SIN CITY Las Vegas
Everyone is always talking about Las Vegas and for good reason – it is unbelievably over the top, with a sea of bright lights in the middle of a desert. Known for gambling, its tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment and its partying ways, Las Vegas will forever be known as better known as Sin City.
Getting There
Las Vegas is a 45 minute flight from Los Angeles and a 2hr 15 min flight from San Francisco in the USA.
The Hotels
Caesar’s Palace
Located on the Las Vegas strip, opposite The Flamingo and next to the Bellagio. I would highly recommend a stay here.
Caesars Palace is massive, like many of the other hotels in Vegas. It has gaming areas, various restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shops and the Garden Of The Gods pool oasis with eight swimming pools. Themed in a Roman style as the name suggests, Caesars Palace has beautiful fountains, columns and magnificent art décor ceilings.
Bellagio Hotel
The Bellagio is famous for the ‘dancing fountain’ situated at the front of the hotel. The show is spectacular and even better, it is free.
Located next to Caesars Palace and joined through an interconnecting bridge, the Bellagio in my opinion is not as impressive as Caesars Palace inside the hotel.
Venetian Hotel
Located opposite Treasure Island down the end of the Las Vegas strip, the Venetian Hotel captures Venice perfectly. The man made canals, ceilings painted to look like the sky and clouds and a singing gondolier make for a romantic gondola ride with your loved one or a great experience with friends. Gondolas carry four persons or you can pay for a private gondola ride. I recommend the inside gondola ride instead of the outside ride. The gondola ride costs approximately $16 AUD and cannot be purchased online.
Paris Hotel
Located across from the Bellagio Hotel, you can’t miss the Paris Hotel with its spectacular replica of the Eiffel tower. A beautiful and stunning hotel inside and out with lots of entertainment available.
New York, New York Hotel
Opposite the MGM Grand Hotel on the strip, New York, New York has a rollercoaster that starts inside the hotel and ends up on the outside. If you like a thrill, check it out!
New York, New York is also home to the famous Coyote Ugly bar.
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a must during your visit to Las Vegas. There’s many different tours and companies that offer a variety of ways to experience the Grand Canyon, from land and air.
I can highly recommend the Air & Floor Landing Tour $374 per person.
You are picked up from your hotel in a limo and taken to the Las Vegas airport where your helicopter will depart.
I recommend you choose an early flight as it is the desert and temperatures can become extreme. We chose the 8:15am flight and by 9am it was 40C in the Canyon.
You will fly over the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Las Vegas Valley before landing in the Canyon for champagne and a light snack. This is the perfect opportunity to get some pictures.
Nightclubs & Pool Parties
Nightclubs in Vegas are popular no matter what night it is but they generally don’t kick off and get a good crowd until 12am-1am. So I suggest you find a bar/club that offers good drinking deals and drink until everyone arrives.
I would recommend bottle service for the experience, however it is not something that is affordable for every night you are there.
My experience with bottle service was at Pure Nightclub in Caesars Palace.
We paid $1200 (including tip) AUD for bottle service which included the following;
Priority entrance into the club.
A reserve table all night in the VIP roped off area.
2x bottles of Belvedere Vodka.
12 cans of red bull.
various mixers including orange juice, cranberry juice, pineapple juice and water.
Your drinks are poured all night for you by your table waiters.
Pool Parties in Las Vegas can be just as crazy as a nightclub, with tickets to some offering world known Djs like David Guetta playing sets. Some of the most popular pool parties are:
Wet Republic (MGM Grand Hotel)
Encore Beach Club (Encore)
Daylight Beach Club (Mandalay Bay Hotel)
Marquee Dayclub (Cosmopolitan Hotel)
Fremont Street
Fremont Street is home to the first hotel in Las Vegas, presently known as the Golden Gate and the first gaming license in Nevada. The Golden Nugget casino was the first structure from the ground up designed to be a casino.
Fremont Street is a pedestrian mall in downtown Las Vegas and a popular tourist attraction with shows under the barrel vault canopy daily.
Things to Know
You can walk freely down the Las Vegas strip and through the hotels and casinos with alcohol.
Many nightclubs have a higher cover charge for males than females. Many also allow females to drink for free until 12am.
Free in the USA does not exempt from tipping. If you do attend a club where females drink for free, a $1 US tip per drink is usually expected/appreciated.
JESSICA PASCO
