Overview

Overview

Excess, decadence, gambling and glamour; few cities are as easily characterised as Las Vegas.

From humble 18th-century beginnings in the arid Mojave Desert, at the southern tip of the state of Nevada, Las Vegas has become the world's entertainment capital, where money talks and millions come to live life in the fast lane for a while at least. Since 1931, when gambling became legal, Las Vegas has had an unstoppable rise - the opulent hotels and casinos attracting the world's biggest stars, from Sinatra to Elvis, developing into the largest, brashest destination resort the world had ever seen. Even global economic woes have failed to dent the pace of development in Las Vegas. Emblematic of the drive to keep money pouring through the city is the $8.4 billion development, CityCentre, a 27-hectare (67-acre) stretch of hotels, casinos and retail outlets such as Crystals. Today, Las Vegas boasts a raft of colossal hotels with world-famous names: The MGM Grand, The Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas. The thousands of rooms in each property house high-rollers and dreamers, the neon of the legendary Strip lighting up an adult playground of epic proportions.