Sin City is a great place to enjoy oddball experiences
Authenticity: It’s the “holy grail” for travellers. Except when you go to Las Vegas, that is, a city as joyously fake and phony as “whip cream” from a can. When you’re there, seeking out the goofy and the weird not only makes sense, it’s a heckuva good way to experience the city.
Don’t know where to start? Try one of these oddball experiences: A meal at Oscar’s Beef Booze Broads Steakhouse. And that “Oscar” would be former Mayor Oscar Goodman. He holds court most nights here, with a gin martini in hand (hence the “booze”) and a platter of tenderloin on the bar in front of him (natch the “beef”). But what makes the experience so Vegas are the “broads” here, actually lovely young ladies who are hired to sit at the tables and make conversation (really, that’s all they do). According to Goodman, they’re filling the role that showgirls used to at club/restaurants such as this one. Hired for their gift of gab, these ladies are a delight to chat with, as is Oscar, so buttonhole him at the bar.
Staying at a “Stay Well” room at the MGM Grand. Who knew people came to Sin City to get healthy?
This mega-resort did, so it partnered with the Cleveland Clinic and Deepak Chopra to design these special rooms. And while some of the treatments on offer are legit, others speak to the “cure of the day” mentality that afflicts much of “wellness travel,” like shower water infused with Vitamin C, lighting that supposedly suppresses melatonin, and charcoal tablets next to the water ... just because. It’s the Vegas-glitz version of “eat your vegetables.”
Hanging out at the splashiest “man cave” ever constructed. That would be Lagasse’s Stadium, a former nightclubturned-restaurant, with stadium seating so that those dining have perfect views of the 100-plus sports-blasting TV screens around the space. The food is top-notch (this is Emeril Lagasse’s joint, after all), and the testosterone level rivals what you’d find on a football field itself — so what if it’s just pixels on a screen?
Getting married in an outrageous costume (or watching others do so).
At the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, Elvis weddings are just the beginning. Created by a former dancer, the weddings here are marvelously theatrical, and could involve “flying” down the aisle (for a Cirque du Soleilstyle shindig); taking sips of fake blood out of a chalice to anoint your love at a vampire-themed ceremony; or dressing like a couple from your favourite era of history (they can accommodate ancient Greece or Egypt, Marie Antoinette’s France, King Arthur’s England, and much more). And if you just want a “classic” Elvis wedding, you can do it right by driving into the chapel in a hot pink Cadillac and getting married by a trio of Elvi (young Elvis, middle-aged Elvis and old, fat Elvis). If you have no one you want to marry, but you’d like to experience a wedding here, just ask. Most couples are more than happy to have extra witnesses.
Pauline Frommer is the Editorial Director for the Frommer Travel Guides and Frommers.com. She co-hosts the radio program The Travel Show with her father, Arthur Frommer and is the author of the best-selling Frommer’s EasyGuide to New York City.