My husband and I decided to visit Las Vegas the last time we were in the USA. It was late May. Our visit coincided with the long Memorial weekend. We rented a car from Hertz, and 2-night accommodations in Best WesternTuscanyhotel in LasVegas.
As always, we visited the tourist information centre before we set off for the day. There, we found some interesting places to visit, maps to obtain etc. For a 3-day visit, we had a great time.
Native American Pow-Wow ======================= First day out, we followed instructions provided by the guide at the tourist information centre to the closest Pow-Wow near Las Vegas. It was a short drive into the wilderness. In the distance, we could just about see snow caps on the mountains. It felt rather strange to be driving in the hot sun and seeing the snow covered mountain.
Anyway, we arrived at the Pow-wow. We discovered that it was a traditional native american festival of mainly dancing in very colourful costumes. Tents were gathered in circles, with stalls selling handicrafts on the outer circle, and tents sheltering the dancers were in the inner circle.
The dancing was interesting. I admired the colourful costumes, shoes and especially the instinctive rhythmic touches of the dancers. The shoes looked like they were made from soft skin and very comfortable.
The stalls were selling traditional handicrafts and I was totally blown away by the skin products of rabbits, foxes and turtles. I was tempted to buy some rabbit skins but was not confident that these would get pass the custom officers at the airportin UK. I was rather taken aback with the shells of turtles, where they have been turned into ornaments, wallets and purses. Ultimately,
I did not make any purchase but a little bit wiser.
Hoover Dam ========== The Hoover dam is located on the border between Nevada and Arizona. It was a 2 hours drive away from Las Vegas. Once again, we were provided with driving details from the tourist information centre. Luckily for us, we were advised to drive there early in the morning to avoid the traffic of the late mornings.
Hoover dam was so named after President Hoover who officially opened the Dam. We joined the guided tour after going through a form of security check of our bags, just as if we were going through emigrations at the airport.
The Hoover dam is a working dam, but the generation of hydroelectric power is secondary to their main aim of water & flood control. All this I learnt from their multimedia presentation at the beginning of the tour. This was followed by a visit to the working turbines and to the outer walls of the dam. The tour was conducted at several different locations of the dam, so there was quite a bit of walking around. We were educated on the turbines, the outer walls, the intake towers as well as the history of the river that started in Colorado and ending in Los Angeles. It was all very interesting and educating.
Parking was available for a fee of $5.00 and the guided tour cost us $10 per person. Facilities were available both inside and outside the visitor centre. There was a funny story about these at the dam. There are at least two pillars on the dam. And instead of leaving these spaces to waste, the engineers decided to make toilets out of them!
Las Vegas Strip =============== We spent at least one day on the strip and most of our evenings. If there is such a thing as a gambling heaven, this must be it. Or for some of us non gamblers, it will be gambling hell. For me, it was a matter of admiring the facades and gigantesque of the buildings and the effects they presented. Of the many casinos, several stand out for the entertainment and architectural achievements and for others, the food. Here, I will name the few I entered to keep cool and actually enjoyed myself.
First stop was Paris, complete with a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower. People were permitted to go up the tower which we did not do, given that we had gone up the actual one. I enjoyed the facades within the casino as well, the attempts to capture aspects of Parisian streets were quite good. I enjoyed eating at the bakery here, the sandwiches were filling and delicious.
Luxor was in the shape of a pyramid. I imagine the rooms along the sides of the pyramid have interesting views. Within the walls, the casino was in the middle. We played a few games here but sadly lost.
New York - New York was a small representation of New York City, complete with the statue of liberty, radio city and other skyscrapers. We enjoyed watching the people on the roller-coaster around the complex, screaming their heads off!
Bellagio was in a class of its own. The Warhol exhibition was on during our visit but on top of that, there is a water show every half hour in front of the hotel. The facades reminded me of Venice but I could be wrong.
The Venetian is a definitely must. There were gondola rides and the paintings, architecture were just magnificient. They also simulated day time and evening within the Venetian with the painted walls which looked really realistic. During our visit, there was dining under the evening facades complete with street musicians, something I would expect in a small italian village.
Shopping-wise, there was much to buy in terms of souvenirs. There are the usual souvenirs from the casino hotels. There were two interesting stores along the strip that caught my attention. It was the M&M boutique and the Coke cola store, both along the way towards Luxor if you were walking from Paris Paris. The quantities of M&Ms in the store was unbelievable. All kinds of colours in both chocolate and peanut flavours. The Coke cola store had lots of souvenirs featuring the polar bear. I was much happier in the M&M store.
Leaving the best for last, I will just mention the food aspect. I thoroughly enjoyed eating at the buffet restaurants at various casinos. The variety was large and we pretty much stuffed our faces. My husband's favourite were the crab legs, he just couldn't get enough of them. Two of my favourites were Paradise Garden Buffet in the Flamingo Casino and the Fresh Garden Market buffet in Harrah's Casino. The price was $16 per person and its eat-all-you-can and soft drinks are refillable. The type of food include seafood, Italian, American and Asian. The desserts included fruits, ice cream and interesting cakes. Personally I enjoyed the variety more than stuffing my face!:)
Accommodation ============= Given that we decided to visit Las Vegas at the last moment, we were very lucky to find reasonably priced accommodation for the long weekend. The larger casino hotels were along the strip. We found the Best Western Tuscany was less than a mile away from the strip.
Given Las Vegas is so hot, make sure your accommodation is fully air-conditioned. For non-smokers, make sure you ask for non smoking rooms. We were told that smoking rooms tend to smell a bit (that was advice from the AA).
For our first night stay, we went pot luck because we didn't know how far we were going to drive. We stayed at the Primm Valley which was at the border between California and Nevada.
Upon our arrival at Tuscany, we found the hotel to be located on a huge estate consisting of many 3 levels buildings. It looked more like a housing estate than a casino hotel. We checked in at the main building, and were told to drive to our allocated room in another building. We needed our keycard to gain access into the building, lifts and room. So quite secure.
Our room was huge! I was expecting just a bedroom with the usual ensuite bathroom but I found myself in a studio apartment. It had a kitchenette, equipped with a small bar fridge (empty of course), microwave, dining table with 4 chairs, mugs, and coffee maker. Unfortunately, it was not equipped with utensils for cooking and it had sufficient confitures for tea and coffee.
We switched on the air conditioner and left. Arriving back later in the afternoon, we found the room still very hot. It was only then did we discover that the air conditioner was not functioning. A call to front desk resulted in a connection to house keeping who promised to send a technician in half an hour. Half an hour came and no technician in sight. Another call promised the technician in half an hour and by now, we were quite unhappy. In total, we waited 2 hours for the guy to turn up, and he was really really sorry. Apparently, it had been such a hot day that many air conditioners at the hotel were not working. Unfortunately for all of us, the air conditioner was not functioning because it was icing. We needed the ice to melt before it could operate properly but once it was working, it would start to ice up! By now, I wanted to change rooms but the only one available was a smoking one. We decided to stay for the night and change rooms the next day.
The night passed and my husband managed to get us a new room which was a smoking one because it was the only one available. We decided to check it out and see if it smelt and it was okay. No smell and just as nice too. This time round, we tested the air conditioner first before accepting the room. It was working perfectly! I was a happy squirt again.
All in all, the rest of our stay passed without incident. Earlier I mentioned about security of our rooms and complex. Access was through our keycard but unfortunately not everyone shuts the door properly and we saw some people entering the complex by waiting for guests to enter. Most of these people were putting pamphlets under doors but anyone of them could have been a thief.
I do know that the hotel caters to handicapped guests. The first room allocated to us was a handicapped one, thus explaining why the bathroom was huge compared to the second room we had. The previous room had both a shower and a bathtub. The shower had a seat in it. The latter room has a smaller ensuite without a bathtub.
We booked the Tuscany on the Best Western website. Our bill for 2 night stay came to $120 including tax. Our first night stay was at Primm Valley and it was $65 night including tax.
Weather ======= The weather was normally hot. Very hot. We had to drink lots and lots of water and kept cool. Its no wonder the casinos were packed full at all hours of day and night. People wanted to get out of the heat and into someplace cool and the casinos were the only place for it. Bring sunscreen, drink lots of water, keep cool. Happily for me, I did not encounter any insects, I guess its too hot even for them.
Getting There ============= There are several ways to arrive in Las Vegas. We drove there from San Francisco. In total, it took us 8 hours from San Francisco to Las Vegas. A long tiring but interesting drive. We wanted to see what the dessert looked like. It was interesting to experience driving in the dark through the dessert and then to have lights shining out of the dessert on the horizon as we near Las Vegas. Of course, there was the inevitable traffic as similar minded people like us drove to Vegas. The traffic was especially bad from Los Angeles. So, should you decide to drive, you may want to consider early hour driving to avoid the traffic.
One could also fly into Las Vegas. Packages can also be found for fly-drive-stay or fly-stay at casino hotels. I recommend theses because you will get to stay at some really luxurious hotels at very good prices.
Conclusion ========== We had a great time in Las Vegas, even though it was only for 3 days & nights. We would have wanted to walk the entire strip if we had the time, visiting Treasure Island as well as Circus Circus.
Further Information =================== 1. Hoover Dam http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam
2. Best Western Tuscany Hotel Casino 255 Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109 1-877-887-2261
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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
Great review thanks - we're looking forward to our trip in March
badgirl99 21.01.2005 17:21
I'm flying to LA on the 14th feb but we'll be there for 2 and a half weeks. Vegas for 3 nights and we're staying at Circus Circus. Can't wait. thanks for giving me an idea about the pow wow thing. We might check that out. great review. amy
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Advantages: Totally out of this world experience, so much to see and do, great hotels and casinos Disadvantages: Sleazy in places, a few days isn't long enough to see it all
junkboxjules 10.07.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Las Vegas
Advantages: Everwhere is air conditioned, the toilet facilities in the malls is excellent and there are free shuttles or monorails from hotel to hotel Disadvantages: very hot in July/August, be prepared to que for the buffets
geomel 17.06.2001 (17.06.2001)
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Review of Las Vegas
Sep 6th, 2003
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