Las Vegas (Sightseeing and Shows)

We spent four days in Las Vegas at the end of January 2012.

Sightseeing:
Lias Vegas is filled with limitless options of things to see and do. Many people whom have never been to the city associate it with gambling and are unable to see anything of value for non gamblers. While one can obviously partake in that activity at nearly every hotel, I have visited Las Vegas four times over the last ten years and have never gambled. I believe the city offers activities and sights for people of all interests. Just within the strip itself are multiple shopping malls, world class dining, art museums, dozens of live entertainment shows, amazing nightlife, luxurious spas, lavish pools, and even a golf course! Outdoor lovers will find a plethora of activities to participate in outside the strip including fishing, boating, hiking, and even horseback riding. I do recommend that any first time visitor walk their way through as many of the glitzy hotels and casinos as possible but keep in mind that unless you are visiting for a week it will be nearly impossible to see all the major sights.

On our trip, we managed to walk through MGM Grand, Palazzo, Venetian, Wynn, Encore, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, and Aria. Below are photos from our visit.

MGM Grand:
We walked around MGM Grand just before and immediately following our dinner at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. As a result, we actually didn't spend too much time walking through the hotel but did get the chance to admire its beautiful lobby, which was decked out for the Chinese New Year.

MGM Grand

MGM Grand

MGM Grand

Bellagio:

We probably visited the Bellagio more often than any other hotel on the strip because we ate at three of its restaurants. The Bellagio, inspired by an Italian village overlooking Lake Como, is well-known for its fountain display and lakefront facade as well as the Dale Chihuly blown-glass display in its registration lobby and the beautiful Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

Bellagio

Bellagio

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at night.

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at night.

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at night.

Walking along the strip:

As it was the end of January, it was still quite cold in Las Vegas so we didn't do too much walking along the strip, but below are pictures from one of our outings.

Exterior of the Mirage.

Exterior of Treasure Island.

View of the Palazzo from the grounds of the Mirage.

Grounds of the Mirage.

View of the Venetian from the grounds of the Mirage.

The Venetian:

Having just visited the Venice five months prior, it was very interesting to visit Las Vegas's interpretation of the famous canal-lined city.We were fairly impressed with how authentic the gondolas appeared and how similar the buildings looked along Grand Canal Shoppes compared to the real buildings in Venice. The Venetian is a very sumptious and extravagently decorated hotel and casino filled with amazingly ornate artistic details and is one of my personal favorites on the strip.

Gondolas at the Venetian.

Exterior of the Venetian.

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian 

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Venetian

Palazzo:
The Palazzo Hotel and Casino opened in December of 2007 and adjoins the Venetian. The Palazzo has a slightly more modern and subtle flair than that of the Venetian, but is still quite extravagent in its own right. The hotel contains a very upscale mall called The Shoppes at Palazzo which is filled with upscale high-end stores. We didn't bother visiting any of the shops as we knew we wouldn't be able to afford anything but we did end up browsing at the recently opened Natural Wonders Gallery, which was filled with amazing photography by some of the world's most famous photographers including my personal favorite Art Wolfe.

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Natural Wonders Gallery at the Palazzo.

Natural Wonders Gallery at the Palazzo.

Natural Wonders Gallery at the Palazzo.

Natural Wonders Gallery at the Palazzo.

Natural Wonders Gallery at the Palazzo.

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo

Cosmopolitan:
This beautiful hotel is one of the newest on the strip, having opened in December 2010. Prior to our trip I had heard very little about the hotel but since neither of us had ever visited, I made sure that we stopped by. As soon as we walked in from the parking garage, we were both blown away by what we saw. The hotel was incredibley modern, sleek, hip, and was filled with all sorts of glamourous eye catching details. My favorite part of the hotel was hands down the Chandelier Bar, which was a massive multiple story bar enveloped by a huge crystal chandelier. I couldn't believe how gorgeous the space was and took dozens of photos. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to stop in for a drink at the Chandelier Bar but that will definitely be on my list of must-do activities on our next trip.

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan. 

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.

Crystals at CityCenter:
Directly next to the Cosmopolitan is the upscale Crystals, a 500,000 square foot high-end retail and entertainment space filled with luxury stores. Although the shops were obviously out of our price range, I did enjoy the vast and lofty space within the mall.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Aria and Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Crystals at CityCenter.

Aria Resort & Casino: 

This ultra-modern hotel is also located within CityCenter and features a lofty reception area with lots of natural light flowing in through its massively tall windows.

Aria

Aria

Aria

Aria

Aria

Aria

Aria

Aria

Aria

Shows:
Shyawn and I had both visited Las Vegas prior to our trip before we knew one another. On these trips both of us had seen Zumanity (New York New York) and I had also seen Mystere (Treasure Island).

I had wanted to see Cirque du Soleil O (Bellagio) during my prior visits but they always happened to occur during dark dates. As a result, I made sure that our visit occurred during a time that the show was running. O has been playing at the Bellagio since 1998. The term O is comes from the phonetic pronunciation of the French word for water which is eau. The show is centered around the 1.5 million gallon tank of water that the cast performs in and around. We wanted to obtain decent tickets but not sit too close to the front of the stage as we didn't want to worry about getting soaked. We ended up purchasing tickets in section 203 row O which cost a total of $358.90. The show was amazing and lived up to all of the hype I had read about and the many expectations I had for it. It was definitely the most impressive Cirque du Soleil show either one of us have attended.


In addition to O, we also saw the combined comedy and magic show Penn and Teller (Rio) as Shyawn was a huge fan of their show on HBO. I was not super thrilled at the prospect of going to their show but in the end was pleasantly surprised as I actually quite enjoyed their show. Prior to leaving for our trip, Shyawn had read that Penn and Teller do a meet and greet after each show to sign autographs and take photos with the guests. Shyawn was quite excited by this so we made sure to participate. Much to my surprise, I don't think many people knew that Penn and Teller did this as we only had to wait about five minutes to meet both of them.

Shyawn with Teller.

Shyawn with Penn.