The sign for the campsite sets the scene for our visit to
Vegas. This is Sam’s Town casino complex and it’s big, garish and glitzy. Sam’s
Town runs the campsite.
Sam’s Town contains literally hundreds of gaming machines, a
multi-screen cinema, a bowling alley, live performance theatre, about 10
restaurants and a hotel- and the campsite. The complex is all under cover apart
from the campsite; in the centre of it all is a jungle above which towers a 50
foot rock with waterfalls. The rock launches into a 20 minute laserlight show
every two hours, complete with animated lifesize bear, eagle and wolf. It’s an
impressive use of modern technology and a great spectacle, but a bit cheesy.
You’ve got to get to the Strip itself, 6 miles away, to see
the most gobsmacking extravaganzas. The Mirage Hotel features a volcano in its
grounds fronting the main street. After dark the volcano erupts every half an
hour, appearing to shoot flames and lava several hundred feet in the air. They
achieve this with a clever use of water & laser lights, and real gas jets.
It’s amazing the hotel itself or onlookers don’t catch fire in gusty winds.
Up the road there’s the half size replica of the Eiffel Tower, photo below,
with the display fountains of the Bellagio hotel loosing off in front of it. This
looks quite classy.
The Venetian hotel is themed around central Venice. In a few
places it really looks the part, for example, this balustrade and walkway.
The hotels are all trying to out-do one another to attract
your money. They are much more than hotels; they’re giant gambling halls,
shopping centres and live entertainment venues. We’ll go inside the Venetian
where the theme continues within the shopping area. Would you believe canals
with gondolas and gondoliers (hireable) in amongst the imitation Venetian shop
facades?
There are 160 shops in the Venetian mall alone, mostly up
market. This confectionery shop was selling cones of strawberries dipped in
chocolate. They weren’t priced so I can’t amaze you with how much they cost,
but no price ticket always means expensive.
Caesar’s Palace is probably the most famous name on the
Strip. The foyer is done out in marble with a curved staircase and large water
feature. Probably too posh for the real Caesar.
Here the Forum shopping mall goes one better than the
Venetian with over 260 shops. The theme
is Roman here, but with similar top-end stores. The lighting and artificial sky
makes it a bit gloomy inside but I imagine it’s supposed to add to the
atmosphere. Cheer yourself up by buying something or having a flutter on the
tables.
The gambling areas in all the different establishments
looked the same. They don’t put much themed stuff there that might distract you
from winning on the machines or tables. Winning of course applies only to the
casino in the long run. This is the entrance to one of the gaming areas in the
otherwise fabulous Caesar’s Palace.
There are around another 20 of these gigantic hotel
complexes on the Strip alone with similar facilities, and many more scattered throughout
the city, some with even more bizarre novelties like displaying real preserved dead
bodies (didn’t visit this one).
Outside on the Strip, all these competing themes present something
of a jumble looking up the street: see final photo below.
So what’s the verdict?
Technically, and because of its enormous scale, it’s hugely impressive
and is great fun; from another angle it’s superficial, touristy and tacky. “You
pays you money and you takes your choice”, as they say.
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