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Sunday, February 24, 2008
VIVA LAS VEGAS!! Part 3
Well I'm near to the end of my trip and have packed so much in, that I haven't kept up a daily blog, as I had intended. So, I have decided to write sections highlighting every different aspect instead.........
THE HOTELS.
As I said, I was staying at The Luxor, and it is possible not to leave your hotel in Vegas as they offer everything you need for your stay. I quite enjoyed The Luxor, as it was at the south end of the strip, and so slightly away from the manicness you find as you head north. However, each hotel is an experience in itself, and The Luxor had it's fair share of excitement all week. 2 days before I arrived, Paris Hilton was appearing at LAX, the hotel's nightclub. Ashlee Simpson was there on the Saturday night and there was a championship boxing match on the same night too. Then there is Caesars Palace, which houses the Colesseum, where Bette, Cher and Elton will be residing this year. The Bellagio has a Cirque Du Soleil show in residence, and has the fountain displays every half an hour in front of the hotel in the vast lake. Spamalot is at the Wynn, Phantom is at The Venetian, Toni Braxton is at the Flamingo and Mamma Mia at the Mandalay. The worst hotel on the strip, in my opinion, is the Excalibur, which is set out like a castle and just looks tacky. All the hotels have casinos, with bars and waitresses all joined together, and what I noticed is the different type of waitress depending which hotel you are in. All the waitresses wear very little, but in Harrahs they look like hookers through and through, where they're slightly more refined at The Mirage. But only slightly.........
THE SHOPPING.
I wrote of my experience at the Caesars Palace Forum shops, however, I hadn't discovered the Fashion Shopping Mall opposite the Wynn hotel at that point! Housing 6 department stores, including Macy's, Saks, Neiman Marcus, this 'mall' is enormous and has pretty much everythng you could want. But then there is the Esplanade at the Wynn and the shops at the Palazzo Hotel. I didn't think things could get any more ostentatacious, until I disovered these. You'll find the most expensive and exclusive designer boutiques here. The Venitian Hotel has its own forum of shops similar to Caesars except, the Venitian has built replicas of St Mark's Square inside and outside to house these shops. You can also travel by gondola to reach them!! There are moving walkways goin over bridges which go over the lake amidst the hotel. The Bellagio also has a similar set of shops to the Wynn and Palazzo but with their own signature style and design..
What I love about the States and shopping is the service, as 95% of the time it is excellent. And you know when you come across a 'good' salesperson, as I did in Kenneth Cole yesterday. I'm not allowed in there, as I don't need any more clothes really, but I LOVE their shirts. My salesperson was Rochelle, who saw me looking at a shirt, and made her move. Slghtl redundant as I had already decided to buy it, just by looking at it, and it was under $100, but she escorted me to the dressing room, and promptly returned wih 2 more shirts which she decided would go with my eye colour!! She was right in one case but I did refrain from taking that too. However, she had one final trick up her sleeve as I left the dressing room. "Stephen. You have seen upsairs, haven't you? It's our sale merchandise" She might have just told a fat girl from Tuscon, that the buffet was open and free, as I found myself climbing the stairs with a heavy heart. However it was all vile so I left with just the one shirt!
I must mention Abercrombie and Fitch though. Firstly, because the staff there are sooooooo not like the staff in the New York branch and this is unacceptable and wrong. Secondly, because I was mooching around, and was stopped by a woman who thought worked there. Given what I look like at the minute, she really needed to go to Specsavers, BUT just for one minute, she thought I could have worked there, and I'll accept that!
# posted by Lola Lasagne : 7:53 PM
