Las Vegas!
So I haven't been to Sin City in awhile. The strip is now all proprietary hotels, there isn't much of an incentive for me to go being the every loyal hotel chain brand person that I am. The Hilton Las Vegas offered such great rates and was an easy place to stay but the hotel has fallen on hard times and is now the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. I wonder if the name change will confuse people or not. It seems Hilton's new strategy is timeshare hotels on the strip with the other Hilton branded hotels around the strip. On this trip, I flew out on JetBlue for this quick weekend trip. I haven't flown the airline for some years. I have to admit, I was not that much of a fan even though I know some die hards. I think it was mostly because Long Beach Airport is under such a construction mess that it was difficult to think of it as a real airport. Also, the $19 per day parking didn't sit well with me. At least with other airport locations, there are alternatives to the on-site parking. Not so much at LBG.
After landing at McCarran International, I headed to Elara. A word to those getting picked up at McCarran, the airport charges $2 per hour for parking. If your ride comes early, it isn't a big deal for them to pay the parking and walk into the airport. Also, for terminal 3, passengers are basically funneled out to the parking structure to get picked up. I made a pit stop at Sonic Drive-In to grab a quick late lunch before getting to the hotel.
The Hilton Grand Vacations hotel, Elara, is pretty swanky. Attached to the Planet Hollywood hotel, the vibe is definitely modern. I believe before Hilton, the Starwood folks owned Planet Hollywood. I haven't seen the complete transformation when it used to be the Alladin Hotel. The PH folks definitely revamped the interior to give a hollywood-esque feel. If you ever rent a room at Elara, I would definitely recommend the handicap accessible rooms. If you can forgo the tub in the shower and deal with the shower stalls with handicap railings, the rooms are much larger and comfortable than the regular standard rooms. They also have better views.
Went out to dinner at The Strip House in Planet Hollywood. I saw the restaurant featured in The Best Thing I Ever Ate show on Food Network. Funny thing, most steakhouses are not known for their dessert and that was exactly what was featured in the show. The chocolate cake was totally awesome. It was 24 layers of cake and ganache that really was done well. I'm not a huge chocolate cake fan and I was pretty impressed that it wasn't overly sweet but still moist and rich. Not to diss the entrees, my bone-in ribeye was excellent which was paired with garlic fries and mac n cheese. The sides are sides, I would recommend ordering if you need something besides meat to eat at dinner.
Afterwards, headed out to Tao for a night of drinking and music. I find it funny that in Las Vegas, it is a super mega nightclub but in New York it is just a fancy restaurant/lounge. Tao was tao, enough said. :)
The next day, headed out to Pho Kim Long for lunch. I normally don't like visiting "authentic" asian restaurants outside of my home area because it generally dissappoints. The restauarant is pretty large and can accommodate large groups easily. The restaurant was packed with asians wanting some pho or rice plates. Prices were a tad high but the restaurant environment probably commanded the price. The food itself was ok.
After lunch, went by Sonic Drive-In for happy hour. You can't beat half off drinks. It was nice to grab something before checking into the Doubletree Las Vegas Airport hotel. Since my group drove into Las Vegas, I opted to fly and leave Monday morning. I don't relish the 6 hour drive. I'd rather just wake up early and hit the airport. The hotel was clean and the shuttles runs every half hour. Super easy. I did notice when I went into my room that the maid forgot to empty the trash in the room (which wasn't much). When I showered, I noticed the bathroom mirror fogged up to show how the mirror was wiped clean with windex. You know when you clean a mirror with water, the water stains are still there? Yea, I saw that when the mirror fogged up. That's definitely a first for me ever in a hotel.
After landing at McCarran International, I headed to Elara. A word to those getting picked up at McCarran, the airport charges $2 per hour for parking. If your ride comes early, it isn't a big deal for them to pay the parking and walk into the airport. Also, for terminal 3, passengers are basically funneled out to the parking structure to get picked up. I made a pit stop at Sonic Drive-In to grab a quick late lunch before getting to the hotel.
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| I couldn't capture the couch on the side but the room is huge |
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| Handicap accessible bathroom makes for a very large bathroom |
The Hilton Grand Vacations hotel, Elara, is pretty swanky. Attached to the Planet Hollywood hotel, the vibe is definitely modern. I believe before Hilton, the Starwood folks owned Planet Hollywood. I haven't seen the complete transformation when it used to be the Alladin Hotel. The PH folks definitely revamped the interior to give a hollywood-esque feel. If you ever rent a room at Elara, I would definitely recommend the handicap accessible rooms. If you can forgo the tub in the shower and deal with the shower stalls with handicap railings, the rooms are much larger and comfortable than the regular standard rooms. They also have better views.
Went out to dinner at The Strip House in Planet Hollywood. I saw the restaurant featured in The Best Thing I Ever Ate show on Food Network. Funny thing, most steakhouses are not known for their dessert and that was exactly what was featured in the show. The chocolate cake was totally awesome. It was 24 layers of cake and ganache that really was done well. I'm not a huge chocolate cake fan and I was pretty impressed that it wasn't overly sweet but still moist and rich. Not to diss the entrees, my bone-in ribeye was excellent which was paired with garlic fries and mac n cheese. The sides are sides, I would recommend ordering if you need something besides meat to eat at dinner.
Afterwards, headed out to Tao for a night of drinking and music. I find it funny that in Las Vegas, it is a super mega nightclub but in New York it is just a fancy restaurant/lounge. Tao was tao, enough said. :)
The next day, headed out to Pho Kim Long for lunch. I normally don't like visiting "authentic" asian restaurants outside of my home area because it generally dissappoints. The restauarant is pretty large and can accommodate large groups easily. The restaurant was packed with asians wanting some pho or rice plates. Prices were a tad high but the restaurant environment probably commanded the price. The food itself was ok.
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