Hotel Overview: The Venetian, Las Vegas

Celebrity chefs and singing gondoliers

�  This mid-Strip hotel conveys the opulence of Venice with dining at branches of celebrated restaurants, and a world-renowned spa.

�  Richly colored, extra-large guest suites include sunken parlors, huge bathrooms, and conveniences such as a fax/copier and two TVs.

�  A rooftop pool terrace offers warm-weather relaxation amid a formal garden. Singing gondoliers ply the "Grand Canal" year-round.

Facilities and services include a business center that rents out cellular telephones and a golf desk for booking play.

Location: The Strip, Las Vegas
This 3-mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard is the city's bustling primary tourist destination. Impressive casino resorts house major attractions, dining, shopping, nightlife, and entertainment venues. The Guggenheim museums, the Forum Shops, and Cirque du Soliel are here, along with most of the best hotels, offering one-stop vacationing.

What to expect: The lobby, decorated in many colors of Italian marble, features a 24-karat-gold-leaf statue and a high, frescoed dome that signifies the opulence and dazzling colors found throughout The Venetian. Re-creations of famous Venetian landmarks, many to scale, such as St. Mark's Square, Campanile Tower, Doge's Palace, Rialto Bridge, and the Grand Canal are found inside and outside. Under a sky-painted vault ceiling, the Grand Canal Shoppes provide a quarter-mile of shopping, dining, and entertainment.

Amenity highlights: Modeled after a formal Venetian garden, a rooftop, five-acre pool terrace includes two huge pools, two 18-person spas, columns, gazebos, massive tile-faced planters, and lemon trees. For-rent pool cabanas come with telephone, television, and stocked refrigerator. World-renowned Canyon Ranch SpaClub offers 65,000 square feet of rejuvenation space spread over two floors. In addition to massage and beauty, body, and facial treatments, the spa provides three fitness gyms with classes, a spinning gym, a weight room, a 40-foot climbing wall, saunas, steam rooms, 12-person spas, quiet lounges, a juice bar, and a spa-cuisine caf�.

Insider tip: The resort provides a booklet, The Venetian Experience, describing reproductions and pinpointing locations of famous Venetian paintings and sculptures�as well as the Venice-landmark replicas� that are scattered through the resort

Dining

Lutece - With a black-and-white, art-deco interior, this Las Vegas version of New York's grand French restaurant looks as sharp as a tux. The menu features Lut�ce's signature appetizer of saut�ed foie gras as well as other inventive fare such as lobster carpaccio. Dinner only.

Delmonico Steakhouse - Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse's version of a New Orleans-style steakhouse serves meat and seafood accented by sides such as cheese grits, andouille-potato hash, and caramelized sweet potatoes in a contemporary, intimate setting of brown leather chairs, white linen, and vaulted white ceilings. Lunch and dinner.

Valentino - This branch of Piero Selvaggio's widely acclaimed Los Angeles restaurant features contemporary Italian cooking and a 24,000-bottle wine cellar. The menu offers lobster agnoletti, smoked-and-roasted scallops and grilled mallard breast. Dinner only.

P.J.'s Italian Grill - Valentino's casual sibling serves pizza, pasta, and specialties such as lamb chops with minted balsamic vinegar. Lunch and dinner.

Postrio - An outgrowth of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's San Francisco restaurant, this casual place offers inventive pastas, pizzas, steaks, seafood, and new American classics such as lobster club sandwich. Intimate dining room and terrace seating. Lunch and dinner.

Zefferino Ristorante - Renowned in Genoa, this branch of a family-restaurant features opulent decor, with everything crafted in Venetian style. Bar and caf� on ground floor, dining room on second floor. Italian cuisine, with seafood specialties. Lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch.

Pinot Brasserie - This French/Californian bistro features steak, roasted poultry, seafood, and game. Red leather seating and white linen with French farm-kitchen accents. Two intimate private rooms. Lunch and dinner.

Royal Star - Celebrated Los Angeles restaurateur Kevin Wu's stylish restaurant. Pastel colors, circular booths. Chinese regional specialties such as Six-Hour Spare Ribs and Peking Duck. Lunch and dinner, with dim sum offered at lunch.

Star Canyon - "New Texas" cuisine such as cowboy ribeye with mushroom ragout and coriander-seared tuna salad. Soft lighting, etched glass, and iconic tribute to old cowboy boots spotlighted in wall recesses. Lunch and dinner.

Grand Lux Cafe - Global-fusion menu of more than 150 items from pot-roast sandwiches to Asian nachos. Baker/coffee shop in front. Open 24 hours.

Rooms
The Venetian offers 3,026 guest suites in a 36-story tower. Suite decor features sunken parlors, pale yellow walls, fabrics in rich mustards and dusty roses, multi-colored Italian marble foyer and bathroom, crown molding, Venetian-scene prints on walls, and classic, decorative furniture. Standard amenities include fax/copiers and two 27-inch televisions.

Deluxe Suite
One king bed with semi-canopy drapes. Sofa bed in step-down parlor separated by wrought-iron railing. 650 square feet. Italian-marble bathroom with stall shower and deep soaking tub. Venetian-style decor. Two upholstered chairs, dining set, and desk with fax/copier. Two 27" TVs, in-room safe, three dual-line phones.
 

Bella Suite - Leisure
Two queen canopy beds. Sunken living room with sofa bed. 700 square feet. Venetian-style d�cor. Hues of mustard and dusty rose. Italian marble foyer and bathroom. Classical-style furniture. Minibar. Two TVs. Three dual-line telephones. Dial-up Internet access. Personal fax/printer/copier. In-suite safe.