All of the things that make Las Vegas one of the most popular destinations in the world—betting on sports, walking outside with your alcoholic beverage, getting steak and eggs at 3 in the morning—can all be done somewhere else besides Las Vegas. (We admit, that will not be the LVCVA’s new slogan.) However, these are some examples of things that can only be done or seen here. We’ll let you sort out how and when you get to all of them.
Giada De Laurentiis
1. A restaurant by Giada De Laurentiis
Las Vegas is the only place in the U.S. to enjoy restaurants by French toque masters Guy Savoy, Joël Robuchon and Pierre Gagnaire, but Giada at The Cromwell is the lone earthly outpost of the Food Network chef and author, who opened her first-ever restaurant—now the hottest ticket in town—in June.
2. A half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower
At 460 feet, the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas is a little less than half the height of the Paris original. Accordingly, it’s got half the restaurants of the original, too—just one, the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, on the 14th floor.
3. A zipline that shoots out of a slot machine
When its Superman-style upper line opens, Fremont Street Experience’s SlotZilla will become the only powered-launch zipline of its kind. Until then, it’s still the only one we know of whose point of exit is a gigantic slot machine.
4. A hotel that shoots a beam of light out of its peak
The Great Pyramid of Giza is more than 100 feet taller than the Luxor, but whatever the Las Vegas resort’s pyramid may be lacking in height, it makes up for with a beam of light that redefined the city skyline when it was first turned on in 1993.
El Loco
5. An indoor double-loop, double-corkscrew roller coaster
El Loco, the newest roller coaster inside Adventuredome, has been making headlines since its debut earlier this year, but its companion Canyon Blaster coaster is plenty loco, with as many twists and turns as you can fit inside Circus Circus.
6. A licensed Beatles retail store
The Fab Four are very touchy about who gets to use their likenesses and their music, so it was a big coup for The Mirage to land The Beatles Shop, which carries apparel, art, music and other tchotchkes pertaining to the most successful band that ever played onstage.
Beacher's Madhouse
7. Bottle service that shoots out of an elephant
Instead of a sexy cocktail server delivering your bottle of Grey Goose, the liquor at Beacher’s Madhouse inside MGM Grand arrives courtesy of a little person who ziplines out of an elephant’s rear end. Hey, we never said you really wanted to find these things.
8. A Hooters-themed hotel
Hooters Casino Hotel is the iconic brand writ large—a full-on resort with a pool, spa, tattoo parlor, showroom, casino floor and, yes, a restaurant where servers in little orange shorts serve hot wings.
The Polaroid Museum
9. A museum dedicated to the history of the Polaroid camera
Located above Polaroid Fotobar at The Linq, The Polaroid Museum houses founder Edwin Land’s 20-by-24-foot Polaroid camera, as well as Capturing Celebrity, a collection of Andy Warhol’s Polaroids featuring everyone from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Muhammad Ali and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
