I first went to Vegas in September 2001, on a holiday where we had booked 3 days in Vegas followed by a week in Miami. I was really looking forward to it and thought that 3 days would be plenty of time, if not even too much time, to see everything on offer in Vegas. After all, it's only a city right? Wrong!
We arrived at 10.30 at night after travelling from the UK for about 24 hours (we caught two flights, one to Atlanta then Atlanta to Vegas with Delta airlines as this worked out far cheaper than going direct). We were understandably knackered and crashed out as soon as we'd checked into our hotel, the Sahara, at the North End of the strip. Jet lag had us up at 4.30 the following morning so we went looking for food and discovered the breakfast buffet at Circus Circus, only $6 each (plus the 7% sales tax that is added to everything in the US). If you've never been to the US, you would not believe how much food is available and being typical brits abroad we really made the most of it!
The benefit of such a big breakfast is that we didn't need to eat for the rest of the day so that saved us loads of money which we spent on...gambling!
You really don't need to be loaded to go to Vegas, we gambled on 5 cent slot machines. The stake may be small but the thrill of getting a win is just as big!!
During our 3 days in Vegas we looked around several hotels and the attractions they had to offer:
- The Mirage, with the Dolphin Habitat and Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden (zoo) and amazing tropical rainforest-themed reception area
- The Venetian, with a canal on the second floor where you can ride a gondola through the middle of the mall complete with singing goldolier!
- Bellagio, with it's Italian theme and fantastic "dancing" fountains as shown in the movie Oceans 11. Really needs to be seen to be believed
- Caesar's Palace, with the Forum Shops and atlantis water and light show
- Mandalay Bay, with it's man-made beach and shark reef
- Excalibur with it's medieval themed turrets and amusements
- MGM Grand with real lions, and live music in the casino
And that was all we had time to do! There were so many things we didn't see that I really wanted to...and that's why we're going back this year in October!
To give a rough price guide, we are paying £600 per person for one week in Vegas including flights, insurance and hotel accommodation (again in the Sahara)so although it isn't the cheapest place to go it really is worth it.
If you get the chance I really would highly recommend a visit!
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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
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