Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 29

TRAVEL Sunday. May 20. 2001 Battle Creek Enquirer 5D Learn US. history by visiting the battlefields Top of theMark Las Vegas keeps its best for the highest rollers Deals there for U.K. travel of opulence.

Think Ralph Lauren meets Italian hill country. Having given up on the $1 million high roller, Hilton execs say they now will make the Sky Villas available to the $250,000 U.S. player, as well as any CEO who might want to fork over $15,000 a night (three-night minimum, please). Midway on the Strip sits one of the reasons Hilton gave up the whale hunt Bellagio's nine villas, which opened three years ago, have hosted luminaries such as Michael Jordan, former president George Bush and, in April, the cast of "Ocean's 11" featuring Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. But they exist primarily to seduce the premier gambler.

"From the instant we get the 10-out call (indicating the guest is 10 minutes from the hotel), the drinks are put on ice, the butlers get in place, and I'm there to greet you," says Fred Johnson, villas service manager. There is nothing we can't do." That includes a recent request for special Egyptian tea that found Johnson flying in the desired elixir from overseas. Inside Villa No. 3, a typical three-bedroom affair, the atmosphere is lived-in elegance. Two plush sofas sit atop a muted $20,000 wool carpet.

In the garden, a small waterfall cascades into a pool. Closets are cedar-lined. Bathrooms offer enough shower heads to re-create a monsoon. The kitchen is outfitted with a Sub-Zero fridge and a Wolf gas range; not that you'd be cooking. There is an in-villa gym (three machines and free weights), along with a massage table (no waiting for appointments.here) and a sauna.

The stereo system in this workout room would put most top-level home systems to shame. "Some people never leave their rooms except to go gamble," Johnson says. "Others, they pop in for a shower and rarely come back." writer at the Las Vegas Review-Journal who is at work on a book about high rollers. "Ultimately, the product each casino is selling (to high rollers) is the exclusivity of their box and the level of service that's provided in it" That level has skyrocketed over the decades. The elite suite dates back to midcentury Las Vegas, but in the past three years, fierce games of one-upmanship have pumped the standards of luxury to dizzying heights.

Consider that later this summer, two nxx)-square-foot high-roller villas will open at Caesars Palace. Construction cost: $24 million. "Our goal is to imagine how the elite of the world live and recreate it," says Caesars president John Shigley. And why bother with such ritzy digs? "If you don't have these kinds of properties, (the high roller) will go elsewhere." No paying guests will be admitted to Caesars' latest extravagance. In fact "not even losing $1 million in a trip" would be enough to guarantee an invite, Shigley says.

"These villas will represent the ultimate." The "ultimate" can come and go quickly. The Las Vegas Hilton trumped everyone in 1995 with three lavish Sky Villas built at a cost of $45 million. Today, it is unable to lure the world's top gamblers. "We're done chasing the $1 million player," shrugs marketing chief Richard Langlois. There's just too much competition." Casino executives are mute when it comes to details about their wealthy and privacy-minded clients.

But conversations with hoteliers, gaming experts and casino employees reveal a few recurring facts: Upward of 70 percent of visiting high rollers are Asian, mostly industrialists or bankers. Complimentary invitations are handed out based on how long a guest plays while in town, and on his or her (the overwhelming majority are men) Masco R. Delia Cava Gannett News Service LAS VEGAS. Nev. Tucked away from the gaze of the masses who visit Las Vegas daily are hotel suites so massive as to make you feel like a Lilliputian stumbling around Gulliver's quarters never less than 7,000 square feet and often as large as 12,000.

So opulent as to inspire envy in the hearts of all but the ultra-rich flecks of gold swim in hand lotion while a Matisse adorns a bathroom walL And so exclusive as to dash the hopes of anyone not considered a top gambling high roller if losing $500,000 and up doesn't raise your blood pressure, welcome to the club. Of the 6 billion people in the world, no more than 500 are on casino short lists for invitations to revel for free in such luxury. If you're in that exclusive group, expect a call from the folks holding the keys to two of the most outrageous crash pads in town. The Mansion at MGM Grand and The Villas at Bellagio. Once the subjects of strict publicity blackouts in deference to their clients' desire for exclusivity, the gilded doors up until now were kept tightly closed.

But with a slowing economy perhaps curtailing the gambling plans of some high rollers, quiet efforts are being made to rent out some of these rooms at average nightly rates of $7,000. But paying guests will account for no more than 2 percent of occupancy. Rather, these rooms remain the bait for gambling's "whales," like Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, who famously lost $20 million at Bellagio last summer. Although some gamblers rarely spend time in their posh rooms, it is vital that they feel as pampered as pashas. "There needs to be a reason to come here, because there are other places for these people to gamble, like Macao and Hong Kong," says Dave Berns, gaming Know the lingo Want to talk like an insider? Here's the deal A glossary of high-roller terms: fl High roller A gambler willing to lose at least $100,000 per trip.

Whale: The elite-level gambler willing to lose $500,000 or more a trip (some 300 are said to exist worldwide). George: A big tipper. Toke: A tip. fl Comp: A complimentary offering, such as a hotel suite. Chaser A bad player, one who is chasing after his lost money.

Presser An aggressive gambler. In the grease: When a gambler is dipping into his own money rather than money he has won from the casino. Stuck: When a gambler has hit his credit limit average bet. A $1 million player (one willing to part with that sum over a stay) usually bets 1 percent a hand, or $10,000. High rollers' game of choice is baccarat where limits can hit $100,000 a hand.

If players do not keep up with their usual level of play, hotel invites can dry up. Perhaps the best introduction to Las Vegas' most astounding accommodations begins with a look at what once passed as the creme de la creme. The three Hilton Sky Villas, perched some 30 stories high, offer epic views of the Strip, the surrounding desert and the mountain ranges beyond. Inside, however, the vista is a bit less natural. Acres of blinding marble cover the floors and most every other surface.

Flowers dot the landscape, but many are silk. Gold glints off couch fabrics, chandeliers and faucets. Most walls are covered with frescoes. If Nero had lived today, he might well feel at home here. STAY FOR $15,000 A NIGHT Opulent? Yes.

But not in sync with today's more rustic vision Gene Sloan Gannett News Service If you ever wanted to visit Great Britain, now's the time. Worries about foot-and-mouth disease continue to dampen travel bookings, and with the peak summer tourist season just weeks away, hotels throughout England and Scotland have begun rolling out unusually good deals to entice vacationers back. "It's like the prettiest girl at the school suddenly finding out she needs a date to the prom," says Keith Waldon of Virtuoso, a network of travel agencies that specialize in luxury trips. By this time of year, many hotels in Great Britain are already sold out for summer. "It's very rare for them to be soliciting business." Virtuoso has negotiated reduced rates at dozens of upscale country houses such as Knockinaam Lodge in Scotland, which is knocking 20 percent off its rates and throwing in a half bottle of champagne upon arrival Week-long golf packages at top courses also are being priced under par, says Waldon.

Waldon notes that there's no reason to avoid Great Britain. The disease, which is harmless to humans but devastating to livestock, is now largely under control, and hundreds of tourist sites that closed in March in an effort to stop its spread, including Stonehenge, have since reopened. Still bookings remain in the doldrums. The British Tourist Authority estimates that visits from the United States will end the year down 10 percent to 20 percent The final toll depends partly on how vacationers respond to the newest deals. Among other recently announced specials: British Airways offers Americans three free nights at a London hotel if they commit to a summer trip by Thursday.

Prices for the "London for Free" promotion, which includes the free nights and round-trip airfare, start at $358 per person from New York or Boston for travel through June 16. Flights between June 17 and Sep. 12 start at $558. Fares are higher from other gateways. Information: 800- Gbxcg Zokoya Gannett News Service As much or more than anywhere in American history, the great Civil War battlefields were filled with what Abraham Lincoln called that last full measure of devotion" a soldier's ultimate sacrifice.

With Memorial Day approaching, we ask James McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Battle Cry of Freedom" and a history professor at Princeton University, to name top Civil War battlefields or battlefield parks to visit Chickamauga Chattanooga, National Military Paris, Ga.and.Tenn. The Battle of Chickamauga (Sept 19-20, 1863) in Georgia was perhaps the greatest Confederate victory in thi so-called Western theater of the war. It led to a Confederate seige of Union forces in Chattanooga, until Grant led them on a dramatic break-out (Nov. 24-25, 1863) from that city. That provided (Union Gen.

William) Sherman with his starting point in his 1864 campaign against Atlanta." 706-866-9241. Gettysburg National Military Park, Pa. Famous as the Confederacy's high-water mark, where Pickett's Charge ended in disaster on the battle's third day, Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) was with the Union capture of Vicksburg in Mississippi a day later the war's turning point Gettysburg witnessed 51,000 casualties and, five months later, Lincoln's famed address, "an added cachet that no other battlefield has." 717-334-1124. Antietam National Battlefield, Md. In a single day of combat Sept 17, 1862, more than 23,000 men were killed, wounded or reported missing in a battle that ended Confederate Gen.

Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the north (Gettysburg finished his second invasion). "It is the bloodiest day in American history." 301-432-5124. Sbiloh National Military Park, Tenn. Nearly 24,000 casualties were suffered in two days of battle on the banks of the Tennessee River (April 6-7, 1862)', making this the war's first major killing field, and shocking both sides.

"It was a kind of baptism of blood." Today this Union victory site is perhaps the best preserved of the major battlefields, looking much like it did in the war. 731-689-5696. Fredericksburg and Spot-sytvania National Military Park, Va. Located precisely between Washington, D.C and Richmond, Va, this area witnessed four major battles producing ucwoo casualties: the Union defeats of Fredericksburg (Dec 13, 1862) and Chancellorsville (May 1-6, 1863), and Wilderness and Spotsylvania (both fought to a draw in May, 1864). "You've got the one place where more men died in American wars than any other single place anywhere in the world." 540-371-0802.

Manassas National Battlefield Park, Va. This is the site of the first and second battles (July 1861 and Aug. 28-30, 1862) of Manassas, which were Union defeats. The first battle scuttled hopes of an early end to the war. The park is 30 miles southwest of Washington.

Among major battlefields, it "is under a lot of stress and pressure from urban development" 703-361-1339. Fodoir's series joins US. auto travel guides Publisher poised to take on Mobil, AAA and New Year's (Fodor's parent) Random House is normally closed, and I was here reading 'California'." Fodor's Kliemann says the series makes sense. The market is bigger now than ever before, she says, noting studies that show 50 million people plan a spring or summer road trip this year. "You have a generation that feels travel is a right" Kliemann also is betting that the books will appeal to a broader audience of travelers than traditional guidebooks: sales people, parents taking kids to look at colleges or to sporting events.

"The Road Guides are books that help real people take real trips," she says. tributed the Mobil Guides. But when the contract, in the words of Kliemann, "ended mutually," Fodor's found itself without a series aimed at the nearly 80 percent of Americans who take their summer vacation by car. Building a set of road guides from scratch was no easy feat, even for a company that already has more than 400 titles. Fodor's assembled a team of more than 540 writers, researchers and editors to put the series together, and it took more than three years to complete.

The 15 books, each covering one to five states, contain more than 10,000 pages of text and maps. "We're all just getting over being exhausted," says Kliemann, speaking from her office in midtown Manhattan. "Between Christmas can get a better feel for places mentioned in the book by reading the short descriptions, she says.The guides do indicate don't-miss places with a single star a so-called Fodor's Choice. The Fodor's series is bigger than the Mobil series, which will be its only competitor at bookstores (AAA guides are available only to AAA members and don't appear in bookstores). Fodor's offers information on 37,000 hotels and restaurants spread over 15 volumes.

Mobil offers information on 22,000 establishments in 10 volumes. Fodor's Florida volume, for example, has 529 pages; Mobil's, 428. The launch brings Fodor's, the world's largest English-language travel book publisher, full circle. Until four years ago, the firm dis volume set that mimics the widely used Mobil and AAA books with short paragraphs on thousands of hotels, restaurants and attractions. "Our (other) books cover many of the big cities and the major tourist destinations," says Fodor's publisher Kris Kliemann.

"We wanted to have a series out there that would cover all the places in between" those destinations. Fans of Mobil and AAA will find much that is familiar, but there are a few key differences: Unlike the Mobil and AAA guides the source for the closely watched star and diamond ratings for hotels and restaurants Fodor's guides don't provide ratings. "One man's thrill is another man's chill," says Kliemann, explaining that Fodor's concluded ratings tend to be too subjective. Road-trippers Gene Sloan Gannett News Service Planning a road trip this summer and looking for a good guide? When it comes to comprehensive listings of roadside hotels, restaurants and attractions, generations of wanderers have relied on one of two venerable series: Mobil Guides, launched in 1958, and AAA TourBooks, which date to 1917. Now comes a third optioa In what's billed as its biggest launch ever, publishing giant Fodor's this spring unveiled "Fodors Road Guide USA," a 15- TORONTO ton.

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