FORGET GAMBLING, WITH AN INFLUX OF FIVE-STAR RESTAURANTS AND OVER-THE-TOP LUXURY HOTELS, LAS VEGAS HAS TRANSFORMED ITSELF FROM A CASINO-CENTRIC CITY INTO AN INDULGENT VACATION DESTINATION WITH, LITERALLY, SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.

VEGAS IS BACK, BABY -- in a big, loud, neon way. The blazing strip is as hot as ever, flaunting a fancy new facelift and hatching hotels, restaurants and spas faster than a slot machine's spin. Over the past few years the city has been family-a-fied and designer-boutique-invaded, now it's becoming a hip haven for rest, reflexology, top-tier restaurants, a round of golf -- and, of course, roulette.

A world unto itself, you can stroll from "Seattle's Stratosphere" to "St. Marks Place," "Egypt" and "The Louvre" in a matter of minutes. And though it's still the only place on earth where demode is a la mode, tacky is managing to meet taste -- high rollers have suddenly gone haute, and old-style all-you-can-eat buffets have gone bust in the wake of elegant eateries tagged with big-name chefs from around the globe. Here's a peek at what's up in Sin City.

the hotel scene

WHEN THE BELLAGIO SWUNG open its swanky $1.6 billion doors in October 1998, the somewhat dimming strip scene was updated with a dose of dazzle, thanks to Steve Wynn's upscale crop of chefs, designer shops and an impressive art gallery (which will be doubling in size this month). The Bellagio is still a flashy attraction -- the sardine-packed lobby and booming botanical gardens can attest to that -- but a fresh handful of high rollers are hitting the strip, and even venturing out of bounds. With a bigger-is-better attitude buzzing up Las Vegas Boulevard, the most recent players seem to be out over-the-topping each other.

PARIS, whose 50-story Eiffel Tower surveys the strip like an obtrusive watchtower (with probably the best neon vista in Vegas), opens this fall near the old ALADDIN HOTEL, which is, itself, in the midst of a $1.3 billion makeover. How to outdo a petit Paris? Try rolling out a double dose of hotels and casinos, add an uber-entertainment complex, as the Aladdin plans to and hook David Rockwell into doing the design.

But THE VENETIAN'S founding father, Sheldon Adelson, seems intent on outstripping them …