Tourism is down, unemployment is up and the stock market is on a wild roller-coaster ride. If you're yearning to escape from reality for a while, Las Vegas is a great option.

On a tight budget? Not to worry — bargains are available if you're willing to invest some time and energy into research. On the other hand, if the sky's the limit, there are examples that prove Vegas is indeed the city of sublime splurges and offbeat diversions.

Drinking in the ambience

Descending the staircase to the entrance of Aureole, chef Charlie Palmer's five-star culinary triumph at Mandalay Bay, you'll see two beautiful women in sleek black cat suits gliding up and down a four-story “;wine tower”; built of stainless steel and laminated glass.

It looks like a scene from “;Mission Impossible,”; which should come as no surprise because that's where acclaimed architect and interior designer Adam Tihany got the idea for it. Serviceable as well as stunning, the tower stores 9,865 bottles in an ideal environment of 55 degrees and 70 percent humidity.

Each “;wine angel”; is equipped with a radio and holster. The server punches in a patron's order at the table on a computerized wine list, which is output by a printer at the base of the tower. Suspended on cables, an angel soars to the Lucite bin where the bottle is kept, slips it in her holster, descends to the floor and hands it to the server. The whole process takes all of three minutes.

Want more theatrics with your aperitifs? At Mandalay Bay's Red Square, you can don a faux fur coat and hat and sip your favorite vodka in the Vodka Vault, where the temperature ranges between minus 5 to 5 degrees, typical of winter in Moscow.

Members rent lockers on a yearly basis to store their personal stash, but any Red Square guest may visit the Vault if they purchase a bottle from the restaurant (one serves about 10 people). Choose from 215 options, the most expensive being Kauffman at $1,000 per bottle.

The cozy Vault accommodates up to 15 people at a time, standing room only. You'll probably be able to handle the chill for only about 20 minutes, but that's plenty of time for you to down a few shots, admire a metal sculpture of Lenin's head encased in ice and remember why it's “;lucky you live Hawaii.”;