Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas, otherwise known as sin city, is a city with endless things to do and see. I believe that 48-72 hours in Vegas is plenty.

Getting There

You will fly into LAS, Las Vegas’s international airport. The airport is only about a 7-15 minute drive to the hotels on the strip. Taxis are plentiful, but Uber and Lyft are always an option. The cost is about $25.00 + tip one way. I have taken the shuttle system, which is substantially less money, but it takes more time as multiple stops are often made.

Rest Your Head/Culinary Delights

I have stayed at the Luxor, the Flamingo, Encore, The Wynn, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, MGM Grand, Paris and Hooters Hotel over the last eighteen years. Choosing your hotel in Vegas, I believe, can make or break your trip. I will say that looking at reviews is going to be critical because these hotels are changing constantly and many of them are under external management systems. My current favorite hotels are The Wynn and the Cosmopolitan for people who are really interested in high quality restaurants, nightlife, and great pool scenes by day.

The Comopolitan has a couple of great pools that offer shade if you want it throughout the day. It also has some extraordinary restaurants like Egg Slut (breakfast), a smoothie and juice bar, STK (steakhouse for dinner), Blue Ribbon (dinner), Scarpetta (Italian for dinner) and Zuma (dinner and phenomenal cocktails).

The Wynn also offers really nice pools that offer shade. My favorite most recent addition to the Wynn is Delilah- a supper club, which offers live music throughout your meal. It is not the easiest reservation to get right now but persistence is key and getting someone on the telephone. Celebrities frequent this spot so keep your eyes peeled.

I recently stayed at the Paris and was highly unimpressed. I love the theme and think they’ve done a great job with the decor, but I had many issues throughout my 5 night stay there. First, the bathrooms throughout the hotel (including in my room) smelled foul which leads me to believe it’s an issue with the plumbing. Second, the wifi situation was horrible in the hotel. You could only have two devices connected to the password protected wifi system even if you had 2+ people in your room. The wifi went out regularly, which is a massive problem if you’re trying to work. When I called to remedy the situation, I spent over 90 minutes trying to navigate the channels of an external customer service department that was so unhelpful that I eventually just went downstairs to speak to a manager. Lastly, the pool hours (10-6pm) are not conducive to the sun being out and 100 degree heat at 8pm. The day we attempted to go to the pool, the pool doors were closed until 10:45am and then when they were opened, only half of the small pool was allowed to be used. There was no shade and if wanted shade, you had to pay $125.00 for a cabana.

The only redeeming quality was Mon Ami restaurant - I highly recommend popping in for their tomato, feta and cucumber salad and homemade baguette.

Adventure

The best part of Las Vegas is the action. There are endless things to do and just to name a few:

Family friendly shows like Cirque du Soleil

• Adult shows like Thunder from Down Under or Absinthe (I loved this show)

• Catch a concert (I just saw the Sting show, which was amazing but Katy Perry, Adele, John Legend are all doing residencies in Vegas currently)

• If you’re into DJ’s, XS hosts DJ’s in their massive poolside venue several nights a week

• Day pool parties are all the rage in Vegas- check out Marquee and wear your cutest suit!

• Explore downtown Vegas which is off the strip for their nightly live music

• Sunset helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon

• Tour the Hoover Dam

• Catch a Las Vegas Raiders football game or a Golden Knights hockey game

• Spend a day on a boat on the Colorado River