I still do not have a passport. Now in order to travel to most places in the Antilles, you need to have a passport. I need to get one soon, because we have some exciting trips planned for the near future, but for now, I am restricted to the United States and it’s territories. And, you guessed it, that includes Puerto Rico.
We stayed at the Conrad at Condado Plaza in San Juan. Now owned by Hilton, this is a high-class hotel with a ultra-chic atmosphere. At night, the lobby area turns into a hip ultralounge. There are several areas to chill and get bottle service. Lots of trendy ultralounge furniture and decor to satisfy all of your ultralounge needs and desires. I just wanted a drink to bring back to the room – one for me and one for Jen.
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Posted August 28th, 2009. 5 comments
I am constantly asked about Las Vegas, the best things to see, where to stay, what to do, etc… So I’ve decided to write some tips and tricks, which I’ll add to as time goes on.
Where to stay (and how to book it)
Many people want to stay on the “strip” their first time in Vegas and for that I can’t blame them. While I’m not going to provide a review on each hotel, here is some advice for you:
- Any of the top, newer, or high-end casinos are your best bet for amenities and service, but it may cost you: Caesars, Venetian, Bellagio, Wynn, Palazzo, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Monte Carlo
- If you are more value-conscious but still want the strip, check out Treasure Island, New York New York, MGM Grand or Paris
- I wouldn’t bother with the following for your first time in Vegas: Flamingo, Sahara, Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Bally’s, Stratosphere. Even though the price of the rooms may be tempting, for a few dollars more you can stay at a place that will be a better first experience.
- There is more to Las Vegas than the strip. Only two city blocks away are the Palms and the Rio. If you are under 75, you will at least want to check out the Palms on a Friday or Saturday night. Red Rock Casino is a few miles away, but it is a high end place and worth at least a visit to.
- Book your hotel rooms directly through the hotel. Don’t buy a package through your airline or through a reseller like expedia or travelocity. You will not always get the best deal this way. The days of airline/hotel packages are over. Then, periodically, recheck the rates online – they frequently drop. Just call and rebook or cancel and rebook. I have saved 50% from my original reservation by doing this.
- Never pre-pay for a hotel room unless you must stay there. Some hotels like the Golden Nugget require this, but not most. Again, rates change. Pre-pay rates are sometimes non-refundable and have restrictions.
- You won’t spend that much time in your room, so keep that in mind when choosing how much to spend.
- Some hotels have Movie Theatres: The Palms, The Orleans, Red Rock, MGM Grand, South Point
- Others have Bowling Alleys: The Orleans, South Point and Red Rock
- Some have Kids Quest childcare onsite so parents can also enjoy adult activities on their own: The Palms, Red Rock, Sunset Station, and some other Station Casinos. The Orleans has Kids Tyme, which is pretty much the same thing.
- Bring your kids’ vaccination records if you are going to bring them to Kids Quest or Kids Tyme
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Posted May 19th, 2009. 1 comment
We came, we saw, we conquered. Jen and I had the pleasure of celebrating our 11th anniversary with Pat and Kelly, who were celebrating their 20th anniversary at the same time! It was great to finally be able to spend some time in Las Vegas with friends. We partied until 3am every night! Well, not exactly… But we tried!!! You can view the pictures of the trip here.
Posted May 26th, 2008. 1 comment
Everybody that I know knows that the family and I go to Vegas all of the time. But when people that don’t know me well start talking with mw about Las Vegas, I get the same questions and statements. I find them quite humorous in my own mind…
- So do you like to gamble? No. I hate it. I go to Las Vegas so I can go to church.
- I know the weather is hot, but it’s a dry heat. OK, listen up buddy! 105 degrees is HOT. It sucks the life right out of you. Although it is not humid, you cannot stay outside for long without consuming water and seeking shade. People who say this have obviously not ever been to the desert.
(click on the image)
- Did just the two of you go to Las Vegas (meaning just Jen and I)? Yep. About 2 or 3 times a year, we lock Arianna in the basement with a weeks worth of food and water so we can escape to Vegas.
- You have timeshare, right? I get this response when I tell people that we own a condo in Vegas. We are not playing the $50,000 Pyramid here! I did not say, “Types of vacation ownership one might own at popular tourist attractions thoughout the country.”
The above statements I get all of the time and it’s quite funny. The truth is that people seem to be amazed that our daughter comes with us on every Vegas trip (so far). Honestly, I don’t seem to know what the big deal is. We’ve taken Arianna almost everyplace we’ve ever been. It’s how we live. (Errrr.. RockStarFamily…)
Posted August 13th, 2007. 3 comments
That’s what we experienced during our first family camping trip on friday night. I’ve been promising Arianna that I would take her on a camping trip, and since I was off work on friday, I figured that would be a good day. That is, until I read the weather forecast. I went to weather.gov and I see HAZARDOUS WEATHER STATEMENT and FLOOD WARNING when I typed in our zip code. So I say to Jen and Arianna… “Are you sure you want to go camping tonight? The weather is gonna be really bad, with lots of rain and lightning!”. Before you know it, we had our camping gear packed up in the car and we were ready to go. Keep in mind that the last time I went camping in my life I was 16 years old with my cousin Jesse. And that night was a thunderstorm too.
We were rushing against time. The storm warning was between 3pm – 8pm. We got to our campsite at 2:30 at Tobyhanna State Park. We set up the tent and got all of our gear inside. Then I said, “who’s hungry?” Of course, then it began to rain. But what’s a camping trip without a little rain? I got my little propane grill ready as the rain started to come down harder. By the time I was ready to throw the burgers on, it was like a torrential downpour. I grabbed my umbrella out of the back of my car. So there I was, umbrella in one hand and a spatula in the other, in thunder and lightning, cooking burgers. It would have been a kodak moment, but the camera would have been destroyed with the amount of rain. It was crazy. And by the way, it’s not really easy to grill with one hand in a bad thunderstorm.
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Posted July 29th, 2007. 1 comment
