Avoiding ‘trouble’? Check out the Chiefs’ Super Bowl luxury resort. It’s not in Vegas

The Chiefs are in Vegas for the Super Bowl, baby, where the famous Las Vegas Strip is lined with one luxury hotel casino after another, palaces of pleasure bathed in lights.

The Bellagio, where high-rolling billionaires congregate. The ARIA, where celebrities hang. Caesars Palace with its Roman baths. New York New York with a replica Statue of Liberty and roller coaster out front.

The Chiefs aren’t staying at any of them.

The defending Super Bowl champs and the San Francisco 49ers are out in the ‘burbs, safely tucked away in Henderson, Nevada, far, far away from the Strip.

Well, at least 25 miles from it.

The Chiefs arrived Sunday at the family-friendly Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa. The 49ers are nearby at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa.

The hotels are part of the upscale Lake Las Vegas residential and resort development, a lush desert oasis of waterfront living built around a 320-acre manmade lake.

The drive to the Strip? Anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. That’s by design, to hear NFL officials talk about it.

“We traditionally have teams stay a distance from the stadium and from a city where there’s room enough for the club and family,” NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said at a media briefing last month. “Most clubs prefer a quieter environment.

“Obviously, they’ve got their eyes set on their one specific goal, and any distraction during that week is a distraction they don’t want to deal with. So, I don’t think that it’s too terribly different from previous years.”

The Westin where the Chiefs are ensconced is described by one travel blogger as a “nice respite from the bright lights of Vegas.”

The resort, with no shortage of palm trees, has a lakefront beach, two swimming pools with cabanas, a basketball court and is just a short drive from two Jack Nicklaus golf courses.

Golf is king here. The drive to the hotel down a winding road off a main drag affords a view of fairways and greens in abundance.

Between media appearances and practices, the players likely won’t have much free time to enjoy such amenities.

Many of the rooms, which generally start around $100 a night, have views of Lake Las Vegas.

Boat parking is complimentary.

“Lake Las Vegas is essentially a quiet area surrounded by nature that is a draw for visitors who want to relax,” notes The Athletic sports news website. “In theory, that should keep players, coaches and other team personnel from getting caught up in what Las Vegas has to offer at night.”

There are casinos in Lake Las Vegas — duh — but players better not get caught there this week.

Both teams are banned from betting on sports or playing any casino games right now, though NFL players can gamble on other sports during the regular season, according to Reuters.

The league’s disciplinary process would drop faster than a yellow flag on any player caught breaking the rule. That’s the last thing the NFL wants during the first Super Bowl in “Sin City.”

“The rules associated with gambling have been made clear to players and coaches, league and club personnel and everybody else so much so that they should be prepared for anything that Las Vegas has to offer in that realm,” Miller said in briefing the media.

“The Super Bowl being in Vegas is going to be spectacular,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said on the “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray” podcast before the team headed west.

“I mean they have a great facility out there and you might as well use it, as they say. It’s going to be put to use. We actually are the home team so we get to use the Raiders’ facilities and that’s beautiful.

“We look forward to that part and just keeping guys away from the Strip, right?”

That seems to be a major objective for the week. On Tuesday, reporters in Vegas asked former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason what Las Vegas offers the Super Bowl.

“Trouble, potential for trouble,” he said. “You know they did keep us out of here for a reason, all those years, when you think about it. I mean, I’m glad we’re here. I’m lovin’ every minute of it.

“But I’m not playing. And I’m not distracted. So, uh, there was a reason, like I said, before all this gambling became legalized that they kept the players out of here.

“Now all the leagues kept the players out. So I think this … we’re kinda playing with fire.”

When one reporter asked him about the players being housed away from the Strip, he said, “I think it’s a great idea. I would have kept them in Arizona myself. Keep everybody out of here until the game. Get ‘em in here on the morning of the game, that’s what I would say.”

While the losing team is free to fly home Sunday night, the winners are scheduled for a news conference at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, according to The Athletic.

Come Sunday night then … all bets are off.