Tag: Las Vegas

Travelling to Las Vegas

In the month of September we had been to a few destinations in America. On our final destination we flew to Las Vegas from San Diego via American Airlines. This was an extremely short flight. Many people who had stayed in our hotel in San Diego hired a car and drove to Las Vegas as it was only a 4 hour drive. Our flight cost £25 each which was cheaper than renting a car.

Accommodation

We stayed at Caesars Palace which looked impressive from the moment we arrived. When we arrived we were offered an up grade for approximately £20 a night. We were in Las Vegas for 5 nights so we agreed to the £100 upgrade. We were than given a £50 voucher to spend in Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant which meant we had only paid £10 per night for the upgrade.

The room

When we got to our room we absolutely gob smacked by the shear size of the room. It had two extra large king sized beds in it. There was also a dinning and seating area. The widows were from floor to ceiling and over looked the Bellagio fountain. We would watch the formation of the fountain most days whilst having a cocktail or a drink in our room.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was equally impressive with a jacuzzi bath that was the biggest we had ever seen. There was also a 60 inch TV on the wall in the bathroom. The bathroom was actually bigger than a lot of hotel rooms we had stayed in.

Shopping Mall

Caesar’s Palace also has a shopping mall that appears to be open air but is actually under cover. The ceiling of the shopping mall is lit up and designed to look like the sky which does look very nice. It is a decent sized Mall with lots of designer shops

Pool Scene

The pool seen at Ceasar’s Palace is also impressive with several pools to choose from. However we found the drinks round the pool a bit pricey but it is to be expected in hotels of this standard. The Bali beds around the pool were chargeable but you did get your own butler. We did not see many people using this service. It was quite busy when we were at Ceasar’s Palace and if you were not round the pool early enough all the sun beds were taken.

Hotel grounds

Outside of the hotel there is a replica of the Trevi Fountain of Rome. When we were there a duck had nested with her chicks in the fountain they were so cute.

Casino’s

One of the main reason people go to Las Vegas is to gamble. Although we are not big gamblers ourselves we did go round a lot of the Casino’s to see what they were like and have a small gamble. The Casino are very interesting to go to and most of a theme and the decor and surroundings are in keeping with that theme. There are so many to see and all are very big inside so it is difficult in one stay in Vegas to actually see them all. Many of the Casino’s offer free food and drink if you are gambling.

We never were offered a free drink or food but we were told by others that this does happen. We didn’t mind as we did not stay in one Casino very long. Just walking down the street in Las Vegas you get the feel that it is the entrainment capital of the world.

There are so many Casino’s to choose from. One of the Casino’s had a diamond covered car belonging to Liberace which was very impressive. Las Vegas is so unique with the style of the hotels that you could mistake for being in other countries. From the Luxor (Egypt) to the Venetian (Italy). If we were to visit Las Vegas again which we are sure we will we are not sure how we would choose which hotel to stay in as they are all spectacular.

Dick’s Last Stand Bar

We went to the Excalibur Hotel and to Dick’s Last Stand Bar. If you are easily insulted then this is not the bar for you. We had been to the bar that they have in San Diego so we were aware of what to expect. The staff at the bar are very rude on purpose. They even make hats for you and put rude comments on them eg “I rub more balls than a gypsy”. It is a very fun bar to have a drink in. As we had spent time in the San Diego Dick’s Last Stand the jokes were not new to us.

Fremont Street

We caught a bus to the famous Fremont Street which is where the original Casino’s of Las Vegas are. Fremont Street is mainly undercover and has light shows each evening. There are a lot of other shows as well from Tribute acts to DJ’s. It wouldn’t be Vegas if we didn’t watch an Elvis tribute act. There are also many people in fancy dress who charge $1 dollar for you to take your photo with them. Some of them were dressed with nothing more than tape over there intimate parts. Fremont Street is not somewhere I would recommend for families to go to. It sure was an eye opener for us.

Zip Liner

There is a zip linner that shoots you out of a trap door and you fly down the full length of Fremont Street. They put your harness on and then you lay on a bed and are attached to the wires. The bed then lowers down and you are fired out of the door. It was a great experience and felt like you were actually flying.

Grand Canyon and Hoover Damn

One of the places we wanted to go see is the Grand Canyon . Previously we had spoken to some friends who had flown over the Grand Canyon in an helicopter which sounded very excited. We were told that this would cost £350 each to do this. For a once in life time experience this did not seem a bad price. As we like to travel a lot we are often on a bit of a budget therefore this was more than what we wanted to pay. We found an excursion via coach to Hoover Damn and Gran Canyon which cost £75 each. We were picked up at the hotel at around 6am and taken to a small place for breakfast (not included in the price).

Hoover Damn

The journey is quite long by coach but we stopped several times along the way. When we got to the Hoover Damn we had to go through security similar to at an airport. We were informed by our tour guide that the Hoover Damn is a big terrorist target as it is the biggest reservoir in the United States. The Dam’s generator’s provide power to Nevada, Arizona and California. We were given a short time to wander around the Dam and take photo’s before heading back to the coach. The Hoover Dam is a big tourist attraction it attracts over a million visitors each year.

Grand Canyon

We then return to the coach to the Grand Canyon stopping along the way at a little village for lunch. When we arrived at the Grand Canyon we were given time to walk round and take photo’s. Due to the size of the Grand Canyon we were driven to various viewing points. At each point there is opportunity to get food, drinks and visit bathroom. We went in September to the Grand Canyon and it was very hot so you need to drink plenty of water. The Grand Canyon is spectacular and even more impressive than seen on TV.

One of the things we were surprised to see is that there was actually houses at the bottom of the Canyon. Not only did we see house we even noticed a couple of cars (not sure how they got there). We did see people white water rafting in parts of the Canyon. If we had had enough time we would have liked to have done this. At the viewing points there is also native Indians who dance and request payment for photo opportunities. We had our photo with them and paid the small amount they were requesting.

Tipping

It was a very long day approximately 12 hours but definitely worth doing. There was so much to see and although we were given plenty of time for photo opportunities etc the time seemed to go so quickly. Our guide was very humorous and informative which made the whole experience better. When we were dropped off at the drop off point we were told by the tour operator that we should give $15 each to the Driver/Guide. Although he was great we thought that we should have had an option as to how much we should give considering we had already paid for the tour.

Summary

We had such a great time in Las Vegas but did not do everything that we wanted to do. We will definitely be going back there in the too distant future.

Things to do

• Try your look in the Casino’s
• Even if you don’t want to gamble go and have a look round.
• Visit Freemont Street
• Visit the Hoover Dam
• Visit the Grand Canyon
• Go to Dick’s Last Stand bar in the Excalibur

Top Tips

• Take water, sunscreen, hat and sunglasses when going to Grand Canyon if going in hot months.
• Visit Fremont Street.
• Have a look round other hotels and Casino’s
• Shop around for tours as they vary so much in price.
• Research your hotel before booking to ensure it meet you/families needs.
• See chart below for best time to visit Las Vegas.
• Check out other places in America we have visited Washington DC , Miami , Los Angeles , New York
• Check out safety and security advice when visiting America https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	14	17	21	26	31	38	41	39	35	28	19	14
Low Temp	1	4	7	11	16	21	23	23	19	12	6	1
Rainfall	13	11	10	5	5	5	11	14	8	6	11	8
Number of days	6	6	5	3	3	3	5	6	3	3	5	4