Las Vegas

Unstoppable monsters are inarguably cool, but it's always the follow-up unstoppable monster that takes your breath away: Mothra, the T-1000, AlienS. Add one more to the list, with the Encore.

A golden, butterfly-motif, $2 billion Yang to the Wynn's Yin, the 63-story Encore is a complexly themed wonderland of classy degeneracy, with 2034 houndstooth-upholstered rooms and a 74,000 sq ft gaming floor partitioned off by columns and curtains, miraculously making your bankruptcy an intimate affair. Among the offerings:

Dining: Five signature eateries, including Sinatra, a shrine serving guess-which-cuisine and showcasing Frank's Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys; the French seafood & steak Switch, which literally transforms every 25 minutes via moving walls, a disappearing ceiling, and shifting outside scenery; and, for hangover breakfast, Society Cafe, serving "wildly imaginative" fare like steak & egg sliders and Frosted Flake French toast -- the eating of which you'll only wildly imagine as you heave into a shoe.

Nightlife: Eight watering holes total, with the centerpiece being XS, a novel fusion of club and outdoor pool accomplished via two huge sliding glass doors opening up to 30 VIP cabanas. Because the place is called XS, they offer a $10K cocktail called the "Ono": Dom Perignon Enotheque and Louis XIII de Remy Martin Black Pearl Cognac, garnished with silver cufflinks for him, a white gold necklace for her, and fat reconstruction bills for everybody's dentist.

Amenities: Among the platoon of French Riviera-style pools are not one, but two topless areas, both positioned perfectly beside the Island Bar. For recovery, the vaulted courtyard spa offers 14 naturally lit garden rooms -- a wise decision, considering, artificial bulbs have a tendency to attract Mothra.