We want cheap

Las Vegas and LA was just a pit-stop for us to rest and get over the jet-lag before we travel southwards. We chose travel to Vegas to stay because it was much cheaper than in LA. Even after factoring in the airfares from LA to Vegas (US$167.92 for the 4 of us). I booked one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) hotel on offer at the time of booking. About US$300 for 4 nights including exorbitant amount of “resort fee” tax which most hotels in Las Vegas charge.

We found out the cheap way, our hotel was cheap for various reasons. First off and most important of all, the wifi in the room was limited to only 3 devices and they were dead slow in this smartphone age. I need to pay to upgrade the speed. Second, we wanted a hotel located along the strip. Yes, the hotel is indeed along the strip but the end of it, really far from the hustle and bustle of the City of Lights. Third, I had some last minute essentials bought from Amazon delivered to the hotel. The Amazon’s order was split into 3 shipments. The hotel’s concierge charges $5 handling fee for each package received! 😱

Our Highlights

Since it was just a rest stop, we did not really plan or pre-book any tours. We (at least me and Jo) just wanted to visit the Grand Canyon.

Our highlights were the helicopter tour over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon.

I also learnt that children do not share the same enthusiasm as us. Hoover dam – one of the largest hydro-electric plant in the world, Lake Mead – largest reservoir in United States and the Grand Canyon – a natural wonder of the world was nothing compared to thorny scrubs and geology of the area.

Mark & Jacy’s highlight was a visit to the Adventure Dome at CircusCircus. Thankfully adults did not need to pay if we were not taking the rides.

Favorite Meal

We did not particularly hunt for food as most of our meal time was out of whack due to jet-lag.

Edward : McDonald’s breakfast. We had it for 4 consecutive days.

Jo: Beef noodle at Noodle Asia @ The Venetian

Mark : McDonald’s too

Jacy : McDonald’s too. 😂

My 5 tips for traveling in Las Vegas

1. With Data, you can travel! Get a sim card from the AT&T store instead of Walgreen. When I arrived in a city, my priority is to get a sim card for data. So the nearest to our hotel is Walgreen. I bought a blank sim card for US$10 and paid another $60 to top up. I didn’t get it working as the lady at the store didn’t know how to. I ended up the next day at an official AT&T store. The staff told me if I went to their store, the sim card is free, I just need to top up credits and they will set it up quickly.

 

2. Use ride-share (Uber or Lyft) especially from airport to hotel. When we arrived at the airport, there are signs directing to the ride-share pick up area. Even in the hotel, there are designated entrances for their pick up as well. They are convenient, and much cheaper than taxi. Remember to use a promo code (especially for LYFT) on your first ride, you have $20 discounts ($5 x 4 rides). I referred Jo to download and use Lyft and in turn, I have another $5 x 4 rides discounts. We want cheap!

3. Be mentally ready that children are not as enthusiastic as us at places of interest. Our interest will most likely not be their interest. We will continue to discover this for the next few months.

4. Las Vegas is in a desert. Distances seems farther than it looks. Use Google maps to check how long it will take for you to walk from one hotel to another. We just use Lyft. 😃

5. Bring a light jacket everywhere you go. Even though it may be scorching hot outside, hotels blast their air-conditioning to compensate for the heat outside. We were caught a few times without and had to shiver walking inside Bellagio.

That’s it for our short trip in Las Vegas. We also went to the Marvel Avengers Station which I felt was not worth it at all. Walking along the strip at night is also recommended.

We rented a car on our last day in Las Vegas for a short road trip towards Los Angeles airport.