Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

WHAT’S NEW 3
SHOPPING When Las Vegas Premium
Outlets Center opens, near
Downtown, in fall 2003, we may be
spending so much money there that we
won’t have any left over for gambling.
(Just as well, perhaps.) Can you blame
us? It will have 100 stores, including
Armani Exchange, Coach, Dolce &
Gabbana, Guess, Kenneth Cole,
Lacoste, Polo/Ralph Lauren, St. John,
and Theory. And it’s just what the
otherwise moribund (if flashy looking)
shopping scene in Vegas needs.
The Forum Shops in Caesars are
undergoing yet another huge expansion;
this one will have a three-story
glass entrance right near the Strip. But
don’t get your credit cards too ready—
it won’t be open until late 2004.
LAS VEGAS AFTER DARK It’s
clear that everyone is open to putting
the “sin” back in Sin City, as more
adult-oriented shows make a comeback.
It’s hard to tell the difference
these days between the strip bars and
the hotel clubs and lounges, when new
happening hot spots such as Rain (in
the Palm), Bikinis (in the Rio), and
Risque (in Paris Las Vegas), among
others, have go-go dancers as scantily
clad and performing the exact same
gyrations as the strippers. Other new
joints have names such as Tabu (in the
MGM Grand). And Cirque du Soleil
is opening a new show, Zumanity, that
will offer glimpses (or more) of bare
flesh and is strictly for the 18-and-over
set. (Another, regular and nonracy
Cirque show is due at the MGM
Grand by early 2004.) It’s just a matter
of time before a hotel opens up its
own “gentlemen’s club” (read: strip
bar), and when that happens, watch
the others follow with due haste.
As for real strip clubs, this past year
saw the opening of first Jaguar’s, a
25,000-square-foot extravaganza that
is as marbled and over the top as Caesars
Palace in its shameless days. But it
was quickly eclipsed by Sapphire’s,
which clocks in at 71,000 square feet
and so is the largest strip joint in the
world.
But it’s not all about the nudity;
it’s also about the big bucks. And
that brings us to the return of Celine
Dion to live performing, thanks to
a luxurious new venue built just for
her at Caesars, where she performs
in a multimillion-dollar extravaganza,
accompanied by a giant LED screen,
special effects, and many, many
Cirque-influenced performers and
enigmatic imagery (thanks to the
director and producer, who was
behind the local productions of O and
Mystère). Thanks to her ticket prices
(starting at $88 and going up to
$150), the big shows all over town
have raised their rates as well.
The long-delayed Neonopolis, a
$100-million open-air restaurant, shop,
and entertainment complex (with an
11-screen movie theater), finally
opened right at the Fremont Street
Experience, where Fremont Street
meets Las Vegas Boulevard South. It
includes a serious entertainment area
run by Jillian’s, a national company, that
offers a great arcade, a huge bowling
alley, and other fun offerings, making
this an alternative to traditional (but
age-limited) Vegas entertainment and
activities. Best of all, it’s open late and it
may provide a shot in the arm to the
still struggling Downtown.
For the scoop on after-dark activities
in Las Vegas, see chapter 10.