Welcome to Las Vegas, the Adult’s Disneyland!
Almost 3 months behind my Vegas trip but better late
than never they say 😄
Verdict: I would
recommend trying Denny’s at least once because of the awesome service and
value-for-money meals.
And that’s the end of this drawn-out post. If you would like to see more photos, tap here!
Till next time J
I’ll try to put in as much information as I can on this post
so you can refer to the must-see, must-do and must-eat in Vegas! Be prepared
for a lengthy read.
🦁 wanted me to have a new travel
experience since I’m flying all the way to Canada again, so he decided to buy
me a short trip to Las Vegas ❤ It was a remarkable experience
and I truly recommend for everyone to visit Las Vegas at least once in your
lifetime. I have grown to prefer travel destinations that are less crowded, have
more natural sceneries and flowers compared to noise, lights and party and yet
I enjoyed myself immensely in Vegas!
We departed from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and
arrived at McCarran International Airport (LAS) after 5.5 hours since we
transit at Seattle, and layover for 1.5 hours. If it’s a direct flight, it
would only take 2 hours and 40 minutes but the price will double up. We got a packaged deal for flight and hotel from Travelocity at about $1,500 for 3pax.
We have compared a few online agencies that provided the same service and
Travelocity was one of the cheapest, at time of purchase.
The price here
includes:
-3 nights’ accommodation at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’s
City Room (460sq ft)
-Return flight tickets from Vancouver to Las Vegas by Delta
Air Lines, with a stopover at Seattle
-Resort fees payable during check-in
Accommodation
Pick a hotel on The Strip because it’s the most happening
place with lots to see, and some say it’s actually safer than the hotels
off-strip since there’s a steady stream of people 24/7 and it’s brightly lit.
Our pick was The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Hotel which has
one of the best views ever! Our City
Room is 460sq ft huge and comes with 2 very comfy Queen Beds, a luxurious
bathroom and a cosy sitting area. Our room looks directly out to the renowned
Fountains of Bellagio, so we could enjoy the shows from the cosiness of our
hotel room.
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| View from our hotel room |
What is The Strip?
The Strip is a 6.8 km stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard lined
with upscale elaborately-designed hotels and fancy casinos, where all the fun
is happening. Along The Strip, you can see fancy hotels with different themes
of different countries ranging from Egypt to Paris, New York to Venice and lots
more!
Transportation
The best option to travel up and down Las Vegas Strip would
be the Deuce (bus) as they have unlimited ride passes at $6 for 2 hours, $8 for
24 hours and $20 for 72 hours. The Deuce’s frequency is every 15 minutes and
operates 24 hours a day. You may find out more here!
I would recommend walking if you have the stamina to do so
as you will be able to explore and take in the sights & sceneries at your
own pace and stop by for Insta-worthy shots anytime you want. A word of warning
though, it would be quite impossible for you to finish the whole stretch on 1 or even 2 days cuz there’s just too much to see and you will be distracted at almost every
stop with famous replicated buildings apart from cool stores selling random
knick-knacks. Your nose will also be tickled by wafts of delicious
mouth-watering food every now and then, or just the smell of marijuana haha.
If you are travelling from the airport to your hotel, or the
other way around, I recommend using Uber if you have more than 2pax. If
you are travelling alone, go for the Airport Shuttle.
I’ll illustrate a scenario below to explain why.
Scenario: Let’s
say we are travelling from McCarran International Airport to The Cosmopolitan
of Las Vegas on The Strip. The ride would roughly take 17minutes.
1.
Uber – Estimated cost around $12 to $15 for
sedan (fits max 4pax)
2.
Lyft – Estimated cost around $14 to $17 for
sedan (fits max 4pax)
3.
Taxi – Estimated cost around $23 to $26 for
sedan (fits max 4pax)
4.
Bell Trans Airport Shuttle - $18 round trip for
1pax
Please note that Uber & Lyft only accepts cashless
payment, and that is credit/debit card payment tied to the app.
Seasons
Las Vegas is packed with tourists in all seasons with the
peak months ranging from March to May, October and November where the
subtropical desert climate is most comfortable. As Las Vegas is located in the
desert, the temperature can be very extreme and varies widely between morning,
afternoon and night.
Spring :
March to May, 4 to 32 Celsius
Summer : June to September, 16 to 44 Celsius
Autumn/Fall :
October to November, 2 to 29 Celsius
Winter : December to February, -3 to 19 Celsius
As I visited Las Vegas at the start of summer (June), I
would highly recommend whoever visiting during summer to get your drink fix at Fat Tuesday, which saved me from thirst.
Famous for their frozen specialty drinks, you can pick a drink with or without
alcohol from a variety of flavours ranging from Hurricane to Pina Colada, White
Russian to Margarita and so much more. If you are not a fan of slushies, you
can also choose for drinks on the rocks 😄 Fat Tuesday drinks are a great way to keep the desert heat at bay and you can get refills at a cheaper price with the reusable souvenir cup from your 1st purchase!
Food
There’s just too many choices to choose from but basically
most of the food we had tasted great!
Set in a beautiful floral arrangement with cheerful summer
colours, The Buffet boasts 15 live-cooking stations and serves an international
colossal of 120 dishes ranging from Spanish paella to Japanese sushi, Chinese
dim sum to French pastries, and more. Tingle your taste buds with the freshest
Alaskan snow crab legs and Prince Edward Island mussels exclusively available
on Fridays and Saturdays.
Verdict: I find the
Alaskan snow crab legs a tad too salty even though I can eat fairly salty, and
the dessert were too sweet. Sushi, paella, beef was good though. Only go for it
if you can eat a lot and like a humongous spread of choices.
Operating
Hours : 7.30am – 3.30pm & 3.30pm – 9.30pm
Dress
Code : Resort Casual, tank
tops/swimwear not allowed
Price : From $29.99 to
$52.99, pricing differs for brunch/dinner, weekdays/weekends
Damage : $201 inclusive of sales tax
& gratuity
We went for The Buffet on the day we arrived. Since we did
not make a booking beforehand, we went slightly earlier to avoid the queue. We
reached around 5.50pm and the place was already starting to get packed. It was
dinner time on a Saturday, so we paid the highest rate of $52.99 before the
8.25% sales tax and 18% gratuity (tips), which comes to $67/pax. I don’t really
do buffets since I have a smaller than average Asian appetite and am picky
about food, so the $67 ain’t really worth it for me.
PS: Tipping for meals usually range from 15% to 20% in Vegas 🤭
This is undeniably the best burger joint in town! We tried 3
different burgers, the Shackburger, Smokeshack and Shack Stack over 2 different
meals and each was undeniably good with tender juicy beef patties. My favourite
was the classic Shackburger topped with melty cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and a
slap of their signature Shack Sauce. It was soooo delicious it’s literally
fingers licking good. For those who don’t eat beef, there’s also the Chicken
and Vegetarian options. Side dish worth the calories is the Cheese Fries. The
combination of Cheddar and American cheese sauce over a bed of freshly fried
fries is too good to pass up!
We ordered 3 burgers, 1 cheese fries, 1 cookies & cream
shake and an iced tea to share. On average, a meal for 1pax inclusive of a
burger, side and drink would cost around $12-15.
Verdict: YES, YES and
YES! Visiting Shake Shack is a must, you won’t regret this.
Operating Hours: Differs for each location, check out the official website for
details
Dress Code :
Casual
Menu Price :
From $2 onwards for drinks, $3 onwards for food
Damage :
$37.72 inclusive of sales tax & gratuity
Dining here was a random decision made right J Craving for some
barbequed meat, we randomly googled for a BBQ restaurant from the comfort of
our hotel room and found Virgil’s. They pride themselves as the BEST BBQ
Restaurant in Las Vegas so we gave it a try, and boy were they good!
We went for Popcorn Shrimp, Beer Battered Onion Rings, BBQ
Nachos and a House Smoked BBQ Classics Combo (Memphis Smoked Pork Spare Ribs
& Pulled Pork) with 2 complimentary sides. The shrimps were fresh, the meat
was tender and juicy and the flavours were on point.
Verdict: A meal well
worth the money and calories. For the price we paid, we had to stuff ourselves
very full and yet still couldn’t finish all the food as the portions were
really huge.
Operating Hours: Sun to Thu (8am – 12am) & Fri to Sat
(8am - 1am)
Dress Code :
Casual
Menu Price :
From $2 onwards for drinks, $5 onwards for food
Damage : $81.40
inclusive of sales tax & gratuity
This was my least favourite meal in Las Vegas. Due to the
raves and awesome reviews all over Instagram, I convinced our group of 3 to try
In and Out and boy, were we disappointed. I’m not sure if it’s because we had
high expectations after seeing the positive reviews or if it’s because the
chef/meal preps’ were in a bad mood, but we weren’t impressed with the burgers
or the fries at all. The patties were a tad dry and kinda similar to the ones
we can have in McD and the fries were mediocre.
We had 1 Cheeseburger, 2 Double Double, 1 Fries and 2 Iced
Tea to share and the price was not even $20 after sales tax and gratuity so I
guess the price is really on the low-end. Another good thing was the queue that
moves really quickly, you barely have time to read the menu and decide your
choice before you are greeted at the counter even though there’s a snake line
in front when you arrived.
Verdict: Go for it if
you are in a rush or if you are low on funds.
Operating Hours: Sun to Thu (8am – 12am) & Fri to Sat
(8am - 1am)
Dress Code :
Casual
Menu Price :
From $1 onwards for drinks, $1.60 onwards for food
Damage : $18.60
inclusive of sales tax & gratuity.
Denny’s is an American diner-style restaurant chain
operating more than 1600 outlets around the world. Famous for their
value-for-money concept, this restaurant dishes up huge portion of meals at a
fraction of the price you would expect. Suitable for casual family dining and
gatherings, Denny’s serves breakfast all-day-long where you have the option to
mix and match and build your own Slamwich (sandwich), the very reason we went
there J Because
I really love breakfast and I wouldn’t mind having breakfast food for the rest
of my life haha! Not to mention we were served by a friendly cheerful waitress
who attended to all our needs, that really made our day.
We ordered the Grand Slamwich, All American Slam, a
cappuccino, a hot coffee and an iced tea. Both breakfast platters come with
eggs, hash browns, toasts and more. We had a hard time finishing all the food
even though there’s 3 of us and only 2 mains to share. It is undeniable that
the taste wasn’t over the top delicious but it was above average and for the
price we are paying, that’s good enough!
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| Credits: Denny's |
Operating Hours: 24 hours / Daily
Dress Code :
Casual
Menu Price :
From $2 onwards for drinks, $2 onwards for food
Damage : $33
inclusive of sales tax & gratuity.
Other food options we were interested but didn’t manage to try were Mr Mamas, Steak n Shake, Kabuto, Dirt Dog and Truffles n Bacon
due to time constraint. Perhaps you can check it out and let me know 💌
Must-Visit/Do
Below here is a list of activities that you can indulge in
at Las Vegas 😆
1. Take a selfie with ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las
Vegas, Nevada’ sign – FREE of charge
-Operation hours: Varies, check out the
website for more details
-Fees: FREE
-Operation hours: Daily / Every hour at 8pm,
9pm, 10pm
-Fees: FREE
4. Immerse yourself in the Eiffel
Tower Light Show
-Operation hours: Daily / Every 30 minutes
from sunset to midnight
-Fees: FREE
5. Take in the view of Las Vegas from Eiffel
Tower Viewing Deck
-Operation hours: Daily / 9am to 12am
-Fees: from $14 on Vegas.com
-Operation hours: Daily / 10am to 7pm (last
admission at 6pm)
-Fees: $22 for adult / $17 for children
aged 4 -12 / FREE for children below 3
-Operation hours:
-Fees: from $29
-Operation Hours:
-Fees: from $23.45 for adult / $9.05 for
children aged 7-17
*The above prices reflects the discounted price you
can get on Klook
for Daytime tickets J It will be
30% more expensive if you choose Anytime tickets.
9. Watch a show because Vegas is famous for their splendid
shows and awesome performances!
My recommendation would be Le Rêve -The Dream because it was just
too good. Le Rêve combines water, fire, swimming, acrobatics and spectacular
effects with a beautiful storyline.
We got our tickets on Vegas.com
for around $160 per pax for the 6th or 7th row seats and
it was definitely well worth the money!
10. Check out vintage signs at Neon Museum
-Operation hours: Daily / 9am to 7pm
-Fees: $22 for general admission
*Guided tours, combos and Tim Burton experience are
available at different price and timing
11. Buy a variety of different flavoured chocolates and merchandises at M&Ms World
and Hershey’s Chocolate World
13. Shop till you drop at Las Vegas North/South
Premium Outlets
Last but not least Earn Real Rewards!
Play the game ‘My Vegas BlackJack’ and accumulate game
credits to turn them into real rewards!
Things to Note:
-All prices stated in above post are in USD.
-Sales tax in Las Vegas is 8.25% but hotel rooms on The
Strip & Downtown charges 13.35% sales tax.
-Tipping is the norm in United States so please remember to
tip the porter who helped with your luggage, your Uber driver, the waitress who
serves you drink at the casino or meal at the restaurant and so on. For guide
on tipping, read Zeke Quezada’s Guide to Tipping
in Las Vegas.
-Cannabis/Marijuana is legal in Las Vegas
-Some hotels charge for in-room wifi so do check out the
charges before you proceed for booking
-Food portions are huge in United States, so sharing is
preferable if you have an average Asian tummy
And that’s the end of this drawn-out post. If you would like to see more photos, tap here!
Till next time J
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