Quiet in Vegas?

Las Vegas is a place that pounds the senses with a constant pulse of energy. People either love it or hate it: they are rarely on the fence about it. So other than a retreat to an expensive spa, is it possible to find peace and quiet on the Vegas strip? Yes, it is!

As one who used to be in the commercial design business and worked on hotels, I am always amazed at the Las Vegas hotel designers who continue to push the envelope in the realms of the outlandish, unexpected, and seemingly impossible feats of creativity. If you had told me that a chlorinated shallow canal with gondolas and gondoliers singing opera inside a Vegas strip hotel would have people waiting in line to be rowed around an interior shopping mall, I probably wouldn't have believed you. But there they are: years later... still waiting in line. And where else in the world can you find Paris, Venice, the Caribbean, New York, California, and so many other fantasy worlds within a few short miles? Aside from Epcot, I don't know. And even Epcot cannot compete with the shopping and food of Vegas. But after building so many venues of pulsating creativity, I think some hotel designers are feeling the need to offer spaces of refuge for the public.

One of my favorite hotels in Vegas is the Bellagio. Not for their tasteful and restrained pool area where you can have a delicious lunch and a conversation at the same time; nor for their new incredible spa. I go to the Bellagio to constantly be amazed at the Chihuly flowers floating from the sky and the new garden installation each year. Everywhere in Vegas are the sounds of the gaming floor, so to walk into a garden oasis and hear water running and see flowers and butterflies and creative and theatrical displays is a refreshing treat. This year the huge watering cans spewing water into the garden were brilliant in their sculptural simplicity: a Vegas rarity. The rows of butterflies created from silk floating ahead remind me of a creative Marimekko print, or Chinese new year banner. The simple sounds of running water throughout the display bring immediate calm. And as always, the dangling glass flowers by phenomenal Dale Chihuly in the lobby never cease to amaze and inspire me.

Steve Wynn was onto something when he built the Bellagio, and he expanded it when he built the Wynn: water. The Wynn is encapsulated on the interior public side of the hotel with man-made lakes and waterfalls. To be able to sit outside with a drink or while eating and not to have to listen to gaming sounds is a luxury in Vegas. The Wynn certainly did a lot of things right; however, it is that one act of building a massive waterfall and lakes in the middle of the Las Vegas strip that makes it so appealing. It is a refuge from the noise. And it also has my very favorite entertainment in all of entertainment zapped Vegas: the laser and puppet shows on the waterfall. The dancing flowers made of parachute material; the Nat King Cole singing frog; the princess rising from the lake: all are brilliantly simple in their presentation, though the creation and coordination are enormously complicated. It is creative and appealing to all.


And so I was not surprised when I walked into the most recent hotel: The Palazzo. It opened a month ago and it is delight of restraint. In reality, The Palazzo is another part of The Venetian. However, it does have it's own areas for guest rooms, shopping, and dining, as well as an entirely different feeling in the public spaces. And it has water. Once I got past the hideous faux marble lighted sculpture in the lobby which is supposed to resemble Rome, but instead looks like a bad reproduction of a Victorian Grand Tour souvenir, The Palazzo was a welcome surprise. The massive shopping arcade has restrained water fountains and a mini-Wynn waterfall framed by Bellagio-like groomed trees. CUT is the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant, and it was nice to be able to sit at a table near the water and eat some of the best food I've ever had in Vegas. Overall, the effect of The Palazzo is restraint. It is calm, but inviting. Simple, but sophisticated. Simply put: it works.

So for calm in Vegas, always head to the spa. But if you're out and about and need a reprieve, several excellent hotels have wonderful spots to sit and unwind. ...And then you can get ready to go hear the music and listen to the sounds of the gaming tables! Have fun!