How to Get Waxed in Vegas, and Other News

It’s been a busy month for openings of various kinds in Las Vegas. Some notable ones:

* Madame Tussaud’s Las Vegas. Opened last week at the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino as the first U.S. branch of the venerable wax museum in London, it is only one-fourth the size (about 100 versus 400 figures) and duplicates many items. But unique touches include figures of actress Whoopi Goldberg and Vegas headliners such as Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Liberace and a “one-of-a-kind, Las Vegas-themed wedding chapel” with memorabilia of celebrities who have tied the knot in the city. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Admission is $12.50 adults, $10 ages 4 to 12, free 3 and under. Tel. (702) 367-1847.

* The Resort at Summerlin. Licensed by the luxury Regent International Hotels, this $276-million, 54-acre project in Summerlin, Nev., a planned residential community being developed about 12 miles northwest of the Strip, will eventually have 541 rooms in two adjacent hotels.

As of last week, only one hotel was operating, the Regent Grand Spa, with about 250 of its 286 rooms open, plus a casino and two restaurants; the pool was to have opened this weekend, a spokesman said. The Regent Grand Palms hotel next door is expected to open in September. Introductory room rates start at $149, with breakfast for two, through Aug. 31; then rates jump to $345. Reservations: tel. (877) 869-8777.

* The Lion Habitat at MGM Grand. Opened July 1, this $9-million display at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino has been drawing up to 10,000 people per day, a hotel spokeswoman said. And it’s free, unlike the 3-year-old Secret Garden big-cat enclosure at the Mirage, which costs $10. The Lion Habitat has one to five lions prowling past a see-through tunnel. Big spenders can part with $20 to get a photo of themselves with a lion cub. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Tel. (800) 929-1111.