My American Adventure Part Two - Las Vegas

The second part of my holiday was to Las Vegas and I had such a great time (read part one here).

I flew to Las Vegas from LAX which was less than an hour flight.  I flew with Delta and it was worth paying the extra £10 each way for seats with extra space nearer the front of the plane. I got an early flight and landed in Las Vegas about 9am.  It meant setting off early from Anaheim to make sure I got to LAX in plenty of time, but it was worth it to get practically an extra full day in Las Vegas, so I was there for 3 days in total.   

I was thrilled to be staying in the Bellagio this time.  I have always wanted to stay there since seeing it in Oceans 11, but it's always been really expensive.  I checked on Expedia when I was looking for hotels and flights from LAX to Las Vegas and 2 nights in The Bellagio & return flights from LAX came to about £500 for 2 people which I thought was really good.  I could have stayed at The Luxor for about half that and I do love The Luxor theming (I’ve stayed there twice before), but it was on my bucket list to stay at the Bellagio so I decided to treat myself.  It’s also in a central location so saves on a lot of walking.  I’m such a saddo that the thing that thrilled me the most when I got to my room was the button that opened and closed the curtains that was at the side of the bed.  I need to get out more I know.  

I didn’t have a strip/fountain view, but I did get a view of the mountains that surround Las Vegas so it wasn’t bad.  It cost way more to get a strip/fountain view which would have been nice, but I couldn’t justify the cost. 

I planned to see a couple of shows while I was out there, but in the end I just saw The Terry Fator Show.  I was a bit dubious about watching a ventriloquist but I had heard good things about the show so I took the chance.  I bought my tickets from the Tix4Tonight  place so they were discounted.  I must admit it was a really great show.  Very funny and I would recommend going to see him if you get the chance.

Other than the show I went to the Premium Shopping Outlet at the South end of the Strip, but I don’t think that I actually bought anything.  I did do plenty of Sephora shopping as there are at least 2 shops on the Strip, so I couldn’t resist checking them out every time I walked past.  You can read my post on my Sephora purchases here.  I also visited Carlo's Bake Shop in the Venetian which was worth a visit, the cakes were delicious.  I then got a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity 3 which was yummy.  I would like to have eaten at Serendipity 3,  but in the end I just didn’t have the time.

I played on the slot machines (I’m not a big gambler so don’t go on any of the tables as I haven’t a clue how to play them).  I also went around a lot of the hotels as they are such stunning places to visit, they are all like 5 star hotels.

I ate at a few nice places such as Shake Shack (there’s one in London that I always go to when I’m visiting), Earl Of Sandwich (which is a staple when I’m visiting), Pinks Hot Dogs (I had heard such great things about this place, but  really wasn’t impressed).  I also visited a Pizza Place that is really well hidden that’s located in the Cosmopolitan which I saw on Man V Food (I love Adam).  This place is hard to find, but well worth the visit.

Shake Shack Burgers

I used the monorail from the Bellagio to the Monte Carlo to save walking around in the heat of the day.  It’s free to use and makes getting around the Strip a little easier.  The Strip is very deceptive and looks walkable, but believe me it's definitely not.  You will be walking for miles. 

All in all I had a great visit to Las Vegas.  I definitely want to return, perhaps for at least a week next time.  I love that the hotels are so spectacular and anywhere else they would all be 5 star hotels.  There’s so much to do as well, shopping, shows, gambling, sightseeing, the lot.  I also love that it’s so close to LA.  I have visited Las Vegas 3 times now, once as  a standalone holiday for 5 days and once for 3 days as part of a multi-centre trip with New York and Hawaii.  I would definitely recommend visiting as part of a multi-centre trip as it's so close to LA there’s no better time to fit it in.

There were a couple of odd moments.  The taxi from the airport had a pretty weird driver.  He had a handwritten sign on the dashboard and it had a list of things you couldn’t do in the taxi (I really wish I had taken a photo).  I think it basically stopped you from doing anything other than breathing.  It made us laugh there were things like, no chewing gum, no texting, no picking at the rubber around the windows, no shouting, no spitting, no tapping fingers on the windows.  There were some absolute crazy ones which I just can’t remember now.  They were so funny and ridiculous that we just sat in the taxi and laughed, but then panicked he would chuck us out for that.  

The other was when we left our cases on our last day at the Bellagio when we checked out.  I usually tip when I pick up the bags and that’s never been an issue before but I could tell from the way the guy was hanging around that if I didn’t give him a tip to take the bags he was either not going to take them or he was gonna dump them somewhere.  It was really awkward.  Maybe it’s me but I just haven’t had to tip to leave and pick up bags before, but that seemed to be the expectation there.  I don’t mind if they just make it clear with a sign when you drop off bags but they just kind of stand there waiting for you to give them the money. Rant over if that’s the worst I can complain of then I can’t really complain!!!

Overall I had a great time in Las Vegas and can’t wait to go back.

Things that I wish I had the time or the nerve to do while I was in Las Vegas:

Visit The Grand Canyon

Visit Freemont Street

Eat at one of the Buffets

Go on the rides at the top of the Stratosphere

Do the SkyJump at the Stratosphere

Go to see the Jubilee show at Ballys
Take a dip in the Bellagio pool

Read Part 3 – Hollywood here.

Leighlee