Last week, Bally’s announced plans for the Grand Bazaar, a new shopping corridor inspired by Istanbul’s famous open-air market of the same name. While we’re borrowing from International landmarks, here are five concepts and locales we’d love to see developers take a crack at, as well:
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La Sagrada Familia
With its ornate spires, whimsical facades and glowing candy-colored mosaics, Antoni Gaudi’s famously, well, gaudy basilica in Barcelona would be right at home in Vegas—right down to its perpetual state of construction.
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Tokyo
The forthcoming Asian-themed Resorts World Las Vegas is rife with Far East clichés, from pagoda rooftops to a panda exhibition. We’d love to see that tired mold broken by showcasing the contemporary cultural flavor of a city like Tokyo—think Harajuku shopping corridors, Shibuya-style nightclubs, boundary-pushing dining options and capsule hotel rooms for maximizing party time and real estate.
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Vikings
Imagine a resort called Valhalla replete with fur bedspreads, heavy oaken decor, an excessive number of fireplaces and a Cirque show set to Wagner. At the bar, ordering drinks would entail throwing your empty cup to the ground and shouting “ANOTHER!” until an attractive person brings you a fresh goblet of mulled mead. Plus, Thor tie-ins mean plenty of co-financing from Disney and Marvel.
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Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
Pyramids are so passe. Why not head underground for a take on Egypt’s other Wonder of the Ancient World? Much like Vegas, the Alexandrian catacombs are a cultural hodgepodge, blending Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles in a network of subterranean tunnels, halls and chambers for what would amount to one of heck of a way to avoid Strip traffic on a Saturday night. Sure, modeling a resort after a 2nd century necropolis might be a little macabre—the original features a mass burial chamber for humans and animals massacred under Emperor Caracalla—but on the other hand, Club Caracalla has kind of a nice ring to it.
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Amsterdam
Because while Las Vegas has five sister cities, Sin City has but one true twin. And medical marijuana is already on its way.
