Shine On Las Vegas

I’m dragging a bit today, but clearly not enough to pass up the Belgium Waffles at Payard, a Patisserie and Bistro at Caesar's Palace. Um yeah, and the chocolate truffles afterwards. Hopped up on caffeine and sugar, we started our tour of the Flamingo Hotel.



Flamingo Hotel

Now if you haven’t been to this property lately, as they say, you haven’t been here at all. The designers have taken a few pages of what looks like a Barbie design book to design the new Flamingo Go Room. These rooms are designed in an electronic pink, mixed with some old-school browns and whites. The rooms are peppered with photos of the original Flamingo and the overall effect is sort of a fun, quirky “what’s old is new again” feel.

If your Las Vegas budget doesn't allow for some of the higher-end properties on the strip, this is absolutely the place you should check out. If you want more bang for your buck, you might consider the GO Metropolitan Suite, which has an amazing view of Las Vegas.

After our tour, we were served a light (thank god) luncheon, in one of the pool-side cabanas. I pretty much sprawled out on a lounger and watched the world go by, but did manage to interact some with the Sopranos look alikes from the the Soprano's Last Supper show that came to pay us a visit.

The Wynn Hotel

In the evening we had the opportunity to tour the delightful Wynn Hotel. For some reason, this property really captured my attention. From the whimsical parasols marking the lobby bar to the fine service to the Lake of Dreams show, I really enjoyed our visit here.

We were slated for another dine around tonight, but fortunately we only had two restaurants on tap. We over consumed a giant platterful of appetizers at the Wing Lei, the only Chinese restaurant in North America to be awarded a Michelin star. Next, we were served an unlimited arrray of meat and side dishes at SW Steakhouse. Here in the photo you see Carole, one of our group, making friends with Travis, the restaurant manager. (I did mention how hospitable the staff is here, right?)

High-Flying Las Vegas

Tonight’s evening festivities, once again took top billing, as we were treated to an amazing helicopter ride over the Las Vegas strip by Maverick Helicopters. My camera was not up to the challenge of taking any shots worthy of looking at, but this one will give you at least a general idea of what we saw.

We had a few helicopter virgins on our ride, but despite a few lingering fears, once we were airborne, they were totally into the ride. It wasn't as scary they thought it would be. If you've ever considered taking this trip, you absolutely must do it.

After all that flying, what else could we do but enjoy a few late-night drinks? We made our way to The Luxor.

We started our imbibing with a few beverages with such names as "Liquid Lust," "The Vixen," and "Love Potion" in Liquidity, a bar located in the center of the Luxor casino. Next we moved on to LAX, a two-story hangout for the young and beautiful. We enjoyed SKYY Vodka drinks in our private, ultra-VIP loft, while overlooking the activity.

Finally, we made our way to Noir Bar, entering through their private entrance. Reservations are required at this bar, and there's a rumor that you can't get in unless you (or your concierge) know the right people to call. Lucky for us, we were hanging out with the right crowd.

Our late-night schedule got us back to the hotel by around 1 a.m., pretty late, but still enough time to take a quick soak in the Jacuzzi.