26 | VIVA LAS VEGAS


www.nitravelnews.com Livin’ It Up in Vegas!


July/ August 2024


the royal family, and it seems fitting that this personal collection of regal artefacts, with a focus on Diana, should find a home in Las Vegas. Though my daughter was born many years after Diana’s death, her story still fascinates. And, as a child of the 80s, I must confess I became slightly obsessed with this mysterious royal creature. The exhibition filled 12 rooms with personal letters, family photos, and all


In the second of her tri-city American adventure,


Heidi


McAlpin and family visit Vegas and the Grand Canyon...


IN a city synonymous with sin, it might seem a stretch adding Vegas to a family vacay. As someone, though, who has never visited


spectacular neighbour,


this neon oasis nor its the Grand


Canyon, a trip was most definitely on the cards (as they probably say in all the best casinos). So, it was so long Hollywood and time to hunker down for the five-hour Greyhound bus trip and the next


stop


on our great American adventure.


As the bus crawled the


along famous


Strip, our necks craned at iconic hotel sights such as the Bellagio’s da ncin g fountains, the Venetian’s replica canals and the Mirage’s fiery volcano. Each designed to outshine its neighbour, no two overnight options are the same, and some, it has to be said, are more faded grandeur than high end luxe. It was to a relative newbie, though, that we


were headed. Opened at the north end of the Strip in 2021, the $4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas encompasses over 3,500 bedrooms across three hotels rising in price from the


to Flyover, a fantastic visual experience that swoops and soars across a selection of awe- inspiring landscapes. We opted for Iceland and Wonders of the America West – each providing a thrilling birds-eye view complete with scents and mists to up the sensory ante. Huge screens and moving seats combine to create an amazingly immersive moment,


Hilton (where we stayed) to its high- end


Conrad


brands and


Crockfords. The soaring resort’ s huge


shares


casino the


gargantuan


entertainment space with over fifty food and drink outlets, a 5000-capacity theatre (Carrie Underwood was in residence during our stay) and achingly cool Zouk Nightclub. For us, though, the big draw was its 5.5 acre sprawling swimming pool complex, the city’s largest. Getting water to Vegas is no mean feat, and having such aquatic opulence is quite something. Dazzled as we were by our gleaming abode,


it was time to tear ourselves away for a full immersion of the Vegas experience, PG- rated of course. I wondered how we would fill several days with two teens in the mix. But it turns out Las Vegas is keen to woo children of all ages, and keeping all generations entertained is in its DNA. You could say it’s nurturing hedonists of the future but from the STRAT observation tower to the brand-new Sphere arena, whose vast LED globe flits from planet Earth to a giant winking eyeball, we’re most definitely here for it. Most Vegas highlights are within that linear Strip, but getting from one end to the other can be something of an endurance test. Just when you think you’re close to your destination, Google Maps can reveal a 20min walking time. Travelling in Easter helps keep those extreme temperatures down, but Ubers, buses and even a monorail system, can help alleviate aching feet.


So it was into a taxi we hopped for a trip


and the perfect introduction to a city where reality is served with a giant sugary dollop of the surreal. The following day, the girls and boys split,


with husband Ray and son Freddie enjoying a beer and mocktail by that ginormous pool while me and daughter Scarlett headed for Princess Diana & The Royals: The Exhibition. Americans can’t get enough of


manner of ephemera, from the wedding breakfast seating plan to schoolbooks signed by a young Lady Di. Other royals make the cut from Edward and Mrs Simpson to Harry and Meagan and, of course, the late Queen. Fashion fans will love seeing Kate’s famous see-through dress that caught the attention of a young Prince William, and Diana’s famous black sheep jumper - copies of both can be bought in the gift shop. Seven evening dresses worn by Diana take centre stage, with a replica wedding gown and 70 miniature dresses meticulously recreated in paper rounding off the experience. You can never go hungry in Vegas and


many restaurants provide more than a mere meal. Our family reunited to throw a few arrows between bites at Flight Club, a darts-themed eatery that hits the target with stags and hens. Come the day, though (there’s a strict curfew for under 18s in many Vegas hostelries), families can enjoy a go on the oche before the hordes descended. The funfair décor features a real-life carousel and plenty of trad nods to the sport’s British origins. The set-up is a clever reworking of ten pin bowling, with each player’s score totted up on-screen while fellow throwers feast on scrumptious tacos and drinks and try to sidestep the occasional rogue dart. Fully fuelled, it was time to step back out for a spin


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64