Think Las Vegas. Think gambling, glamour and the Mob. Think fastest-growing 24-hour city on the planet. And then think of the 10-hour flight to get there from Britain, arriving there bedraggled and ready for bed rather than the roulette table. Not anymore. The East Anglia countryside might seem an unlikely starting point for a rock ‘n’ roll trip to Las Vegas, although the Elvis impersonator helps set the scene. But it is now possible to catch an all-business class service from Stansted to the ultimate party city of excess, and I jumped at the chance to sample it. When your destination is Las Vegas, this is surely the only way to travel. MAXjet, which has been transporting business travellers between Stansted and New York JFK since November 2005, is now flying direct to the entertainment capital of the US. This is remarkable not because there is any shortage of business travel into Las Vegas, but because MAXjet’s service comes for the not-so-princely sum of £999 return. You can pay more than that for economy class with some airlines. And with it comes all that you would expect from business class, including complimentary drinks in the departure lounge and a wonderfully attentive cabin crew. But the biggest difference is the seating. Take a normal passenger jet, strip out all the seats and put in half as many as it was designed for and that is what you get with MAXjet. Their Boeing 767s would normally carry about 200 passengers, but because MAXjet is all business class, they have converted their fleet so that they seat just 102. All seats are either window or aisle, meaning no embarrassed climbing over neighbours to get to the toilet from those accursed middle seats. More than that, there is enough space to stretch your legs to your heart’s content, while the person behind couldn’t kick you in the back if they tried. You can also lean your chair back until you’re lying virtually horizontal, a great benefit on a long-haul trip when you’re trying to get some sleep. Not that you’d really want to sleep, given that Las Vegas lies ahead and there are unlimited drinks and snacks until you get there. The four-course gourmet meal is a dream compared to standard in-flight fare and you’re even treated to china and proper cutlery. Throw in a decent selection of films, television programmes and music on your portable ‘digEplayer’ and the result, when you reach your destination, is that you feel fresh as a daisy and ready to party. Which is no bad thing when you’re touching down in Vegas, serenaded through arrivals by yet another Elvis impersonator (the frequency of their appearances is only set to increase). But even Elvis Mark One, the King himself, would be hard pressed to prepare you for the contrast from humdrum airport terminal to the Strip. Las Vegas Boulevard – with its cacophony of sights and sounds, its concentration of neon lighting and vertiginous hotels – is as much of a culture shock as I can imagine in an English-speaking country. Truthfully, there is no escaping that Las Vegas is a bit of a fraud. Nothing is real. Wandering down the Strip you can take in the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx and the Colosseum, all within about 20 action-packed minutes. It all looks highly impressive, especially at night when the Strip is like a beacon set against the barren Nevada desert. Purists might point out that none of this is quite as impressive as the originals and that in the cold light of day, parts appear a teeny bit plastic. But none of that can detract from the simple fact that, taken together, it’s an awesome assault on the senses and merely walking around can feel like a high-octane adventure. A hundred years ago, Las Vegas didn’t exist. Now its population is racing upwards of two million as it expands exponentially into the desert. This growth has resulted from the city’s single-minded pursuit of entertainment heaven. Every new development along the Strip is designed to put the last in the shade, so that it is constantly outdoing itself in ensuring that millions of visitors continue to pile in. The result is big and brash. London looks thoroughly quaint by comparison. Everything revolves around the hotels, which hold thousands of people at a time and accommodate casinos where in any other town there would be a reception. Only in Las Vegas do the restaurants and rooms in a hotel feel incidental to the main focus: gambling. All are designed so that you have to walk through the casino areas to get to your room. The one, newest hotel which has broken this rule is now, apparently, paying the price in turnover. Nipping out to fetch a morning coffee means negotiating the slot machines and blackjack tables, which are almost as well patronised at 9am as at 9pm. Even if gambling is the heartbeat of the hotels, however, many remain incredible for their detailed themes, taking as their subject destinatations as diverse as Rome, Luxor and New York. Wandering around the Venetian, for example, the painted ceilings are hardly Caravaggio. But the sheer size and attention to detail - right down to the Rialto Bridge and Doge’s Palace facade outside - more than justify the project. The skyscrapers of the faux Manhattan area must be half the height of the originals, but when they are a short crowded walk from a Sphinx in front of a pyramid they assault the senses just the same. Newer developments are shying away from the themed hotels, but Venice, New York and Egypt are here to stay. If you’re going for the slot machines, remember that the lower end of the market is probably as much fun on Brighton Pier. The difference here is that the casinos never close and a tiny minority can walk away with million-dollar jackpots. But it’s what goes with the gambling that’s most exciting - while the one-cent slot machines exude little glamour, there is a more sophisticated side to Las Vegas that requires exploration. Superb haute-cuisine restaurants, designer shopping (often at preferential prices, especially given the weak dollar) and get-away-from-it-all spa treatments abound. And then, of course, there are the shows. I saw Cirque du Soleil’s Love, the famous troupe’s 21st century tribute to The Beatles, which alone is worth a trip to this fantastic city in the American south-west. Those with a day to spare should take the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon. As the closest city, Las Vegas is a handy place from which to visit. What Las Vegas offers in millennial commercialism, the Grand Canyon - over the state border in Arizona - matches in natural wonder. FACTFILE Daniel Bentley was a guest of MAXJet, which flies to Las Vegas three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. MAXjet reservations: 0800 023 4300 and www.maxjet.com. He stayed at the The Aladdin Resort, which is now a Planet Hollywood resort, currently offering double rooms from $109 (around £54) per night. Further details on www.planethollywood resort.com. | 
