Our senses have been acclimatised and we have been Vegased!
We saw a show “O” at the Bellagio on Saturday night – absolutely amazing. I have little idea what the story was but the show was fantastic. How they did all that, with the stage and the water- breathtaking. Even more so as we were bang in the middle of the stage and on the 2nd row – we only got slightly damp in parts!
Afterwards we saw the the water fountain show in Lake Como at the front of the Bellagio – click here to see some of it
Over the last few days we have visited many of the hotels, just out of curiosity you understand! Firmly at the bottom is the MGM – its dark, smokey and so much louder than everywhere else.
The brightest and lightest is our own. As its called the Tropicana, no prizes for guessing the theme. They must puff “coconut scent” around because you can smell Hawaiin Tropic from outside the front door and all around the place. It’s not overpowering but fits in with the theme.
All these big hotels are themed and so far our favourite hotel is the Venetian. The music playing outside is themed as are the sidewalks, lamp posts etc around it. Inside the sky is painted bright blue with fluffy clouds that appear to move as you walk, they don’t. They have Gondola rides outside, which are booked up days in advance, or inside which you can just turn up and queue (after paying of course). Inside is meant to look like a sunny St Mark’s Square and the Grand Canal. Click here to watch some of our Gondola ride.
We also liked the old Golden Nugget – its been refurbished and the shark tank in the middle of the restaurant and the pool area is really cool. Even cooler is the aqua tube ride through the centre of the shark tank! It has the biggest Golden Nugget in the world on show and a vending machine, an expensive vending machine, for tiny gold nuggets
We also liked the Flamingo, another one of the older casinos. It is the last hotel that still uses neon lights and not LEDs. It has a garden and pool area, with real flamingos (click to see the ones that breath) that is really like an oasis as it makes you forget you are bang in the middle of the Strip. They even have pink leather gaming tables and chairs
The Luxor is a very clever design – if you look at the photos you will see the centre of the pyramid is completely empty. All the rooms and escalators are on the outside of the pyramid – there are no lifts
The Bellagio has a very nice lobby and conservatory and is tastefully decorated around the casino. Opera music greets you as you approach it and can be heard by it’s “Lake Como”. Caesar’s Palace has a massive footprint with the forum shops, Colosseum theatre and the two towers of rooms. It’s a bit too artificial and tacky, even for Vegas for us. New York New York has a fantastic outside farçade with the Manhattan skyline and the working rollercoaster. It is like old New York inside and to be honest it looks a bit tired – was a bit disappointed. The Excalibur has jousting for you to watch! The Monte Carlo is non-descript apart from the -5C Ice Bar. The Mandalay is expensive non-descript with its gold tinted windows!
For those interested, we have been to all the shopping malls and they are fantastic – what amazing chandeliers and crystals they have. However don’t get too excited, we’ve used them as air-conditioned walkways to link the hotels – we haven’t actually gone in any of the shops! I fact in the whole 3 weeks we haven’t gone in a single shop!
This is the last post so that’s it from Me and Him, and another fabulous 3 weeks across the pond. Apparently we’re going to Spain next year so you’ll have a year off from this! Off to pack – over and out!
Ps: I’ve lost another dollar in the casino last night!
PPs: Kids be warned – we are still getting on!