Lady Luck was with you when you searched for cheap Las Vegas hotels. She was right by your side at the casinos and slot machines. You’ve saved money on your hotel. You won money at the casinos. You can justify a trip to the Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall!

If you came to Vegas for the Las Vegas shopping tour, the existence of the Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall is proof that you were not misinformed. The Mall is accessible by monorail from most hotels in Las Vegas. Get off at the Harrah’s/Imperial Palace station. On you way to the Fashion Mall, you can explore the other hotels in the area, such as the Mirage. Underground valet parking is available, and get this, you can have your car hand-washed while you shop! Strollers and wheelchairs are available for rental.

Although the Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall is in the vicinity of a number of popular Las Vegas attractions, keep in mind that the mall is in its on right, a form of Las Vegas entertainment. It was designed to fulfill a new form of travel that was popularized by the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Instead of being a shopping destination, these mega-malls strive to be considered “destination shopping” venues. They combine shopping with multi-media entertainment. Perhaps it can be called “shoppertainment.”

At 1.9 million square feet and a surface area of 60,000 square feet, the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas is a destination shopping venue on steroids. No expense has been spared in creating a mall that will fascinate and excite its visitors. As you enter the Mall, look up. The 480 foot steel structure that is hovering 128 feet above you is known as “The Cloud.” The Cloud was designed to provide shade and shelter from the hot Las Vegas temperatures. However, it also provides entertainment for your shopping pleasure. Four movable LED plasma screens below the cloud broadcast 3-dimensional video of events happening inside the Fashion Mall. If you are curious about how this strange thing works, there is a glass-encased control room above the hall where you can watch the production in action. For those of you who are arriving in Vegas during the winter holidays, if you are dreaming of a white Christmas, don’t gamble on it. However, the good folks at The Fashion Show Mall want to be sure you can keep the holiday spirit, so they are happy to provide simulated snowstorms inside the mall. The experience gives a whole new meaning to the idea of “looking at clouds from both sides.”

In case multi-media 3-dimensional video moving ominously above you is not your idea of entertainment, head to the Great Hall for a fashion show on the 80 foot retractable runway. As long as you are here, you may as well shop! The Mall has eight major department stores, which include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Dillard's, Robinsons-May, Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. Additionally, there are a number of unique stores that are difficult to find in other locations. Cinnamon Girl is a Hawaiian-based company that sells girl’s and women’s floral print dresses. You can go high-tech at the Apple Store, where you can purchase a Macintosh computer, digital camcorder or other high-tech products. The store also features the entire family of iPod products.