A Very Vegas Christmas: The Shops at Crystals

The Shops at Crystals have decked their halls…um..yeah, halls.

Welcome to the 4th installment of “A Very Vegas Christmas“, today we explore The Shops at Crystals.

It was early, so early it was still dark outside. After leaving the Aria Tram in search of what other Christmas goodness awaited me, and still feeling rather merry from what I had just seen in the Bellagio Conservatory, I was up for another gift for my eyes to unwrap. That would best describe what this trip was all about really, seeing what Las Vegas had in store for the holidays. Each place I went to, it was like discovering something under the tree on Christmas that wasn’t there the night before. Or in this case, seeing festive decorations in places I hadn’t normally seen them. Although I had been to Las Vegas numerous times before, I had never been at this time of year; the time when hot chocolate and warm happy feelings abound. Ah, the magic of Christmas.

So there I was, making my way into The Shops at Crystals when I saw it from high up.

That tree is huge! For scale, see the red car? See the guy next to it? He’s about 6 feet. How tall does that make this tree? I don’t even know. It was taller than the one at Bellagio, which was taller than the one’s at Palazzo. I’m guestimating this to be about 60 feet (which is twice the size of the one at LINQ Promenade). Decorated with white LED lights and red ornaments, this tree has a simple, elegant and classy style to it.

Also around the Shops are trees like these below which greet you at the entrance and throughout the shops.

I had expected the store windows to have lavish decorations, but that wasn’t the case. There were hints of the holidays, but they weren’t over pronounced. Having spent most my life in New York, I have grown accustomed to really lavish store window displays for the holidays. In fact, my wife and I have an annual NYC Holiday Windows tour. Of course, we like to throw in Rockefeller Center and the Holiday Shops at Bryant Park. Oh and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Also, I might be a bit excited because we’re visiting again this year. Just a bit excited. Especially since last year was our first Christmas outside of New York, and we really missed it because Arizona is very lame in comparison. So maybe I’m a little bit distracted, excited and all that. Maybe.

Back to Vegas…and back to the Shops at Crystals…. and that ridiculously huge tree. Even at ground level to the tree’s base, laying on the floor, against a wall, this was the best I can do to fit the whole thing in frame:

Ginormous doesn’t quite suit it. Not to mention the huge lit star hovering above it and suspended by wire. The tree at The Shops at Crystals will be up through the holidays, but there’s no information available as to when it will come down. Crystals is open ’til midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. 11pm Sundays through Thursdays.

[Images: Michael Movestro]

Michael Movestro

Michael Movestro founded Vegas Bright to continue the tradition when Vegas Chatter cashed out. Michael pays the bills, maintains the site, writes articles, hosts VBN – Vegas Bright Newscast.