Like most of the people on the planet, I’ve never thought of Vegas as a particularly healthy destination. Wellness and Vegas seem like a contradiction in terms—this is a place, after all, where people are still allowed to smoke inside, and casinos take care to confuse circadian rhythms with a lack of windows or clocks and as many flashing lights as possible. As a young adult, I prized my weekend trips to the desert city as an opportunity to do it up “Vegas-style,” taking the city up on the debauchery waiting at every corner: swilling far too many beverages, eating gourmet fried Twinkies and tater tot nachos, and pulling the blackout blinds in my hotel room to keep up my nocturnal hours or spending the morning poolside recouping from a splitting headache…
Ten years later, as a wellness editor, I visit with a newfound take on all that is Vegas. Were there green smoothies within the city limits or vegetables that hadn’t been dunked in boiling canola oil when I visited in my 20’s? Did anything open before noon?
What I find now is a city changed: not as much as I had, perhaps, but enough to have a wellness underbelly robust enough to satisfy any health-interested traveler. The trick was simply knowing where to look.
We’ve travelled to Vegas the past 2 years to cover the NHL Awards. We were fortunate to have attended the year Connor McDavid took home a haul of hardware and before the Cinderella story of the Vegas Golden Nights were selected in the entry draft. It was such an exciting time that we’ve vowed to make it a yearly visit (and use it as an opportunity to check out some great wellness spots – and a few not so health focussed..)
Located in the heart of The Strip, with spectacular patio dining and unparalleled views of the Bellagio fountains, we had an amazing dining experience at the HEXX Las Vegas. With a Caesar that would be fit for King McDavid (and was a meal itself with jumbo shrimp, alaskan king crab leg, bacon, beef stick, peppers and pickled vegetables, our night was off to a great start). This was accompanied by the seafood on ice tower which was nothing short of what one would expect in Vegas – over the top. Imagine a pate overflowing with massive gulf shrimp, king crab, Maine lobster tail, tuna poke lobster salad, and shrimp ceviche. We finished this off with a rib eye and Greg Norman Wagyu Beef which was something you have to experience to appreciate the flavour of am amazing piece of beef. Since we were trying to maintain some level of wellness on this trip, we skipped the dessert (and are still regretting that decision).