LAS
VEGAS will return to its cow town roots Dec. 2 through 11,
when the 2005 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo rides into town. This
is the 21st year that the city has hosted the event, which features
the top 15 contestants in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team
roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing and
bull riding. The rodeo will be held in the Thomas & Mack Center
on the UNLV campus starting at 6:45 p.m. Dec. 2 through 9, 5:45
p.m. Dec. 10 and 1:15 p.m. Dec. 11. The NFR Cowboy Christmas show,
the only official gift show of the Wrangler National Final Rodeo,
will be free and open to the public from Dec. 1 through 10 at the
Las Vegas Convention Center. The show features more than 400
vendors. For more information, visit www.NFRexperience.com or www.prorodeo.com.
SOUTHWEST
AIRLINES VACATIONS is offering special rates on Las Vegas
vacation packages booked by Dec. 8 for travel taken through Feb.
16. Packages include roundtrip air via Southwest Airlines, hotel
accommodations ranging from two to 14 nights, Rapid Rewards credit
and 24-hour traveler assistance. Sample prices for a two-night plan
with Monday and Tuesday departures run $84 for a room at Circus
Circus Hotel & Casino from Los Angeles to $189 for two nights
at the Aladdin Resort & Casino with air from Salt Lake City.
Blackout dates are Dec. 23 through Jan. 2. In addition, travelers
can save $100 per reservation when they book a vacation package by
Dec. 8 that includes at least a three-night stay at Bellagio, MGM
Grand Hotel & Casino, the Mirage, TI-Treasure Island or New
York-New York Hotel & Casino. Travel must be taken by Dec. 27.
For more information, visit www.vaxvacationaccess.com or call (800)
754-4761.
VISITORS WHO
HAVE NOT yet had the opportunity to catch Titanic: The
Artifact Exhibition at the Tropicana Resort & Casino can take
heart. The show, which has surpassed original attendance
projections, has been extended through Jan. 31. The exhibit is open
daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; last admission is at 9 p.m. Ticket
prices are $16.95 for ages 12-61, $15.95 for those ages 62 and
older, $13.95 for Nevada residents and $9.95 for children ages 4 to
11. Group rates are available. For more information or to reserve
tickets, call (702) 739-2411.
AAA RECOGNIZED
SEVERAL LAS VEGAS restaurants and resorts with its Five
Diamond award. Alex at the Wynn Las Vegas received its first such
designation along with veteran Five Diamond award winners Le Cirque
and Picasso, both located at Bellagio. Properties that were named
award winners include the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas in Henderson
as well as the Bellagio and the Four Seasons.
VISITORS TO
VILLA REALE, located in The Forum Shops at Caesars, can
rub elbows with royalty later this week when the store, which
specializes in hand-forged lighting, furnishings, home accessories,
artwork and antiquities, welcomes the great-great-grandson of
Emperor Franz Joseph, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire. His Royal Highness, the Archduke Geza von Habsburg, one of
the leading authorities on the works of Peter Carl Faberge, will be
at the shop from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 25
through 27 in connection with a showcase of the largest collection
of Faberge imperial egg reproductions in the U.S. as well as other
Faberge reproductions done in sterling silver, crystal, Limoges
porcelain, enamel guilloche and semi-precious stones.