Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

I couldn't agree more.
What's MGM's liability when someone tries to climb over it and ends up falling down a story?

Hunter,
Sunday I hit the dead end you have pictured trying to get to the “Aria Express” tram to get back to Bellagio. The small shop that is placed between the escalators in the Forum Shops forcing you to walk all the way around the second level is a pain as I’m usually just cutting through the Forum Shops on my way up the strip & will definitely not be spending any extra $$ just because some architect decided to make me take the long way around.
Despite the dead ends trapping people inside Crystals still seemed dead this weekend compared to other high end shopping like the Forum Shops, Via Bellagio, the Canal Shops, and the Wynn Esplanade. I can’t imagine that Crystals is bringing in as much money as MGM had hoped it would.

When they did this with the latest addition of the Forum Shops, It made me insane also. Its such a waste of time.

I've only walked through Crystals 3 times, but I've run into this dead end every time. This design seems like it was intended to dare people into climbing over to make it to the other side, because finding your way around it is so damn infuriating. I'm sure people have done it.

HA! Even better... first time walking thru Crystals from Aria to Cosmo, I stopped to ask a security guard. He gave us some roundabout route (go down the stairs, go around and up the stairs) rather than just direct us around the other side of the mall.

My first visit to Crystals I walked in and wasn't really thrilled with the antiseptic feel, upon walking into this dead end, I turned around retraced my steps and walked out.

The only time I've ventured in there since then is because I've figured out the path from there to Cosmo.

At least with the Forum shops you know that you have a straight one way path once you get in there. Not that it's better, but if I'm going to visit them, I can plan it for walking in and going through the whole mall. Since Crystals has less accessible shops for average folks, there isn't any reason to 'walk' through it in my opinion.

Didn't The Steve declare with the opening of WLV that, "If customers want to gamble, they'll find the damn casino!"

Shopping is no different. Don't force it on me. I don't ever say, "I'm fucking lost! But let me know if you see a Gaultier store along the way."

When I run into these "dead ends", I make sure NOT to stop and buy anything because they are making my visit a big pain in the a$%.

The tram stations at City Center are so far out of the way, you might as well walk or take a cab. You walk a long way east into Crystals, go up a huge escalator, and walk a similarly long way west in an empty corridor, which ends with another escalator up to the tram station. That tram station is just above Beso and practically above the front desk. Why the circuitous route? It forces you past a few (like three) shops in Crystals.

The kicker is that the tram ride to Bellagio is like two minutes.

I've never once hit this dead-end or had a problem finding my way through Crystals. I honestly think there's something wrong with all of you. Like, really.

I love saying "circuitous!"

Posted by Hunter

Not a question of getting lost. It's a question of them blocking off the most direct route for no (good) reason.

The whole Crystals complex is pretty much a nightmare, I think. This is really a time when they should have "borrowed" the layout of an existing strip shopping mall (Bellagio) instead of designing something so confusing to the average tourist (but I guess that's pretty much all of CityCenter, Isn't it?) If they had went with something in terms of size of Bellagio or Wynn's retail promenades and just funneled guests up to the casino with a big escalator atrium just north of the pocket park, they could have created a fool-proof access point for the biggest money maker, the casino. This would have opened up some valuable real estate around Veer towers and strip adjacent, perhaps extending the casino area up to LVB..

Doy!

Another way that the retailers get you is to re-arrange the merchandise so that just when you know where to go, it's in a different place! So you're either walking yourself to death trying to get there, or walking in circles once you've arrived. No wonder so many people are shopping online.