Breakfast is provided by the Best Western Hotel so we were up early to make the most of this before heading out to take a look around. The Best Western Lamplighter Inn & Suites is in a good position if you have a car, which of course we don’t. So if you are like us and are relying on public transport, here are some instructions to help you get around.

There are buses and the MT Trolley which will get you to all the main attractions, there is also a hop on, hop off sightseeing bus and the Old Town Trolley Tour – not to be confused with the MT Trolley system.

We decided to start with the MT Trolley which meant leaving our hotel and turning right into El Cajon Blvd. Walk up past the Howard Johnson Hotel and the Fitness centre and turn right into College Ave and walk to until you come to the San Diego State University (SDSU) which will be straight ahead.  The walk is 1.5 miles from the hotel to SDSU and it is a nice easy walk. When you get to the Transit Centre go down the escalator or stairs and purchase your ticket from one of the vending machines.  We intend to be out and about so we brought a 4 day pass for $15 each. Go through the doors to the left of the vending machines and go downstairs to the platform.

The trolley’s run every 15 minutes and it’s not too long before ours arrives. The transit center and the trolley are extremely clean and there is no graffiti anywhere. It is such a nice change to find a place where the people take pride in public property.

Another thing I noticed is that when an elderly or infirm person hops on the trolley, the young people stand up and offer their seat straight away. None of this ignoring them or looking the other way as is often seen in other centers.

We are on the Green Line trolley which takes us to Old Town.

The Plaza del Pasado or Old Town in San Diego is a historic town that captures the festive spirit of Mexico and where some of the old buildings have been turned into restaurants and shops and others such as the old courthouse and the dentist rooms are preserved so todays youth can see how things were in the past.

It is a beautiful day to spend time strolling around the shops and outdoor markets and we take our time enjoying the exotic aromas and colorful decor of the plaza. Old Town is considered to be the birthplace of California and in 1769 it became the first permanent Spanish settlement in California.

In 1846 the population numbered 250 and had grown somewhat and it was incorporated as a city in 1850 with the government activities centred around the Plaza Viejo.  After the business district of Old San Diego was burned down in 1872, the business centre moved to the present day site of Downtown San Diego.

Some of historic buildings still standing are the Casa De Machado which was built in the adobe style of construction by Corporal Jose Manuel Machado for his daughter Maria Antonia Machado de Silvas, The Temple Beth Israel which was the first synagogue built in San Diego in 1889. Most of the other buildings are recontructions such as the Brick Courthouse and the George Johnson House. But all are worthy of a visit.

Then it is off to catch the Blue Line Trolley, which leaves from where the Green Line ends, and head off into the Civic Centre in Downtown San Diego.

By now it is lunchtime and we head over to Anthony’s Seafood Grotto which is right on the water of San Diego Bay. The food is absolutely delicious and our waitress is friendly and chatty. Once again our accents cause comment, most seem to think we are English and are pleasantly surprised when we state we are Aussies. This generally leads to conversations about how long it took us to get to the US, where we have been and how long we will be in town.

After lunch we head off down to the USS Midway Museum which has a 4 acre flight deck and gives visitors the opportunity to explore the ship with the aid of an audio presentation.  The tickets are $15.00 and the ticket office suggest making sure you have 1.5 to 3 hours to complete the tour.  We decide that we will return another day and do this tour.

By now we have picked up a number of maps and public transport timetables and routes and it turns out that we have a bus that stops right outside our hotel which will take us to the trolley transit station.  Before we discover this piece of information we decide to hop of at another stop, other than the SDSU to see if it is closer to our hotel.  So we hop off at the 70th Street stop, and turn right from the carriage and set off in what we hope is the right direction. The No.1 bus (which runs past our hotel) goes by, so we figure if go in the same direction we will at least be heading the right way.

We turn left into 70th Street and walk up a rather steep hill until we reach El Cajon Blvd.  Here we turn left and continue. It is simply a matter of walking along El Cajon Blvd. We are at number 6900 when we turn onto the Blvd from 70th Street and our hotel is numbe 6474 so we have a way to go.  We pop into Ralph’s on the way and pick up some groceries and a Ralph Card that gives us some excellent discounts on our items.  I am a sucker for saving money and will join just about anything if it gives me a bargain.

Our feet are getting tired – thank goodness we brought good quality ARA walking shoes before our trip because we have walked many miles since we arrived in the States, and we are very happy when the hotel looms into sight.

After a nice hot cup of tea we head out to do some washing at the laundromat which is almost next door to the hotel. Turn left as you leave the hotel reception area and walk  just past the Chicken Rotissere store where there is a block of shops with the laundromat.  After putting the washing into the washer we go back to the hotel to watch some more Stargate episodes. Our hotel has more stations than any other we have stayed in so far and one is a sci fi station so this makes us very happy.

Paula also spends time on the phone to the internet company as we have been unable to connect to our hotel’s internet, which is included in the price of the room. It turns out that we have to update the drivers in our Acer notebook before it will connect to the right service. 

Once the washing and drying has completed and we once again have nice clean clothes, we set off for dinner.  We had intended to  eat at the buffet at the Howard Johnson hotel that is just up the road, but it is closed when we get there.  We continue up the road and come to a Mexican restaurant.  The food turns out to be awesome and of course way more than we can eat.

Tomorrow we are going to head off to Tijuana on the blue line trolley.

It is 4am and I am wide awake and have been since 2.05am. Then for some reason the alarms on our 02 PC Phones went off at 3.30am even though they were set for 4.30am.

As soon as we are packed and ready we head down to check-out and then make our way to the airport in a cab. As it was so early we have no problems with traffic and we arrive at the airport by 5.30am. The taxi cost us about $35. Nowhere near as cheap as a shuttle bus but we wanted to be sure that we were going to get to the airport on time as it was so early and shuttle buses can be slow as they generally have to go via various hotels to pick up other passengers before they head on to the airport.

We got a great deal through Hotwire for this trip which included return airfares from Las Vegas and 5 nights accomodation at Holiday Inn Express in San Francisco for only $376 each.

The flight only takes an hour and 10 minutes and then it is time to negotiate the airport corridors to the baggage claim area. San Francisco airport is huge and it takes us about 10 minutes to get to where we need to be. Only three passengers are waiting to collect baggage so we assume that the other passengers have gone on to other connections.

Once we have collected our bags, we head out to find a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf. For some reason, we have been finding this difficult in the US as signage for the buses and shuttles is not very good and we wander back and forward trying to figure out where they are. After going up and down in the elevator we see an area where we think we need to be and head that way.

We finally make our way over to the Super Shuttle company and ask the driver how much it will be to our hotel. We find out it will be $16 each so we hop into the van and wait. The driver has no other passengers and decides to wait a little longer to see if he can grab a few more before he leaves. Fifteen minutes later he realises he is out of luck and after making a round of the airport he reluctantly  heads off to our hotel. So we are lucky enought to have the shuttle to ourselves and we get a direct trip to our hotel.

We arrive about 30 minutes later having driven past what we thought was the Golden Gate Bridge only to find out later that it is the Bay Bridge. We also drive past the piers at Fisherman’s Wharf including the famous Pier 39 where the seals hang out and the many tourists wandering up and down trying to keep warm.

We really have no idea as to where our hotel is in relation to the main sights but are pleasantly surprised when we realise we are close to just about everything in fact The Holiday Inn Express – Fisherman’s Wharf is in an ideal location.

We initially decide not to do too much today as we are quite tired after the early morning start but we can’t help ourselves and decide to take a walk up to the Crookidest Street in the world which is within walking distance of the hotel. Mind you, it is all up-hill but it is a pleasant walk all the same and we just take our time. This is a definite must see especially watching the cars try and navigate their way down the hill.

On our way back we stopped at Denny’s for dinner as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning. This was our first visit to this chain of restaurants and we really enjoyed the food.

We then head down to the water to walk along Fisherman’s Wharf. This area is full of tourists but also obviously some locals as we see them jogging along the walkway. We end up at Pier 39 which as mentioned before, is famous for the seals which inhabit the area for most of the year.

We take a few photos and then head to Boudins which is a famous old restaurant that has the best clam chowder which is served up in a sourdough bread bowl for $6.95. We bought a bowl each along with some black cherry soda. The meal was delicious and really warming as it was very cold outside.

For some reason we weren’t expecting San Francisco to be quite so cold.

During our stay at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinowe ate at the Plaza Hotel and Casino’s buffet on numerous occasions for both breakfast and dinner. The buffet is well known in downtown Las Vegas as it is one of the cheapest buffets available and people from many different hotels come here to eat for this reason.

Whether you are having breakfast, lunch or dinner at the buffet it is always the same price at only $7.77.

We decided to give it a go after heading to the Golden Nugget buffet and finding that because it was a Saturday we could only partake of the Champagne Buffet Breakfast which was $17.99 each. We really didn’t want to pay that much for breakfast so off to the Plaza Hotel we went.

The Plaza doesn’t have a breakfast buffet as such but instead there is a Brunch Buffet which encompasses both breakfast and lunch and runs from 6am to 4pm. I loved this as it meant I could sleep in and didn’t have to rush down to get breakfast.

Because this is a popular buffet each time we visited we had to queue to get in. Even so, we never had to wait more than 10 minutes but usually it was less than 5mins.  As you would expect, the weekend was busier than weekdays so keep this in mind.

Once seated we immediately wandered up to the buffet to see what was available. I noticed that the selection wasn’t as extensive as some of the other buffets we have been to, but the quality of the food  provided was excellent.

In the main meal service area for the brunch there are a range of breakfast items including scrambled eggs, omelette’s, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage patties, cereals, fruit, fried chicken, sliced meats, roasts and salads. There is a smaller meal service area where the buffet consists of mainly Asian style meals and desserts. So make sure you check out both areas because when we went there on the first night we did’nt realise that there was another buffet area around the corner.

Drinks are free (as long as they aren’t alcoholic) and are provided by waiters who will top your glass up as often as you like.  We both had orange juice and a cup of green tea with breakfast.

We found the breakfast foods to be just delicious. The eggs were cooked perfectly and the fried potatoes and sausage patties were very tasty. I loved those fried potatoes and went back for more.

For dinner the menu changes to include lasagna, pasta, fried chicken, roasts, baked ham, salads, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, corn, lemon chicken, Chinese noodles, soups, spring rolls, sweet and sour pork and more.

Again, the variety of foods at the dinner buffet is not as extensive as you might find at some of the other buffets in Las Vegas but everything is tasty, well presented and the quality of the food is excellent. We absolutely loved the fried chicken and always had a piece at each meal.

The desserts included chocolate pie, apple pie, coconut cream pie, cheese cake and sugar free desserts. There were also cookies and fresh fruit. We did find that the desserts weren’t always replenished and at one point we had to ask for a particular pie from the chef as there was only apple pie and some cookies left to choose from.

Overall this buffet is great value for money. So if you are on a budget but  still want a great tasting inexpensive meal then this is definitely the place to go when you are in Downtown Las Vegas.

We arrive at the front desk of the Golden Nugget and  queue for a couple of minutes before being called to the next available attendent.

This lady (whose name escapes us but we think she is called Teri) proceeded to put us through one of the best check-in experiences during our US trip.

She was an absolute delight to deal with showing a genuine interest in where we were from and she gave us all sorts of advice on what to see and do while we were staying in Downtown Las Vages.

The lobby of the Golden Nugget Casino houses the largest gold nugget on display worldwide. It weighs  61lb 11 ounces and is called the “Hand of Faith”. The nugget was found just inches below the surface near Wedderburn in Victoria Australia.

As usual getting to our room required a packed lunch. This hotel is huge so we had to go quite a way to get to the hotel lifts. On the way we pass by the pool area which has as its main attraction a huge aquarium filled with sharks and other smaller fish. We find out later that a 3 storey, clear waterslide travels right through the middle of the tank.

We also pass by a Starbucks, clothing shop, restaurant, some slot machines and a gift shop.

The hotel lifts are separated into two sections, one set of elevators service floors 2 to 9 and further along there is another set of elevators that service floors 9 to 22.  This definitely speeds up the time it takes for the lift to arrive.

Fortunately our room on the 22nd floor (#2281) is quite close to the lift so we don’t have too far to walk.

Our first impressions of the room are positive. This is a big room with nice décor in muted warm earth tonings with flowery curtains and bed coverings, there is also a beautiful aroma in the room that  is very refreshing and welcoming.

We have a double room which has two double beds, a table with two sofa chairs, a TV cabinet with what looks like a 26in (68cm) TV and a desk with a stool. The desk is more of a vanity area where you would put on makeup rather than sit and work at your laptop as the internet cable is actually over on the table. This makes working at a computer a little less than comfortable since the table has low sofa seats so we found ourselves sitting a little low in the chairs to make it the ideal for computer work.

The beds in the room are quite comfortable with a padded mattress and clean, fresh linen. Each bed has two pillows.

There is plenty of storage areas in the room with four drawers in the TV cabinet and a closed wardrobe with hanging space near the bathroom.

Lighting is okay although as with the majority of hotels we have stayed at in the US there are no ceiling lights but instead a series of lamps scattered around the room.

The view from our room includes the mountains, buildings and various carparks. As with most Las Vegas views it is usually better at night when the lights turn on and this one is no exception. We aren’t talking The Strip here but even so we enjoy the night view of casino lights from our room.

The bathroom is a reasonable size and has one hand basin, the toilet and a bathtub with shower. The toiletries include shampoo, conditioner, lotion and two bars of soap. There are plenty of towels although we found them to be a little worn and rough. I think they should consider replacing their towel collection.

The wardrobe contained two cottonweave bathrobes which neither of us used, and these are available for purchase. We noticed a lot of people wore these down to the pool area.

The closet also contains a hair dryer, two fold up luggage holders, an iron and ironing board.

The room has a safe but it is very small. We could only fit our passports and cameras in it. It is way too small to fit a laptop.

One fault we found with the room was the air conditioner/heater which was very noisy. We had to turn it off at night so that we could get to sleep. Howeve  the air con  unit in the next room was so loud that we could hear it churning away day and night.

And speaking of noise, we could also hear noise from the street even though we were on the 22nd floor. It wasn’t constant however and it was mainly police sirens, cars beeping horns or cars revving their engines loudly.

Another fault was the lack of a coffee maker in the room.  This was the same problem we had at Caesars Palace.

The room has a wired internet connection which cost $12.99 for 24 hours. We found the connection to be reasonably fast and stable.

Overall we enjoyed our stay and found it good value for money. If you are looking for entertaiment on The Strip then we advise you to stay away from this end of town as you are at least a $20 cab drive away and there is no way you would want to walk it. You can get on The Deuce bus which will take you up to The Strip for $2.50 or if you pay $5 you can get an all day pass. However, there is plenty to keep you entertained without the need to go to the Strip.

If you are on a budget we would recommend the buffet over at The Plaza Hotel and Casino.

Our Rating of the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino:

Checking in and out 4.5/5
Room 4/5
Position 5/5 (For Downtown location – right on Fremont St)
Price 4/5
Cleanliness 4/5

Booking this hotel is easy through: Expedia.com!