The Grand Canal Shoppes is what it is, a knock off version of a Venice shopping area. They try to make it seem like you are walking around on a "real" street and they add shows and performers walking around but you have to take it how it is, we're in Vegas, we're in the middle of a desert people, I am actually pretty amazed when you take a step back and think about this place, especially when you take in to account the front of the Venetian from the shoppes, its beautiful (albeit a bit hard to get around). Another redeeming quality is that it "seemlessly" (aka switches drastically at the line in between Palazzo and Venetian) transitions to the Shoppes at the Palazzo (which is one of my favorite places to take people to shop and is a hidden gem on the Vegas Strip) so if you think about it I should grade it as a whole but it IS considered two different places so I'll stick with 3 stars.