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Las Vegas
Monday, 11 July 2016
Vegas Baby
My biggest regret in life is under appreciating Vegas. It had so much to offer, but it was the last place I visited whilst on my travels. On my final day in LA I got the most horrific sunburn - I'm talking practically third degree burns, which no joke, took months to heal. By the time I got to Vegas, I wanted to hide indoors in a cold bath for the whole 5 days.
We had an amazing room. We stayed in Tuscany Suites, which is not on the strip, but sooooo much cheaper and better value. The strip was walkable if you like heat. Or it was like 5 mins in a taxi. My travel mate made me walk once. It was horrific. It only took about 15 mins but the heat was unbearable.
The room we were in was ridiculously cheap - cheaper than the hostel we stayed in whilst in LA, and it was amazing. It was literally a suite. We had a little kitchen area, a sofa, a desk/place to spread out my make up everywhere, and the biggest bed! Me and my travel partner shared a bed, but it was like we didn't - it was so big I forgot she was there.
Whilst we were in Vegas, we went to the hotel some of our friends were staying in. They were on the strip, and there room was tiny. They didn't even have wifi and they had paid about triple what we paid!!
Tuscany Suites had 2 pools, one for fitness and one for relaxing. There was a gym, and a few restaurants. And of course, a massive casino, because this is still Vegas. There was a 7/11 just around the corner too which was pretty handy. I could walk to that without feeling like I was going to die.
Let's talk about that heat. I warn you now. It is like a heat I had never felt before. I have been to Spain/Miami/LA etc which were all hot. But Vegas was extreme. I totally understand why it has such an amazing nightlife. Because people don't want to go out during the day.
I spoke to lady who was working on the Chanel counter in the Mall. She told me she was from the UK and had moved to Vegas after marrying an Elvis impersonator - I know right, coolest story ever. She told me that she hated living in Vegas. She had been living there for years and said you never get used to that heat.
When I first got off the bus - Greyhound. Amazing. Totally another story, it was kind of like I couldn't breathe properly. Obviously I got used to it after a few minutes, but the air was incredibly dry. I did go in August, so I'm not sure if it's always that hot. I am totally aware I sound like the most dramatic person ever right now. But it really is hot.
The best thing we did whilst in Vegas was watch the Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island. It was incredible. We had front row seats and I sat with my mouth wide open in awe throughout the whole thing. I believe we paid around $70 for tickets. But it was the best $70 I spent whilst in America. It was slightly terrifying throughout because the acrobats were literally throwing themselves around, and I was a bit concerned they would fall and land on me, but they didn't so all was okay. You're not allowed to take pictures in the show, so unfortunately I don't have any to show.
One evening we walked to the famous Las Vegas sign. It was the longest walk ever. The heat wasn't too bad in the evening so it was bearable. We had an idea of where we needed to had to see the sign - because obviously you need a picture with this sign when you go to Vegas. We walked, and we walked and we walked. Everything looks a lot closer than it actually is on the strip. Eventually we made it to the sign. It was a lot smaller than we had imagined. By the time we got there it was dark, so our photos weren't as clear as we would have liked. We did cheat on the way back and stop at the first hotel and get a taxi.
Note: Taxis are not allowed to stop on the strip, so you have to go into the hotels, or side roads if you want to get one.
The strip is amazing. It is basically made up of hotels, but all the hotels are very extravagant. Some of them have themes such a New York New York - which you guessed it, has a New York Theme (it also has a roller coaster built around it). There is also a hotel called Paris, which is French themed with the Eiffel Tower built into it. There are other famous hotels such as The Bellagio, The Venetian, MGM, Planet Hollywood and The Wynn. Each hotel is like a little shopping mall when you go inside. They all have huge casinos, bars and restaurants, and anyone can go in. You don't have to be staying in them to visit.
The strip also has loads of shops. There is designer stores, and many more such as The Coca-Cola store and The M&M store.
Whilst walking along the streets there are fans that blow water lightly over you, which is like heaven in the heat - did I mention that it's hot? There is also escalators that take you up onto the bridges to walk over the road. I like to believe it's because it is too hot to walk up stairs.
On one of our days we got a taxi out to the Outlet Mall. I didn't really have enough money to appreciate it. There were outlets for store such Michael Kors, Pacsun, American Apparel and of course sunglasses and perfume shops. We also went to a normal mall, which was located on the strip. It basically had every shop you could want. There were a good selection of restaurants - we went to Johnny Rockets - very entertaining when the staff just break out into dance. There were a good selection of clothing stores, and a few souvenir stores too.
We also visited an all you can eat buffet as we heard they were pretty good in Vegas. We went to one at Planet Hollywood and it was amazing. Pretty much any type of food you could imagine and some super scrummy desserts. At one point, whilst sat alone eating a piece of cake, a man sat on the table next to me starting laughing and said 'you're facial expressions are telling me that's a good cake to choose' - awkward. It was a good cake though.
On a night out in Vegas, we went to Marquee nightclub. We had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. When we were stood in the queue, two men came up to us and said they needed two women to walk in with them get into the club for free. So we followed them to the front of the queue and sure enough we got in for free. I'm not sure if that's normal. I don't really know what happened there.
The place was massive! I can't even remember what the layout was. It was dark and I had a lot of wine. I do remember that a single vodka and coke was about $15. So we didn't buy many drinks.
The place was packed and by the end of our night it was hard to move, so we left.
We also went on a night out to an ice bar - Minus 5 Ice bar, which was also pretty cool. Not any different from any other ice bar I have been to though. You can pay extra to have bigger coats and hats though. You can see the cool hats below.
I have so many regrets from Vegas.....
- I regret no taking more photos. For some reason I barely took any!
- I regret not going to a pool party. I think it's a must whilst in Vegas. Unfortunately my leg was too burnt, and getting in a pool or sitting in the sun were just not an option
- I regret not going to 'Old Vegas' - I'm not sure what is there, but I have heard it is pretty cool
- If I had more money I would have love to have done a helicopter ride, because that would have just been the coolest.
- I regret not going in and looking around every hotel. I expect there is so much to see in each!
- I regret not going to In n Out Burger - WHY WHY WHY
- And finally I really wish I had done a bus tour because I am such a fan of bus tours these days
Basically I am going to have to go back one day. What a shame. Or not.
Miami - Red South Beach Hotel
Tuesday, 14 June 2016
So last week I went to Miami! What an amazing place.
We stayed at the Red South Beach Hotel. It was more mid-beach than South Beach so it was a bit of a trek when we wanted to explore, but Ubers became life/feet savers.
We upgraded our room so we had a bigger bed, as neither me or my boyfriend are great at bed sharing. The room was well air conditioned - another life saver, and there was a en-suite, wardrobe, fridge and safe. Also a TV and dressing table. There was an iron and ironing board - but please, we were on holiday - so I pretended that didn't exist.
As you probably guessed by the name, the theme of the hotel is the colour red, so the hotel and rooms have a nice red decor.
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| Bedroom |
We didn't pay for an ocean view room - which I believe was an option (I guess this would be the higher rooms) but we could just see it through the buildings. We mainly looked out over a main road - Collins Ave, which could be a bit noisy at night - a lot of racing cars and sirens. But this didn't bother us too much. What was annoying though was the other people staying in the hotel. We were often woken up by shouting, and people walking down the corridors talking loudly and playing music at 5am - but hey it is Miami, a lot of people go there to party, and I expect it's the same in most hotels.
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| View from room - window was a bit dirty! |
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| Hotel pool area |
The hotel also had a nice pool area with a restaurant. The restaurant offers room service - although we didn't take advantage of this. We did however have the most delicious mushroom pizza there. Service was a little slow, but they made up for it with the delicious food. One day we even had a pizza out by the pool while we were sunbathing - heaven.
I'm ashamed to say I never actually went in the pool as the only time I went down it was pretty busy and I was too engrossed in my book. There were plenty of sun loungers for sun bathing and the hotel offers beach towels to use by the pool or the beach.
The beach is literally two minutes away. Cross the road, and walk down a small street and you are there. There were plenty of places to hire sun loungers and parasols - $35 for 2 loungers and a parasol for the day. As you can imagine the beach was beautiful. There was a path so you can walk all the way along it. A lot of people were jogging along the path - crazy people - I could barely walk in that heat.
The hotel also offers tours to different places around Miami, such as the Everglades, the Mall, the Sea Aquarium and many others. Obviously these are at a cost, but the prices seemed reasonable. This is booked through the concierge at the front of the hotel.
Over all we were happy with the hotel and would probably stay there again. The staff were friendly and the hotel had everything you need for a holiday in Miami!
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