Just back from Las Vegas yesterday. All in all a good trip. Found it a little overwhelming at first until we got used to the way things are.

Stayed the first few nights at MGM Grande. When we arrived there was a seven hour ( yes you read it right ) wait at the check-in desk because the computers were down. Never experienced anything like it. However, when we finally got to our room it was very comfortable, and a nice retreat from all of the noise and bustle outside. Beds really comfortable and room spacious. Large marble bathroom.

We went out to look around and could not believe the scale of everything !!! when we got back, the whole of the ground floor was teaming with what looked like thousands of people, got very lost in the crowds and found later that this was the Madonna concert people coming out of the arena. Again , never seen anything like the amount of people around. As it was now very late, we had a meal at the cafe in Paris, nothing special but were glad to sit down and eat after a very long journey.

Had a good first day, lots to see and do, booked Mama Mia at the ticket booth. Breakfast in the MGM, ( gave the buffet a miss as we are not really big breakfast eaters) good service, nice breakfast, 14$ each.

Went along to the Mandalay to get our theatre seats, very nice in there but right at the end of the strip and a bit out of the way. Came back via the Luxor which is looking really tired and in need of a refurb. Came back on the tram. Lunch at the Bellagio, very nice, good atmosphere and enjoyed the food.

Mama Mia, not the best show we've seen but was OK. The theatre in the Mandalay was lovely, a real pleasure. Walked back to Paris where we had another late meal. This time we were very late, so waited ages to be seated, staff had gone sick so they were waiting for people to come and work at short notice. There is a limited menu after 1130 and the meal was not too good.

Second day, feeling better after some sleep, enjoyed all of the entertainment this end of the strip has to offer. Started to enjoy MGM, Lions , rainforest cafe, shopping, and the slots !! Booked a meal at Fiamme in the hotel. Looked very trendy, plenty of people in there, but I have to say the worst meal of the holiday ( and the most expensive ) MGM has a lot of restaurants so there is plenty of choice.

There is a lot of construction work on the strip huge blocks of buildings going up, some of them look like apartments.

Third day, walked further today, had lunch at an italian restaurant in the fashion show mall, it had an outside terrace. Food good, huge portions , good wine, had a long and enjoyable lunchtime. Staff here are very pleasant and we returned a couple of times during our stay. Reasonable prices and good service.

Moved to the Venetian on the third day. What can I say !!! Gorgeous room ( I think all rooms are suites here ) corridors smell lovely !!! Again lots to see, good reproduction of St Marks square. Great for evenings , we spent a couple of nights in one of the bars ( think it was called Raffaellos ) good wine, very pleasant staff and good restaurant upstairs ( though a bit expensive ).
We got a good deal on the Venetian due to a member of this forum giving us information, so, many thanks, it was gorgeous !! The outside pools are very big and loads of sunbathing space, will be great in the hot weather. There is a lot of building going on here which didn't disturb us but it does overlook the pool so hopefully this will be finished before the summer.

This end of the strip has newer buildings, seems cleaner and again, plenty to see and do. Went to see the Phantom, booked online. Theatre was specially built for this production and it pushed all of the right buttons for me. Love music and live theatre, so this was one of the highlights of our trip.

We had heard good reports about Grand Cafe Lux, had a meal here, huge portions, but not our favourite. The coffee shop attached to it had great coffee and gorgeous muffins which we had every day instead of breakfast.

We enjoyed Vegas, more than we thought we would because we are not serious gamblers but there are plenty of other things to keep us entertained. Loved the hotels we stayed in, Staff everywhere were pleasant and couldn't really fault any service.

We would have liked to venture out into the canyon etc but we found the travelling really tiring and it took us a while to recover. Would not rush back here but having said that, an enjoyable trip.

After five days, we flew down to Fort lauderdale to join the Ruby Princess for a week.