Although Las Vegas is renowned throughout the world for its casinos, clubs and luxury hotels along the Strip, there is one attraction that pulls in millions of visitors every year, which is free of charge and available at all hours of the day for everyone. It is, of course the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign.

The 25ft high sign was designed in 1959 by Betty Willis who worked for Western Neon. Her father had been heavily involved in the city and she wanted to place a symbol in his memory that expresses the optimism and wonder of Las Vegas.

The sign cost $4000 and its design is simple, with flashing yellow lights around the border and silver dollar symbols with Welcome written in red inside them. On the front, the sign reads “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada”; on the back you will see “Drive carefully” and “Come back soon”, an invitation taken up by millions of gamblers and tourists every year.

When it was erected, the sign stood in the median centre of the Strip and people risked life and limb, not to mention a heavy fine for jay-walking, to have their photo taken beside it. This problem has been solved and a small parking area has been set up next to the sign.

It has been shining out its message for over 50 years, except for a short while in 1999 when the company forgot to pay the electricity bill. They had all the bulbs changed and checked the wiring over and over until someone realized the error; the bill, of about $60, was paid and the lights came back on.

All the casinos in Las Vegas offer the opportunity for amateur gamblers to “get rich quick”, but the Mandalay Hotel and Casino offers so much more and is well worth a visit.

It is to be found on the Strip in the Paradise area and you will easily recognize it by its lovely golden façade. Owned by the MGM Resorts International Company, it has 44 storeys of luxurious hotel rooms and penthouses. The check-in area is separate from the casino and has a wonderful aquarium, marble floors and graceful columns.

The casino has 120 gaming tables a race and sports book and over 2000 slot machines. There is also a health spa and a theatre where you can take in some of the best live shows in the world: “Mamma Mia” ran here for two years, followed by “The Lion King”. The next great show will be “Michael Jackson: Immortal World Tour” put on by the Cirque du Soleil.

The complex has and 11 acre area with heated outdoor swimming pools, one of which is a wave pool. Another pool, the “Moorea” has a private bar and allows topless bathing, so it is separated from the other pools by smoked glass windows and is only open to guests over 21 years old. The “Lazy River” with its small waterfalls is great fun for adults and kids alike.

Other attractions include the Shark Reef Aquarium, the House of Blues Bar which has live music and a restaurant and the lookout balcony on the top floor which affords wonderful views of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas never ceases to amaze you, just when you think you have seen everything, you find another surprise in store. This is the case with the Luxor Las Vegas Resort, Hotel and Casino.

It is a 30 storey pyramid made of steel and black glass, with a spotlight at the top which at night shines towards the stars and is the brightest beam in the world. The building, named after the town of Luxor in Egypt and owned by MGM Resorts International, boasts 4408 luxurious hotel rooms, and a casino covering 11000 square metres, offering 2000 video and slot machines, gaming tables, race and sports book and a poker room.

The atrium, which is the largest in the world houses shops, restaurants, bars, shows, lounges and clubs. There is also a health club, spa, beauty salon and swimming pool.

Among the attractions you can visit “Bodies…The Exhibition”. This rather gruesome exhibition shows 21 real human bodies in diverse positions and 260 body organs with explanations of how and why they function, and why they don’t: there are lungs blackened from cigarette smoke and a liver in the last stages of cirrhosis – quite enough to put anyone off smoking and drinking! The bodies and organs are preserved by the drainage of the tissue water which is replaced by silicone. This method is called polymer preservation. There are also skeletons and 60,000 miles of blood vessels.

For those of us who are squeamish – or who have just enjoyed an excellent meal, there is another exhibition called “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition”, which tells the history of the doomed “unsinkable” cruise ship.

The Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel is on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of the city and is linked to the casinos on the other side of the boulevard by overhead walkways.

Apart from luxurious rooms, the hotel boasts a 4600 square metre casino and a separate poker room. On the ground floor of the hotel you will find the retail shop Essentials and several mini-boutiques on the 2nd floor. There is also 9000 square metres of conference and exhibition space.

The hotel’s permanent exhibition is the Las Vegas Mob Experience, which explains the influence organized crime has had in the creation of the world’s most important gambling city. You will see various artifacts belonging to such infamous characters as Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Tony Spilotro, among others.

Outside, in a 4 acre tropical garden you will find swimming pools and the famous Nikki Beach Club, which offers sun beds, a restaurant, café and bar. The Club Nikki, the Hotel’s great nightclub opens onto Nikki Beach. There are also five in-house restaurants, bars, spas and a health and fitness centre and shows. One of the shows is Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, a hilarious one-man show, which you really shouldn’t miss.

The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino certainly lives up to its name: it is the 2nd largest hotel in the world and the biggest resort complex in the United States. You will find something for everyone here.
The hotel has 5034 rooms and suites and the casino is one of the biggest in Las Vegas, with 15,932 square metres where you will find traditional gaming tables and over 3000 slot machines.

The hotel boasts 15 restaurants, including two owned by the French Master Chef Joel Robuchon. Enjoy a meal in the Rainforest Café or a great sandwich in the ‘Wichcraft Sandwich Bar. There are also Sushi bars, seafood restaurants, buffets and grills.

Other attractions include 5 outdoor pools and a lazy river spread over 6 acres of beautiful gardens; the Lion Habitat, where glass tunnels wind through a terrain of rocks, trees and waterfalls, giving you a close-up view of the six wildcats that live there; the MGM Garden Arena which puts on sporting events and concerts; a wonderful show “KA” by the Cirque du Soleil will amaze you with the troupe’s display of acrobatics, martial arts, puppets and firework displays. Adults can visit the Crazy Horse Paris topless cabaret or the Studio 54 nightclub.

You can enjoy shopping in the hotel’s many shops and boutiques, relax in the Grand Spa or workout in the Health and Fitness Centre.

If you’ve never been able to visit Paris in France you can visit it in America at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.

This wonderful hotel and casino complex brings you the very best of “Paris” with the front of the hotel designed to resemble the Opera of Paris and the Louvre. Admire a three-quarter size Arch de Triomphe, a copy of La Fontaine des Mers, a Theatre des Arts and, of course the scale size Eiffel Tower. In the beginning the tower was supposed to be life-sized, but the hotel’s proximity to the airport scuppered this idea, so the tower is a “mere” 165 metres high.

The back legs of the tower go through the ceiling to the floor of the casino, where French wrought-iron streetlamps grace the large room and the ceiling is painted to represent the sky. The casino has over 100 gaming tables, 2200 high-payout slot machines, a poker room and a sports and race book.

The hotel has 12 restaurants, one of which is on the 11th floor of the Eiffel Tower, others, on the casino level include “Mon Ami Gabi” and “Les Artistes Steakhouse”. You will find some great live shows in the Paris Theatre or in the entertainment lounges, including Anthony Cools, the famous hypnotist, and “The Magic of Paris”. There are also plenty of bars and a nightclub.

The “Boulevard” shopping mall has cobblestoned “Parisian” streets, restaurants, bars and shops, giving you the feeling of being in the French capital. There are even two chapels where you can have a Parisian wedding. For those who wish to work out or relax, there is a swimming pool, fitness centre, spa, saunas, steam rooms and a tennis court.

You really should visit the Bellagio Resort, Hotel and Casino which is the most elegant and luxurious complex that Las Vegas offers its visitors.

It is owned by MGM Resorts International and is renowned for its 8-acre lake which features the Fountains of Bellagio – dancing water fountains set to music.

The lobby ceiling is quite simply gorgeous, with over 2000 hand-blown glass flowers; this composition is called Fiori di Como and was created by Dale Chihuly. The resort also houses a conservatory and a wonderful botanical garden which changes its display of beautiful flowers according to the seasons and in honor of the Chinese New Year.

The casino has 2400 slot machines, a race and sports book and 140 gaming tables. The 40 tables in the poker room are high-limit tables and are very popular with serious gamblers. The World Poker Tour is often held here.

The resort also has a Gallery of Fine Arts where you can admire paintings and sculptures by some of the best modern artists in the world. The Via Bellagio boasts top-of-the-range shops and boutiques, bars, restaurants and a gift shop. The nightclubs offer a choice of live or DJ music to dance the night away.

There is a Health Spa and Salon, a fitness centre, a swimming pool with an outdoor sun deck, two ballrooms for receptions and parties and 14 meeting rooms with state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment.

Las Vegas is famous for its hotels and casinos with their world themes and one of the loveliest is the Venetian Las Vegas Casino, Hotel and Resort.

The 145 metre high, 40 storey hotel and resort is a replica of St Mark’s Campanile in Venice, Italy. The lobby, grand gallery and reception rooms have beautifully frescoed ceilings, graceful columns and chandeliers of Venetian glass. The Grand Gallery connects the lobby to the casino with its gaming tables, and 2500 slot machines including Megabucks and Super Megabucks.

The Grand Canal Shoppes house an up-market shopping mall, Italian restaurants, bars and a replica of the Rialto Bridge. Of course there is a canal that winds its way through the mall and you can ride on a gondola.

The TAO Nightclub has an Asian décor of wood and stone with a 20ft high statue of Buddha, two dance rooms, 8 private sky boxes with their own mini-bars and an infinity pool with ornamental Koi Carp. On top of the nightclub you will find TAO Beach which is the hotel’s day club pool party, with 7 VIP cabanas.

The resort is the home of the famous Blue Man Group when they are in town, and also Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s marvelous musical production of the Phantom of the Opera. You can also take in a show starring the comedian Rita Rudner.

When you are in Las Vegas with your children, it’s always a problem trying to keep them entertained. You can easily solve this problem at the Circus-Circus Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

This wonderful hotel looks like a giant pink and white striped circus tent and the fun theme is carried on inside. Even in the three casinos with their many gaming tables and slot machines, parents can keep an eye on their kids above them on the midway level. Here you will find video and pinball games, carnival skill games, trick mirrors and a “Be a Clown” stall where the kids can put on clown make-up. All day long the midway level offers circus acts: clowns, jugglers, acrobats and trapeze artists.

Then there is the Adventuredome, a 5 acre indoor theme park with a Canyon Blaster rollercoaster ride offering double loops and double corkscrews for the brave. For the little ones there is a beautiful carousel and other fun rides. The hotel’s shopping mall has souvenirs shops, a magic store and a great Old West Photoshop where you can have silly photos taken. Don’t miss the Criss Angel Mindfreak superstore with its memorabilia of everything from DVD’s to t-shirts.

The hotel houses several restaurants, including a Mac Donald, a Steak House, pizzeria, Mexitalia, with its delicious menu of Mexican and Italian food and the Circus Buffet where children under 4 years old eat free of charge.