![]() The food was superb, especially the outstanding kogi short rib tacos - the Korean barbecue sauce and salsa combo they come with shouldn’t work, but they do. Hotel restaurants offer a phenomenal choice, from premium wagyu steaks at Carversteak in Resorts World Las Vegas to high-end dim sum at Tim Ho Wan in Palms Casino Resort, but I knew my son would enjoy the more informal food-truck experience of Roy Choi’s Best Friend restaurant in the Park MGM. To the American tourists who come to Vegas, one of the great things about the city’s resort hotels is that they are able to attract the very best chefs and restaurant names from around the world. It brought home the darker side of Vegas history (from £320pp ). This is where past mob activity was recently revealed, human remains having been uncovered by the reservoir’s receding water levels. We took the first flight of the day, at 8am, to miss the heat of the day and the famous red-rock, deep-valley landscapes were spectacular, although the strain of the 20-year drought was visible as we flew over Lake Mead. This was something I had been meaning to do since my first trip to Vegas in my early twenties, and now Zach was old enough to enjoy it with me. We also finally ticked off the bucket-list helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon. It felt like a New York-themed 1950s variety show, only with rapping, basketball and plenty of audience participation (£49 ). Three stand-up comics provided hilariously edgy interludes between the singing, dancing and more traditional gasp-inducing acts - such as the “sky-dancer”, who performs hands-free above our heads suspended by her hair, and traditional wheel-of-death acrobats. This time we arrived just after the opening of Mad Apple, the first Cirque du Soleil show with speaking performers alongside the acrobatics. We might have been swerving the casinos, but it’s always worth taking in a show. ![]() Most importantly, it gained top marks from the teenager (£49 ). ![]() I know, it’s hard to explain, but it is outstanding. Still with me? This all takes place behind the façade of a supermarket that sells cans of Gender Fluid high-energy drink (you can buy the flavoured water for $5 in the gift shop) and inflatable Swan Things by the artist David Shrigley. The highlight for us was the immersive interactive experience Omega Mart, where art collective Meow Wolf has created a “portal” that leads to a mind-bending world where actor-guides help you try to figure out a story of a possible alien abduction. They have been divided up into spaces “occupied” by artists and visionaries who have designed various experiences aimed at challenging the way you view the world. I picked up some great side-buttoned Fifties jeans and Nineties sunglasses from Rockin Bettie Zach was thrilled to find vintage Dickies and an old varsity jacket next door in Glam Factory Vintage.Ī quick cab ride away is Area15, an arts and entertainment complex in a cluster of warehouses. Downtown, east of the Strip, the Arts District is the hipster part of town with the best coffee shots and cool vintage shops. Las Vegas is putting a lot of effort into showing tourists there is more here than casinos. It’s hard not to be drawn to the bright lights and sensory overload that is the Strip - the screaming passengers on the rollercoasters of the New York-New York hotel, the 460ft-high musical fountains of the Bellagio, the 24-hour bright lights of the craps tables - but after that initial excitement, I can only recommend getting away from the neon and slot machines and into the Arts District of the city. This year we only had 48 hours, but we packed in loads - it’s the best way to deal with jet lag. A place where 24-hour drinking and gambling is the norm doesn’t scream “family holiday”, but as the children - Zach and his brother Sam, who’s now 20 and not with us this time - have got older they’ve moved on from having fun in the pool to craving adventure and entertainment. We always stay a few nights in Vegas to acclimatise before we hire a car and drive north, which comes as a surprise to many. He may not have noticed them before, but this is not his first trip here I have family in southern Utah, so we’ve visited Las Vegas a fair bit more than the average UK family. ![]() He doesn’t mean sibling rivalry and Mexican drug cartels, but the flurry of lawyers’ billboard ads zipping by. “It’s just like Better Call Saul,” says my 16-year-old son, craning his head from the airport taxi. Monday August 08 2022, 12.01am, The Times
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