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Las Vegas isn’t just about the nightlife, with a fitness scene that’s starting to rival that of , finds Katie McGonagle


t’s 7am, I’m just a few feet from the front desk where guests are checking in and out of the Aria Resort in Las Vegas, and I’m doing a series of lunges back and forth across the lobby. No, these aren’t some still-drunken antics after a crazy night out on The Strip – rather, I’m in my gym gear and trainer Sergio is leading me through the latest fitness class in Las Vegas. The Aria indoor hike is best described as the most fun – and exerting – site inspection you’ll ever have. The activity takes you on a 2.8-mile, 4,500-step route around Aria Resort & Casino and neighbouring mall The Shops at Crystals, covering 26 flights of stairs, passing by artworks and points of interest, stopping for star jumps and press-ups and, I’m told, burning up to 1,000 calories along the way. Yet the strangest thing isn’t that we’re in the lobby doing lunges – it’s how nonplussed everyone else seems to be about it. We attract the occasional glance


as guests pass by wondering what we’re up to, but this is Las Vegas, where anything goes. If you want to walk down The Strip in a showgirl costume, spend the night rolling the dice at its casino tables, fly Superman-style on a zipline over the promenade or, in my case, get up bright and early for a fitness class followed by a stop at a nearby juice bar, it’s all part of the joie de vivre that makes Vegas what it is.


SPA CENTRAL The concept of a spa and fitness-focused trip to America’s playground might sound like an oxymoron, but with this many high-class hotels, it should be no surprise spas are a key selling point. Even if clients don’t want to make it the sole focus of their trip, it’s worth knowing where to recommend for a day or two of total relaxation in the midst of the Vegas melee. The Cosmopolitan is certainly one to suggest,


with everything from make-up and blow-dry bar ² travelweekly.co.uk 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 51


DESTINATIONS S VEGAS | THE US


PICTURE: Maria Bentley/Studio 1208


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