Trip Report: Christmas in Vegas 2008
Dec 30th, 2008, 11:05 AM
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Trip Report: Christmas in Vegas 2008
Hi guys,
I thought I would post some of the details from my recent trip to Vegas. This was my first trip and I will definitely be back!!
We arrived at roughly 12:30pm Christmas day. Our fight was smooth, baggage came out quickly. We grabbed a cab from McCarran airport to the Riviera Hotel (North Strip) The cab ride cost 31$!!! I think we got stiffed as there was no traffic and the cab ride back to the airport at the end of our trip was only 14$....oh well.
There was no line to check in at our hotel and we got one of the newer renovated rooms, thankfully. The room was great. It was clean, spacious, nicely furnished. Our overall view of the hotel is that it's decent, but next time I go to Vgeas I am staying closed to the center. Also, the crowd at the Riviera was a little "lower class"....I'm not really sure how to say that nicely lol!!!
To get around we used The Deuce Bus, The Monorail, taxis and walking.
The Deuce: 2$ one ride, 5$ 24hr access. This is a cheap way to travel and you get to see a lot of stuff but if there's traffic it takes FOREVER...definitely not the way to go of time is a concern...at some points people were walking faster than we were going. We would take it a few stops if traffic was light and then hop off if we saw it was slowing down.
Monorail: This is a clean, quick and pleasant way to travel if you want to go to one of the hotels where it stops, but it's not cheap. it's 5$/ride or 12$ for 24hr access. A few of the stops are quite a walk from where you want to go as it doesn't travel along the strip so be ready to hoof it a bit.
Taxis: Taxis are not expensive in Vegas, but be sure to tell your driver not to take you on the strip or else you'll get gouged!
Walking: Be ready to walk A LOT in Vegas....just the walk from your hotel room to the strip can be LOOONG
But walking is the best way to see the sights at your own pace, and gives you the most flexibility. Bring COMFY shoes!!!!!!
Our first day was xmas day, we arrived EXHAUSTED after a 5.5hr flight and no sleep from xmas festivities the night before. As soon as we checked in we napped for 1hr just to get some energy, we were glad we did even if we lost a bit of time.
It was pouring rain when we left and windy like crazy which sort of put a damper on ut first day of sightseeing but the rain stopped eventually so we did some walking. We checked out the Palazzo, Venetian, and then headed to the Paris for the buffet. The Paris hotel is quite spectacular, nice casino, cute shops, pretty decor. We waited 2hrs in line for the Xmas buffet and we were totally DISAPPOINTED! NOT WORTH THE WAIT OR $$$. It was 30$/person for the holiday menu and the only thing there that was decent was the prime rib...other than that forget it.
After dinner we walked around a bit more and saw the fountain show at the Bellagio done to Xmas music....it was beautiful!! We checked out the Bellagio hotel, which was awesome and then we were so tired we called it a night.
On the 26th we started our day by going to the MGM Grand hotel to see the weigh ins for the UFC fights that we had tickets for on the 27th. After the weigh ins we checked out the Lion Habitat and the rest of the MGM...I loved this hotel, it was hip, young and fun.
After the MGM we headed to to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets to do some boxing day shopping. There were GREAT deals. I scores a Juicy Couture bag for 84$, Ed Hardy hoodie for 56$, Lacoste polo for 39$, True religion jeans for 129$ etc etc....If you like shopping you'll love the outlets. That night for supper we ate at Kady's in our hotel, it's a 24hr diner...the food wasn't top notch but not bad. We both had the t-bone steak dinner for 13.99$...not a bad deal.
The 27th we started our day with a couple of hours at Fashion Show Mall....can you tell we love shopping?? lol! We scored some good deals at Abercrombie but didn't buy much else. There were some sales but we didn't make any other purchases.
After Fashino show we went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's and got some good deals there also, I got a Marc Jabobs wallet for only 18$, that's a DEAL!
After that we headed back to the MGM because UFC was starting at 4:00pm. We went early to do some gambling and to try to take some pics with some of the fighters and we got lucky and met a bunch of fighters and did some sports betting.
The event ended at about 10:15pm and we stuck around after to check out somemore fighters and celebs (We saw Pink )
It was late by the time we were done so we went back to our hotel and had another late night dinner st Kady's...this time burgers, and the burger was delicious!
The 28th was a BUSY day for us! We checked out as many hotels/casinos as time permitted. We did Wynn, waited 1.5hrs for the Buffet at the Bellagio which was AMAZING and well worth the wait, we also played the slots at the Bellagio and both of us did OK, Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, and Harrah's.
At about 8:00pm we headed downtown. Downtown is a lot of fun but only for a few hours....I wouldn't want to spend much more time there than that. We gambled at the Freemont Casino and the Golden Nugget. We had a sandwhich at Tony Roma's and then I got one of those huge drinks that everyone walks around with, mine even had a strap to hang around my neck lol!! I'm not a drinker so the 1st 30mins after drinking it were happy times but I started to feel a little "off" after that lol!
All in all this was a GREAT trip, I had a LOT of fun and can't wait to go back again! We're already talking about a long weekend this summer!!
Vegas is defnitely a friendly, action packed place and has something for everyone.
And for those of you stressing over what to wear....STOP!! Just be comfy. I thought I would need to be dressed up and looking cute 24-7 but honestly its casual and comfy there. Unless you're planning on going to clubs or fancy restaurants you'll be fine in whatever you choose to wear.
Layla
I thought I would post some of the details from my recent trip to Vegas. This was my first trip and I will definitely be back!!
We arrived at roughly 12:30pm Christmas day. Our fight was smooth, baggage came out quickly. We grabbed a cab from McCarran airport to the Riviera Hotel (North Strip) The cab ride cost 31$!!! I think we got stiffed as there was no traffic and the cab ride back to the airport at the end of our trip was only 14$....oh well.
There was no line to check in at our hotel and we got one of the newer renovated rooms, thankfully. The room was great. It was clean, spacious, nicely furnished. Our overall view of the hotel is that it's decent, but next time I go to Vgeas I am staying closed to the center. Also, the crowd at the Riviera was a little "lower class"....I'm not really sure how to say that nicely lol!!!
To get around we used The Deuce Bus, The Monorail, taxis and walking.
The Deuce: 2$ one ride, 5$ 24hr access. This is a cheap way to travel and you get to see a lot of stuff but if there's traffic it takes FOREVER...definitely not the way to go of time is a concern...at some points people were walking faster than we were going. We would take it a few stops if traffic was light and then hop off if we saw it was slowing down.
Monorail: This is a clean, quick and pleasant way to travel if you want to go to one of the hotels where it stops, but it's not cheap. it's 5$/ride or 12$ for 24hr access. A few of the stops are quite a walk from where you want to go as it doesn't travel along the strip so be ready to hoof it a bit.
Taxis: Taxis are not expensive in Vegas, but be sure to tell your driver not to take you on the strip or else you'll get gouged!
Walking: Be ready to walk A LOT in Vegas....just the walk from your hotel room to the strip can be LOOONG
But walking is the best way to see the sights at your own pace, and gives you the most flexibility. Bring COMFY shoes!!!!!!Our first day was xmas day, we arrived EXHAUSTED after a 5.5hr flight and no sleep from xmas festivities the night before. As soon as we checked in we napped for 1hr just to get some energy, we were glad we did even if we lost a bit of time.
It was pouring rain when we left and windy like crazy which sort of put a damper on ut first day of sightseeing but the rain stopped eventually so we did some walking. We checked out the Palazzo, Venetian, and then headed to the Paris for the buffet. The Paris hotel is quite spectacular, nice casino, cute shops, pretty decor. We waited 2hrs in line for the Xmas buffet and we were totally DISAPPOINTED! NOT WORTH THE WAIT OR $$$. It was 30$/person for the holiday menu and the only thing there that was decent was the prime rib...other than that forget it.
After dinner we walked around a bit more and saw the fountain show at the Bellagio done to Xmas music....it was beautiful!! We checked out the Bellagio hotel, which was awesome and then we were so tired we called it a night.
On the 26th we started our day by going to the MGM Grand hotel to see the weigh ins for the UFC fights that we had tickets for on the 27th. After the weigh ins we checked out the Lion Habitat and the rest of the MGM...I loved this hotel, it was hip, young and fun.
After the MGM we headed to to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets to do some boxing day shopping. There were GREAT deals. I scores a Juicy Couture bag for 84$, Ed Hardy hoodie for 56$, Lacoste polo for 39$, True religion jeans for 129$ etc etc....If you like shopping you'll love the outlets. That night for supper we ate at Kady's in our hotel, it's a 24hr diner...the food wasn't top notch but not bad. We both had the t-bone steak dinner for 13.99$...not a bad deal.
The 27th we started our day with a couple of hours at Fashion Show Mall....can you tell we love shopping?? lol! We scored some good deals at Abercrombie but didn't buy much else. There were some sales but we didn't make any other purchases.
After Fashino show we went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's and got some good deals there also, I got a Marc Jabobs wallet for only 18$, that's a DEAL!
After that we headed back to the MGM because UFC was starting at 4:00pm. We went early to do some gambling and to try to take some pics with some of the fighters and we got lucky and met a bunch of fighters and did some sports betting.
The event ended at about 10:15pm and we stuck around after to check out somemore fighters and celebs (We saw Pink
)It was late by the time we were done so we went back to our hotel and had another late night dinner st Kady's...this time burgers, and the burger was delicious!
The 28th was a BUSY day for us! We checked out as many hotels/casinos as time permitted. We did Wynn, waited 1.5hrs for the Buffet at the Bellagio which was AMAZING and well worth the wait, we also played the slots at the Bellagio and both of us did OK, Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York, and Harrah's.
At about 8:00pm we headed downtown. Downtown is a lot of fun but only for a few hours....I wouldn't want to spend much more time there than that. We gambled at the Freemont Casino and the Golden Nugget. We had a sandwhich at Tony Roma's and then I got one of those huge drinks that everyone walks around with, mine even had a strap to hang around my neck lol!! I'm not a drinker so the 1st 30mins after drinking it were happy times but I started to feel a little "off" after that lol!
All in all this was a GREAT trip, I had a LOT of fun and can't wait to go back again! We're already talking about a long weekend this summer!!
Vegas is defnitely a friendly, action packed place and has something for everyone.
And for those of you stressing over what to wear....STOP!! Just be comfy. I thought I would need to be dressed up and looking cute 24-7 but honestly its casual and comfy there. Unless you're planning on going to clubs or fancy restaurants you'll be fine in whatever you choose to wear.
Layla
Dec 30th, 2008, 12:03 PM
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Glad you enjoyed your trip Layla! Warning, Vegas is brutally hot in the summer; like 115 at times. My goal is to try and find out when it is 90 degrees, lol.... perfect pool weather. My son loved Bellagio and Caesar's Palace. We want to go back and try the hand made noodle shop in Caesar's. For your return trip, I'd recommend looking into rental cars. I got one for $12/day so it was $31 for the whole two days and gave me liberty to use it if I wished. All the hotels have free parking as far as I know and there's a lot of walking involved anyway.
Dec 30th, 2008, 01:22 PM
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Echoing Ncounty, too hot in summer!
You will stay at the pool all day eating ice-cream and drinking A LOT! Even to cross the street you will think twice in that heat.
At night it will get cooler, but not much.
You will stay at the pool all day eating ice-cream and drinking A LOT! Even to cross the street you will think twice in that heat.
At night it will get cooler, but not much.
Jan 2nd, 2009, 05:49 AM
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Hi guys,
We did have a blast! I enjoyed every minute!!!! The reason we're thinking about a summer trip i because of another event taking place then that we'd like to see. I know it will be ridiculously warm but I'm sure we'll still enjoy it. We're not even sure if it's gonna happen 100% so we'll see.
I would DEFINITELY rent a car next time we're there...it would have saved us money for sure, and when you take the side streets and roads behind the strip there wasn't much traffic at all.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Happy new year everyone!!
Layla
We did have a blast! I enjoyed every minute!!!! The reason we're thinking about a summer trip i because of another event taking place then that we'd like to see. I know it will be ridiculously warm but I'm sure we'll still enjoy it. We're not even sure if it's gonna happen 100% so we'll see.
I would DEFINITELY rent a car next time we're there...it would have saved us money for sure, and when you take the side streets and roads behind the strip there wasn't much traffic at all.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Happy new year everyone!!
Layla
