Until 1997, Harrah's was one of Las Vegas's best-known landmarks, kitted out as a proud neon-decked paddlewheeler known as the "Ship on the Strip." Spurred to upgrade by the proximity of megarivals like the Mirage, Caesars Palace , and the Venetian , however, it has ditched the supposedly old-fashioned riverboat trimmings in favor of a bland, unoriginal carnival theme. Gone too are the "party pits" in the casino, where the dealers dressed in party hats and capered like loons.
Its frontage now festooned with trumpeting golden Mardi Gras jesters - quite possibly left over from a mid-Nineties bid to open a casino in New Orleans - Harrah's is a sedate, rather boringly upmarket joint. The large plaza adjoining the Imperial Palace at its southern end, one of the few open-air public spaces on the Strip, entices passers-by with live performance on its Carnaval Court stage, a sandwich and cocktail kiosk, and goodies from a Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop .
Inside, Harrah's caters to its middle-aged, middle-American clientele by making everything easy to find, and teases them with a prominent statue of "The Greenbacks," a very lifelike tourist couple dripping dollars from every pore and pocket. Look out, too, for the allegorical sculpture in the steakhouse called Virtue Wins , in which a glittering waxwork showgirl defeats two bronze gnarled cowboys who are cheating at cards. Upstairs, Jester's Court of Games is a large arcade of kids' video games. The main reasons outsiders might actually bother to pass through are either to catch the comedy shows at the Improv , or to use the spacious parking garage, handy for other nearby Strip attractions.
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