Venetian

This theme resort re-creates Italy’s historic and romantic city with reproductions of famous Venetian landmarks. From the Las Vegas Strip the entrance is through the Doge’s Palace gateway, set over a lagoon. Renaissance characters roam the public areas, singing opera, performing mime, jesting, and even kissing hands.

Visitors often just take pictures of the ceiling of the lobby as if they were in the Sistine Chapel: An exquisite fresco covers the arched ceiling leading from registration to the casino. The geometric design of the marble floor creates an Escher-like optical illusion of climbing stairs.

Guests will want to take a graceful and romantic glide down the Grand Canal in a genuine gondola. The gondolier will guide you under bridges and balconies and along the Venetian street scene, singing traditional songs. At the beginning and end of the day, the gondoliers parade through the property, serenading onlookers.

Madame Tussaud’s Interactive Wax Museum. More than 100 life-like replicas of famous personalities are on display, including Elvis, of course, and Don King. The museum fea-tures several themed exhibits, including “Spirit of America,” honoring political leaders (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John and Jacqueline Kennedy and George W. Bush). Another exhibit displays famous Vegas entertainers like Liberace, Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra and Siegfried & Roy. In “The King in Concert” exhibit Elvis returns to Ve-gas. “Celebrity Poker” and “Marry Clooney” (where visitors don a wedding gown and can stand next to George Clooney at the altar) are very popular. Other interactive scenes in-clude Hugh Hefner, racing celebrities Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, the three co-founding Blue Man members, and “American Idol” judges.

Guggenheim Hermitage Museum. The famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia has teamed up with New York’s Guggenheim Foundation to provide an art gallery of masterpieces in Las Vegas, featuring artists including Picasso, Cezanne, Monet and Manet.

The Casino provides the usual table games, and an open lounge with live music at one end with a food court nearby. A high-limit slot area is found in one corner. The player’s club uses a high-tech system to allow winners to comp themselves using slot club points at any other machine in the casino. The separate, non-smoking poker room, one of the largest of its kind in Las Vegas, is decorated in wood and rich (Venetian) leather. The race and sports book is at one end of the casino, and has 80 seats, 42 TV’s and 3 big screens.

Naturally, The Venetian would have to have marvelous restaurants, and the variety of offerings makes this resort a favorite for those whose main passion is food.

AquaKnox features fresh seafood flown in daily from around the world and a “raw bar.” The atmosphere is of cool ocean waters.

B&B Ristorante purveys award-winning Italian cuisine in an ambiance of casual elegance. Specialties include inventive entrees like mint love letters with spicy lamb sausage or whole-grilled branzino with fennel, gaeta olives and lemon oregano jam.

Bouchon (named for a style of café from the Province of Lyon) is vast, a 7,000-square-foot room in the spirit of Paris’ rive gauche. Bouchon was named a 2005 Epicurean Award win-ner for Best French, Best New Restaurant on the Strip, Best Restaurant on the Strip and Best Restaurant.

Canaletto is an Italian restaurant created by the owners of Il Fornaio, the famous restaurant chain. David Burke, a well-known contemporary chef, offers his eponymous Vegas restaurant, David Burke, known for inventive dishes such as a lobster cocktail, which he describes as “crisp and angry” or a cheesecake decorated with a tree made of lollipop candy. His duck breast entrée is served with seared prawns and crab cakes encrusted with pretzel crumbs.

The famous Delmonico Steakhouse is a steak restaurant with a Creole influence. It is a 2004 Epicurean Award winner for Best Steak House and the Grand Award winner for Wine Spectator magazine.

Pinot Brasserie features standbys of French cuisine, such as French onion soup, roast chicken with fries and créme brulée.

Postrio is Wolfgang Puck’s entry at the Venetian. It has both a spacious patio café and an upscale dining room. Wood oven-baked pizzas and pastas are available at lunch and dinner. Among the special-ties are hand-made gnocchi, fennel-crusted yellowfin tuna and the classic cote de boeuf.

The Grill at Valentino, a branch of the famous Santa Monica restaurant, provides traditional Italian foods and wines. Luciano Pellegrini, executive chef for The Grill at Valentino, is the 2004 winner of the American Express Best Chef: Southwest category at the James Beard Awards.

Taqueria Cañonita combines Old Mexico with contemporary American tastes. Diners can have authentic chile rellenos, tacos al carbon and shrimp quesadillas.

At Zeffirino, Chef Gianpaolo Zeffirino Belloni brings his well0known approach to Italian cuisine to the Venetian, specializing in seafood recipes like filet of sole piccola and lobster tail.

Blue Man Group is the renowned absurd, rhythmic, cutting-edge show, performed in a theater built just for the group and an audience of 1,760. Blue Man Group is at once musical, artistic, scientific and theatrical. It is also very energetic and funny. By using pipes, Blue Man Group controls pitch and harmony. Sticks and paddles create more sounds. The result is endless rhythmic variation, supported by a rock band.

Gordie Brown performs energetic stand-up comedy in a theater created for his show with a rapid succession of impressions, songs, jokes and dancing.

Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular is presented at the Venetian in a $40 million opera house created specially for this musical classic. Several new special effects have been added, and the show’s staging has been adapted to its new surroundings. Every song from the original store remains unaltered. The elaborate sets and the costumes are stunning.

The Golf Concierge can reserve a tee time for guests at any one of the many world-class golf resorts in the Las Vegas area.

The Canyon Ranch Spa Club at the Venetian is Las Vegas’ largest health and beauty facility. In its 62 different treatment rooms, the Spa can provide just about any service or treatment there is. It also houses a complete beauty solon, a café, and pool access. The lower level of the spa is a half-acre fitness center, offering the full array of weight training, cardiovascular equipment, and Pilates. There is also wall for rock climbing and classes in yoga, spinning, salsa dancing, meditation and more. The wellness center offering services not normally found at a spa, such as nutritional counseling, acupuncture and physical therapy. There are a variety of body treatments, wraps and scrubs as well as facials, baths and massages.

The Venetian has over 1.9 million square feet of accommodating and flexible meeting space, including up to 298 flexible individual meeting rooms and the 85,000-square-foot Venetian Ballroom, the 75,000-square-foot Palazzo Ballroom, and the 100,600-square-foot exhibit hall, In all there are twelve large Ballrooms, five Junior Ballrooms, twenty seven hospitality suites and parlors, and seven executive boardrooms. The planning staff is on hand to help with meetings of from 20 persons up to 20,000.

The Tao nightclub brings not only a taste of the Orient but also a slice of the Big Apple to the Venetian resort. The 10,000-square-foot nightclub is modeled alter the successful Tao in New York City. It is part of a Tao entertainment complex, which also includes a restaurant, banquet facilities and an ultra lounge. Tao presents a contrast between its décor (rock gardens, statues and candles) and the wild parties that go on there. Often dancers perform in the club. There is an outside terrace with views of the Strip and of the canals outside the hotel.

The La Scena Lounge offers live entertainment by high-energy bands performing in a variety of styles: rock and roll, Motown, disco, top hits or old favorites. V Bar was created by the owners of New York’s club Lotus, and Los Angeles’ Sunset Room. It offers urbane sophistication and appeal with sleek lines, double-sided leather chaise lounges and subdued lighting.

The Venetian’s main pool area is like a maze where the trimmed foliage meanders around to reach the pools in the center. The main pool is recognizable from the number of commercials that have been filmed there. There are in all two Standard pools and one lounge pool, a hot tub and 25 cabanas. The pools are also a frequent venue for special events. The poolside restaurant is run by Postrio. During summer months the pool that is part of TAO Nightclub hosts Tao Beach, a special pool party.

Shopping devotees will enjoy what the Grand Canal Shoppes have to offer with over 70 restaurants and shops. Well-known names include Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Burberry, Kenneth Cole, Privilege, St. John Sport, The Walking Company, Wolford, Gandini, Lior, Bernard K. Passman Gallery, Regis Galerie, Brighton, Rockport, Ca D' Oro, Landau, Mikimoto, Venetzia, Kids Carnivale, Brookstone, Ciao, Godiva, Lladró, Davidoff, Hou-dini's Magic Shop and Il Prato. The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian also add a little renaissance atmosphere with fun and entertainment from opera singers and musicians to 16th century personages. “Living Statues” are also found in St. Mark’s Square and in front of Ann Taylor.

The Venetian has a wedding chapel and a fully wedding support staff. Weddings, wedding vow renewals and commitment ceremonies can also be planned for some of the more romantic venues on the grounds of the resort. The Cerimonia Sul’Aqua takes place aboard the Venetian’s signature white wedding gondola, or a couple can opt for exchanging vows on a bridge overlooking the Piazza San Marco. Many different packages are available and can include photography, film and broadcasting.