Top 10 Las Vegas Reinvents Itself Again

From super-luxe to high-value, Vegas has something for everyone

By Steve Friess

Las Vegas is a city in transition – always. Glitzy and unrestricted, the destination reinvents itself every few years while maintaining its core attractions. Today's Vegas is a long way from its early days as a prewar desert outpost turned kitschy midcentury playground. Vegas's casinos have always wanted every penny in your pocket. While the city still wants your money, now you have more options as to how and where to spend it. You don't need to gamble to experience the city's vibrant new world of contrasts – low-end, high-end, and the long-awaited in-betweens. Nowadays, travelers at all price points can have an amazing experience here – from Prada shopping to inexpensive spa treatments – without ever hitting a slot machine.

"We don't really care about the past. Preserving what we were yesterday is not as important as divining what we will be tomorrow." So said Vegas historian Hal Rothman, a sentiment that sprang to mind when I saw a headless Statue of Liberty on my first trip down the Vegas Strip. At the time, the New York New York Hotel and Casino was a heavily anticipated project that promised, according to one local newspaper, to "raise the standards for what the Strip has to offer" and "usher in a new era for Las Vegas." That was a decade ago. If Vegas only knew what was in store for itself over the following ten years.

These days, the New York New York is the embodiment of what Vegas was. After several more "new eras," Bellagio and Wynn define the modern Vegas standard, which stresses poolside massages and theater as much as slots, but for how long? Even now, technicians somewhere are plotting to implode another old Vegas icon, the Stardust, to make way for the next big thing – a $4 billion, four-hotel complex called Echelon Place. Some wax nostalgic about the Stardust, but most wonder how the aging throwback hung on this long. The biggest change, however, will happen in May, when the new quarter-billion-dollar, 180-acre Las Vegas Springs Preserve – full of theaters, gardens, trails, sustainable-living model homes, and not a single casino – is slated to open.

It is, of course, this constant change that makes this a city worth visiting – and revisiting. No two vacations to Las Vegas can possibly be the same. In 2005, Vegas received a record-setting 38.6 million visitors, even as the city's average hotel room rate ($103 per night) rose by roughly 15%. And those visitors are doing more than gambling. During a 3-day visit, visitors dropped an average $248 on food, and three out of four attended shows. Mix these figures with Vegas's annual 200 days of sunshine and it's easy to see why it's such a favored destination, not to mention the fastest-growing city in the country.

The price of Vegas has also gone into the stratosphere over the last decade. This year the average hotel room rate promises to increase again, while the number of $100 show seats has skyrocketed past 10,000 per month, and the old standby, the buffet, can now cost as much as $36 a person at the Wynn Las Vegas or the Bellagio. But even the buffet itself seems antiquated, as chefs like Joël Robuchon, Tom Colicchio, and Thomas Keller set new standards (and prices) for Vegas cuisine. Today there are so many worthy dining options that it's hard to know how to choose; Vegas offers a range of places to stay and dine that cross the spectrum.

Nobody knows this better than Steve Wynn, the impresario developer who built the Mirage, Bellagio, and Wynn. "In Las Vegas you can be at the lower end of the income scale and pick a very, very low-priced hotel, have a low-priced but good meal, and enjoy low-priced entertainment. Or you can go to the other extreme and have the finest room in the world, the finest meal on earth, and shop in the world's best stores. And what's even more wonderful is that you can transfer between those categories. You can eat at Picasso at the Bellagio, then go slumming downtown on Fremont Street. The flexibility, depth and richness of Vegas are the explanations behind the city's power."

How right he is. In the last three months of 2006 alone, the Palms opened the first new Playboy Club in America (since the old fleet closed nearly 20 years ago), complete with bunnies garbed in Roberto Cavalli designs and a top-floor nightclub with a retractable roof; old standby Caesars Palace (still worth visiting) added a mammoth new spa, Qua, which offers, among other indulgences, a "body art" room where crystal-laden designs can be applied to any area; and the venerable Mirage added a new bar called the Revolution Lounge that features Beatles memorabilia and serves as an extension of the experience offered at their 6-month-old Fab Four–scored Cirque du Soleil production, Love.

An important thing to consider about Vegas is when to visit. It goes without saying that certain events like the Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball finals, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve will send ordinary rooms at midgrade properties like Bally's or Luxor over the $250-a-night mark. There are natural ebbs too. In July and August, as well as early December before the holiday season, even high-end properties such as Wynn, Venetian, Caesars Palace, and Bellagio are known to offer rooms for under $175 a night.

Yet there are more unpredictable times when it's full. Take January, for instance, when 85,000 people roll into town for the "World of Concrete" convention and send room rates soaring. The bottom line: When planning your trip, it's important to check rates week to week. Visit the LCVCA website(www.lvcva.com) to see what's happening in town around the time you're thinking of visiting. The website is a vast resource of comings and goings, and tells you the exact number of attendees, as well as where and when they are convening. So if you want to avoid the 150,000 techies that gather for the Consumer Electronics Show at the Sands Expo Center every February, look for other properties or alternative times to visit.

Even if you're not much of a gambler – and you don't need to be these days to enjoy Vegas – it's still wise to sign up for the players' clubs. Meant to attract loyal casino customers with free meals, comped rooms, and other perks, these clubs also provide alerts when room deals pop up. Joining a players' club at larger chains offers members access to deals across all the company's Vegas properties. For example, sign up at MGM Grand's www.playersclub.com and you get emailed deals for 10 hotels including Bellagio, Mirage, and the MGM Grand. Harrah's Total Rewards Card (www.harrahs.com) is another option. Its hotels include Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Paris, Bally's, and more.