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Walking down the strip
Unlike Disney World, where I’ve been way too many times to keep count, Vegas is new to me. I may not be an expert, but that’s not going to stop me from creating my own “Top 10 things to see and do in Las Vegas” list.
1. The Jabbawockeez show at the Monte Carlo. When we purchased the tickets to this show, my first thoughts were “how entertaining could one hip hop group be?” Well, was I wrong. The Jabbawockeez, the winners of season one of America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV, kept my full attention for the entire time they were on stage and left me wanting to watch them preform more. The show had the perfect mix of comedy, music, tricks, and technical skill. Each likable masked guy’s moves were perfectly choreographed to each and every song.
Picture made of flowers!
2. The classic elegance of the indoor flower garden at the Bellagio. As soon as you step into the lobby of the Bellagio, you know that you’ve entered a classier world. A man is playing the piano, and you feel as if you’ve been transported into the past. As you walk in further, while gazing at the colorful blown glass on the ceilings, you’re quickly overcome by the scent of fresh flowers. The garden is gorgeous. Flowers of every color, size, and type fill the room. One section has a fake Ferris wheel, another has a carousel, and another has a large “painting” made only out of flowers. I couldn’t stop staring.
3. The Forum shops at Caesar’s. I definitely cannot afford most of the stores here, but I enjoyed looking around at the designer items and their steep price tags. I also loved the elaborate fountains and statues, and how the ceiling was made to look like the sky. Another plus was the 4 floor H&M. I’m always a fan of their affordable clothing.
At the Bellagio
4. The fountains at the Bellagio. Unfortunately we did not get to see the fountain show at night, but we did catch one before sunset. I love how the water shoots up in tune to the music, and since the sun was still out during the show we saw, we were able to see numerous rainbows in the water.
5. LAX at the Luxor. We visited this club at the Luxor twice, and had fun both times. It’s a typical club with a dance floor, seating for only those who can drop $1,000s on table service and bottles of booze, $10 drinks, and standard club music. The highlight of our experience at LAX was when a group of Egyptian guys in Vegas for a bachelor party invited us to their table in the VIP section. It was nice having the perspective from behind the ropes. More room to stand around and dance, and most importantly: some place to sit when your feet start hurting from the heels that you despise. I don’t know how some girls can where heels all of the time. I always wear flip flops or flats in Boston, but decided that I had to wear heels in Vegas, and my feet continuously hurt. It was nice having some place to sit!
6. Bank at the Bellagio. We hadn’t planned on visiting this club, but when we were stopped by a promoter while shopping that day and were told that the Far East Movement was performing at Bank and we could get in for free, have free drinks before midnight (usual price $15 for liquor, $10 for Bud Light), and would be on the list so we could “cut the line,” we were hooked. He told us to show up before 10 pm to get checked in and get our free drinks. We arrived around 9:30 and spent most of the time between then and 11:00 confused about where to go and then standing in line. Once we got into the club, we made the most of it, but I was extremely tired by the time the Far East Movement stepped out to perform at 2 am. Overall, since I didn’t spend any money to get in, had a free drink, got to dance AND saw “Like a G6″ and “Rockateer” preformed live, I’d classify it as a good night.
7. The Ross store on the strip. I’d never been to this discount store before, and Ross is like a better, even cheaper version of Marshalls and T.J. Maxx.
8. Roulette. I’m not a big gambler. I probably spent $60 gambling the entire trip. I’m also not a huge fan of slots, although I wasted most $1 and $5 bills that I had on them, and although I won $35 on one. I like Roulette because you have a 50/50 chance of winning when you bet on red, black, even or odd.
9. Walking down the strip in general. We didn’t have nice weather for laying out in the sun, but we had perfect weather for walking. It was also my only form of exercise, and the perfect opportunity to people watch. There’s always something to see when people are allowed to walk on the street carrying giant drinks!
10. Losing your sense of time. I’m used to last call at 1:40. I don’t even know how late the clubs closed, we always left way before that happened, and some casino bars stayed open 24 hours. No matter how late we were up, there were always tons of people around. By the time I arrived at work Monday morning after the weekend, my sense of time was completely messed up.
I didn’t see and do everything that Las Vegas has to offer, and I hope to return some day. Until then, I’ll have to remember this list as my Vegas top 10.
In my mind, buffets have always been the epitome of quantity over quality. Well, my experience in Las Vegas last weekend completely proved that theory wrong. There, it is easy to experience both quality (breakfast buffets with fresh berries and made to order omlettes, and dinners with lobster, prime rib, gelato and so much more) and huge quantities.
We visited two buffets while in Vegas, and both were on the this Top 10 list that I found.
For breakfast, one morning we ate that the buffet at the Bellagio. For only $15.95, we were able to scarf down as much eggs, omlettes, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, fresh fruit, pastries, and juice as our semi-hungover bodies could handle. The food was delicious, second only to the breakfast that I had at the Marketplace buffet at Atlantis in the Bahamas. Be aware that the price for this buffet increases by almost $10 on weekends. I’ve never been on a weekend, but my guess is the weekday food is just as good! The only catch is the weekend brunch goes until 4:00 pm, and we had to be there before 11:00 am. Last thing, the lines are long so get there early!
On Saturday night, we splurged (around $39 per person) for a dinner buffet at Aria. We had wanted to go to the one at the Wynn because they seemed to have the best reviews and selection, but didn’t have enough time to head over there before a show. I really enjoyed our dinner at Aria, and am very surprised by all of the negative reviews its received on Yelp. We didn’t have to wait in line, the servers were friendly and quickly cleared our growing piles of plates, they have free wine, and the food was diverse and delicious! I think I had 6 plates plus dessert. Everything was well prepared and fresh. Here’s all of the plates I had; obviously I was completely stuffed afterwards:
1. Salad and Naan bread
2. Lobster!
3. Sushi, shrimp cocktail, and crabs legs
4. Prime rib, mashed potatoes, sauteed veggies, and salmon
5. Some made-to-order pasta with marinara, chicken, and spinach
6. Beef & asparagus and chicken stir fry Chinese food
Ridiculous. And then came dessert. They had gelato! And toppings! I was in heaven. I had vanilla and Butterfinger gelato with hot fudge and crushed Butterfinger. I was kind of upset that I wasn’t able to have more than one sundae because I filled up on so much dinner food.
Other than the two buffets, we ate at a number of unremarkable sit-down restaurants. It’s hard to find inexpensive places in Vegas that aren’t fast food, regular chains, or buffets. My favorite was Tacos & Tequila, an affordable casual Mexican restaurant at the Luxor. I had a pomegranate margarita, and my all time favorite Mexican dish: chicken fajitas. Both were delicious; the margarita was sweet and refreshing, while the fajitas were flavorful and filling.
Pool at the Luxor
My short vacation to Las Vegas last weekend is a blur, clouded with $15 vodka sodas, dinging slot machines, loud music, designer stores, and wind. One part that I can easily recall, though, is the hotel that we stayed at: the Luxor.
Although this trip to Vegas was my first, I knew exactly what I wanted when we went to book the hotel: on the strip, nice pool, fun theme, and inexpensive. For that category, in my non-Vegas-expert mind, a few hotels came to mind: the Luxor, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, and New York New York. We chose the Luxor because it didn’t seem as cheesy as the Excalibur and New York New York, was cheaper than the Monte Carlo, and had a pretty cool theme. I mean, come on, who doesn’t love Egypt?
I think our total for four nights was around $300 from Vegas.com. Definitely within our budget.
Before I say anything about the hotel itself, I want to praise the Luxor’s social media efforts. When we landed, I tweeted that I was headed to the Luxor, and they (or their agency) immediately responded with ideas for going out that night. So I’m already impressed.
We arrived at the Luxor around midnight Vegas time, quickly checked in, and headed up to our room in the East Tower. It was a large standard room, with two comfortable pillow-top queen beds, large windows that overlooked the strip and the mountains in the distance, a nice bathroom, and subtle Egyptian decorations. Absolutely nothing to complain about there.
The pool area was large, and surrounded by palm trees. It would have been the perfect spot for relaxation if we didn’t end up in Vegas for the only 4 cold, windy, and cloudy days in April. Being the tough, sun-loving New Englanders that the three of us are, though, we headed out to the pool for a couple of hours of sun before it got too cold. The hot tub, something you would never dream of using on the usual 90 degree sunny Vegas day, was a nice benefit.
For food, which everyone knows I love, the Luxor has a variety of options available, from McDonalds to More (the buffet), to Mexican, to meat (aka expensive steakhouses). I tried a few places that I will explain in later posts. I was also pleased that we had not one, but three, Starbucks located within our hotel. Perfect for feeding my addiction. Conversely, I was not pleased that my regular tall non-fat no whip mocha was almost $5 instead of $3 something that it is in Boston.
I’m not a gambler, but the casino seemed to have everything that you’d need. I had the least luck on the slots and roulette tables that I played at the Luxor, and the most luck at Monte Carlo, but what’s the difference?
What’s Vegas without nightlife? We visited LAX, the club at the Luxor a couple of times, and I”ll describe my experiences there later.
Another notable amenity was the free fitness center. Of course, I didn’t visit. I mean, it’s vacation. I’ll work off my buffet-belly by walking down the strip. I don’t need weights and an eliptical….right. My fitness and health food loving roommate did visit the fitness center, though, so it was great that it was there for our use.
One complaint. No free wifi. I had some work I needed to get done, and would have liked a couple of hours on the internet without spending $7.99. It was just expensive enough for me to procrastinate and leave the work I needed to do until I got back to Boston on Monday.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time at the Luxor and would recommend it to anyone traveling to Vegas on a budget. If you have unlimited funds, I’d recommend the Bellagio. So beautiful!
Stay tuned. Tons more Vegas will be coming at you shortly!
