Post #329821 by ikitnrev on Mon, Sep 3, 2007 6:59 AM

I think the placement of the Vegas Trader Vics could be good. Tiki has always been about escape, and where does one need escape more from than the flashing lights, huge fabric billboards, and mega-activity of the Vegas strip?

Sure, there will be a gauntlet of hyper-activity and grandiose visual billboard stimulae that one would have to go through to reach the Vegas Trader Vics. But what will the atmosphere be like once you walk inside the front doors - especially when it is one of those 100 degree Vegas days outside? If you suddenly feel more calm and relaxed, as if you really were on a Pacific Island, then Trader Vics will have done their job.

The pictures that stuff-o-rama posted, from way up high in the Bellagio, give a good sense of the placement of the new Trader Vics. But remember that those pictures are taken from outside, looking to the new location. When you are inside the Trader Vics, you will be looking out - and thus hopefully missing much of the visual clutter you see. And what might you see when looking outwards, from the top floor lounge? - some palm trees, the dancing waters of the Bellagio Fountains (one of the more relaxing sights on the strip), a life-size replica of a Hot Air Balloon. OK, the latter doesn't fit with the traditional perspectives of Polynesian life, but it does represent escapism - perhaps a long leisure journey from Paris, France (the neighboring casino) to the French Polynesia.

I'm sure it won't be a perfect setting. There will likely be at least one irritating billboard in sight. But it will be better than what is outside, and that is what will count.

Vern