Of all the strange and inventive games played by architects in Las Vegas, the current craze for creating counterfeit cities has to be the weirdest. It was spearheaded by the construction of New York-New York , which was hailed as a radical new departure from the moment it was first unveiled at the start of 1997. On the one hand, it looks utterly unlike the conventional idea of a "building," and yet on the other it's immediately recognizable as being an entire metropolis compressed into a single structure. The motives behind the creation of this miniature Manhattan were much the same as for the original; when space is at an absolute premium, the best way to build is upward. Thanks to its exuberant attention to detail, it's an absolute triumph, and remains the most perfectly realized of all the Strip's themed casinos.

From street level, New York-New York looks stunning, its twelve pastel skyscrapers silhouetted with absolute clarity against the blue desert sky, and fronted by a proud, pristine Statue of Liberty . Perhaps mercifully, the copycat towers do not include those of the World Trade Center, so although the facade became an obvious site for memorials in the wake of September 11, 2001, it hasn't acquired any extra symbolic significance. Its various components range between a third and a half of the size of the originals, with the highest point of the whole ensemble being the 510-foot, 47-story Empire State Building . This squashed-up cityscape is not simply a static tableau. Matching red and green fireboats jet arcs of water across New York Harbor, while a Coney Island roller coaster loops and swoops around the skyline in full view - and earshot - of the Strip.

For once, New York-New York is as much fun inside as out. Not that the distinction is all that clear; there's only a minimal correlation between the interior and the exterior, so you step through the doors to find yourself not safely inside Grand Central Station, but walking through Central Park at nightfall. Stuffed owls gaze down on the gaming tables from fake trees strung with fairy lights, and the carpeted walkways are disguised as footpaths strewn with fallen leaves. The one drawback is that by Las Vegas standards, New York-New York is a small joint, with a mere two thousand hotel rooms, and its narrow aisles can often feel overcrowded with sightseers.

As well as the obligatory casino and its elegant "Guys" and "Dolls" restrooms, the ground floor holds several unexpected delights. The Greenwich Village section comes complete not only with fast-food outlets and a fake subway station, but even fire hydrants, trashcans, and mailboxes sprayed with impressive (if firmly PG-rated) graffiti. Elevators up to the hotel rooms leave from lobbies styled to resemble specific buildings - one reproduces the Art Deco embellishments of the Chrysler Building - but unfortunately the towers above don't correspond to what's visible from outside. Among several scattered eateries are the excellent Il Fornaio deli and the America diner, with its massive relief map of the US suspended alarmingly from the ceiling. There's also an oxygen bar, Breathe , if you find yourself hyperventilating.