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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 24, 2008

Let's go: Vegas

Los Angeles Times

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

All rooms at the Palazzo resort hotel are suites. The Bella Suite has a sunken living-room area, with a velour sofa and two flat-screen TVs.

MARK BOSTER | The Palazzo

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JUNE

13-15

Fans can witness the U.S. wrestling and judo world take to the ring at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials for Wrestling and Judo.

After three days of competition, only the winner in each weight class will represent the U.S. at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Thomas & Mack Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 866-388-3267. Wrestling and judo tickets at www.usawrestlinglasvegas.com or www.usajudolasvegas.com.

AT THE PALAZZO

As a city that has set trends for entertainment, shopping, fine dining, hotel and spa design, Vegas hit a turning point recently with the opening of the Palazzo Las Vegas. Here's a quick tour:

  • The gargantuan Palazzo Las Vegas is the first new resort hotel and casino to open on the Strip since the Wynn opened in April 2005.

  • The new hotel doesn't look like an Italian palazzo, unless that castle happens to resemble a newly built shopping mall filled with topiary, fake shrubbery and, a nice touch, crystal chandeliers that sparkle like pavé diamond bracelets.

  • The Palazzo and its adjacent sister property, the Venetian, are linked by corridors, a central reservation system and shared facilities, such as the Venetian's Canyon Ranch SpaClub.

  • The all-suite, 3,066-room hotel atmosphere is quiet and sumptuous, thanks to the marble-clad bathroom, sunken living room with a sectional couch, curtained pillow-top beds and handsome wood furnishings.

  • Introductory rates, however, are $199 to $499, making its rooms among the most expensive in the city.

  • The decor is a mix of eras, all rendered in shades of brown and beige, and a mirror theme runs throughout.

  • A second version of Wolfgang Puck's celebrated Cut is planned to open this month and, permits willing, coming weeks may see Charlie Trotter's Restaurant Charlie, Jonathan Morr's Mainland and Emeril Lagasse's Table 10.

  • The Canyon Ranch SpaClub is a 69,000-square-foot entity within the Venetian, complete with a climbing wall. When the Palazzo part is finished, the combined spa will be 134,000 square feet of shared space, each with a separate check-in desk.

  • A few of the 60 stores in the Shoppes at the Palazzo are open, including the first Barneys New York in Las Vegas.

  • With the addition of the Palazzo, you can dine and shop at many of the world's most desirable places, climb a mini mountain, ride a gondola along a canal, walk for blocks and lose your life savings, all without ever breathing outside air.