Rising 540 feet and 50 stories above Las Vegas Boulevard stands the Eiffel Tower. You read that correctly: Although half the size of the original, the Sin City version is built from the same 1889 drawings done by Gustav Eiffel himself. And it looks almost exactly like the famous one in France, right down to the rivets (a cosmetic touch--this Eiffel Tower is welded together). And what might an Eiffel Tower be doing on The Strip? It's the centerpiece of Paris Las Vegas, one the city's growing number of themed casino resorts.
Paris Las Vegas is the brainchild of Arthur Goldberg, CEO of Park Place Resorts, and Paul Pusateri, President of Bally's Las Vegas and this new property. The goal, as Goldberg puts it, is to capture the essence of the city of Paris "from romance to architecture to food to wine." Much like at Bellagio and the Venetian, two other casinos that have attempted to build a European ambiance in the Nevada desert, authenticity the key. It begins with the resort's awe-inspiring architecture: in addition to the Eiffel Tower, there's the 34-story, 2,916-room hotel tower itself, modeled after the famous Hotel De Ville. An Arc De Triomphe, two-thirds the size of the original, sits just outside the main casino entrance. There are also painstakingly accurate facades that re-create the Paris Opera House and the Louvre.
Inside is just as grand. The front desk area sits beneath crystal chandeliers and gold-flecked, molded ceiling panels. The lively casino area is done in tasteful, stylish French decor, with exquisite tiles, impressionistic carpeting, and a cheerful, sky-blue ceiling. On Le Boulevard, the quaint indoor promenade of upscale boutiques and cafes that mimics the famed Rue de la Paix, cobblestone sidewalks and ornate street signs are framed by Disney-esque interior facades. Upstairs, guest rooms are done up in subdued carpeting and wallpaper (far less garish than the average Las Vegas accommodations) and feature marble baths, rich fabrics, and closet armoires.
For active guests, there's also a full-service spa, a casino-rooftop swimming pool, and outdoor tennis courts. For foodies, there are eight French-inspired, "chef-driven" restaurants on the premises, from the dazzling La Rotisserie des Artistes to the more informal Le Provencal. There's plenty of live entertainment, including the 1,200-seat Paris main theater, Le Cabaret lounge, and Tres Jazz, an Art Deco supper club showcasing live jazz five nights a week. And, this being Vegas, the casino houses not one but two wedding chapels, the Chapelle du Jardin and the Chapelle du Paradis.
Doing their part to keep up the fantasy that guests really are in Paris are the gregarious staff. You'll see bellhops wearing berets and parking attendants dressed as gendarmes. And nowhere else in this town are you likely to hear as many greetings of "Bonjour" or "Bienvenue" as you will here. Guests become so accustomed to these phrases, it's not surprising that they find themselves responding in kind. Paris Las Vegas intends to keep this spirit of goodwill and bonhomie alive with regularly scheduled French-inspired events in the community.
In the competitive world of Las Vegas casinos, all of these touches, large and small, truly matter. With Paris Las Vegas, the stakes have been raised yet again. So complete is this property's evocation of the Parisian experience that at the grand opening, Paul Pusateri was pointedly asked whether visitors who came to his resort would ever be motivated to view the real thing afterwards. With a mixture of pride and hopefulness, he said: "We have created an experience that will inspire people to one day visit the real city of Paris." Whether that actually happens remains to be seen. But in the meantime, plenty of people are taking a shine to the City of Light--all without ever leaving American soil.•
