The first new casino/hotel(s) on the strip in 10 years opened June 24th. I have no design background, but from the beginning I thought the Resorts World tower seen from Las Vegas Boulevard looked somewhat cheap. (It’s across from the beautifully designed Wynn and Encore.) The tower lettering was small and not distinctive and the huge screen (one of the world’s largest) advertised products as much as what was happening inside.

My first impressions aside, a friend and I visited the main entertainment area of Resorts World last Tuesday. Driving North on Las Vegas Boulevard, we had to go down three stoplights from that big tower to reach the self-parking area. Yes, the Genting Group’s Resorts World occupies 88 acres and lots of real estate is involved.

I must admit that the inside of Resorts World was much more pleasant than the outside with a few exceptions. We parked on the second self-parking level so needed an elevator to get to the ground floor. The elevator doors are mirrors so one really has little idea what is an actual elevator door. Somehow we figured it all out, and once in the main casino/dining/entertainment area, we felt better. Note: Though parking was free, we did see a couple of non-operating machines to take parking tickets and money…so parking may not be free over the long haul.

Resorts World has three separate hotels associated with it. All are Hilton Hotels with separate entrances. The three hotels are Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World, Conrad Las Vegas at Resorts World, and Crockfords Las Vegas. In total, some 3500 luxury guest rooms and suites are provided. A theme we saw on signs throughout the complex was “stay fabulous,” a theme I love.

One of the features of Resorts World is “cashless wagering,” and at first I thought I would like to try that until I understood that one must actually add a bank account to the information on hand. Money comes from the bank account directly to you (and the casino). No thanks. Otherwise “regular” wagering with cash can be had. Signing up for a gambling card wasn’t easy, by the way, but I finally mastered it. The casino is huge, some 117,000 square feet. I lost when I tried one of the new machines.

My friend and I walked and walked, taking photos along the way. Sadly, we forgot to look for the pool area which we are told is a “5.5 acre pool complex.” A day club and night club are also on the scene as is a 27,000-square-foot world class spa and a 5000-seat capacity state-of-the-art theater. (The pool complex has not been built yet. It is being used as a staging area for heavy equipment at the present time.)

Nonetheless, some very interesting new things can be seen even during a casual visit. One of our more interesting stops was to a second-floor store with bunches of pretty flowers on every counter. Turns out the store, Pepper, is for …. let’s say, the sensual side of life. We even visited a very tastefully decorated back room with beautifully displayed adult “toys”. The shelves had labels such as “anticipation,” “delight,” “indulge, “tease,” “excite,” spark,” “connect” and “afterglow”. I did not make a purchase, but my imagination took several fine journeys.

And yes, other stores such as “Sneaker Garden”, “Elephant’s Closet,” “Miss Behave”, “Judith Lieber” and “RW Store” are open for business. Beautiful Rolls-Royces on display were from the Michael Fux collection.

The largest crowds we saw were in the “Famous Foods Street Eats” area where a variety of fast foods, many of them Chinese inspired, are available for purchase. We looked at the crowds and decided to walk on. We finally each had a $15 Aloha Dog at something called “The Mouse House” within the “Dawg House Saloon” property. The hot dog and trimmings were huge, delicious and worth the money.

By the way, if you call Resorts World and ask to speak to an operator, you are given to “a guest experience expert”.

Below are some of the photos taken during our visit.