Las Vegas Hotels

Sacre bleu! The City of Light comes to Sin City in this, one of the most recent fantasy hotels to hit the Strip. It's theme-run-amok time again, and we are so happy about it. The outside reproduces various Parisian landmarks (amusing anyone familiar with Paris, as the Hotel de Ville is crammed on top of the Louvre), complete with a half-scale perfect replica of the Eiffel Tower. The interior puts you in the middle of a dollhouse version of the city. You can stroll down a mini Rue de la Paix, ride an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower, stop at an overpriced bakery for a baguette, and have your photo taken near several very nice fountains.

You'll find signage employing the kind of dubious use of the French language that makes genuine Frenchmen really cross ("le car rental" and so forth), while all the employees are forced to dust off their high school French ("Bonjour, Madame! Merci beaucoup!") when dealing with the public. Don't worry, it's not quite enough to make you sick to "le stomach."

Quel dommage, this attention to detail does not extend to the rooms, which are nice enough but disappointingly uninteresting, with furniture that only hints at mock French Regency. Bathrooms are small but pretty, with deep tubs. Try to get a Strip-facing room so that you can see Bellagio's fountains across the street; note also that north-facing rooms give you nice peeping-tom views right into neighboring Bally's. The monorail has a stop out back, which adds to the convenience factor. Overall, not a bad place to stay but a great place to visit -- quel hoot!

The hotel has eight more-or-less French-themed restaurants, including the highly lauded Le Village Buffet, the Eiffel Tower restaurant (located guess where), and bistro Mon Ami Gabi, all of which are covered in chapter 5. The bread for all these restaurants is made fresh on site at the bakery. You can buy delicious, if pricey, loaves of it at the bakery, and we have to admit, that's kinda fun. There are also five lounges.

- Frommer's