Trip Report: A 'conference' in Las Vegas, and a short stint in NYC

[robd]

Just checked. Plastic. Haha.

Classy !!!!

 

[Princess Fiona]

Great TR, FJ's new cabin looks pretty schmick. Looking forward to seeing your scenery photos.

I think for Hilton in Vegas it's hard to beat the HGVC Elara. You might want to check it out while you are there. Definitely no smoke

 

[Paddy55]

I think I need to try the FJ ride to the LOTFAP sometime - looks excellent value for a self funded J trip!

 

[JMFK]

Great TR, FJ's new cabin looks pretty schmick. Looking forward to seeing your scenery photos.

I think for Hilton in Vegas it's hard to beat the HGVC Elara. You might want to check it out while you are there. Definitely no smoke

Yep. It looked good on the website...as did the Lobby! I seriously almost moved to the Elara, but the rates were over $200 a night and I was on a budget....just a place to sleep I kept saying...the $111 p/n at the Trop for the 6 nights I had there was hard to beat.

I highly doubt I would stay at a Hilton in Vegas next time. I have always been loyal to Hilton, sometimes choosing sub-par properties in an area because it is a Hilton. Never again. There are just much better options.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

I am staying at the Mandalay Bay ATM, am here until next Thursday, I normally stay at the four seasons (same physical building), but am now kicking myself HARD as the Mandalay is no where near the four seasons

 

[JMFK]

OK, a big few days coming up! The next few posts were typed pretty late at night, so apologies in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors!

Last day of the convention finished early, so I did a little more exploring and got a ticket to Ka at MGM from Tix4Tonight (one of the booths on the strip) for $98 bucks. I grabbed the 7pm show, as I wanted to be up early to head out to the Hoover Dam the next day.

It was almost a full house, but I guess that’s to be expected in Vegas. I did take some pics but they’re not worth showing…plus you’re not allowed to. It was a good show, though admittedly I just sat there with my eyes half closed for the last 1/3 of the show trying to stay awake – I was soooo tired – that’s not a reflection on the show I promise. I was amazed at the ‘production’ the stagecraft was incredible!

It was straight to bed after the show as I wanted to be at Hertz at 7:30am to pick up my car.

I (obviously) booked a Camero ($148 odd bucks) for 24 hours, the logic being I would use it to drive myself to the airport the following morning for my flight to JFK.


(parking lot of Pawn Stars)

I had looked at a Porsche or the AMG Merc, but I couldn’t justify it for $350+ per day (depending on what car you got).

To my surprise, Hertz wasn’t at the Airport - lucky the cabby knew that - but rather at the ‘Rent-a-Car’ centre located a 10-minute shuttle bus ride from the Terminal.

I went to the Gold Desk as my name wasn’t on the board…a snag, no hard top Camero’s available, but they did have a convertible…”Is it Black?” I asked, nup, Silver, but that would have to do

I hightailed it to Hoover Dam. Stopped off at a Lake Mead viewing point on my way and snapped a pic of the Camero…it’s on my other camera though…

Hoover Dam – wow. Humans are awesome, what an engineering feat. I parked on the other side of the Dam (where parking is free) and walked across the dam back towards the visitor centre. I wasn’t going to do the tour, but then thought, why not? It was 30 bucks for the ‘extended’ tour, or $15 for the regular.

I went on the extended one. You watch a 10 minute film and then set off, I think tours run every half hour.


Powerplant.

You get to see the powerplant on the regular tour, but this is where that ends. The rest of us went off to explore a little more. You go through a few tunnels, and then as deep into the Dam as the public can get. You can’t really see it in the pic below, but if you can make out those tiny ventilation ducts….you get to walk in one and hang your camera out – a truly unique view of the dam!





I’m glad I got there early, as it was PACKED when I finished my tour at 1130am. Busloads of people everywhere. ProTip: Get there early.

 

[JMFK]

I hadn’t planned it originally, but decided to just head to the Grand Canyon. I entered Grand Canyon into the car’s GPS and Skywalk popped up – sounded good to me, so off I went.

This is where I probably should of done some research – it’s a tourist trap if ever I’ve seen one, but more on that later.

Firstly, thank Christ I was driving a rental. Even still I felt bad. The car already badly needed a wheel alignment and balance, and after this road, it DEFINITELY did!

13 miles of the road to the Skywalk at the Grand Canyon is currently/always has been under construction. That is to say it’s unpaved. And there are ROCKS everywhere. There is no way I would drive my own vehicle down this road. SUV at a minimum.

It was slow going but I finally made it to the White Dome. It’s an air-conditioned inflatable dome that is adjacent to an airport and there were plenty of helicopters taking off. Buses and buses of people arriving and departing.

Navigating the tacky gift shop you get to a queue for tickets. The price I thought was eye watering. $73.80 for admission and a skywalk. $40 something without the Skywalk.

It’s owned by the Hualapai tribe and they’re there to make bank! Tourism is apparently the majority earner for the 2,300 odd tribe members.

Your entrance fee to the reserve gets you a bus ticket to three attractions. The first was a replica ranch where you could get food etc. It screamed tourist so I just stayed on the bus.

The next stop was the Skywalk.

Wow. Impressive sight.



I was in awe of it’s beauty. You can’t take camera’s on the Skywalk, so I’d left my real camera in the car and just had to snap these on my phone.



I was shocked at how close you could get to certain death and there were no guardrails.



This was a close as I was going to get.



The building attached to the Skywalk is still being built, despite the actual skywalk being installed in 2007 – it looks pretty dodgy to be honest. They actual skywalk itself was underwhelming. Much more of a rush standing on the edge as above. You’re also not allowed to take any cameras out there. They claim this is so you don’t drop things and damage the glass. But everyone knows it’s so they can slog you $30 per photograph they take for you. I was out there less than 5 minutes.

Back on the bus and there was one more stop before heading back to base. It’s another look-out point, and there were picnic tables and food, as well as some stallholders etc. I was on a time crunch so I stayed on the bus.

Back to the dome and it was time to head back to Vegas!

 

[JMFK]

I had my convertible and I’d yet to have the top down, so I wanted to cruise the strip. I head to Freemont St and old vegas, parked the car and went exploring. Man, this place is sooo much better than the Strip. Live music, bright lights, and even trashier street performers. It was cool!


Freemont before the light show.

There also seemed to be heaps cooler bars and café’s and hipster precincts. Right up my alley! The Downtown Container Park had heaps of cool shops and a huge playground for people with kids.

I was hanging for a burger and was originally going to go to Gordan Ramsey’s Pub and Grill as I’d heard the ads talking about all the craft beers they had on tap. I quick Yelp search quickly quelled that idea and I opted to find something locally.

I opted for Pizza Rock – which is a Pizza Place, but the Las Vegas burger blog said it was a winner so I decided to go there.



It was good – and those chips! Delicious. Had a great local IPA to go with it.

Back down the main strip to the Tropicana. Hadn’t had much of a punt yet so decided to gamble a little. Threw 100 bucks out the window and headed for bed, as another early start tomorrow.

 

[JMFK]

I’d googled that AA recommends arriving 90 minutes before your flight for check-in. I’d also googled that you should allow 20-30 minutes from returning your car to get back to the Airport via the shuttle.

I’m glad I did! It was pretty much bang on and I wouldn’t of even said the airport was busy at 7:30am.

Check-in took a while, and that was in the First Class line! It would honestly be a struggle for time if you were in the Main Cabin and travelling with young children. It would probably drive me to drink.

You have to change terminals once clearing security, so onto the tram for that. By the time I’d lined up for Starbucks, boarding was already half done. Lucky I suppose, as there are no airline lounges for OW at LAS.

Standard AA first seat in 4A. Good legroom on these planes.



And a sneaky pic across the aisle



The inflight service from FA is really lacking compared to what I’ve had on Qantas, even in Dom J Anyway…

A choice of Oatmeal or Quiche for breakfast.



I went with the quiche and was offered a muffin or biscuit. I went muffin. Having looked over the aisle at people who’d taken the biscuit, I think this was actually a bread roll? That’s what it looked like anyway!

Purchased some wifi and smashed out some emails on the 4.5 hour flight to JFK.

Straight off the plane, but a 25 minute wait for bags. I’m beginning to think this is the norm in the US.

I opened up Uber and got a car to the Millennium Hilton.

 

[JMFK]

Paying $175 a night for two nights on a MVP rate which I thought was good for NYC. Must of timed it right cause the hotel is sold out tonight. Which meant no upgrade to the Jnr Suite

I will be moving on Monday though – rate here sky rockets during the week (financial district)

I guess I forgot the Millennium was 14 years ago! The hotel is feeling a little dated. The depressing hallway sets the mood.



It’s showing it’s age, but the room if comfortable, though it is small – it’s NYC though! The aircon is terrible though. It only has two speeds. Off and Hurricane. There is no setting to set a lower fan speed, only temperature. Nightmare.

This is a King Deluxe Room. 4310.





This is a nice touch - a coffee machine with take away cups. Or 'to-go' as they say here!

 

[JMFK]

Great view of Ground Zero and the construction of the memorial from the room.

 

[JMFK]

I decided to stretch my legs and walked down to the memorial, thinking you could just walk in! But it’s all blocked off and you have to get a visitors pass. The queue was massive so I decided to walk a little more…on my return the line was much better so I decided to go in.

It is free, but they recommend a $5-10 donation. I popped in my 10 bucks and went and had a look.

Security is incredibly tight, I’ve never seen so many police and security cameras before. Seriously. It’s TSA level security (down to the millimetre wave machine) to get in too. Belts off etc.

But wow, seriously impressive memorial. It will be a fantastic space when the museum is open.




Back to the room to catch the sun setting. Pretty cool.

 

[JMFK]

No water in the room, so called downstairs to ask. Was told that they stopped doing it because people had said they didn’t want the water bottles and guests now had to call to request it. Werid.

Decided to walk to Little Italy to get me some Pizza! Walked the strip so to speak, and decided on L’asso’s. Was pretty busy but was able to get a bar seat. Pizza was tasty but truthfully was a little cold. Probably should of said something actually, but I was too hungry, and they were too busy.

Had a great Six Points Pale Ale – read that it was a Brooklyn Brewery so have added that to my list of things to go and see!

 

[Princess Fiona]

I read a bit about the Skywalk when we were in Vegas last year and decided to give it a miss. One of the main reasons being that it wasn't a great place to take a hire car. I'm glad yours survived unscathed !
Great pics from the Canyon and continuing to be a great read also.
Thanks

 

[TomVexille]

Great report, and some really good photos as well.

About the "biscuit" you were offered on your flight, the closest thing I can compare it to is a scone. Biscuits are definitely one of the things I miss from over there.

As for your issues with FJ, sounds a lot like what my sister dealt with a couple years ago. Good to see they haven't improved at all.

 

[JMFK]

OK, a big few days coming up!

Not a bad size gym at the Millennium Hilton, I just did a short 2.5 mile run to try to counteract the pizza! I spent my Sunday at B&H Photo Video buying a few bits and pieces for work, so not to much report.

Interestingly no turn down service at any of the Hilton's this trip.

Breakfast was fine, continental only, which suits me fine as I've been over indulging at all other meals of the day, so happy to stick to fruits for breakfast. It's served on Level 3 at the Church & Dey restaurant.



Or the American Buffet, bagels, toast and cereals also offered.




Checkout time of the Millennium Hilton. I stored my bags for the day as I wanted to head over to Brooklyn before moving Hotels.

I walked from the Millennium across the bridge to Brooklyn, it was pretty busy and you have to dodge the bikes!

 

[JMFK]

First stop was Dumbo, as I had to get 'that' shot of the Manhattan Bridge!



Man, this is such a cool area. I just spent some time walking around. Lot's of great shops! I went to the Powerhouse bookstore and bought a book, and then visiting the Brooklyn Roasting Company for a caffeine hit. It was good. Though I always struggle to communicate that I want a Melbourne sized double shot latte. The ‘small’ coffee’s here are monstrous!



Down by the water there’s a cool enclosed carousel if you’ve got kidlets, it’s also a good possie to grab another shot of either bridge.



I did a little more exploring, had a great organic salad from a grocer on the corner, can’t remember the name, but then I had to wash that down with a Chocolate Whoopie Pie from One Girl Cookies. Yum!

I’d heard there were some good views from Brooklyn Heights, so I headed up there. They weren’t wrong, you get a great view of the Manhattan skyline and all of the helicopters leaving on tours.



I’d read that the best coffee in New York was to be found at the WTF Coffee Lab in Fort Greene, so I hopped on a train and headed over. I got off at a station as close as I could, then it was a 10 or so minute walk to WTF, a nice strolled through tree lined streets and through the Fort Greene park.

It was hot out, so rather than going for the latte I’d originally planned for and indeed travelled all that way to get, I opted for an Iced Americano. Still delicious.

 

[JMFK]

I spent a little while longer exploring the streets of Fort Greene, including a great bookstore and I went in search of ‘the best red velvet cake in NYC’ – unfortunately that shopped had moved! So it was back on the train down to Dumbo as I wanted to walk back across the Manhattan Bridge back the Hotel.

Man, it was a big walk! Over the bridge and back through China Town to get to the hotel.

It doesn’t seem like it from the report above, but it was a massive day! I reckon I walked 7-10 miles. I was beat. I opened the Uber app and headed for the Hilton New York Fashion District. The rate here was much more reasonable as the Millennium was going from $175 a night on the weekend to $350-$400 p/n during the week. Guess that’s the price you pay in the Financial District.

I arrived at the Fashion District – it’s a tiny lobby. No King Beds available as the hotel is fully booked, but they agreed to move me the following day.

I’ve got a twin bed room on the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] Floor. Room 703




It’s small but perfectly comfortable, much more modern than the Millennium.

I was too beat to go searching for food, and google provides good reviews for ‘Rare’ the Hilton’s restaurant, so I decided on that.
Not a good experience.

I went with the Rare Classic Burger, and a side of Sweet Potato Fries.



The burger itself was OK I guess, but they mixed up my fries with someone else’s (I got regular fries instead of Sweet Potato).

Once my server noticed, she apologised, but to be honest, I was surprised these weren’t comped on the bill especially considering I didn’t eat them.

Back up to the room for bed.

There’s a clear see through door to the minibar. It’s one of those automatic ones where if you breathe on it, you get charged. This is were I noticed the massive design fault. See if you can pick it up.



Lucky there was an extra bed with four pillows on it so I could stack them in front of the fridge!

The other cool feature of these rooms is the sensor light in the bathroom – no need to go fumbling for the light switch when nature calls in the middle of the night. Brilliant idea and I’ve not seen it before.

 

[JMFK]

Breakfast is downstairs in the Rare restaurant.

Gold and Diamond members are presented with an alternate menu.



I choose to go with the continental buffet this morning, as I was again just after fruit and a bagel.

There’s a selection of cereals, breads, muffins etc, as well as a limited selection of sliced fruits. There was also a hot buffet with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage etc.




A look back into the main room.

If you’re not a HH member, you can choose from this menu

 

[JMFK]

It was raining today, so pretty miserable outside. Still, I got an umbrella from the front desk and headed out, towards Chelsea.

I should really wear a pedometer or something next time I come to New York – I love walking the city, but I’d really like to know how many k’s I’ve wracked up these last few days!

I did a spot of shopping along the way before arriving at Chelsea Markets.



It’s an awesome market full of amazing food!



I stopped off at The Filling Station to get a gift for my girlfriends mother – she loves all different kinds of salts and oils etc. This was the perfect shop for her!

There were heaps of different oils and balsamic vinegars, as well as salts. They were even dispensing craft beers for you to take home.

I ended up getting 4 different salts for her, but passed on the bacon infused one.



There is wonderful fresh seafood here, Italian, great bakeries, heaps of sweet treats like the Donughtery etc – there’s something for everyone I think!

I wanted to be a little healthier, so I went with Sushi. Well, Beyond Sushi.



It’s vegan sushi! Was actually really tasty stuff. I went with Combo 2 which was two rolls and two individual pieces – certainly very filling



I went with the Sweet Tree and Spicy Mang, as well as the Mango and Carrot individual pieces.

I really wanted to undo all of the good work with a trip to the Donughtery – but they only sold them in packs on six, and being a solo traveller on this trip, I couldn’t do it, so had to pass!