Las Vegas

Seven Magic Mountains by Ugo Rondinone

Las Vegas, Nevada has long been associated with revelry from The Rat Pack to The Hangover. However, venture off the Strip and you will find world-class dining and art destinations in the desert. Viva Las Vegas.

STAY

MANDARIN ORIENTAL The Mandarin Oriental has all the style and amenities you’d expect from the chain (Asian-inflected design, high-touch service). That said, the real draw is the fact that this is one of the only hotels on The Strip without a casino, a welcome retreat. The spa is worth seeing and booking a treatment at, it’s comprised of two full floors with pools.

THE CROMWELL Until now, most boutique hotel experiences in Vegas were embedded inside the larger hotels (ie Tower Suites at the Wynn, The Four Seasons at Montecarlo), which is part of what makes the Cromwell so special. The intimate hotel is also home to the first-ever restaurant from Giada De Laurentiis and nightclub Drai's with live music acts.

WYNN An iconic curved high-rise on the Las Vegas Strip by Steve Wynn and the flagship location of Wynn Resorts. Amenities include 2 luxe spas, gyms, pools, and hot tubs, as well as an 18-hole golf course, and 4 trendy nightclubs and live theater experiences like Le Rêve - The Dream. We especially love the contemporary art, including Tulips by Jeff Koons.

BELLAGIO You can’t miss this hotel on the Strip as it is fronted by an 8-acre lake with dancing water fountains. The hotel is also home to a spa and a gallery, plus 5 outdoor pools, bars, and live shows including O by Cirque du Soleil.

THE COSMOPOLITAN Across the Strip, this chic casino hotel has views of the adjacent Bellagio fountains and includes some of our favorite restaurants, including a lobby bar set inside a 3-story crystal chandelier. Other amenities include a bustling casino and an outdoor performance venue, plus 3 outdoor pools, and a spa with a hammam. There's also a gym, a wedding chapel, and a seasonal ice rink

THE NOMAD Like its sister locations in New York and Los Angeles, the newly opened NoMad Las Vegas marries old-world grandeur with boutique-hotel intimacy. Incorporated into the property are a restaurant and bar—both overseen, as at the other NoMads, by chef Daniel Humm and restaurateur Will Guidara—and the first-ever NoMad Casino, housed beneath a Tiffany-glass ceiling.

DINE | DRINK

JALEO The original Jaleo by Chef José Andres opened in D.C. in 1999, and the restaurant has since expanded to a few other cities, including this Vegas location at The Cosmopolitan hotel. The Spanish restaurant serves up tapas and paellas (cooked on an open-fire wood grill). Also within the restaurant, is a second, somewhat hidden restaurant, designed to be more exclusive, called é by José Andrés, which offers a tasting menu and eight seats at the chef’s table. José Andres also has a Mexican Chinese fusion restaurant, China Poblano, within The Cosmopolitan.

BAZAAR MEAT A steakhouse also by Chef José Andres at the Sahara Las Vegas. A raw bar with ceviches and carpaccios and a fire stage with wood grills and rotisseries make Bazaar Meat more than a steakhouse with its whole roasted sucking pig. This is one of a handful of restaurants in Las Vegas that serves real Kobe beef. Favorite dishes include the cotton candy foie gras, caviar flights, and Kobe, which can be grilled on an ishiyaki stone at the table or served in a miniature airbread “sandwich” on the specials menu.

JOËL ROBUCHON Legendary French chef, Joël Robuchon, has a 3 Michelin star namesake restaurant in the MGM Grand casino floor next to Cirque Du Soleil’s KÀ theatre. It looks like an Art Deco townhouse from the outside—but once you're inside it's entirely possible to forget where you are. The restaurant, decorated by Pierre-Yves Rochon, includes a garden terrace off the dining room. The sixteen-course meal is excessive and delicious.

RESTAURANT GUY SAVOY AT CAESAR’S PALACE Modeled after celebrated chef Guy Savoy's eponymous restaurant in Paris, the Vegas location in Caesar’s Palace, has earned two Michelin stars itself.

MILOS The Las Vegas counterpart to the NYC original, Milos serves incredible Greek food and fresh fish. Order a side of the lightly fried zucchini sticks to start.

GOLDEN STEER STEAKHOUSE The Golden Steer Steakhouse was founded in 1958, and still retains the ambiance of the “Old Las Vegas” days when Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. were but a few of their regular customers.

COSTA DI MARE Chef Mark LoRusso, previously with Thomas Keller, is the head of Costa di Mare at The Wynn and known for its seafood. Fish is flown in daily from the Mediterranean, which is, of course, as fresh as you can get on the strip.

TACOS EL GORDO Tacos El Gordo originally opened in Tijuana in 1972, followed by San Diego and Las Vegas, and still serves up authentic TJ style tacos al pastor.

BLUE RIBBON SUSHI Chefs, restaurateurs, and brothers Bruce and Eric Bromberg bring their 25-year-old New York City classic to Las Vegas, a beloved city staple "where chefs go to eat." The duo is famously known for introducing signature items such as oysters on the half shell, beef marrow and fried chicken to the forefront of the national culinary scene back in 1992. Now, at The Cosmopolitan, Blue Ribbon builds on that original vision and draws inspiration from the bustling energy of the Las Vegas Strip.

HATTIE B’S HOT CHICKEN Famed for its emphasis on quality, flavor, and true Southern hospitality, Nashville’s family-owned and operated Hattie B’s Hot Chicken showcases its first West Coast location, serving hot chicken, Southern sides, and local brews in a casual, counter-service eatery. The menu standout, perfectly-fried chicken, bathed in hot melted spices, is served in a variety of heat levels.

DISTRICT DONUTS New Orleans’ cult favorite craft donut purveyor, District’s rich, homemade confections feature more than 100 consistently rotating flavors.

MIZUMI Star chef Min Kim unmasks the flavors of the Far East at Mizumi, with ocean-fresh sushi, sashimi and modern Japanese specialties. The entire Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Award-winning restaurant looks out over private Japanese gardens surrounding an idyllic koi pond with a 90-foot waterfall.

CUT BY WOLFGANG PUCK Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck brings his famous Beverly Hills steakhouse, CUT, to The Venetian, widely considered the best steakhouse on the Las Vegas Strip.

WING LEI The first Chinese restaurant in North America to earn a Michelin star, this Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star winner serves Cantonese, Shanghai and Szechuan flavors, featuring delicacies like tableside-carved Imperial Peking duck and wok-fried Maine lobster. Chef Ming Yu’s dishes are served in a lavish gold dining room inspired by classical Chinese jewel boxes, with a view of century-old pomegranate trees.

CIPRIANI Cipriani brings its famous Italian cuisine and ambiance to Wynn Las Vegas, continuing the history and four-generation family tradition of "to serve is first to love." Signature classics include the original Carpaccio alla Cipriani, baked tagliolini with ham, and vanilla meringue.

MON AMI GABI ThenVegas outpost of the charming French bistro from Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood features classics such as steak frites and onion soup plus patio dining within Paris Las Vegas hotel.

ART | CULTURE | ACTIVITIES

AKHOB BY JAMES TURRELL In 2013, Louis Vuitton commissioned a permanent James Turrell installation to occupy a hidden space on the fourth floor of its City Center store. Called “Akhob,” a word from Egypt’s Amarna period supposedly meaning “pure water,” the piece consists of circular openings leading into two huge chambers filled with slowly changing, rotating light. Turrell calls these sort of iconic installations, for which he’s famous, “ganzfelds” or “light fields.”

THE NEON MUSEUM This outdoor museum has an amazing collection of neon, including the original Moulin Rouge sign, the Stardust sign, and the Golden Nugget, which dates back to the 1940s. Since the museum has neon dating from the 1930s through the present, it’s a fascinating way to learn about the history of the city. While it's tempting for obvious reasons to visit at night, the deserted, vintage feel makes the place just as interesting during the day.

HOOVER DAM Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam make for an excellent day trip for those with diverse interests— history buffs will enjoy the comprehensive tour, which is filled with all kinds of historical facts whereas the more adventurous set may want to access the lake itself via jet-ski or boat for the day to escape the desert heat.

SEVEN MAGIC MOUNTAINS Internationally renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains is a large-scale site-specific public art installation located near Jean Dry Lake and Interstate 15, approximately ten miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Comprised of seven towers of colorful, stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high, Seven Magic Mountains is situated within the Ivanpah Valley adjacent to Sheep Mountain and the McCullough, Bird Spring, and Goodsprings ranges of mountains. A creative expression of human presence in the desert, Seven Magic Mountains punctuates the Mojave with a poetic burst of form and color.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL Five shows including Ká, The Beatles LOVE, Michael Jackson ONE, Mystère, and O are offered in Las Vegas from the Montreal-based entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world.

EAST FREMONT STREET Fremont Street is second to the Las Vegas Strip, located in the heart of the downtown casino corridor. Fremont Street is today, or was, the address for many famous casinos such as Binion's Horseshoe, Eldorado Club, Fremont Hotel and Casino, Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, Golden Nugget, Four Queens, The Mint, and the Pioneer Club. The abundance of neon signs, like cowboy Vegas Vic, earned the street the nickname of "Glitter Gulch.”

SPA

THE SPA AT THE MANDARIN ORIENTAL Mandarin Oriental is known for their luxurious spas, but the experience at their Las Vegas location is exceptional, even for them. The two-floor space offers treatments that are exclusive to Las Vegas, like the Lucky Eights, a soothing reflexology series. Even if you don’t have time for a formal appointment, relax by the pool and in their quiet lounges, both of which offer phenomenal views of the entire strip.

DAY & WEEKEND TRIPS

RED ROCK CANYON The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Clark County, Nevada, is about 15 miles west of Las Vegas, and is easily seen from the Las Vegas Strip. The conservation area showcases a set of large red rock formations: a set of sandstone peaks and walls which were formed by thrust faults including the Keystone Thrust. The walls are up to 3,000 feet high, making them a popular hiking and rock climbing destination.

DEATH VALLEY A two-hour drive from Vegas, Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is one of the hottest places on Earth, along with deserts in the Middle East and the Sahara.

Text: Veronica H. Speck Photo: © Nevada Museum of Art