On the strip next to Bally’s and across from Bellagio, Paris trots out a French-Parisian theme in much the same way New York–New York caricatures the Big Apple. Paris has its own 50-story Eiffel Tower (with a restaurant halfway up) and an Arc de Triomphe. Thrown in for good measure are the Champs-Elysées, Parc Monceau, and the Palais Garnier.
Like New York–New York, Paris presents its iconography in a whimsical way. The casino sits in a parklike setting roughly arrayed around the base of the Eiffel Tower, three legs of which protrude through the roof of the casino. The video-poker schedules are lackluster, but the casino offers all of the usual table games.
Flanking the tower and branching off from the casino are dining and shopping venues designed to re-create Parisian and rural petit village street scenes. Though spacious, the casino and other public areas at Paris are exceedingly busy, bombarding the senses with color, sound, and activity. While at The Venetian you have the sense of entering a grand space; at Paris the feeling is more of envelopment.
The hotel towers, with almost 3,000 guest rooms, rise in an L shape framing the Eiffel Tower. The rooms are quite nice and rank along with the dining as one of Paris’s best features. The 400 chambres on floors 26–30 are designated as “Red Rooms,” although they aren’t overly red or even very Parisian. Nevertheless, this more recent decor has reinvigorated the rooms so they appear more spacious and less froufrou bucolic. Plus, the rooms on the Strip side are endowed with a view of the octagon-shaped pool and the giant reproduced tower itself.
The pool complex is on the roof. The facility is spacious but rather plain and underdeveloped in comparison with the rest of the property. A spa and health club connect both to the pool area and the hotel.
The flagship Eiffel Tower Restaurant is situated 11 stories above the Strip in the, of course, Eiffel Tower. Several other restaurants, closer to the ground, and including the buffet, also feature French cuisine. Options include Gordon Ramsay Steak; Mon Ami Gabi, serving French bistro fare on an outdoor terrace overlooking the Strip; Martorano’s Italian Restaurant; and Le Café Île St. Louis, a sidewalk cafe serving classic French and American cuisine 24/7. Paris recently added a Budweiser-sponsored Beer Park on an elevated terrace, offering a huge selection of draft beers, pool tables, and a fine view of the Bellagio fountains, as well as Hexx candy shop, roasting cacao in-house for handmade gourmet chocolates that start at $16 per pound.
In the entertainment department, Paris features hypnotist Anthony Cools. You’ll find two shopping venues. The Paris-Bally’s Promenade offers French jewelry, women’s accessories, an art gallery of French and French-inspired work, and more. Le Boulevard houses boutiques, a home-and-garden store, a gourmet food shop, and a newsstand, among other shops. And, of course, if you don’t mind a little waiting, you can take an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower for a knockout view of the Strip.
Paris and its next-door neighbor, Bally’s, share a monorail station, making both hotels convenient choices if you’re attending a convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
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