Las Vegas has finally grown up. Here's why now is the time to visit

Telegraph

16-05-2025

It's a typical weekday evening in a Las Vegas casino. Waitresses are buzzing around, delivering complimentary drinks to the patrons clustered at blackjack tables or seated beneath brightly flickering screens at the hundreds of slot machines. In the midst of it all, a steaming-drunk, 30-something couple are telling a barman that they've just lost $1,000 in 15 minutes. 'We thought we'd have more luck, considering this is our honeymoon,' laughs the husband. 'Perhaps we'll win some back after this next drink,' slurs his wife.
I don't have the heart to tell them that the house always wins. After all, people come to Las Vegas to escape reality, not face it. This city is Disneyland for adults: an extravagant, make-believe kind of place where everyday rules do not apply. Gambling, booze and big nights out have long been par for the course here.
No wonder it was chosen as the setting for The Hangover, the 2009 blockbuster about the aftermath of a bachelor party gone wrong. With no memory of their merrymaking, the film's protagonists are forced to piece together the fallout from their debauchery via over-the-top, only-in-Vegas clues.
The Hangover cemented Sin City's reputation as a place in which to let loose. But much has changed in the 16 years since the movie was released. For many, unbridled hedonism has given way to cleaner living; the last of the famous feather-and-rhinestone showgirl spectaculars has closed; and there's been a general shift from artificial towards more authentic experiences. Casinos and clubs remain the main draws, but Vegas has evolved to keep pace with contemporary tastes.
This particular casino is a case in point. I'm at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the newest hotel on The Strip (the city's main drag), and the vibe here is rather different from older examples down the street. Vegas casinos are generally dimly lit, low-ceilinged affairs (designed to minimise distracting punters from their gambling), but this one is a double-height space that's lighter, brighter, airier.
As attested by the out-of-luck honeymooners chugging cocktails at the bar, all the Vegas vices are still here; but the atmosphere in this casino – and indeed the hotel at large – feels decidedly elevated.
It also feels pretty gargantuan. In addition to this vast casino, the Fontainebleau has a spa, a nightclub, 36 bars and restaurants and over 3,600 guestrooms spread through a 70-storey tower. From my room on the 53rd floor, the view stretches over the retro Strat Tower to the bare, rocky mountains rising up beyond the city limits.
In the middle distance is Downtown, where Las Vegas's story began, exactly 120 years ago; but it's the low-rise neighbourhood in between that I'm most keen to explore. Recently rebranded as the Las Vegas Arts District, it has emerged to do something that was unthinkable 15 years ago: tempt visitors off The Strip.
Encompassing five city blocks, this formerly rundown area was revived by artists who were lured by cheaper-than-average rents and blank-canvas buildings that they could spray paint. Streets and alleyways soon began sprouting colourful, meaningful murals that in turn drew streams of admirers. Bars began to spring up, coffee roasteries arrived, and now the Arts District is packed with bohemian character.
I discovered more about it the next day over lunch at Esther's Kitchen, this newly burgeoning neighbourhood's first serious restaurant. 'We've been in this location for a year and were lucky to get in when we did,' explains Dave Klarer, the manager, as he recommends the house-made pasta from the Italian-inspired menu. 'It's really taking off here. Eating out on The Strip can be pricey, but there's a desire for less touristy experiences. We're seeing that more and more visitors want to eat where the locals go.'
After a post-lunch mooch around the murals (the most compelling of which shows the Statue of Liberty handcuffed across an Immigration Enforcement vehicle: a comment on modern America's approach to immigration), I relocate to find more off-the-Strip appeal at AREA15, a 10-minute taxi away. 'We're the first campus of its type in the US,' explains the staff member who shows me around the immersive entertainment complex, 'so it made sense to open here in America's entertainment capital.'
How to do it
AREA15 brings together experience-based art, exhibits and installations to an indoor space alive with audio, neon paint, laser beams and UV lights.
Walking around, it feels like playing a virtual reality game without goggles. At the heart of it all is a bar beneath a giant artificial tree whose LED-light leaves pulsate with colour; though its anchor attractions are Meow Wolf ('America's most exceptional grocery store') and Dopeameme (a 'wild, reality-bending experience' inspired by animated characters). It's very on-trend, but in all honesty, I'd love it more were I a technophile (and possibly 20 years younger).
Not all of Vegas's new attractions are quite so future-focused. Later, back on The Strip, I find myself dialling back the clock for an evening dinner-and-show experience inspired by yesteryear.
I kick things off at Diner Ross, a 1970s-themed restaurant with retro lighting, red leather banquettes and an of-the-era soundtrack. The Disco Fries (loaded with gravy and cheese) are so good that I order a second portion, safe in the knowledge that I'm going to dance them off next door at DiscoShow.
An immersive celebration of disco through the decades, the show – written by Olivier Award-winning British playwright Michael Wynne – turns out to be an enjoyably bonkers 70 minutes of laser beams, projections, crazy dancing and girls doing splits on roller skates, interspersed with mini masterclasses in classic disco moves. The no-seat venue and thumping playlist encourage everyone onto the dance floor, with the whole thing culminating in a choreographed crowd-and-cast finale.
It's enormous fun, woven together with a message of how disco has morphed through the decades to stay youthful, relevant, edgy and current. Could there be a better metaphor for Las Vegas itself?
James Litston was a guest of Visit Las Vegas and Fontainebleau Las Vegas, where rooms cost from $250 (£200) per night, without breakfast. Bon Voyage can package a four-night stay from £1,695pp (two sharing), including flights and room-only accommodation; call 0800 316 0194. Discoshow tickets from £81.