Week 4 of 4: Las Vegas, The Story

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”… until you put it into a blog! So I left off the San Francisco & Yosemite story with the shock that I had about the drive that we had coming up for us from Yosemite to Las Vegas so let’s get straight back into.

Day 21

This was probably the most emotional wake up that I’ve had in a while. After only 3 or so hours sleep, it was time to get up, make sure that all of our stuff was packed up before we packed up the car, checked out the hostel and headed out on to the road to head towards Sin City. To say that fuses were short between my travel partner and I would be an understatement! There were arguments galore about the situation, the choice in music and inevitably me falling asleep! The sooner we got there, the better!

Unfortunately, we were unable to go through Death Valley due to the road closures in the area meaning that the route that we had to head south through California and come up from the south side of Las Vegas into Nevada. Once we got out of the Yosemite area and were into the deserts of America, it was crazy to see how barren some of the land is with only a road cutting through it all. One of the things that I found really odd there was the random houses that were along the road! At times it felt like there 10s, if not 100s, of miles between individual houses that were in the middle of the desert. The only thing to break up the few hundred miles that we had to cover was the pangs of hungers, which meant a stop or two on the way to restock on food and water before heading back off to the continuous miles of asphalt, growing ever closer to our last, but certainly not the least, destination.

And then, there it was on the horizon! Coming through two hills, under a couple of bridges and you saw the glint of the sun off of Mandalay Bay and Trump hotel, along with the other huge hotels that tower over Vegas and what a sight it was! This wasn’t just for the excitement of being there but also finally getting this drive out of the way. It was from way out here that the scale of the place really took me aback. There were adverts every few hundred metres; the designs and statues on the road side and on the side of bridges; the extravagance of just the fast food restaurants! I’m talk about a McDonalds with chandeliers and fancy tiling! Already, this place was taking me aback.

We dropped the car off (you’ll be glad to know, we were on time after all of that…) and grabbed ourselves a taxi to the hostel that we were staying at, Hostel Cat, ensuring that we were taken down the Strip so we could take in the sheer scale and size of Las Vegas. I must admit, the place was far bigger and crazier than any picture of video that I’d seen of the place, it was insane! On top of that, it was upon arrival to the hostel that we saw how true the stories of Las Vegas were! Aside from this hostel being next door to a strip club, it was across the road from two chapels and one of them was a drive through one?! It was at one of these that two couple couples were having a midday joint wedding. What they say about this place is true it seems!

When it came to the evening, one thing this hostel liked to do was get everyone together to be social during drinks before everyone splits off and does their own thing. Their method of doing this was to have two benches in the courtyard of the hostel, which had become infamous here. Not only were the hostel staff all ready to party and join in with the fun by getting games going amongst the guests, the owner organised nights out in the hotel clubs with the contacts that he has, ensuring that the guests got value for money and were able to see that side of the city whilst on a budget.

It seems that the old saying “Just going for a while” doesn’t work when you’re sober either… After being warned to not stay out too long and to certainly not fall asleep on the drive to the Grand Canyon the following day, I stayed out until the early hours of the morning… (OK, it was completely morning as the sun was rising!) However, the evening was immense and gave me my first insight into life in this crazy city. After being (questionably) crammed like sardines into the back of a van (I was having to lay on top of someone’s lap! What was I told as kid about getting into the back of a stranger’s van…?) for the drive to the other end of the Strip, which we had no idea where we were heading, we finally emerged from the darkness at Mandalay Bay. We headed through the hotel towards the nightclub, Light, and I can tell you that, they look just as good inside as they do outside, the hotels.

Light is one of the bigger nightclubs in Las Vegas and host residencies for some of the biggest DJs and producers in the world. This evening it was GTA that were behind the decks and what a class act they were! As for the nightclub itself, what a place it was! An upmarket decor, great sound system, plenty of room to bust a move and a wide range of tables that you could reserve if you were in the business of doing that. With the high standards of dress to enter the place and the money that is in Las Vegas, there were some very rich looking individuals with their accompanying partners dressed to the nines and looking exquisite, as well as those trying to get the attention of said individuals.

So the night was spent enjoying the music, throwing a few moves and having a good laugh with both the guests and hostel staff until the lights came on and we were shepherded out of the place. As we were leaving, it hit me that I was going to be pretty tired the next day and it was going to get me some serious trouble… I realised that I should have left earlier but now I was stuck in the situation where it would be a case of spending $40+ on a taxi or waiting for those that I was with to head back.

This ended up being a little bit of an adventure along the strip at 0400 in the morning. Starting in the casino bar of Mandalay Bay, I was propositioned by a lady of the night (I politely rejected her advances), walked through several of the hotels on the Strip to see inside, was followed by a strip club promoter the whole trying to persuade us to go to his club and then finally, got into a taxi and headed off to the hostel.

Honestly, the effort and detail put into the hotels is phenomenal! You had a full sized sphinx outside a hotel, one shape as a castle, one with a rollercoaster on top of it! The money that must have been put into some of these really blows me away.

Day 22

I. Felt. Horrendous. After the couple of hours sleep that I had (I know it’s my own fault but I’m surprised I even woke up on time), breakfast and a cold shower to try and get me moving, we headed to grab the car (of course another Mustang, this time it was orange and convertible) from the airport and drove towards the Hoover Dam initially. I was certainly willing myself to stay awake but I was really struggling to and I was being reminded in no uncertain terms how unfair I had been the night before and was at this moment in time. To be honest, I deserved it but it was worth it…

Even though it was the longer drive, we decided that we wanted to head to the South Rim of the canyon as it was more of a raw experience (based on online reviews) where you could get as close to the edge as you wanted. This route also allowed us to take a route via the Hoover Dam, allowing us to drive over it, have a quick look at the huge piece of engineering the it is before we carried on to our main taret for the day, the Grand Canyon.

After taking the scenic route through Arizona and heading left at Flagstaff, we were heading north towards the South Rim and honestly, I was not ready for what was about to come. We parked up, grabbed ourselves a quick look at the map to see the best place to have a look at and then headed towards the canyon itself. Then there it was, stretching out for miles ahead of me; The Grand Canyon. In all its glory, on a clear day, it was very hard to comprehend how large it was, how big the rock formations were or how insignificant I was in comparison. So to sit (relatively) near the edge and just look out over it all was fantastic as an experience and really put it into perspective. (Also makes a great picture too!)

On the way back, we spotted a Pizza Hut and decided that was the spot for dinner. Thinking it was just an average dinner, we were interrupted by two young boys (around the age of 10), who were with their parents, had heard our accents and started asking questions, as being from such a small and secluded town, they’d never really met anyone outside of it so to be faced with two guys from the UK, after only seeing them through media was bewildering to them. We both answered politely but if I’m honest, even though their parents were with them, I felt a little uncomfortable with the whole experience and it was only reinforced when they were allowed to give us their Facebook accounts and expected us to add them. We politely took the note but disposed of it as soon as they were gone. As an experience it was surreal to see how they reacted to us, they looked like they had seen a ghost!

One of the coolest parts of the drive back was approaching Las Vegas from the south with it all lit up. The road that we took came behind a couple of hills again and then there it was, just like the drive in, but this time the view was from slightly above and the lights stretched out ahead of us.

Another element of the drive that we enjoyed, though wasn’t planned, was out little drift onto the Strip! We were driving up the Strip, finding the gaps in the traffic and enjoying the quick acceleration of the car (in a controlled manner) but got ourselves in the wrong lane and had to turn off. Taking a quick detour in Flamingo’s valet parking, we turned around and got a little too eager on the throttle, kicking the back end out by accident. Then as we were turning back on to the Las Vegas Boulevard, we didn’t realise we were on the verge of running a red light until it was too late so hurriedly turned out, again losing the back end!

For once, after not sleeping too much and it finally all catching up with me, I decided that this evening was one to finally give in to the tiredness and come back the next day, fully refreshed and ready for me to attack the rest of the trip.

Day 23

With a full night of sleep in me, I was ready to attack the day and was excited for out first booked event of this week, the pool party of Borgore at Foxtail, this being the beach club hosted at the SLS hotel. But first, I needed to get some breakfast in me and utilise the gym that they had on offer at the hostel. This “gym” was an outdoor area in the courtyard that was a selection of benches, bars, changeable dumbbells and home fabricated squat rack and dip/pull up area. It had everything I needed to get a full session in however the only downside to this was that it wasn’t covered, exposing it to the 40+℃ sun which brought about two problems: 1) it was bloody hard work to train here due to the heat! 2) I had to use socks on my hands to stop the bars from burning me… To keep the continuity, it was good to get those endorphins released and feel pumped up, mentally and physically, for the rest of the day. I mean, I also got to have a good pump on for the topless pool parties, right?! (Don’t worry, I’m kidding!)

With lunch done and dusted, it was time to walk down the road to SLS to go and throw some shapes and enjoy the poolside. With us being unsure of the running order for the day, we decided to get there not long after the party opened up so it wasn’t too busy. This seemed to be a master stroke as the pool at Foxtail is split in two halves, one face the stage and the other on the opposite side of the centralised bar so we were able to get a place side in the front pool, giving us a good spot to put things whilst we sat and enjoyed a few drinks and enjoyed the warm up acts. Having that pool spot was key as the walk down had left us covered in sweat too!

With this being my first pool party, it was an interesting concept but a very fun one at that. You had the choice of chilling out in one of the cabanas pool side (if you had invested in getting one), bust a move or two pool side (careful to not slip though!) or, chill or dance in the pool. The sun was blazing down, the music was good and the pool was refreshing to say the least so it was all round good, clean fun. Well, apart from the couple that decided my towel was the place to lean whilst they started to really enjoy themselves, if you know what I mean… However, aside from that one thing, the event was amazing fun and would be something that I wanted to do a lot more of. I also was able to meet Borgore afterwards and was given a place on the guestlist for Nervo, who were playing the next day!

Pool party finished so it meant that it was time to grab dinner and get showered and changed for an evening planned with the hostel for us to head to Fremont Street, the original strip in Las Vegas. This is where the gambling in Las Vegas started before the city became what it is today, whilst also playing host to the first hotel-casino in the city, now named Golden Gate.

The Fremont Street Experience has all your usual Strip fun of Las Vegas with the hotels and casinos but also has plenty of street performers to keep you occupied and outdoor music to listen to whilst you’re there. If that’s not enough for you, there are zip lines that go over the top of the street or a light show above you to enjoy.

After wandering through the street and enjoying the live music and street performers, some of which are still there from the start of their career, we headed into one of the casinos to enjoy a few cheap drinks and a spot of gambling. This was followed up by an evening in the bar/club that was in the Golden Nugget, dancing the evening away with those from the hostel and some of the other tourists in the city.

Day 24

Another morning and another usual routine with breakfast and training to get ready for another day of partying at pool parties and the second of the events that we had got tickets for. Even though we had been offered to see Nervo, unfortunately I was unable to get anyone from the hostel to join us at SLS again so we ended up going to the hostel ran event that was taking us to the Monte Carlo pool party. After being loaded into the van like last time (this time I was on a seat rather than laying on someone!), off we went with a good session of van karoake with some classic songs. It was all fun and games for us all until one person didn’t know Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and was in for an afternoon of a lot of stick and some serious questions were asked of them! It’s Bohemian Rhapsody, who doesn’t know Bohemian Rhapsody?!

After arriving at the hotel, we headed into the pool area with a towel in hand and set up our base camp of loungers before stripping off and heading into the pool area. This kind of pool party was different to the one that I’d been to the day before, with there being a generic DJ playing music and a variety of pools to entertain yourself in. Ultimately, this sort of scene was more designed for the social interaction of chilling out with the people that you are there with rather than partying hard. It was still a good experience and fun nonetheless, though I did feel that I would have preferred seeing Nervo. You win some, you lose some.

So what did I have in store for the entertainment that evening? That was the second of the booked events to see Martin Solveig at XS, Encore Hotel. I grabbed dinner, got suited and booted then joined a few at the hostel for some drinks. When the time came around, we headed to the Encore hotel ready to bust some moves once again! (It’s surprising that I didn’t get bored of all this dancing and partying but I was loving life!)

Though there are a lot of very nice hotels on the Strip, the Encore/Wynn resort is one of the few that are solidly ranked within the top 10 of hotels. Hosting several nightclubs, a beach club, it’s own golf course and all the usuals amenties you would find in any other hotel but with a higher end spec, it is certainly a very nice place to stay and warrants the higher price tags that it holds. The scale of the nightclubs can be seen from the picture to the left, showing the area that it opens up to, giving you the option of enjoying the music inside or out and having a little time off from the partying with some “in club” gambling.

As for the main act, Martin Solveig was excellent and always a must see for me when he’s in town or at a festival. The only downside that I found with partying in Vegas is that the soft drinks, including water, are expensive! Irritatingly, most bartenders seem to refuse to serve tap water meaning that you have to pay usually upwards of $10 for a bottle of water and then to top it off, a tip is expected for them taking the bottle out of the fridge, uncapping it and handing it you! Dear me… A lot of partying was done before it was time to head back to the hostel and have the usual story telling from the day and night’s events with those at the bench until the sun rose and it was time to head to bed. Looking back, I always wonder how I managed to keep it going and it’s only now that I realise I didn’t actually sleep that much! God only knows how I would have been if I’d drank!

Day 25

The usual morning routine: breakfast, train, get ready for the day ahead. As for my plans that day? I had no idea! However, that all changed when I sat down at the bench and was offered the chance to head to Afrojack’s pool party at Wet Republic! For free! What a way to start your day and what an opportunity to be given. Of course I was going grab an opportunity to head to one of, if not the biggest pool parties on the whole of the Strip.

Swim wear? Check. Bank card? Check. Stylish bright pink sun glasses? (As featured in the Borgore pictures above) Check. Sun cream applied to my awfully sensitive British skin? Check! Good to go! Grabbing the (slowest ever) bus that goes down the Strip and stops off at every hotel, our destination was the opposite end of Strip to the hotel with the 14m bronze statue of lion outside, the MGM Grand.

One of the things to look out for when it comes to guest lists in Las Vegas is the fake promoters. I have encountered a few either personally myself or through others. The only kind that I have come across are those that take your number and put you on their “guest list” but when you arrive at the clubs, your name isn’t on it. The other kind that I have heard about, but thankfully not encountered, are those that claim to give you wristbands for a reduced price giving you queue jump, entry and an open bar only for them to arrive at the club and be turned away. It seemed that we had been possibly sold a treat with the former of these two scams but after the initial confusion, we were in and ready to enjoy the pool and some music… or so I thought.

As you can tell from the picture, the place was very busy and pool space was a premium. Saying that, any space was a premium wherever you were. Once things had settled down and we managed to get ourselves some space, I had a great time and could see why the place was so popular, with bigger name DJs and providing extra things compared to Foxtail such as bar food, though this wasn’t the cheapest food so get your bank loans ready if you plan to eat and drink here!

Once Afrojack was done, we headed back to the hostel to get ourselves refuelled and chill out whilst we worked out what the plans were for the evening ahead and it wasn’t long until another guest list offer came up for The Chainsmokers at Omnia. Another night, another guest list. This time was at Omnia to see The Chainsmokers. For a city that provides you so many opportunities to see the biggest names in dance music at some of the biggest and most impressive clubs, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of guest lists that there were and how easy it was to get on one! All you needed was to Google for a promoter from a certain club and you would be set! But hey, I’m not complaining!

However with this being the combination of two guest lists, it turned out that one was genuine whilst the other one was a fake. Luckily, as a collective we managed to get in eventually and were blown away by the interior of this club. The main room was split into two kinds of decors, one very light heavy with a wall of lights and the other with more of a “normal” nightclub feel with a balcony for the second floor, having the DJ decks in the middle of it all. The next thing to surprise me was the chandelier in the club as it dropped from the ceiling! This was set of concentric rings with lights and LEDs on them that moved up and down from the ceiling, twisting in and out of each other and bringing a whole new level to light shows in a nightclub! Alongside these lights, were the trapeze artists coming out of the roof of the club, dancing and performing above the crowd of people below. Oh, I nearly forgot about the music! Of course The Chainsmokers were a class act too!

Day 26

Though I did do the usual “morning” routine, the day was one that was spent completely chilling out and getting ready for leaving the following day so the only interesting stuff that happened was in the evening.

The final evening in this crazy city was to head on out with the hostel staff and walk along the Strip to just experience everything that goes on around you and surprisingly, was one thing that I’d yet to do properly whilst here. After a couple of drinks at the hostel, we loaded up the van again and headed to the Bellagio and what a way to start the evening with the fountains display in front of the hotel.

Following that we walked along the Strip, which still amazes me how crazy this place can be at its peak. You have these hotels that are huge in size but then they have tremendous architechure that makes them stand out to the others. You have Paris with it’s own half sized Eiffel and Arc de Triomphe, the Venetian with its own set of canals and gondolas or as I said before, the Bellagio with its gardens and fountains. After a wander and enjoying a few of the street performers, we headed to one of the cheaper casinos, Casino Royale, to allow those on the hostel budget to experience the joys of gambling in Las Vegas with a minimum bet of $5. For me, I just took on a spectators role with this one, casually trying the skills that they say you need to win, though I can tell you I would not have won anything! I did however see someone from the hostel staff walk up to the roulette table, bet on 00 and win first time before just walking away! Talk about lucky!

The evening finished with us rocking out at one of the outdoor bars along the Strip, playing some old school classics, encouraging a lot of air guitars and questionable in quality singalongs. With a long journey back on the coach, this evening wasn’t too much of a late one and allowed me to head back, get a good night’s sleep and be ready to get up bright and early to catch my coach back to LA.

Day 27 & 28

Unlike the rest of this story, these days have been banded together due to the lack of action as day 27 consisted with me getting up, finishing off the packing and saying some emotional goodbyes to those who were staying and working at the hostel, with who I’d built an incredible bond with in such a short amount of time. The rest of the day? Spent on another coach back to Los Angeles, checking back into Samesun for one final before our flight back to the UK the next day.

And that answers your question of what happened on the Day 28; we got everything set and headed to LAX for our flight back to the UK, again with Norwegian Airlines before heading back to home and enjoying some much needed home comforts, rest up and share the stories of my first incredible adventure!

There we have it, the first series of my travel stories completed and published. Following this post will be the Las Vegas review then I’ll start on the next series of blog posts covering another one of my trips. I hope that these posts have been useful one way or another and thank you for taking the time to read them! Be sure to like my Instagram and Quilty Covers Facebook page to hear about when posts are put online as soon as they are done!