Lux Life London
Travel

A Family-Friendly Three Days in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Our next stop after Zion National Park was Vegas, this was also our final stop in our big family West Coast USA roadtrip. Time to let loose and splash the cash!
This was the city I was really looking forward to, but not because of the lights, casinos and clubbing, it was because after a year and a half I was finally going to be reunited with one of my closest friends from Australia; Pike!
His real name is Andrew, and he’s an awesome magician currently working with the amazing comedy magician Mike Hammer. Our first night in Vegas we checked in at The Palazzo hotel, and Pike got us VIP tickets to see the Mike Hammer show, and to be honest we weren’t expecting much as it’s on the old vegas strip in the Four Queens Hotel, but it was actually amazing!

Mike Hammer Comedy Magic at the Four Queens Hotel

Mike Hammer was so incredibly funny my sides ached from laughter, to the point I had to deep breathe to try and stop my ribs from hurting so much! I’d definitely recommend taking a trip downtown to the Four Queens Hotel to see his show – check out some of his videos on youtube and you’ll see why.

 

Downtown Light Show

Also downtown have an awesome music show in the street at 9pm every night. The music and light show on the roof over downtown is INCREDIBLE!

Visiting Vegas With Parents

We stayed in Vegas for four nights, right on the strip at The Palazzo, which is the nicer, newer, sister hotel of the Venetian. Although I loved Vegas, I found it really difficult being there with my family. It really is somewhere you need to go with friends, I felt so restricted and hated that I couldn’t just join in with the parties and go and investigate the clubs (sadly Andrew isn’t much of a clubbing boy). So, if you’re in your twenties and going with your parents, I would recommend to maybe go with friends instead.
I did have some time away from my parents on our last day though; Pike (Andrew) and I went to the Fashion Forum shopping centre, and then to the Wynn Hotel and Casino for some Blackjack. We always used to go to the casino back in Perth, so it was great fun to go gambling again! I gambled and lost a whole dollar, while Pike sadly lost quite a lot more… :/

Mine and my brother’s suite at the Palazzo – it really was amazing, and had everything we could want!

The Themed Shopping Malls

The Venetian gondolas at The Venetian Hotel & Mall looked super cute but we didn’t go on these as they were really expensive, and all they did was take you up and down in front of the hotel! But they’re fun to watch, and if you don’t mind paying for them then I’d definitely recommend doing them.

I found the circular escalator in Ceasars Forum super impressive – I’d just never seen one before! Loads of the shopping centres are themed so you should definitely check out all the shopping malls, even if you don’t buy anything. Ceasars Forum was all Roman themed, whilst The Venetian’s shopping center was all Venetian themed.

 Ceasars Forum; my brother, mum and I, and my childbearing hips&thighs.

 

Bellagio Fountain Show

We saw the Bellagio fountain show twice, and it really is worth watching as it’s totally free, and you just stop on the pavement and watch it! Each night is different, but my favourite one was the Michael Jackson Billie Jean show!

Free Show at Treasure Island

There’s also a free show at Treasure Island. All of these free shows are fantastic if you’re on a budget and can’t afford to go and see any concerts or theatre productions while in Vegas. They give you the feel and buzz of Vegas, without the hefty price tag.

 

BB Kings at Mirage Hotel

As soon we we found out there was a BB Kings blues club in the Mirage Hotel in Vegas, we had to go. We’ve been to the Nashville, Memphis and now the Vegas ones, so now we just have the two Florida bars to go to! I love BB Kings so much, it has a great atmosphere, fantastic music, and the food is just delicious! If ya fancy going there, just head into the Mirage hotel and follow the signs, it’s pretty easy to find.

 

This photo took me so long to get!

 

Day trip to Hoover Dam from Vegas

One day we ventured out to Hoover Dam, as it’s only an hours drive from Vegas and as we were roadtrippin’ we had our hire car to get us there. We saw a lot of tours offering excursions to the Dam, and they were really expensive! It’s much cheaper to just hire and car and drive yourself! On the way we had to stop off at Hard Rock Cafe to get my brother’s drumsticks. He’s a drummer and collects drum sticks from every Hard Rock Cafe we go to around the World!

 

Stop off for breakfast at Southwest Diner

We left quite early in the morning to try and beat the rush and tourist coaches, so stopped off for breakfast at this amazing diner/cafe on the way to Hoover Dam at Boulder City. They did the biggest pancakes ever, complete with sausages and eggs!

Make sure you get to Hoover Dam early to beat the crowds!

Hoover Dam was busy despite the fact we got there early, and it was much much smaller than I thought it would be, but still something everyone needs to visit.

 

Make sure you see all of the Vegas hotels

On our way back to Vegas we drove through the other side of Vegas, and drove past all the big hotels the other end of the strip to where we were staying. I loved the New York hotel below, how awesome is it! I highly recommend taking some time during your visit to see all of the major Vegas hotels. They’re all SO different!

Have some casino time and chill out time

We also drove past the Harley Davidson Cafe! After we got back to the hotel, we had a bit of a gamble in the casino, went for lunch, then went up to the swimming pool to relax. The great thing about the Palazzo and Venetian, is that if you stay in one they’re both connected, so you’re allowed to use the facilities in all of the other hotel. So even though we were staying in the Palazzo, we could use the swimming pools in the Venetian too.

They had sunbeds in the swimming pool! How cool is that!

One of the Palazzo swimming pools. They had so many, all various sizes, from small pools to large ones.

Soak up the Vegas street atmosphere

Also, The Venetian’s shopping mall with the gondolas going up and down was SO cool! And one of my favourite things about Las Vegas was the entertainment on the strip, the whole way down was full of entertainers. From singers, to mime artists, to musicians, they are everywhere. I could spend hours just walking up and down listening to them all.
On our last morning in Vegas we noticed this. Only in Vegas do you get an intimacy kit amongst your Cashews!
Follow:
Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

Find me on: Web | Instagram

You may also enjoy:

Share:

7 Comments

  1. Sharlxo
    August 3, 2012 / 11:06 am

    wow your pictures are amazing! looks like so much fun – you make me want to travel so bad! haha xxxx

    Reply
    • Catherine Lux
      August 5, 2012 / 12:15 pm

      Thanks, it was great fun! I'd definitely recommend going!

      Cx

      Reply
  2. Anonymous
    August 5, 2012 / 1:55 am

    Great photos!

    I'm not a fan of clubbing but I think even I would want to go to the clubs in Vegas. lol

    As long as a Hangover situation didn't occur……… lol

    Love to go to Vegas…that and New York and Calfifornia are my three main ones. 🙂

    Reply
    • Catherine Lux
      August 5, 2012 / 12:17 pm

      Haha! I love The Hangover 😛

      California and Vegas are amazing, and I really wanna go to New York too! Like most people I'd love to live in New York for a year or two, just to see if it really is like it is in the movies 😉 hehe

      Cx

      Reply
  3. obat peninggi badan
    August 7, 2012 / 4:21 am

    postingan yang bagsu tentang"Las Vegas, Nevada"

    Reply
  4. Roxy
    October 3, 2012 / 9:20 pm

    Ah can't wait to go now!!! 🙂 What time of year did you go? x

    Reply
  5. Unknown
    February 8, 2015 / 9:46 pm

    I <3 Vegas, have been 6 times already! thewanderlusthasgotme.blogspot.co.uk

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *