Best Destinations: Caesars Palace Las Vegas

One of my favorite weekend get-aways is to Las Vegas. This city is perhaps the country's undisputed heavyweight champion for fun and entertainment. The fastest growing city in the country has evolved beyond its stereotypical past into a destination that offers everything from world-class art galleries to a ride up a half-sized Eiffel Tower and a gondola cruise through faux canals of Venice, along with a little "sin" and fun thrown in.

There are a lot of great Las Vegas resorts but, for my money, it's Caesars Palace. Bellagio is beautiful, Paris is romantic and the Venetian is a great spot to try out your favorite digital camera. But, Caesars Palace is still the place I recommend for a long weekend getaway.

If you don't want to spend your time waiting in cab lines or traveling up and down the strip, you can happily spend three or four days without ever leaving Caesars' 85-acre property. The 4.5-acre Garden of the Gods swimming pools and spas look like the Hearst Castle pools on steroids. While sun-worshippers are working on their tans, a Grape Goddess tours the area offering frozen grapes – a refreshing reminder that this place is a world of pampering and indulgence.

This mega-resort has a long-standing history of hosting some of the finest entertainment on the strip. Caesars $95 million-dollar Colosseum theater has the most fantastic acoustics I have ever heard. You can count on a great show from Celine Dion, Jerry Seinfeld, or Elton John, who all appear there regularly. In fact, Elton's show was the best I have ever seen!

There is no shortage of world class restaurants -24 to be exact- to indulge your appetite before (or after) a show. My favorite is located directly across from the Colosseum entrance: Bradley Ogden, the James Beard Foundation's choice for 2004 "Best New Restaurant" in the nation. Also located just steps from the Colosseum's box office, celebrity TV chef Bobby Flay has his Mesa Grill. Its 200 seats surround a giant show grill topped with a massive rotisserie towering 20 feet above the teak-floored dining room. Wolfgang Puck's Spago is just around the corner. It was Puck who sparked a wave of celebrity chefs' fine restaurants in Las Vegas when, in December 1992, he opened Spago in The Forum Shops at Caesars. Some great new Forum Shops restaurants opened in late October 2004, including Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab (of South Beach fame), New York's quintessential Greenwich Village Italian restaurant, Il Mulino, and Los Angeleno's popular sushi haunt Sushi Roku. How's that for a selection?

Widely believed the highest yielding shopping destination in America, Caesars' Forum Shops recently added 60 retailers/restaurants to the 100 already lining the Roman-themed shopping streets. I generally do not enjoy shopping, but I do enjoy it here. Even if you are not in the mood to spend, you shouldn't miss a walk through the Forum Shops just to take in the sights.

Late-night fun is just as prolific and diverse as anywhere in the country. For quiet conversation try the Seahorse Lounge surrounded by a 1,500-gallon aquarium - home to its namesake Australian Potbelly Seahorses. For livelier, more risqué fun, there's the Shadow Bar, where barely-clad (or so they say), ladies dance behind backlit screens and bartenders with a flair for the dramatic juggle bottles, toss limes and perform back flips before pouring towers of martinis.

The hotel offers several types of rooms. My favorites are located in The Palace Tower, where the smallest guest rooms are a generous 550 square feet and bathrooms are as large as some residential dining rooms. All rooms are wired with high-speed Internet connections, so it's easy to stay connected while you're away. Surprisingly, some of the other new hotels in the city provide this convenience only in suites.

If all of this isn't enough to fill up your long weekend, then check out the margaritas at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville across the street at the Flamingo, or take in the Bellagio's fountains show next door (it's about the only thing still free in Las Vegas). I haven't even mentioned gambling yet, have I?