Vegas Luxe

Opulence is standard in Sin City

Having just returned from a weekend in Las Vegas, it’s easy to see why the time-starved OC moms and dads chose Sin City as a favorite in our Reader’s Choice Awards. It’s not for the same reasons that bachelorette party revelers, spring breakers and middle-aged conventioneers like to come here.

No, the young parents who voted for Vegas as their favorite child-free weekend getaway are after luxury theme hotels, palatial pools and sensuous spas. This affordable escape to extravagance is just a four-hour drive from OC, up the I-15. Says Reader’s Choice voter Robin Gormin from Laguna Niguel, “Vegas is close, but far enough away to feel like you are in another land.”

Another land, indeed. Sharing the fabled 4.2-mile Strip of Las Vegas Boulevard are the cities of Paris (Paris Las Vegas), Manhattan (New York-New York), Venice (the Venetian & Palazzo), Hong Kong (Mandarin Oriental), and Ancient Rome (Ceasars Palace), to name but a few. The cosmopolitan cacophony of architecture, water features, sculptures and neon lights is dizzying. Parenting OC reader Vishalj Jain of Irvine says she has “always been mesmerized by the various themed hotels with elaborate displays such as fountains synchronized to music, as well as replicas of an Egyptian pyramid, the Venetian Grand Canal, and the Eiffel Tower.”

It’s “an adult Disneyland,” says Laura Fern, also of Irvine. But there is nothing Mickey Mouse about the wave of uber luxury that began to transform Vegas almost 20 years ago, and still continues today.

The emergence of world-class resort properties on the Strip, ushered in by Steve Wynn with the Bellagio in 1998, then followed up by Wynn with the Encore and the Wynn Las Vegas, brought class to the kitsch, class that doesn’t cost a month’s salary for two nights of self indulgence. In Vegas, you can check into one of the finest suites in the world for a fraction of what that same room would cost in Manhattan or Laguna Beach.

The Venetian and Palazzo are connected resorts on the Strip that share a network of high-end shops and restaurants along an indoor waterway called the Grand Canal. Not even Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills can outdo these world-class shops, which are anchored by a flagship Barneys New York and include 160 other signature stores with luxury brands.

What separates the Venetian and the Palazzo from the other luxury hotels on the Strip is that every room is a suite. The basic room at the Palazzo, at 720 square feet, is considered the largest standard room on the Strip, with a sunken living room anchored by an L-shaped sofa, remote control-powered drapery and a bathroom clad in Italian marble and featuring a Roman tub. The room rate can be as low as $159, based on the resort’s occupancy, and it includes $25 dining credit at Buddy V’s Ristorante. (We stayed in the Fortuna suite in the Palazzo, which is 940 square feet, the size of a luxury apartment, with a stunning view of the north end of the Strip and the mountains beyond.)

At 50 stories tall, the Palazzo is one of the tallest hotels in the world. When it opened nine years ago, it stole from the Pentagon the title of largest building in the United States, based on floor space. The Palazzo, which means grand palace in Italian, is 6,948,980 square feet. It is an engineering marvel on its own, but when you consider that the Venetian (4,028 all-suite rooms) and the Palazzo (another 3,000 suites) are joined at the hip to form one large resort complex, tied together with the indoor Grand Canal, shops and restaurants, the scope of the development is mind-boggling.

The Grand Canal

A Gondola ride on the Grand Canal is touristy fun. The indoor lagoon runs a quarter mile next to cobblestone walkways and underneath an illuminated painted-sky ceiling. More than 500,000 visitors per year ride in these Venetian-style boats steered by entertaining gondoliers.

Our boatsman, dressed in the uniform of the trade—striped shirt, scarf, flat-brimmed straw hat and red hip sash—sang and told jokes with an amusingly fake Italian accent as he maneuvered the craft. He took us under low bridges and around tight corners, past streamside diners who smiled as we joined in with our rower, singing our best Dean Martin of “That’s Amore.”

Not only can you sing along, but you can also row (it’s actually a sculling motion) your own gondola at one of the morning classes, between 8 and 10 am. At the end of your instruction, the graduation ceremony includes an official scarf and sash. You are on your own with the Italian accent, however.

Dinner, Gym and a Show

Dinner options at the Palazzo and Venetian has you choosing between five chefs who have received the coveted James Beard Award for culinary excellence: Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller, and Daniel Boulud.

If you consider yourself a foodie, then take note. Coming on Friday, October 7, the Venetian will host an event called Love and Vine, with the culinary craftsmanship of Maîtres Cuisiniers de France. Featured are celebrated French chefs including Claude Le Tohic of Joel Robuchon, Jean Joho of Everest and The Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas, and Thomas Bellec, executive chef of Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, a Four Seasons Hotel.

You can work off all the epicurean indulgence in equally fabulous style at the Canyon Ranch SpaClub, easily the fanciest gym you’ll ever sweat in. The show at The Palazzo Theatre, “BAZ, Star Crossed Love,” blends Baz Luhrmann’s iconic films “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Great Gatsby” in a production created for the stage. The show debuted last month and can be seen Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. through December 31, 2016.

So, this short escape will offer you a tall order of fun, relaxation and connection with your partner. (We’d gamble this luxe hotpot just might hit the jackpot next Readers Choice Awards!)