It all started in the office of the local council Childrens service (I was temping at the time), when I came across a flight cheap flight to LA (the full story of which can be obtained by my review of dial a flight.com).
....fast forward a little .............I arrived in LAX, my attorney strongly advised I rent a very fast car, with no top! Of course he was right and so after an evening of debauchery in LA I floored it to Vegas ;o)
What can I say about first impressions??!!?? well its bigger than I expected, as you come over the hill on Route 15? I think?? I cant really remember , you notice how much of a real functioning city Las Vegas really is! It is not just a town of hotels and casinos, its very much populated and although not by far the size of LA or London, you certainly feel small there!!!
For those of you visiting Vegas in a car like I did, you will initially find the roads slightly confusing. The highways that run along side the city are not very well signed and your fellow motorists are not as forgiving as you are used to!!, however, once inside the city its all in blocks north east south and west, impossible to get lost!!
Places
to stay , well that all depends on your wallet so I will break it down into the size of your wallet! For Mr Rich, you have beautiful hotels like nothing you have ever seen in England (or anywhere to tell the truth), such as the Bellagio,with its giant fountain outside, Ceasars Palace, with its super expensive shopping mall and the amazing Luxor, an Egyptian themed giant glass pyramid with a super powerful light which shines up from its tip out into space! WARNING the rooms at these hotels are very expensive, I asked at Ceasars if they had any deals, I was told "sure we have a special on our cheaper rooms this week, just $299 per night".
For the more modestly sized wallet Hotels I recommend are the Sahara this was just $29 a night for 2 adults in a double room with ensuite shower bath and cable TV! Similarly at Circus Circus hotel, the one immortalised in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was a mere $39 on a Thursday night!! Even these hotels offered facilities that defy the cost of the rooms!! Giant casinos, restaurants, Pools!! Circus even had, well , a circus inside! Trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns, everything! even a McDonalds !!!
These are the two pricing extremes on the main strip in Vegas, the further south you go the more expensive it is, remember that one!
Places to go! Well you have your hotel, now its time to go out lose all your money and get drunk! so where to go??? Well this all depends on how long you are in Vegas for. there are more bars and restaurants than anywhere, and every hotel is a casino! The best thing I can do is tell you where I went and guess you can make your own mind up.
Obviously the more expensive casinos are the most extravagant and are therefore more expensive to wine and dine in, but the snob in me says " you have to be seen there" , so my favourite haunts were, Ceasars palace , which you have to go there and see with your own eyes! An amazing casino with huge winnings tables, but beers are $5 - $10 a bottle though, might not seem alot for where you are, but once you caned all your money on the tables, you need to get drunk to numb the pain!!! Other great places are the Luxor, New-York New York, the Venisian, MGM Grand , The Flamingo, and a superb night club at the Treasure Island hotel, which you cant miss due to the two galleons outside which take battle every 30 minutes or so! which brings me to my next point .....
Entertainment! One thing you can be sure of in Vegas is entertainment! As you walk from one end of the strip to the other you will see that most hotels have some extravagant display to lure you in, and subsequently of course to the casino! These displays range from fountains, replica land marks, active volcano's, to rollercoasters tens of stories high!
Every conceivable taste is catered for in the entertainment world which is Las Vegas. There is live music ranging from the classic cheese of Wayne Newton at the Stardust Hotel, dance acts and the multi genre of the stage at the Hard Rock Hotel. There are many acts, which are based in Vegas, and seldom show anywhere else, notably Sigfried and Roy, a pair for very camp magicians which perform the most mind-boggling illusions, which have you, stumped and a little shocked!
Lots of sport in Vegas! there is an Indi car track for you car boff's and a hell of alot of gold courses! a kind of strange sight considering the place is slap bang in the middle of an arid desert! White water rafting is offered although takes place in the Grand Canyon, and there is lots of boxing and other fighting, mostly at the MGM Grand.
There are many excursions available at a price, helicopter rides at night, limo tours with champers (which are cheap) and various other daytime adventures most of which you could do with out the guide and without the cost, cause there is hundreds of miles of desert to explore, and I highly recommend a visit to death valley - head for Dantes view!!
The city as a whole is an entertainment mecca, I loved it and I didn’t have enough money to do everything I wanted to do there. The strip feels very safe too, but like other cities there is alot of nasty people around. north end of the strip has alot of Mexicans trying to thrust prostitutes calling cards into your hands, and late night im told that the roads off the strip and downtown are a haven for crack whores, junkies and generally unsavoury people!
Well thats about all I got time for, have to be making my way home now.
I hope this has been informing for you and I seriously recommend you go there! I am trying to get a job there thats how much I love the place. All the lads out there, you should go there! you will love it, if you tip well you get bigger shots, and theres a fair few strip joints too!!
I cant think of anymore to tell you except im going back this year so if I have anything more to report after then I will
;o)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Hotel - 3801 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89109, USA, 3801 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, NV 89109, United States of America - 2 Stars - 1878 Rooms
My hubby is American and you piqued my curiosity as to whether you'd remembered the route number correctly - you did! I haven't visited Vegas yet but I hope to in the future. Sue
chunka 13.08.2002 21:39
My Uncle recently went here and said it was great and that it wasn't as expensive as many people make out! Great op! Chunka!
emmayaffe 13.08.2002 21:17
Thanks for these tips. I'm off to Las Vegas next Wednesday so I will be sure to report back with an updated op on anything I find out there that you haven't already told me about. Any other tips, please post on my messages and I'll read. Ta!!
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Aug 13th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
