This is the first of a two part post on my trip to Las Vegas for the Microsoft Mix 2009 conference. This first part will focus on Las Vegas from the tourist point of view, with part two focusing on Mix itself.

Hotel

This was my first time in Las Vegas and I stayed at the Trump Hotel, which is only a 5 minute walk from the strip (Las Vegas Blvd). Located on Fashion Mall drive, it is on the North end of the strip (Fasion Mall Drive is across the street from the Wynn). I highly recommend the Trump Hotel, and both my wife and I enjoyed our stay there. The room was only $89/night plus the mandatory $15 resort fee (which seems to be common).

The rooms themselves are like a studio apartment, complete with enough of a kitchen to cook some basic meals, and a huge marble tiled bathroom with a whirlpool tub. There is a 32” LCD TV in the living area, and a 9” LCD in the bathroom mirror. I’m surprised they didn’t have a LCD TV next to the toilet to go with the phone. I didn’t do any cooking, but I did make use of the refrigerator to keep some beverages available.

They have a pretty nice exercise room, and a pool area with lots of room to just layout in the sun. The pool isn’t fancy, there are no fake rocks, slides, or kiddie play areas, but it is quite functional and heated. In addition to the pool, there are two hot tubs and two rows of cabanas available for rent. While I didn’t walk around to the other side, I noticed on the model of the hotel property which was in the lobby, that the other side had additional room for sun bathing. I saw a couple of kids in the pool, but for the most part, it was pretty quiet, and I was even able to get in some “lap” swimming on Thursday night before the pool closed. 

The Strip

I spent a lot of time walking up and down the strip, before and after my wife came. There is quite a parity between walking the strip at night, and heading over to the Venetian for the conference in the morning. At night, it’s like you see in the movies, big crowds and bright lights, while in the morning it’s like any other busy downtown city street. I noticed a good number of people out jogging on the strip, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go running in the idea morning weather. Maybe it was the result of being inside all winter, but the air smelled very fresh in the morning, and I really enjoyed the two runs I got in. I was pressed for time, so I was only able to do a 30 minute run (15 out and 15 back), which got me as far south as south end of Caesars Palace one morning, and up to the Stratosphere on the other morning. 

A good amount of my time was spent in the Venetian and Plazo, since that is where the conference was, and by the end of the week, I felt pretty good at navigating the labyrinth under the two hotels. I think that the Venetian and Plazo were my favorite hotels to wander around in. My wife really liked Caesars Palace and the Forum shops (so much that I had the pleasure of walking all the way thru the Forum shops twice) due to the roman architecture and theme. Everyone says the Wynn is awesome, but I must have missing something because I was unimpressed given the high praise.

I think I ended up catching the TI Pirates/Siren show 3-4 times during the week. You can get a pretty good view from across the street, and it’s usually less crowed on the north side (closest to the Fashion Mall). However, I would recommend watching it at least once from the “front row” which would be on the bridge that leads to the hotel, closest to the Siren’s ship. Also, the show is more impressive in complete darkness, as you get to see the full light show.

Also at TI, is a most excellent brunch buffet, offered on Saturday and Sunday until 4pm I believe. Without champagne, it’s only $17/person, which is really cheap compared to other buffets and sit down restaurants in Vegas. Considering a large orange juice would easily run you $3/glass, and I had two, that’s $6 right there. The line was long, but moved fast. They have a VIP line, so if you hunt around, you can probably get your hands on some VIP tickets and skip the line. Other notable dining experiences were Del Torro (Lamborghini resturant) in the Venetian, and the Harley Davidson Cafe towards the south end of the strip.

Shows and Attractions

We saw two Cirque du Soleil shows, Ka at the MGM Grand and Mystere at TI, and they were freckin awesome. I was a little apprehensive about spending $400 on show tickets, but it was worth it. I highly recommend spending the extra money and getting the best possible seats you can. We had front row seats for Mystere and were able to see everything in such detail, from the performers costumes to the expressions on their faces. The half price ticket place was actually a pretty good deal. Right now if you buy online thru Ciruqe Du Soleil, you can get two category 1 tickets for $257.50 after a 25% discount and all fees, where as we only paid $218 a the half price ticket place.

Ka is the only Cirque du Soleil show that has an actual story line to it, set in ancient china I believe and follows the ordeal of a young brother and sister (prince and princess) caught in the middle of a war. It is a high energy performance with incredible choreography, stunts and martial arts. My wife described it best as live action anime. Check out the trailer on youtube, and another video that shows some of the mechanical engineering behind the scenes. Mystere is similar to Ka without the storyline and martial arts influence, however it is no less incredible. It would be hard to choose just one. Next time we are looking to go to O, and then change things up with the Blue Man Group.

On our last full day in Vegas, we rented a BMW Z4 convertible and drove to the Hoover Dam. The last 4 miles to the dam was bumper to bumper traffic, as all the weekend visitors were trying to get back to Arizona, and it’s only a 2 lane road over the dam. However, they are working on a 4 lane highway and brand new bridge over the river just south of the dam, which looks impressive itself. We opted for the 45 minute power plant tour, and felt a little underwhelmed. We both thought that the 2 hour dam tour might have been better, but we didn’t have enough time for that.

Needless to say, it was somewhat of a downer coming back home to cold weather, and snow. Both my wife and I were looking for Vegas deals all week, and we will definitely be going back sometime.