Leaving Las Vegas
25 September 2009
When one flies into an epicentre of hedonism, it would be reckless not to approach the situation with a degree of trepidation. As I flew over the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon my stomach buckled slightly. I pushed my unease aside, diagnosed it as excitement, and focussed on the fact that I was about to be reunited with my closest friends after what had felt like a very long time. Yes, I was going to a bachelorette party, which I don’t enjoy at the best of times. Sure, I’d seen The Hangover. But we were in Vegas to have a good time, we were not out to destroy.
As I took in my first breath of the harsh, dry air I felt smothered by the surrounding desert and desperate to escape to my hotel room – destination Hard Rock. Belting along a big city highway past an army of bill boards and sky scrapers, the Grand Canyon now felt a world away. I flew past a giant pyramid, buildings straight out of The Jetsons, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower. No wonder I felt mildly disoriented.
Then I hit my hotel – destination Hard Core more like it. One can always tell a lot about a hotel from the carpet. I’ll never forget a friend of mine saying to me when she visited Sydney: “you can tell this is a Southern Hemisphere Ritz Carlton by the way the carpet is tattered.” Well, the Hard Rock’s carpet was dark (I suspect to “manage” the inevitable alcohol stains) and the foyer was even more dark. It was only 4 pm and I felt as though I had walked straight into a nightclub – everyone seemed to be hitting the gaming tables in the centre of the room or the bars scattered around them. The music was blaring.
This wasn’t the sanctuary I was seeking, so I dumped my bags and headed straight for the pool. After pushing my way through a group of oiled-up and fuelled 18 year-olds dancing on tables to find a space on the faux-beach, I felt a little out of place pulling out my vintage copy of John Fowles’s The Collector.
The thing one learns pretty quickly when they land in Sin City is that wherever you go, the party is never far away. Everyone knows the rule that what goes on in Vegas must stay in Vegas, so at this point I must be discreet and write only in generics. We had fun. Probably more fun that we’d had together in years. Certainly more fun than is appropriate in 4 nights. Our final day was spent at the Hard Rock’s pool party – so inappropriately – called Rehab. It was there, as I was throwing down a litre of vodka cranberry mix whilst shaking my booty in my bikini, that I realised how much the city had sucked me in to its pleasure seeking, wild ways. Had I become part of the greed and indulgence that I found so grotesque on my arrival? I knew I had to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
The thing about Vegas is that it is excess on such a massive scale that you begin to overlook the absurd and almost forget normality. Shall we install a 100 foot waterfall in a mega-club in the middle of the desert. Damn, why not?
There is a rumour that all the hotels pump oxygen through the air con to keep you awake. I can’t speak to the truth of that but they certainly pitch the temperature levels so that one is always comfortable in whatever clothing they are wearing. As I’d spent the majority of my four days jumping from hotel to restaurant to club to hotel, I’d forgotten all about the intense Nevada heat. It hit me as hard as the harsh reality that my holiday was over. I usually leave my holidays with a twinkle in my eye, a skip in my stride and a sense of well being. It might sound overly dramatic but I left Las Vegas feeling violated. It had dominated me and I was a shell of my former self.
For those keen to check out Sin City, here are some of my tips…
Do
1. Have a big club night. Try XS or Tryst at The Wynn or upstairs at the Venetian’s Tao.
2. Try the Bellagio champagne and passion fruit cocktail while soaking up the serenity of the pool there.
Don’t
1. Join the middle-American masses and walk the strip with a metre long margarita in hand.
2. Spend more than 2 nights in Vegas, 3 nights if you must.
- Felicity Harrison is FQR’s managing editor
FQR’s travel editor Kate Lenahan also gives her tips for Vegas…
Do
1. Take up smoking if you haven’t already – Nevada is the only state in the USA when smoking is allowed and practically mandatory.
2. Take a trip out to the Hoover Dam.
Don’t
1. Get married to a total stranger by a Chinese Elvis vicar after one too many martinis!!
Recommended luxury hotel to stay – The Wynn
