Springing up from the flatlands of western Hollywood as if a virtual mirage, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino -- where tragedy-plagued Anna Nicole Smith spent her final hours in 2007 -- has become a magnet for Vegas-style excitement, entertainment, and dining with a subtropical appeal. The 4 1/2-acre pool complex inspires a wow-reaction, where a rock mountain doubles as a backdrop to a 182-foot-long waterslide. A Lazy River circulating pool, waterfalls, hot tubs, and a shallow play area are capped by a nearly 22,000-square-foot spa. Partially embracing this landscaping is a starkly white 12-story tower. Amenities include Tivoli stereos and ultra-luxe beds dressed in Egyptian cottons and European duvets. Dining options include the memorabilia-packed Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood, the Council Oak, with steak and seafood, and the 24-hour Blue Plate, which borders the casino action. The facility is designed in a somewhat dizzying fashion so that eateries, lounges, and elegant outlying lobby area form a peripheral map of sorts for the casino floor, where poker pulsates at 40 tables, to spectator delight, along with a couple of thousand electronic gaming machines. A ballroom theater just off the casino hosts stage extravaganzas; and "Hard Rock Live!," a 5,600-seat live performance venue, hosts performers like Prince, touring bands, theater, championship boxing, and rodeo. Seminole Paradise, a retail, restaurant, and live-entertainment district, will relieve you of any casino-floor winnings. A billboard along Interstate 95 blares news of hefty daily payouts at this playground with seemingly acres of free parking, now expanded to accommodate more big wheels.