Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.
If a certain lofty Vegas club and restaurant soon finds itself brimming with monied British travelers, we have an explanation.
A recent visitor to Vegas, writer John Arlidge of the London Sunday Times, boldly reported his choice of the best view of the Las Vegas Strip - and the finest view from any structure anywhere in the country (ours, not his). Arlidge's best view wasn't the Stratosphere's observation deck (and the slow-rotating Top of the World restaurant), VooDoo Lounge at the Rio, Paris Las Vegas' Eiffel Tower, or the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, all of which are well-traveled public places offering breathtaking views of the Strip.
Writes Arlidge in the Sunday Times, "Vegas is a money town and Mix is the money bar. This aerie on the 64th floor of THEhotel at Mandalay Bay is the only place in town where you can sip a cocktail and stare from one end of the Strip to the other, admiring the oddest city in the world."
Arlidge is wrong there. But no matter. He rolls on:
"Forget the Rainbow Room restaurant in New York or the Hollywood Hills, Mix has the best view in America. In front is the pyramid of the Luxor hotel and casino, its giant laser illuminating the clouds and seeming to pinpoint Vegas as the center of the world. Beyond it, past the New York-New York and Monte Carlo, lies Guy Savoy's restaurant in Caesars Palace, where you can eat the most expensive French meal in the U.S. while gazing out over the lookalike Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe."
Arlidge writes less glowingly about the Colosseum at Caesars, "built not for gladiators but for the more terrifying spectacle of Celine Dion and Elton John." There is also a reference to the hookers who offer "two for the price of one" deals at Vegas nightclubs, which is merely the oddest city in the world's way of welcoming visitors from abroad.
NoteMart
On Wednesday the NBA will announce Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman as the first official NBA All-Star Jam Session volunteer - it's a ceremonial title, from what I understand. Jam Session runs in conjunction with the NBA All-Star Game festivities in Las Vegas from Feb. 15-19. Jam Session is billed as the world's largest interactive basketball theme park, large enough to fit 38 NBA regulation-size NBA courts. (It doesn't say how large it is relative to the state of Rhode Island, the usual benchmark for such comparisons, but it is plenty big.) On Tuesday at Mandalay Bay, the NBA is auditioning Las Vegas talent to fill roles as performers for Jam Session. It's a closed audition, so don't show up in a clown costume carrying a basketball or anything like that ...
Pickup joint: Lucky Strike, the hip new bowling club at the Rio, is set to open in March. That's the project replacing the club Bikini's, which was somewhat hip but not at all bowling ...
Not butting out: The 11th-hour attempt by Southern Nevada businesses to halt the state smoking ban earned Las Vegas a mention in a publication called the Smokers Rights Newsletter, which is following the case with great interest. The newsletter hacks away at efforts to curtail smokers' rights to well, exhale smoke ...
For the holidays: A Prince 3121 souvenir tambourine at the gift shop at the 3121 nightclub goes for $50 ...
Casino host? See no host? Plate on a black Mercedes SLK 320 reads CNOHOST.
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