Guest Post: Where to stay & what to see in Vegas!

Hi there!

I’m Bre and you can find me over at Breezy in Bloom.  I’m a bride to be (this June!!) in the last year of my twenties, and tend to blog about the typical day-to-day goings on in the life of Bre.  While talking to my friend about my first guest blog, I told her I didn’t know what to say in my intro, and this is what she suggested, “Hi, I’m Bre, and I’m your one stop shop for all things fuchsia, fit, and fabulous!”  I got a good laugh out of that and thought you might as well.  No? 

Anyway, let’s get down to the reason I’m here.  Tracy posted that she was looking for someone to write a guest blog, and since I have never done a guest blog before, I thought this might be a good opportunity to take the plunge.  I thought myself rather brave since at the time I volunteered I had no idea what the blog was going to be about.  I received and email response from Tracy the same evening asking for a blog about my favorite vacation spot.  That’s easy!  Not too long ago, I wrote a blog about this very thing!  Don’t worry, I won’t just copy that one, I will give you some freshness.

My favorite vacation spot is (drum roll please)……

Being from Northern California, this is an easy place to get to because it’s only an hour and forty-five minutes by plane, or an 11 hour drive (notsomuch).  My Vegas addiction started in 2005, and I have been there a total of 9 times in 5 years!  The most important things to take into account when planning your Vegas trip are location, pool, nightlife, budget, and time of year.  Late Spring and early Fall are the best times to go because the weather is still pool-worthy, but you are less likely to sweat off all of your make-up at any given time of day.  I have compiled some favorites and tips below in hopes of making planning your Vegas trip a little bit easier.

It is especially important if you are heading to Vegas in the summertime to choose your hotel based on the pool.  The hotels in Vegas have so much to offer: amazing restaurants, clubs/bars, and SHOPPING!  Another good way to select a hotel is by the location on the main strip:

·       The Wynn is a fabulous hotel with great nightlife and an amazing pool.  They have an adults only pool (which also happens to be topless if you’d like) and a separate “everyone” pool for families and girls who don’t want their significant others gawking at other women’s racks all day.  Depending on your interests, the downside is that it’s down toward the very end of the new strip area.  If you like shopping, it’s very close to Fashion Show Mall.  The rooms here are plush, but if you are on a budget, avoid room service at all costs!

·       MGM Grand is definitely not as swanky as The Wynn, but they do have some pretty cool pools with a lazy river to float in with your cocktail.  If you are ballin’ on a budget like us, MGM is the perfect place to stay.  The hotel has several restaurants, a great location on the strip, decent nightlife, and the famous MGM Lion’s Den.  It’s an indoor habitat with a bunch of lions just “lion” around (get it?).  They also have an awesome players club.  JB and I joined and played a bunch of penny slots while we were there a couple of years ago and we still get offers for free rooms and discounted rates at all of their partner hotels.

·       Mandalay Bay is included in the MGM players club and is somewhere in between MGM and Wynn.  MB is located on the opposite end of the strip from the Wynn, but is connected to the FREE tram that runs between there and the Excalibur hotel.  They have a House of Blues there as well as other great nightlife spots, awesome pools, and the rooms are a couple of notches above those at MGM.

If you are going during the melt-your-face-off season, your daytime plans should include indoor activities like shopping (Planet Hollywood and Fashion Show Mall are great for this) or lounging by the pool.  Save the strip exploring for the evening when it’s cooler outside.

If you are not into the club/bar scene, or you are going with your significant other, spend your money on a nice dinner and a show.  Vegas has some of the best dining in the world and there is nothing more awesome than a Cirque D’ Soleil show!  They even have an Elvis Cirque show now.  I have seen The Beatles Cirque show, LOVE, twice.  You can also find Broadway shows, like Avenue Q there from time to time.  The pic below (featuring my handsome future hubby) was taken at Cathouse, a restaurant inside Luxor.  It has an awesome lounge vibe with a voyeuristic element.  There are large plexi-glass windows that look into a staged dressing room and girls in lingerie go in and “get ready” for their evening.  They sit at a vanity and brush their hair and apply makeup and it’s crazy that you are sitting at a table eating dinner while this is happening 20 feet from you.  They have a great menu with things like macaroni and cheese and spaghetti with meatballs and delicious cocktails.

With everything there is to do it Vegas, its hard not to have a FABULOUS time.  Hopefully I have provided some helpful tips to consider when planning your first, or next, trip to Vegas.  If anything, maybe I just got you really jazzed about going there!  Whatever you decide to do with your summer vacation, I hope you have a wonderful time! 

One last thing to remember:

What happens in Vegas….ends up on Facebook/Blogger!