/lazy river and wave pool; health club; spa; Jacuzzi; sauna; watersports equipment/rentals; concierge; tour desk; business center; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; laundry service; dry cleaning; executive-level rooms

The Orleans offers 1,426 beautifully appointed rooms and suites featuring the ultimate in luxury and comfort. Our oversized rooms are actually “Petite Suites” with separate sitting areas. The Orleans’ exquisite one and two-bedroom suites provide all the conveniences of home. Spectacular views face the glittering Las Vegas Strip or the sweeping mountain panoramas surrounding the Las Vegas Valley.

Amenities include a sparkling oval pool where the kids can enjoy a dip in the cool waters as well as the Spa Orleans and Fitness Center, a tranquil place where adults can take a little time to pamper themselves between trips to the casino.

Adults can also enjoy some alone time thanks to the Kid’s Tyme Child Care Center, designed for children ages 2 1/2 to 12, and kids love the center’s jungle gym, arts and crafts activities, and movies.

There’s plenty of entertainment at the Orleans Hotel and Casino as well. Top-name entertainers headline at the hotel and one Friday night each month, the best in boxing comes to the hotel, with great matches enjoyed by sports fanatics of all ages. The Orleans even boasts a 70-lane bowling center.

Amenities: 70 Lane Bowling Center Whether you’re bowling with friends or a league, the Orleans Bowling Center is your best bowling bet. Century Orleans 18 This 18-plex movie theatre has 4,810 stadium style seats and state-of-the-art digital and THX certified sound systems on all screens.

Kid’s Tyme Child Care Center is open 7 days a week, for children 2 1/2 to 12 years of age. The center features a magnificent jungle gym, movie room, arts & crafts, interactive play and much more.

Spa Orleans and Fitness Center Spa Orleans offers eight luxurious treatment rooms, each with beautiful views of the sparkling blue swimming pool; three comfortable Tanning Beds, a Steam Room, Jacuzzi, state-of-the-art Fitness Center and full-service Beauty and Barber shops. Separate Spa facilities are provided for men and women, and privacy is always assured. Complimentary beverages are served to every Spa Orleans guest. Open seven days a week with varying seasonal hours.

The Orleans Showroom The 827-seat Orleans-style showroom features theatre-style design and technically superior sound and lighting system which ensure a sensational entertainment experience for guests of all ages.

The Time Out Arcade features the latest and greatest in video and interactive games for every member of the family and is open 7 days a week.

The hotel’s more-than 3,600 rooms can accommodate most visitor’s wishes, including those with special needs and those who prefer non-smoking rooms. Guest rooms are large and most have been recently renovated. Amenities include four separate pools, set in a 15-acre tropical garden where kids can frolic in the warm Las Vegas sun. Two hot tubs are also nearby and cabanas are available for rental. The Spa and Fitness Center is perfect for a daily workout, a relaxing massage, or invigorating sauna.

Surrounding the rose garden are lush grounds and walking paths that take you on an expedition through live African penguins, Chilean flamingos, Mandarin ducks and Koi fish swimming in ponds under three-story-high waterfalls. Adding to the resort atmosphere are the tennis courts, swimming pools and a world-class health spa. The Spa at the Flamingo features facilities for men and women with saunas, exercise rooms, whirlpools, massages and more. The Garden Wedding Chapel is set in the hotels garden area and offers a choice of full-service packages.

Restaurants at the hotel offer a huge variety of culinary delights. Conrad’s Steakhouse. The finest steaks and seafood are served in a steakhouse so romantic and elegant, you’ll want to savor every moment. Pink Ginger offers Pan-Asian cuisine Hamada of Japan. Voted “Best Japanese Restaurant” by Zagat, guests will enjoy a variety of Japanese delicacies such as sushi, as well as meat and seafood dishes.

Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. The cuisine is a reflection of Jimmy’s travels throughout the Caribbean. The ambiance is total FUN. Casual dining experiences are also available for visitors with kids although children with more sophisticated tastes will certainly enjoy a meal in one of the hotel’s “fancy” restaurants.

Many of the rooms have unobstructed and unparalleled views of the Las Vegas Strip. Relax in royal splendor in these beautifully decorated 351 square foot rooms. Enjoy a glorious rest in a king sized be that comes with the Standard King room or in one of two queen sized beds that come with the Standard Queen room. Decorated in warm, comforting tones with hardwood furnishings, these spacious rooms invite each guest to relax and prepare for their next royal adventure. Non-smoking rooms are available on request. Rooms feature Remote control color TV with cable, voice mail, PPV movies, iron and ironing board, air conditioning, AM/FM clock radio, hair dryer, shower with full vanity, spacious closet and 24-hour room service.

Entertainment at Excalibur Hotel: Tournament of Kings Dinner Show, an original musical production adapted from the legend of King Arthur, is presented twice each evening at 6:00 and 8:30 p.m. The $1 million production boasts medieval flair, jousting, invading armies, dragons, fire-wizards, and dinner. This dinner show spectacular is performed in the newly remodeled King Arthur’s Arena, a 900-seat theater-in-the-round style arena. Guests will enjoy cheering for their favorite king while eating the savory fare the medieval way…sans utensils!

Attractions: The 100,000 square foot casino stays consistent with the theme and boasts hundreds of slots and video machines, varied table games, keno, poker, and a race and sports book for interactive wagering. The younger set, however, will race to the first floor full of carnival games at the Fantasy Faire Midway and will certainly enjoy the Tournament of Kings, a jousting dinner show with dragons, fire-wizards, and of course, hearty food.

The Court Jester’s Stage features puppetry, juggling, and music throughout most of the day. The Medieval Village is filled with dozens of shoppes, four restaurants, a food court and strolling entertainers. The entertaining Jester’s Stage is on this level as well as Merlin’s Theater featuring Australia’s “Thunder from Down Under” and “Catch a Rising Star.”

Pool Area: Nevada’s warm and sunny climate helps to make Excalibur’s two swimming pools a popular gathering area. The pool area comfortably holds 800 guests and features two heated pools, a 25-seat spa, waterfalls, water slides, 35,000 square-foot deck space, and a shaded dining area. A snack bar and cocktail bar are open daily. Pool hours vary by season.

The rooms emphasize comfortable accommodations and a variety of television viewing options. All rooms include voice mail and message service; electronic door locks; iron and ironing board; hairdryer; king bed or two double beds (based on availability) and non smoking rooms (based on availability) Alexandria and Tunis rooms are equipped with central heating and cooling. Some Alexandria tower suites include parlor area with wet bar and balcony access with views. Tangiers rooms are equipped with an individually controlled heating and cooling system. The suites have a parlor area that typically includes desk space and a wet bar.

Today, Sahara is still a favorite stomping ground for many who visit Las Vegas and enjoy the excitement of this hotel built in Vegas’s early days of growth. Moroccan in style, the hotel features a spacious casino, the amazing Speed roller coaster, good food, and a number of entertaining variety shows and concerts for all ages.

Visitors can enjoy elegant dining in a lush setting at the House of Lords, taste the international flavors of the Sahara Buffet, watch stock car races while they dine at the Nascar Cafe, or visit Paco’s for a little taste of South of the Border. A 5,000 square foot pool at the Sahara keeps the kids cool while 8 private cabanas shade the adults from the hot Las Vegas sun. Children love romping in the circular fountains and a poolside snack bar keeps them well-fed and watered.

Caravan Coffee Shop (24 hours) – The Caravan Coffee Shop serves as a relaxing place to come when you just need a break from all the excitement! Whether you’re in need of some delicious coffee to help you stay awake on those late nights or a little something to satisfy those hunger pains, the coffee shop is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to serve you.

Sahara Buffet – This 900-seat buffet is located within a casual setting.

NASCAR Cafe – The new 75,000-square-foot NASCAR Cafe features exciting stock car racing entertainment along with an all-American menu. The NASCAR theme encases the entertainment complex. Giant projection television screens equipped with surround sound feature NASCAR racing, driver profiles and the latest NASCAR news.

SPEED – The Ride is a state-of-the-art roller coaster launched from inside the NASCAR Cafe entertainment complex in the Sahara Hotel and Casino. Designed by renowned attractions company, Premier Rides, SPEED is powered by Linear Induction Motors (LIM), utilizing electromagnetic force to accelerate the coaster to top speeds almost instantaneously.

SPEED slingshots out of its launch site and over its first hill. A steep drop follows as passengers travel 25 feet below the surface through an underground tunnel before propelling them back above the ground and then through a breathtaking loop. The coaster then accelerates from 35 mph to its fastest speed of 70 mph in just two seconds, as it zips through the Sahara’s 192-foot-tall marquee before curving around the porte-cochere and up a steep incline – - stopping 224 feet above the ground. SPEED then carries passengers through the same exhilarating path in reverse.

Las Vegas Cyber Speedway – At the NASCAR Cafe in the Sahara Hotel and Casino, car-racing fans can turn their high-speed driving dreams into reality at the Cafe’s 35,000-square-foot Las Vegas Cyber Speedway. Mounted on hydraulic bases, the cars, 7/8 the actual size of authentic stock cars and Indy cars, are equipped to provide the most realistic, simulated race car driving experience available. The simulators are outfitted with 10 adjustable performance parameters that drivers can customize to their own needs. The realistic sight, sound and motion is achieved by a 20-foot, wrap around screen which projects an authentic visual replica of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway or a road course down the Las Vegas Strip.

The first slot machine as we know it today was the, Liberty Bell which was developed by a Charles Frey in Amercian city San francisco in 1899. This new machine had 3 spinning reels which featured 5 symbols which were diamonds, hearts, spades, horseshes and a Liberty Bell. The machine was simplier and therefore enabled Fey to work out an automatic payout mechanism. If you hit 3 bells in a row on the payline that would win you the Jackpot prize of 10 nickels. If you won nothing it was termed “Jack”.

Classic cherry and melon symbols come about from an early slot machine which had prizes of different flavoured chewing gums which has pictures of the flavours on the actual reels.
Another classic symbol, the BAR was the logo of the Bell Fruit Gum company.

The first electro-mechanical slot machine was developed by Bally Manufacturing in 1964 and was called Money Honey. This was the first machine in over 50 years that started to move on from Feys orginal invention. Internally the machine replaced springs and levers with electrical components and for the player the outward changes really added to the gaming experience with multiple coin play and higher jackpots. The use of the electricity allowed exciting slots noises and flashing lights. Overnight the slot machine had become a whole lot more exciting and appealing to alot more people.

Bally Manufacturing continued to lead the way in the development of slot machines and in the mid 1970’s introduced a a Dollar Slot Machine which casinos arranged in carousels and bigger jackpots. Until now slots had been consider secondary gambling games for the casinos, with the table games considered primary profit games. This was now changing as the slots become increasingly popular.

In 1980 a new company called Sircoma produced a video poker slot machine. At first players were untrusting of the video aspect as they could not actually see the reels spinning. However they soon become very popular and still are today both in live casinos and online.

In the mid 1990s slot machines started accepting bills so players no longer needed to get change in coins to play, this meant more time at the slot machine and actually playing the slot even easier.

In 1992 Bally Gaming invented a slot machine which had multiple games for the player to choose to play from just the one machine.

In the late 1990s a slot machine was produced that introduced a bonus feature and another chance to win money aside from the spinning reels. Players would then then look forward to the next bonus round in the hope of winning the bonus jackpot.

Nowadays we are heading towards a cashless slots with the introduction of tickets or cards onto which cash can be placed the winnings. Some slots operate with touch screen technology and others have easy to use help menus.

The popularity of slots is exploding on the internet as software providers are coming out with new variations weekly for the casinos and many games now having amazing bonus game features which also offer great prizes. Many of these games are luck based, but proving popular are some skill based bonus games.

More and more people around the world are gaining access to high speed internet and at the same time access to online casinos who offer many online slot variations. Many of these players have never been to a real live casino, but can still enjoy the thrill of the spinning reels and hittinga winning combination.

Slots will no doubt be advancing and improving both in the live casino and particularly online for a quite a few years yet.