Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas 2020 (Unofficial Guides) - Softcover

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Bob Sehlinger, a Lowell Thomas Award-winning journalist, is best known as the creator and producer of The Unofficial Guide series. Seth Kubersky has worked for more than 20 years as a theatrical artist, culture critic, and travel journalist. Seth is the author of “The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando” and coauthor of “The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland,” as well as a collaborator on “The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas” and “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World”. Seth is nationally recognized as an authority on theme parks and amusement attractions, and contributes to “Attractions Magazine,” “AAA Via,” and the “Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast.” Named Best Arts Writer in The Daily City’s 2013 readers’ poll, Kubersky writes an arts and entertainment column, “Live Active Cultures,” that appears in every issue of the “Orlando Weekly,” central Florida’s leading alternative newspaper. A native of Livingston, New Jersey, Kubersky earned a B.A. in theater from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. He has produced and directed dozens of plays through his award-winning Empty Spaces Theatre Co. and at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. As a stage technician and entertainment supervisor at Universal Orlando from 1996 to 2000, he worked on the Ghostbusters Spooktacular and Terminator 2: 3-D attractions, Mardi Gras parades, and Halloween mazes. Seth lives in Orlando with his wife, Genevieve, and their cat, Brubeck.

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What’s NEW in the 2020 edition of The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas

• Detailed ratings and descriptions of new shows, new restaurants, new attractions, and new nightlife
• The latest on e-sports, Las Vegas Golden Knights, and the Oakland Raiders move to Las Vegas
• Update on new hotels and hotel renovations
• Best places to gamble for each casino game
• Tips for using Uber, Lyft, and the Las Vegas Monorail, as well as tips for getting around road construction and traffic snarls
• Complete calendar of conventions and trade shows to help you avoid the crowds

Aus dem Klappentext

Whats NEW in the 2020 edition of The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas

• Detailed ratings and descriptions of new shows, new restaurants, new attractions, and new nightlife
• The latest on e-sports, Las Vegas Golden Knights, and the Oakland Raiders move to Las Vegas
• Update on new hotels and hotel renovations
• Best places to gamble for each casino game
• Tips for using Uber, Lyft, and the Las Vegas Monorail, as well as tips for getting around road construction and traffic snarls
• Complete calendar of conventions and trade shows to help you avoid the crowds

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Part I - ACCOMMODATIONS AND CASINOS

HOTELS WITH CASINOS

Bellagio (bellagio.com)

WITH ITS MAIN ENTRANCE OFF THE STRIP just south of Flamingo Road, the Bellagio is inspired by an Italian village overlooking Lake Como in the sub-Alpine north of Italy. The facade of the Bellagio will remind you somewhat of the themed architecture Steve Wynn employed at TI, only this time it’s provincial Italian instead of Caribbean. The Bellagio village is arrayed along the west and north sides of a manmade lake, where dancing fountains provide allure and spectacle, albeit more dignified than the Mirage’s exploding volcano.

Rising behind the village facade in a gentle curve is the 3,933-room hotel, complete with casino, restaurants, shopping complex, spa, and pool. Added in late 2004 was a 33-story Spa Tower with 819 hotel rooms and 109 suites. Bundled with the tower are a restaurant, four shops, and additional convention space. Imported marble is featured throughout, even in the guest rooms and suites, as are original art, traditionally styled furnishings, and European antiques. Guest rooms and meeting rooms also feature large picture windows affording views of lushly landscaped grounds and formal gardens.

The 2,568 guest rooms in the original Bellagio Tower feature jewel-toned color palettes derived from the property’s extensive gardens, floral pageants, and fountains. Inspired by the hotel’s renowned horticultural exhibits, botanical photographs line the walls, and there is enough lighting to illuminate a Cirque du Soleil performance. Most welcome is the laptop-sized safe and iHome docking station in the nightstand. Each room features a minibar and high-speed Internet.

Surprisingly, the Italian village theme of Bellagio’s lakefront facade is largely abandoned in the hotel’s interior. Though a masterpiece of integrated colors, textures, and sight lines, the interior design reflects no strong sense of theme. In two steps, passing indoors, you go from a provincial village on a very human scale to a monumentally grand interior with proportions reminiscent of national libraries. The vast spaces are exceedingly tasteful and unquestionably sophisticated, yet they fail to evoke the fun, whimsy, and curiosity so intrinsic to the Mirage and TI.

Perhaps because Las Vegas has conditioned us to a plastic, carnival sort of stimulation, entering the Bellagio is like stepping from the midway into the basilica. The surroundings impress but do not engage our emotions―except, of course, for the art, and that is exactly the point. Seen as a rich, neutral backdrop for the extraordinary works of art displayed throughout Bellagio, the lapse of thematic continuity is understandable. No theme could compete, and none should.

The art is everywhere, even on the ceiling of the registration lobby, where a vibrant, colorful blown-glass piece by Dale Chihuly hangs. Wonderful works are showcased in the Bellagio’s restaurants. Original Picassos, for example, are on exhibit in the restaurant of the same name. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is touted as Las Vegas’s premier art gallery.

Architecturally, Bellagio’s most creative and interesting spaces are found in its signature conservatory and botanical gardens and in its restaurants. As you walk into the main entrance the primary garden is straight ahead. The opulent and oversized displays change seasonally according to the theatrical floral whimsies of the supremely accomplished botanical staff.

If you spend time at the Bellagio, visit each of the restaurants for a moment, if only to take in their stunning design. Many of Bellagio’s restaurants, including a Las Vegas branch of Le Cirque, feature panoramic views. Some offer both indoor and outdoor dining experiences. Spago, Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant, moved from the Forum Shops to Bellagio in 2018. The restaurant features an open-air patio with prime views of the Bellagio’s fountains. Spago’s bar, boasting brass fixtures and smoked-oak floors as well as leather chairs and couches, is home to a wine cellar. In addition to the restaurants, Bellagio serves one of Las Vegas’s best―and not unexpectedly one of the city’s most expensive―buffets. With the exception of the buffet, coffee shop, and Sadelle’s (a Vegas outpost of the New York all-day-breakfast joint), Bellagio’s restaurants require reservations, preferably made a month to six weeks before you leave home.

The Bellagio’s showroom hosts a production of the justly acclaimed Cirque du Soleil. Though terribly expensive, the show is one of Cirque’s most challenging productions yet, featuring a one-of-a-kind set that transforms seamlessly from hard surface to water. Like Bellagio itself, the Cirque production “O” (from the pronunciation of the French word eau, meaning “water”) lacks the essential humor and humanness of Cirque’s Mystère at TI but is nonetheless one of the hottest Cirque tickets in town.

Retailers in the shopping venue include Chanel, Tiffany, and Prada. Bellagio’s purported target market includes high rollers and discriminating business travelers who often eschew gaming properties.

If you stay at Bellagio, you will find the same basic informality typical of the rest of the Strip, and, surprisingly, you will encounter in the hotel more people like you than super-rich. Expressed more directly, Bellagio is a friendly place to stay and gamble and not at all pretentious.

PART 2 - ENTERTAINMENT AND NIGHTLIFE: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL SHOWS

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL has taken Las Vegas by storm. As of 2018, there are six Cirque du Soleil productions playing Las Vegas showrooms. First to open was Mystère at TI, followed some years later by “O” at the Bellagio. The third show to premier was Zumanity at New York–New York, with KÀ at the MGM Grand following close on its heels in 2005. Cirque’s production LOVE, based on the music of The Beatles, opened in June of 2006, and Michael Jackson ONE, which opened in 2013, celebrates the music and dance of the King of Pop. Its latest effort, RUN―a so-called live-action thriller―opens at the Luxor in late 2019.

If you’ve never seen a Cirque du Soleil show, understand that these productions completely redefine and elevate circus as a genre. They feature the best and most original circus acts you’re ever likely to see, but those acts are woven into a whole that includes beloved characters, stunning costuming, deep symbolism, poignant drama, cutting- edge theatrical technology, and original musical scores. If you’ve seen a Cirque traveling production and were awed, you won’t believe what Cirque is capable of in its Las Vegas custom-built theaters.

KÀ, Mystère, LOVE, and “O” are representative of Cirque shows everywhere, albeit on a grand scale, and are appropriate for all ages. Also appropriate for families is Michael Jackson ONE, an acrobatic and choreographic spectacular. Zumanity, an in-your-face celebration of everything sexual, is much different from the other productions. All Cirque shows provide an awe-inspiring evening of entertainment, so you really can’t go too wrong (assuming, in the case of Zumanity, that you’re comfortable with the sexual content).

How to Choose a Cirque du Soleil Show
In choosing a Cirque show, we suggest you start with Mystère. That’s where it all began, and it’s still the best. From there, let your taste guide you. If you’re really into The Beatles or Michael Jackson, see LOVE or ONE next. “O” and KÀ feature unique technological stagecraft that is totally captivating. Zumanity celebrates all manner of sex. It’s a great show, and steamier than any topless production in town, but don’t see it with anyone you wouldn’t feel comfortable watching soft porn with. Tickets for Mystère and Zumanity sell at $25–$45 less than for the other Cirque productions, making...