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Old 15 Mar 19, 10:36 PM  
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smithlane
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The BIG Las Vegas Surprise - 23rd Feb 2019 - Travel home day, Hooters, LAS-LGW

Day 7

Going home day

After our late night I didn’t wake up until 10! It was then a real rush to get ready and downstairs to check out by 11 but we just about made it

Our not so scenic view from our room






I settled our bill of $335 which was for the room for one night and 2 days self parking. I had already paid $271 when I had booked a few months ago, so not cheap. I’m glad we got to try it out though!

We now went to load the car up with all our luggage and as it was 11.45 we bypassed breakfast and went straight for lunch. We decided on Hooters as Jim likes their chicken wings, yeah right
The restaurant is situated inside of the hotel. It’s a bit of a dive in here if I’m honest, really smoky and quite run down.













We got seated straight away though and our server was Jen.
We ordered 2 sodas then I went with chicken quesadillas and Jim a buffalo chicken burger with some BBQ boneless wings to share.
Didn’t take too long to arrive. The quesadilla was awful, I’m not sure how you can cock up something so easy but the chicken tasted regurgitated . The boneless wings were nice enough though. $75 including tip so not cheap either



Got a photo of Jim with the girls so he can brag to the guys at work!



I liked this sign



Jim had a little flutter on the roulette with his last $20. Well he came away with $45!



We now drove to the Car Rental Garage via the gas station to fill up. $35 from empty to full, god I wish fuel was this cheap at home. I wouldn’t even get half a tank for that much in my car!

Drop off was seamless, got given our zero balance receipt then headed upstairs to catch the shuttle back to the terminal. There was a bus waiting so got straight on.





10 minutes later we were pulling up, had a bit of a sort out of hand luggage outside before finding the British Airways check in.
Got a lovely check in agent Sharon, no surprise upgrade this time though. Back to cattle class with the minions . We needed to pay $100 for Jim’s golf clubs but didn’t feel too bad as we didn’t pay on the way out as we were WT+.

Security wasn’t too long. We needed to take shoes off, tablets out but liquids could stay in your bag. Why oh why aren’t all security regulations the same!
As we had only just eaten we obviously weren’t hungry so I found a charging station as I hadn’t charged my phone overnight so gave it a boost and caught up on trippy notes. Jim found the slot machines and gambled away his last dollars he had just won!
My last dollars went on a bottle of Fanta, Sprite and some Lifesavers for the plane.







We went over to board at about 4pm ready for our 4.45 flight. Didn’t end up getting seated until 4.40 so running a little behind, we took off at 4.55 so not too late.
The drinks service came round at 5.35pm. I got a Coke Zero and water plus the Sour Cream and Chive Pretzels, Jim had the same.



My IFE screen had gone blank so asked the cabin crew if they could reset it, only took a few minutes then I started watching The Equaliser 2.

Dinner came out at just after 6. Choice of either Chicken Curry or Vegetable Pasta. We both went with the curry. You also got a side salad, bread roll, chocolate and Salted Caramel pot and cheese and biscuits. It was surprisingly nice. Normally the food on the way home is far worse than going out!



Next film Hot Pursuit, this was ok perfectly watchable. I tried to get some sleep whilst watching. I managed a couple of hours but the plane was freezing so that’s what kept waking me up!

Woke up at 12.30/08.30 UK time. Put on Smallfoot, this is a lovely film.
Breakfast was served at 9.15am. Was a choice of a turkey bacon, egg and cheese wrap or spinach and mushroom. You then got a yoghurt, muffin and fruit cocktail.



The wrap was fairly disgusting so gave mine to Jim who happily ate 2! I just had the yoghurt in the end.

Managed another 45 mins sleep, god I was tired!
We landed at 10.45 and were off the plane, through PP control and had our bags by 11.20 so very smooth sailing!

I gave Maple Manor a call and they told us to meet them in the Orange Garage Level 1. A quick detour into M&S for milk, bread, ham, a chocolate flapjack and some drinks for the road we then walked over into the parking garage. The car wasn’t there yet so we waited and waited and waited some more. Getting a bit tetchy now along with a few other families that were also waiting.

20 minutes later the car pulled up, apparently lots of traffic in the area. The driver went to pay for our car parking ticket then we were off. Got to the barriers and the ticket hadn’t been paid for . This just about finished Jim off he was not a happy bunny ranting about how rubbish a company they were! To be honest it was annoying about the ticket but for the sake of £4 we just paid it to get on the road. At the end of the day they’ve looked after our car like we’ve paid them to do and they can’t help being stuck in traffic.
I put our address in on my Sat Nav to see what route it gave us and sure enough there were delays everywhere around Gatwick, I could see 3 accidents in the immediate area so god knows what was going on!

We were home by 1pm so not bad really. The kids came home shortly after, it was great to see them! Sam was full of stories from his skiing trip and Hope was just happy to be home. They were of course also wanting to know what we had bought them . Needless to say they were very happy with their presents.

The afternoon consisted of washing, washing and more washing . This is the downside to having no washing facilities and why I love self catering holidays as you don’t come back with any. It was good though as it kept me busy and my mind off going to bed. I lasted until 9.30 before I had to give in!

So that there ends another fantastic holiday Stateside. Even though the weather was freezing and hindered a few of our plans we still had such a fun time! It was lovely to have some time with just the two of us, we’re like ships passing in the night most weeks so we really appreciated the time away.

Highs
Getting upgraded to WT+ - such an unexpected surprise! The extra legroom and nicer food was very welcome

The Signature - exceeded our expectations, I can’t believe at one point I was thinking of cancelling and rebooking the Flamingo! The rooms were huge and felt very luxurious, the lobby smelt amazing every time you walked in plus the staff were very friendly and accommodating.

Death Valley - such an awe inspiring place! The scenery is just jaw dropping and we will certainly return.

Exploring the Strip - we had a great time exploring the different hotels. Some are certainly nicer than others with my favourites being The Wynn, Venetian and NYNY

Seligman - so pleased we stopped here on the way to The Grand Canyon. Real authentic town, we had a great lunch at The Road Kill Café

Grand Canyon - what can I say? Even with the slightly restricted views from the mist it’s no surprise it’s one of the Wonders of the World. We will most definitely be back but this time in the summer

Bellagio - I’m so glad we ended our holiday here, it felt lovely to spoil ourselves at the end of the week. Plus it’s a fab location on the Strip

Shopping - I have to add this in here! We both enjoy going to the Outlets and whilst not the bargains we’ve seen before we still managed to buy a fair bit at reduced cost

Lows
Only a couple lows thankfully
The weather - although we mainly had bright blue skies and sunny days it was FREEZING! At night the cold really took your breath away and we tried not to be outside for too long. Obviously the snow storm in the Grand Canyon wasn’t great either plus the 10 hour drive back to Vegas really wasn’t ideal but there’s not a lot you can do about Mother Nature.

Smell of weed and smoke - I knew they had legalised cannabis in Nevada but didn’t realise quite how strong I could smell it out on the Strip. We did get used to it after a few days but it’s one smell I really hate . Also some of the casinos are so smoky it would prevent me visiting them again

Bellagio - I do have to add this in the lows too. As much as we enjoyed our time here, it’s really not worth the price tag it demands. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful hotel but insanely busy and with the couple of complaints I had to make that I really shouldn’t have to from a hotel in this class it did put us off. Especially when we had such a great time at The Signature and that's a fraction of the price.

Will we return?
Absolutely! We would love to do the whole of Route 66 in a few years so would spend a couple of nights in Vegas on route probably staying at The Wynn. A return to the Grand Canyon is an absolute must too. Ideally for 2 nights to take time walking the trails onto the Canyon floor

What’s next?
At the time of writing we have 123 days until we go on our California road trip! You can read all about it in my pre trip here.
Thank you so much to everyone that has read and commented it really means a lot and spurs you on to get it finished!

TTFN
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Edited at 05:28 PM.
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Old 16 Mar 19, 03:38 AM  
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Nesbits
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Wow, what a great trip, I’ve really enjoyed reading along. You’ve given me some great ideas for our next trip whenever that will be. Thanks
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Old 16 Mar 19, 09:25 AM  
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Goldia
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Goldia's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 5
Restaurant Reviews: 43
All in all a fab trip. The weather was really bad. Is it usually so cold in winter? We went to Vegas in November many years ago and it wasn't hot, but it wasn't snowing or frosty. I can't believe Jim had to swap golf courses because the first choice was closed due to frost.

Still the weather didn't seem to scupper your plans as you still made it to the grand canyon and it does look awesome in your photos.

I'm glad you enjoyed your time just the two of you. I'm looking forward to reading all about your plans for summer...
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Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 16 Mar 19, 08:11 PM  
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Originally Posted by Nesbits View Post
Wow, what a great trip, I’ve really enjoyed reading along. You’ve given me some great ideas for our next trip whenever that will be. Thanks
Thank you so much for reading! I'm very pleased to have given you some ideas. Reading trip reports on here was how I got all of the information for this trip
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Old 16 Mar 19, 08:19 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
All in all a fab trip. The weather was really bad. Is it usually so cold in winter? We went to Vegas in November many years ago and it wasn't hot, but it wasn't snowing or frosty. I can't believe Jim had to swap golf courses because the first choice was closed due to frost.

Still the weather didn't seem to scupper your plans as you still made it to the grand canyon and it does look awesome in your photos.

I'm glad you enjoyed your time just the two of you. I'm looking forward to reading all about your plans for summer...
I think it was unusually cold for this time of year. We knew it wouldn't be warm as the hotels shut their pools until end of March but we really didn't expect arctic style weather
He was really gutted as that was the round we had paid for as one of his birthday presents and its a very famous PGA course, apparently
The photos really don't do The Grand Canyon justice, I couldn't peel my eyes away from the view! We will certainly be back but when its warmer
As much as I missed the kids it was really lovely to spend some time just the 2 of us
As ever thank you so much for reading and commenting Abby. I'm off to finish yours as I know I'm behind on the days. Your next one will be here before you know it
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Old 16 Mar 19, 08:26 PM  
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Well you certainly made the most of your time in Vegas. Just sorry the weather was so cold. Its not normally as cold as that...just unlucky. Thanks for sharing with us and I really enjoyed reading along with you. Looking forward to your next trippie in a few weeks time. We also stayed at Columbus in San Fran. Hope you like it. Thanks again
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Old 16 Mar 19, 08:37 PM  
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Great trip, thanks for sharing and I have really enjoyed reading along. Shame about the snow in the Grand Canyon but at least you are going back in the summer
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Old 16 Mar 19, 08:52 PM  
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Originally Posted by JoS View Post
Well you certainly made the most of your time in Vegas. Just sorry the weather was so cold. Its not normally as cold as that...just unlucky. Thanks for sharing with us and I really enjoyed reading along with you. Looking forward to your next trippie in a few weeks time. We also stayed at Columbus in San Fran. Hope you like it. Thanks again
Thanks Jo, I really feel we saw as much as we could in the week that we had. We were so unlucky with the weather, we couldn't believe it! We saw more snow fall than we did skiing in the Alps at Christmas!
Oh did you? That's good, it comes highly rated on here so hoping its ok for our stay. It looks to be in a great location which is always a plus.
Thanks so much for reading along and commenting Jo
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Old 16 Mar 19, 08:56 PM  
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Originally Posted by Cutiepie View Post
Great trip, thanks for sharing and I have really enjoyed reading along. Shame about the snow in the Grand Canyon but at least you are going back in the summer
Thank you for reading along! Yes it was a real shame but at least it was a unique way of seeing it that not many people have
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Old 17 Mar 19, 01:04 PM  
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Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
Thanks Jo, I really feel we saw as much as we could in the week that we had. We were so unlucky with the weather, we couldn't believe it! We saw more snow fall than we did skiing in the Alps at Christmas!
Oh did you? That's good, it comes highly rated on here so hoping its ok for our stay. It looks to be in a great location which is always a plus.
Thanks so much for reading along and commenting Jo
Really enjoyed reading along ... so surprised you packed so much in especially in that cold weather. I am used to snow and cold but didnt expect it to be so cold in Vegas. At Death Valley where some of the look out points were the wind was just freezing and it was even colder for you! So well done for persevering.
Columbus is basic but clean. We had the 2 bed little suite. Staff were lovely and you can be on the wharf in about 6 mins. Bus stopped outside and we went all over for pennies. Kennedys is an Irish pub/Indian food which is across the road. Food was lovely. Dont expect luxury, but it was clean and a bargain for the price. Hope you enjoy it.

Edited at 01:06 PM.
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