Bette Midler’s top picks for Las Vegas

Just a few blocks to the south, Wynn Las Vegas now soars on the site of the Desert Inn, one of many hotels that have been, well, torn down. At the opposite end of the spectrum from the Sahara, the Wynn is also on Midler’s must-see list for Vegas visitors.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Being based at Caesars, Midler is a regular at three of the resort’s upscale restaurants: Bradley Ogden (“kind of like our commissary”), Rao’s and Guy Savoy.

“He [Savoy] is an old friend and he’s absolutely fabulous,” she says. “They taught bread-baking to me and my musical director the last time we were here.”  (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times)

Midler has also discovered Las Vegas’ Chinatown, along Spring Mountain Road about a mile west of Las Vegas Boulevard. Tucked into several modern strip malls, dozens of restaurants feature various cuisines, including Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.

“There’s a huge amount of Asian food here. Huge, huge, huge!” she says. “I highly recommend it. . . . We’ve had wonderful meals there.”

David Huang, president of Chinese Host , stands in front of Las Vegas’ Chinatown.  (Isaac Brekken / For the Los Angeles Times)

When it’s time to go shopping, Midler heads for the Barneys New York store inside the Palazzo.

That Barneys “is the most beautiful Barneys, I think, in America. [And] I’ve been to a lot,” she says.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

For entertainment, “O,” the Cirque du Soleil show at Bellagio is a sure bet, one Midler calls “the best show I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“To me, it was the greatest triumph of the human spirit that I’ve ever seen on a stage,” she says. “We work in this [industry] and what they did is so hard to do, so monumental. We were just in awe.”

Performers in “O,” circa 1999.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

For a fun time at no cost, Midlersuggests heading downtown, where the Fremont Street Experience is the biggest and brightest, but not the only light show. Several old, restored neon signs -- including the horse-and-rider from the Hacienda and the genie’s lamp from the first Aladdin -- glow brightly along Fremont Street.

“I’m a big neon fan,” she says of her attraction to the older part of town.

The Golden Gate Hotel-Casino, home of the $1.99 shrimp cocktail, is part of the Fremont Street Experience.  (Ronda Churchill / For The Times)