I point out that this is a potentially pricey way to while away the hours (pedicures in this gold-mirrored, chandelier-ed suite cost as much as $145), but I am promptly corrected. 'People will pick their their lucky numbers, or numbers that correspond to good luck in games, like a full house in poker.'Īcross the strip, at Color Salon by Michael Boychuck in Caesars Palace, a hairstylist named Crystal tells me the salon is full of professional poker players' spouses during tournaments. But weddings, just like everything else in Vegas, are best when they feel lucky.

He’s had as many as three bridal parties back-to-back. Many of the wedding chapels offer deals on weekdays to attract more business, so brides-to-be trickle in from Wednesday through Sunday, Sunga-Smith says. The casino and the spa are symbiotic environments- a pairing as natural as kohl and Cleopatra.īack in 21st-century America, I am shadowing Steven Sunga-Smith, a stylist at the Bellagio Spa & Salon - just him, me, and an absolute stranger living out one of the most memorable days of her life, as Sunga-Smith transforms her into a bride. And a couple of centuries ago, when healing mineral baths in French provincial towns, like Vichy, became popular with Napoleon III and his crew, casinos cropped up next to them, ready to entertain (and skim a little more of the disposable income from) France’s social elite. Historians say the pleasures of bathing and betting games were indulged in by the ancient Romans, particularly during the festival of Saturnalia. During the course of my reporting, I would discover that the link between casinos and spas dates back millennia.

The secrets beyond the drunk-idiot clichés.

Twenty-five minutes later, my nails were gleamingly red, and I had a new mission: Uncover the secrets of Vegas's casino salons.

Spa deals las vegas strip casinos