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Las Vegas Notebook: Paris Opens to the Outdoors, Completion for the Venetian

Paris Las Vegas, the mega-resort that opened Sept. 1, boasts that its Parisian-style café -- Mon Ami Gabi -- has the only outdoor seating on the Las Vegas Strip.

That's an amazing claim, which I don't doubt. But this is ground zero of the fastest-growing large city (more than 1 million residents) in the United States. Las Vegas Boulevard is a world-famous street with great potential for people watching, and yet until now no one has thought to put a restaurant out there where the action is.

Outdoor dining is common almost anywhere in the world where the climate is hospitable. But it's something special in Las Vegas, where more than 30 million tourists visit annually.

That's because the focus for casinos has traditionally been inward: Get people inside the cavernous casino complexes and try to keep them there for all of their eating, drinking, shopping and, of course, gambling. Don't let them connect with the outdoors. Don't install windows to remind them of daylight or nightfall.

Many of the new resorts feature artificial skies -- ceilings painted light blue and lighted to resemble a sky, a gimmick first employed at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. But Paris is the first to offer a restaurant with the real thing. It also has windows over the main entrance, so gamblers in many parts of the casino can see daylight.

I was in Las Vegas last week for the World Gaming Congress, a huge annual trade show. It was an opportunity to explore Paris, the last to open of this year's three new mega-resorts, and the Venetian. The Venetian opened, for the first time, in May. Mandalay Bay, along with the luxury Four Seasons Hotel, opened in March.

The Venetian

There have been several Venetian openings, because nothing was ever finished on time. The local press had a field day, with one paper dubbing the project "the Incompletion.'' But now, nearly everything is finished and the Venetian is one of the "must see'' attractions.

Built at a cost of $1.5 billion, the Venetian is the second most expensive resort in Las Vegas, behind Bellagio, which opened in October 1998. The development recreates many of the landmarks and facades of Venice.

For my taste, it's a bit too much, even by the standards of Las Vegas. There's only so many hand-painted ceilings, no matter how exquisitely done, and 24-carat gold frames and trim, that I want to look at.

But the craftsmanship must be seen to be appreciated. All of the statues and architectural ornamentation was produced, mostly on a one-to-one scale, in Las Vegas by 300 artisans. I haven't been to Venice, but travel writers who have tell me that the authenticity of the recreations at the Venetian is impressive.

This includes some spectacular marble floors, which are copies of intricate geometric patterns used in Venice for dramatic special effects.

The chief gimmick at the Venetian is a canal with singing gondoliers. The canal flows through a meandering 500,000 square-foot mall. For $10, visitors who make reservations early in the day can take a ride in a gondola and be serenaded.

This is all on the second floor, above the casino. The mall, called the Grand Canal Shoppes, has the obligatory fake sky. Several restaurants align the canal, some offering the more typical version of "outdoor'' seating in Las Vegas.

Paris

No casino has taken theming as far as Paris. Most of the 4,200 employees have been given a little training in French, targeted for their jobs. Parking attendants, for example, know the words for "Go,'' "Stop,'' "Over there,'' and the like. Waiters and waitresses can say "Welcome,'' "Right Away,'' and "Your Bill.''

This can get tiresome, especially when they translate without being asked. My waitress one evening instantly translated every simple phrase, saying such things as "Bienvenue, Welcome'' and "Bon appetit, Enjoy your meal.''

But I found Paris to be far less tacky than I expected. The developers went to great pains for the sake of authenticity. Once you're off the casino floor and in some of the restaurants and shops, you could imagine that you were in France.

The details are impressive. The small bathroom for the buffet, for example, reminds me of many I've seen in Paris, with the use of tile and dark wood.

The property's signature is a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower. It was built from plans obtained from the French government. There's an expensive restaurant on the 11th floor of the tower.

For $8, visitors can take an elevator to the observation deck on the 50th floor. At the drive-up entrance, there's a two-thirds-scale replica of the Arc de Triomphe.

At the pedestrian entrance from the Strip, there's a courtyard -- next to Mon Ami Gabi -- that invites lingering. People sit on the edges of large square planters, waiting for friends or just people watching. Again, this is unusual for the exterior of a Las Vegas casino.

Inside, Paris has some unusual touches, such as Jean Jaques' Boulangerie. It's a working bakery, where you can buy breads and sandwiches for eat-in or carryout. It's not unusual to see customers walking out with baguettes baked in an oven imported from France.

A print shop run by the Re Society Ltd. of Chicago sells vintage poster "recreations.'' Some are produced on site, where visitors can watch workers operate a 100-year-old French lithography press.

Downtown

With so much to see on the Strip, millions of visitors never make it downtown. It's worth the trip, to see where it all began.

Like downtowns in many cities, this one has seen better days. Only the Golden Nugget, owned by Mirage Resorts, offers anything approaching luxury accommodations.

But it's great to see some of the early tacky neon signs. And everything is close together downtown, so you can quickly visit a half dozen casinos without the long walks required between Strip properties.

A few years ago, the heart of downtown was cleaned up and closed to pedestrian traffic. The "Fremont Street Experience'' was created. It's an overhead canopy that each night, on the hour, has a free light and sound show that's worth catching.

The effort to revitalize downtown hasn't been a financial success. But one night last week, I was surprised at the number of visitors. Fremont Street was packed with people watching and photographing the light and sound show.

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