Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 244

Travel 14 Section 12 Chicago Tribune, Sunday, October 31. 1993 Vegas gambles on 10-story sphinxes, pirate ships If I i il i MlTf i i mi i if i I' i iTfuittii 1 i Mn fTMtfd outdoor hologram of a 55-foot-high By Mary ForgJone Los Angeles Daily News LAS VEGAS King Tut never had it so good. Sure, the legendary Egyptian's tomb was filled with gold, gems and precious artifacts from his former kingdom. But the good pharaoh could never have envisioned a laser-filled legacy in the form of a larg-er-than-ancient-life pyramid of Las Vegas' latest theme hotel and casino, the Luxor. The Oct.

15 opening of this $375 million bid to become what promoters are boasting will become the "next wonder of the world" included a giant outdoor hologram of a 55-foot-high Tutankhamen framed by green laser beams, teams of champagne-toting servers in black Cleopatra wigs and ice sculptures of the 10-story sphinx at the hotel's entrance. Inside the black-glass pyramid, brightly lit slot machines compete with forests of obelisks to woo gamblers inside the hotel named for an Egyptian city. The Luxor is just one of the contenders in a building boom that is transforming the neon-lit Strip from an adults-only gambling mecca to, well, child's play. On Oct. 27, casino magnate Steve Wynn attempted to upstage his own fire-spitting volcano at the Mirage when he opened Treasure Island, a $430 million, resort featuring hourly re- Photos by Jack Handle The new MGM Grand under construction: The $1 billion mega-resort will be the biggest hotel in the world.

i- a v'r I 'Is- 9 enactments of a ship battle played out in the hotel's moat called Buccaneer Bay. To kick off the opening, Treasure Island's "cannons" fired on the Dunes Hotel blowing up the 18-story building and its landmark sign. Not to be outdone, on Dec 18 entrepreneur Kirk Kerkorian will open the $1 billion MGM Grand mega-resort whose centerpiece is a glassy greenish-blue hotel-casino with a seven-story reproduction of the Emerald City from "The Wizard of Oz." The hotel, a paean to MGM's golden age, will be the world's largest hotel. (Ironically, the company had to buy back the rights to the "Wizard of Oz" characters from media mogul Ted Turner, who bought the studio's film library in 1987.) A 33-acre amusement park with theme rides stands adjacent to the hotel But when it comes to bigger and better themes, Circus Circus, the pioneer of kid-friendly entertainment in Las Vegas, opened on Aug. 23 a glittery pink-domed, $75 million amusement park called Grand Slam Canyon, which is P.

.11, h. ir" i tt CEa MTV. YOUCANl'PUTAPRICE On happiness. Unless it includes a nice room And Sunday brunch. A weekend at the newly renovated Wyndham Hamilton Hotel is a happy occasion indeed.

You'll find your room lavishly furnished. There's a driving 1 domed kiosks. The salmon-colored high-ris Treasure Island was kept undeu tight wraps until its opening las Wednesday named for the classii Robert Louis Stevenson novel Hourly ship battles are waged be tween British sailors and pi rates and the pirates always "This is Las Vegas we rewarc the pirates, the risk-takers," Feld man said. The hotel also has a theater that will feature; th French-Canadian performinf troupe Cirque du Soleil in ar ongoing show keyed to the pfrato theme. Mutiny Bay, an entertainmen center with video games and Blec tronically simulated games rounds out the hotel fun.

I In keeping with the "Wizard Oz" theme in the lobby of th MGM Grand Hotel, some oC the guest rooms are in "four emerald-green towers" except that' the green is more forest than geial "You're right it's -not reallyj what you think of when you thinls of emerald green," acknowledged spokesman Tom Bruny during a hard-hat tour of the unfinished hotel and amusement park "It's MGM greea" I That notwithstanding, the 112-acre complex contains a story replica of the Emerald City complete with a Yellqwj Brick Road where animatronie characters dressed as DorothjOhe i Scarecrow and pals will hold, court The shiny green building list guarded by a golden nine-story lion the MGM. trademark. Gue rooms are decorated in a variety of themes including "Wizari Oz," Hollywood and Casablanea while suites adopt motifs fro' Marrakech, the Bahamas, the' i East Las Veeas and "tradition! (whatever that means in this But promoters are betting the "biggest draw will be the MGM Grand Adventures theme park, where characters like Betty B(5p and Popeye wander around mneij theme areas, which include 12 major rides. Other hotel-casino highlights-are a MGM Grand a special events center alongjhe-' lines of Madison Square Garden; a Grand Theatre, wludu will feature an -ongoing $30 iml" lion stage show currently in devel opment and a 630-seat Hollywood Theatre for traditional live er38S tainers. With the new Las Vegas comes the pressure to keep up the mentum of change, keep filling up space on the Strip with more and a bigger resorts, says Feldman.

be when it accepts the status quo then it's all over," he JL At the Luxor, there are writ! cal elevators to the first Jlvt floors and inclinator elevators -up to the 30th floor, as well as ramps to the pool area, Nile RiverSUBkl and casino levels, and elevators the attractions level Some rooms on the first through third fiMSl are designed for handicapped guests. The Luxor has TDD, First Alert and will soon feature TV. Treasure IslaniHs fully handicapped accessible, and the MGM Grand hotel and reSoW will meet all American Disability Act remilatuins and standards ibr' all disabilities when it opens. 1 the lobby? King Tut and a 10-story sphinx, range. An indoor pool.

Squash, tennis and racquetball courts. Plus a sauna, whirlpool and steam room. And for each night you stay, you'll receive one Hamilton Sunday Brunch free. That's a $21.95 value. For reservations, call 800-822-4200 or 708-773-4000.

Or call your travel planner. The $375 million Luxor features supposed to evoke the true-to-life wonder next door in Arizona. Despite this new zeal to replace smoky lounges, showgirls and aging crooners with amusement park rides, pirates and pharaohs, Las Vegas hotel-casino officials insist they are not courting the Mickey Mouse set. "Disneyland is Disneyland, Las Vegas is Las Vegas," said Alan Feldman, public relations director of the Mirage. "Kids don't have money, kids don't spend money." But Las Vegas does want to tap the family market Even the city's visitors bureau is marketing Las Vegas as "an adult destination where you can bring the whole family," said spokesman Mike Donahue.

The family message was not lost on Debbie Haas of Valencia, Calif Her children, Carlie, 10, and Jeremy, 7, were queueing up at Grand Slam Canyon for yet another slide down Twist and Shout, a watery roller coaster that spits out riders in rafts. "For my husband and me, this was our special place without the kids. This time we decided to bring them," she said. The family also planned to take in the magic and juggling acts at Circus Circus, the dolphin show at the Mirage, the volcano outside the Mirage that erupts every 15 minutes after sunset, and the talking statues at the Forum Shops next to Caesars Palace. When the dust settles at the end of the year, Vegas will have added 10,530 hotel rooms to its existing 76,000.

The gambling town drew 21.9 million tourists in 1992 and expects to draw more than 22 mil- -lion this year. The cost of these 1 new hotels, casinos and amusement parks was a whopping 1 $2 billion roughly a third of the $6.02 billion the state raked in last year through gambling revenue. And the stakes keep getting higher. A week before the Luxor opened, ITT Sheraton announced plans to build a $1 billion gambling resort next to the Desert Inn at the south end of the Strip. But while hotels are getting bigger and special effects are getting more high-tech, the idea of attracting middle class families to Las Vegas isn't new, says Anthony Curtis, who publishes a gambling newsletter called the Las Vegas Advisor.

In 1968, Circus Circus opened with trapeze artists and big-top performers aimed at entertaining children while their parents gambled. The company expanded on that concept with the June, 1990, opening of the Excalibur, a giant version of a medieval kingdom In November," 1989, the Mirage opened with its fire-erupting volcano, white tigers on display and a dolphin show. But potentially the biggest boost for the city has less to do with gimmicks than with a change in Americans' attitudes toward gambling: 48 states have lotteries and 18 states have casinos. But while gambling may be catching on in other areas of the country, casino owners and Vegas boosters are betting there will always be a place for Las Vegas, an untoppable mix of megalomania and casino culture. The Luxor is such a dazzling sight that, on opening day, there was plenty of room at the gaming How about Luxor Vital statistics: 2,526 rooms, including 14 suites.

Room rates are suites, Opened Oct 15. Hottest drawing cards: Replica of King Tut's tomb; 10-story sphinx at the entrance; a boat ride through the lobby on an 18-inch-deep Nile River. Lesser draws: Present-day Times square tood court; big-screen simulator rides themed to ancient tombs and lost treasures; an- drogenous city of the future with VirtuaLand, an array of interactive video games. Downside: The restaurant with decor based on displays in Cairo's National Museum" is on the same floor as the kosher-style deli. How's that for virtual reality? an WYNDHAM HAMILTON HOTEL wnHTHWixT rurr.n 7 I THE RIGHT WAY.

THE WYNDHAM WAY. 400 Park Boulevard, Itasca, IL 60143 708-773-4000 Weekend rate good Friday. Saturday and Sunday nights. Per room, per night. Not applicable to conventions or groups.

Limited availabiJiry. Other restnctions apply. Treasure Island, a $430 million resort, has hourly re-enactments of a ship battle in the moat. tables because many of the thousands of visitors were eyeing the attractions of the place. "I love it I love architecture I could just stand here and take it all in," said Dirk Thomas, a Las Vegas policeman who took his first gander at the elaborate hotel-casino during a preview opening.

A boat ride on an 18-inch-deep reproduction of the Nile River that flows through the lobby glides past impressive paintings of Tutankhamen and Nefertiti names the guides hadn't yet mastered. Three Egyptian-themed indoor attractions make use of motion-simulated rides, sky-high vertical screens and thunderous sound systems to give you that nauseating feeling of zipping through time on often-confusing missions related to robbers of ancient Egyptian tombs. Unfortunately, some of the hydraulics for the rides' motion simulators weren't working during the preview. And the much-touted museum rumored to display a complete reproduction of King Tut's tomb was not yet open; promoters say they don't expect it to open until the week of Nov. 21.

Guest rooms are accessed by elevators, dubbed "inclinators," that rush sideways up the pyramid walls with a dizzying effect Each room has a sloped wall with a row of windows and medium-brown wooden furniture decorated with Egyptian characters. Suites with hot tubs are in the corners of the pyramid and face wide-open views of the city. Rooms are airy and light a bit of elegance in this town of tacky. The 30-story pyramid also claims a host of world records: the world's largest atrium (it could hold nine Boeing 747 airplanes) and the world's most powerful beam of light, which emanates straight out the top of the pyramid (hotel promoters boast that 10 miles into space, you can read a newspaper by the beam's light, though they don't say who would want to). Luxor also contains a food court that is a reproduction of Times Square (without any of the grit), and another area with restaurants and interactive video games housed under futuristic saucer- a boat ride in MGM Grand Vital statistics: 5,009 rooms including 751 suites.

Room rates are with two-bedroom suites as high as $1,500. Opens Dec. 18. Theme park prices are $25 for ages 13 and older. Hottest drawing card: Seven-story replica of the Emerald City and "Wizard of Oz" animatronic characters in the hotel's lobby; Grand Adventures amusement park, which has 12 major rides and nine themed areas.

Lesser draws: The Grand Garden indoor arena; 88-foot MGM lion at the entrance. Downside: Baby boomers traumatized by the flying monkeys in 'The Wizard of Oz" film will probably pass on the Flying Monkey Bar. "Shop all day knowing your best deal is waiting for you at Embassy Suites hotels" Ask for the "Chicago Shopping Package. $99 Chicago -SchaumburgAVoodfield (Near Woodfield Mall) (708) 397-1313 $99 Chicago -LombardOak Brook (Near Oak Brook Center Yorktown Mall) (708)969-7500 $79 Chicago -O'Hare (Rosemont) (Near Woodfield Mali Oak Brook Center) (708)699-6300 $89 Chicago -North Shore (Deerfield) (Near Northbrook Court Gumee Mills Outlet Mall) (708)945-4500 $149 Chicago Downtown (Walking Distance To Michigan Avenue) (312)943-3800 If riL EMBASSY SUITES' htaiDod wiytctodi ii i im tapkm 123093. Richard M.

Harris General Manager Our five Chicago hotels are located near the best shopping areas. So you can unwind in your suite. Enjoy our two-hour manager's reception each evening. In the morning, indulge in a free, cooked-to-order breakfast And if you're not 100 satisfied with your stay, you don't pay. It's all very different from your ordinary, everyday hotel.

It's Twice The Room. Twice The Comfort Twice The Value. And it's only at Embassy Suites Twice The Hotel Now you can extend your weekend by getting $20 off your Friday or Sunday night stay when you pay full price for Saturday night Call 1-800-EMBASSY or your travel agent and request the Chicago Shopping Package. Treasure Island Vital statistics: 2,900 roomsrin-f eluding 212 suites. Room rates are; suites, Hottest drawing card: Live actors) aboard a pirate ship and a British frigate battle hourly in Buccaneejj Bay at the hotel's entrance.

4 Lesser draws: theater with a special show by French-Ca-f nadian troupe Cirque du Soleil; jj Mutiny Bay, which has video! games, simulated rides and pin-1 ball machines; swimming pool? with 200-foot slide. -J Downside: No matter how many- times you see the ship battle, pirates always win. (Only a jaded matey would see this asai allegory for casino life in Eas Vegas.) 1 Mary Forgiom tMjecfa cart Ionian I9W. Tiriimj fr hi Qui j. ftylliMaiij.

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