Las Vegas Holiday Basics that everyone needs to know

Las Vegas Holiday Basics

My 9^th visit to Vegas was to be a different one. Firstly, we didn’t have cash to burn so had a budget to stick to, but it still had to be special to reflect my big 40^th birthday. Secondly it was with our friends Debbie and Woody who have never been before so we wanted to show them what Vegas has to offer.

Hubby and I love Vegas, hence the multiple visits. Its five days of luxury but not with the park lane price tag. There is such a contrast of different things you can do. The customer service is amazing, I love the heat, the pools and the five days of trying out with lady luck.

I thought the first post to share should be Las Vegas Holiday Basics and what I think everyone needs to know.

Choose your hotel wisely

Choose your hotel wisely. I don’t mean the most expensive or exclusive hotel. I mean location. Central strip is where you want to stay and whatever your budget you can get a room here. We stayed at the Aria, mainly because 1) its lovely 2) the art is simply stunning and 3) my wonderful friend Mildred is a concierge there. I would 100% recommend this hotel.

This central location is essential as you will be walking everywhere and staying in the central strip means most places are within reach. We paid £2,300 for 2 people for 5 nights at the Aria including direct Virgin economy flights. We booked this package using Topcashback, searched for Expedia, clicked though to Expedia to book. This simple process rewarded us with £132 cashback. The pricey hotels in a good location are Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Ceasars Palace. If you want to save a bit go for Vdara, Planet Hollywood, Ballys. If you want cheaper Tropicana, Hurrahs, Flamingo are good. All the hotels are amazing with tons of restaurants, beautiful pools, huge gyms. Whether they be cheap or expensive. Hey you can even stay at the Travel Lodge which was opposite our hotel, we could see it from our Aria room!

Take comfy shoes

I wore my jawbone the whole time I was there this year. BTW get your jawbone from Amazon, they are bargain prices at around £30 for something like this.

So slight exception is that I did go the gym twice which included 2 x 5km runs. But in 5 days and 5 nights I did 93,000 steps, 43 miles ish of exercise. My highest day being 24,000 steps. You are going to want to wonder around the hotels and there is a lot of walking to do. On 24,000 step day we walked from Aria to Cosmo for breakfast, then walked to Ceasars Palace to explore, over to Cromwells for a wander and wee, Venetian for wander and gondola ride. Then back to Aria again. In the evening we headed to Old Town Vegas for more walking through hotels, drinks by the side of the strip and dinner at the 4 Queens. We got a cab back to the Aria after that. Old town is a 4-5 miles drive!

I mostly wore my trusty Birkenstocks, Nike flipflops (most comfy) or 6 inch New Look wedges;-)

Drink lots of water

I am advising this but I don’t think I adhered to it as well as I should have done. It is so dry in Vegas even in the spring heat so its rather important to drinks lots of water. Plus you might be drinking quite a bit of alcohol. We had one day where we drank from 4am to 11pm…pretty hardcore and you are meant to drink one water for every alcoholic drink.

The bars and restaurants are very generous with their water, you get it as soon as you sit down and they keep it topped up. So maximise this rather than buying loads of water as you walk around!

Make a local friend

Back in 2013 I met Mildred at the Cosmopolitan concierge desk. She sorted out so much stuff for my friend Nickys 40^th birthday. We got on like a house on fire and became friends on Facebook (of course!). Ever since then Mildred has sorted out everything for us on our stays, from restaurant bookings to trip recommendations to shows. She always knows the cool places, the best places that do not cost the earth, the most fun tours. This year she met us in Red Rock Canyon after our horse riding (a whole blog post to come on that as it was amazing) and we had lunch and a wonder around Bonnie Springs range. She also made us dress up for old fashioned photos.

If you are ever in Vegas do go see Mildred at the Aria for any advice, help with the latest and greatest things going on in Vegas.

If you only go to Las Vegas once

You should book a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon. It’s the most amazing trip ever and it truly inspiring and awesome. It is one the wonders of the world after all. It will take your breath away, it made my friend Debs cry, it is so worth it. I have done it a couple of times. Around 10 years ago we took a trip to the canyon and landed by the Colorado river and had a little boat trip. Then last year we flew to the canyon and then walked the skywalk a transparent semi-circle bridge. Both were amazing. You fly over lake mead and hoover dam and on the way back you fly along the strip.

A fab trip that is well worth the hundreds of dollars its going to cost. Maverick is the best company to use and if you webchat to them before you go you can save 10%.

So those are my Vegas essentials…I post a new post on my site normally every week day so I’ll be back again next week with my second Vegas post.

What are you Las Vegas holiday basics that everyone should know? Please share in the comments so everyone can read them too. I am always up for learning something new about my favourite holiday destination.

Get so many more top travel tips including lots to North America from Cora and Helen over at Inside Our Suitcase.

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