Wild West road trip - day 12 - Route 66, Hoover Dam & Vegas

[TrueBlue]

Day 12...

And we are heading for our final destination - Las Vegas

But first I was excited about driving Route 66 on the way

We had a slight lie in this morning and didn't get up till 9am. We all had a great nights sleep and the bed was so comfortable.

We packed our things up yet again and loaded the car. We then went and checked out and headed to the food court from breakfast. Again there was lots to chose from but me and DH went for a large cinnamon bun each and DS has fruit loops

We left the Maswik Lodge at 10.30 and headed towards Las Vegas via Seligman (route 66)

It took just over an hour and a half to reach Seligman and our starting point of Route 66.

Seligman is a fantastic place to visit. There is so much to see and take photo's of and I believe this is where they modelled Radiator Springs from the movie Cars from

We popped into all the gift shops along the way. Most of them sold the same things like fridge magnets, key rings and car stickers etc but there's also lots of old memorabilia that isn't for sale to look at. Lots of items from many decades ago. It's a really funky place.

I wish we could have stayed here for longer as there's so much to check out

We got back in the car to continue on with our journey to Vegas.

We were still about 3 hours away ...

There wasn't much more to see on Route 66. It was just like a duel carriage way with dust on either end. This was approx 80 miles long but it's a fast road and not many cars on it

A while later we had reached Hoover Dam so we got out the car again to take more photo's.

We had been here before but I still look at this in awe. The heat was still over 100 degrees. We parked in the free car park which is a few minutes walk from the dam itself. If you park in the official car park it's $10

We didn't stay too long at Hoover Dam mainly due to the excessive heat plus I wanted to get to Vegas by the afternoon as we still had to return our car.

We arrived at the Venetian around 3pm and parked the car in the multi storey self parking. It's free to park here which is a bonus - unlike New York New York!

We offloaded the car and took the lift to the lobby and the check in desks. There was a bit of a queue but we were called forward within 10 minutes.

We were delighted when they told us our room was ready for us. They asked if we wanted to upgrade to a larger suite with a view of the strip for an additional $45 per night. We declined as we knew the rooms were huge anyway and I wasn't too fussed about having a strip view.

We headed for the lifts and walked many corridors till we found our room (suite) on the 15th floor.

As soon as we opened the door I was in luxury heaven

The suite was massive and we had a bathroom to die for! This was a standard room and i'm so pleased we didn't upgrade.

This is one of the many corridors which lead to the rooms...

And these are the corridors that take you to the swimming pools

Scott wanted to stay in the room whilst we returned the car to Avis at the airport. He's about to turn 15 and we trust him so didn't have a problem. He was happy to charge his phone and get in touch with his friends back home now that he had wifi again.

Me and DH went back to the car and drove to the airport in search of Avis. It was straight forward to find and easy to return the car. We were out of there within 5 mins and grabbed a taxis outside to take us back to the Venetian again.

We could now kick back. relax and enjoy our time at this amazing hotel.

We went back to our room and got DS and went out to explore the hotel. We first went in search of the swimming pools.

We found one but we knew there was 10. This is the one which was closest to our room

It wasn't a huge pool but there was plenty of really comfortable sun loungers and also 2 large hot tubs

We then continued on the tour of our hotel but we first stopped for food in the food court. There is many places to eat here including a panda express, johny rockets, pizza place, and indian place. I can't remember what else there was but there was at least 12 different place

I had a chinese dish, DS had Pizza and DH had an indian dish

The food was lovely, couldn't fault it at all

We then continued on with our walk around the hotel. There is many top designer shops, lots of restaurants, a massive casino and of course the canal with the gondolas.

The hotel is kept in pristine condition. I have never seen anything like it before. I've been to Dubai 5 times and none of the hotels i've been in there even come close to the Venetian.

We then came across a mini version of St. Mark's Square. There was lots of people here and various acts were performing.

With was jaw dropping and I was totally in love

We then walked through more shops and the canal until we reached the exit to the strip

We ventured out onto the strip. It was starting to get dark now so we decided to stay at this end of the strip.

We crossed the road and went into the Mirage hotel for a look. Then onto Treasure Island too. We checked out the stop for the Deuce bus as we were travelling on this tomorrow. We then crossed back over towards the Venetian and popped into Walgreens for some juice and snacks.

We stood on the balcony of the Venetian and watched the volcano eruption over at the Mirage.

By now we were getting pretty tired so decided to have another early night.

The High Roller was lit up and we had a good view of it.

We cuddled up in bed and watched a bit of tv before falling asleep in our comfy beds.

Tomorrow is more vegas

[JoS]

A fantastic day. Venetian is a beautiful hotel. I just love it there. The rooms are just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

[christybell]

Wow... that looks amazing...

[neilhd]

Wow that looks amazing!

We're going next year and Jo just pointed me in the direction of this trippie.

I think you might have just sold me on the Venetian!

How far was it from that town on Route 66 to Vegas? Looks really cool but probably too far for a day trip there and back? I'd probably take a day trip to Hoover dam in a car anyway - could I do both?

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by neilhd

Wow that looks amazing!

We're going next year and Jo just pointed me in the direction of this trippie.

I think you might have just sold me on the Venetian!

How far was it from that town on Route 66 to Vegas? Looks really cool but probably too far for a day trip there and back? I'd probably take a day trip to Hoover dam in a car anyway - could I do both?

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Hey Neil

You won't be disappointment if you book the Venetian - honestly it's stunning. Think we got it for £150 per night.

It's about a 3 hour drive from Vegas to Seligman and you'd drive through hoover dam on the way there and the way back so if you leave early enough in the morning you could easily do both. There's a couple of cool places to have lunch in Seligman too so if you left Vegas about 9am you'd be there in time for lunch and a good look around.

Then stop off at Hoover dam on the way back

[Melbatb]

The Venetian is such an impressive hotel! And wow to your room!

[abiknox]

Loved reading today as we did exactly the same in reverse back in 2012. We even stayed at the Venetian and the Maswick lodge.

Such an incredible journey to take.

[georgemac]

All I can say about that room is WOW. When we were in Vegas also loved the Venetian. The room makes it even more impressive.

[orlandosgr8]

Totally love the look of Seligman, what a great place to visit and WOW to the Venetian too, such a contrast to all of the natural amazing sights you've seen but still looks fantastic in it's own way

[Guest]

You brought back some great memories for us. We have a Route 66 sign from that very same Seligman Sundries shop. Then your hotel room in Vegas- a duplicate of the one we had. And the Gondola rides - so soothing. Love the Venetian and Palazzo.