Having stayed in Paris, France and visited the Eiffel tower previously,  I thought it would be nice to stay in the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as it is based on the French theme.

Our Check in was smooth and hassle free, with the staff being very efficient and helpful. We are offered an upgrade which I decline saying I am sure all your rooms are great.  We are given an upgrade anyway. Always remember this whether you are hiring a car or checking into a hotel, never take the offer of a paid upgrade. Hold out and you will more than likely get it for free anyway.

Before long we are given our room keys and we set off into the casino to head for the elevators. Our room 2515 is on the 25th floor, and when we look out the window and we have the Eiffel tower right in front of us, and we are overlooking Bellagio’s and the famous Bellagio fountain and Caesars Palace.

Just look at the beautiful reception area. It was continually busy so I had to wait until the early hours of the morning to get a clear shot showing the gorgeous chandeliers.

This is the guest elevator area. Everything in the Paris hotel is opulent.

First impressions of room

• Large king sized bed
• coffee table,
• computer desk
• TV and cabinet
• mini bar
• artwork in keeping with the French theme
• bedside table with large lamps
• 1 standard lamp
• ironing board and iron
• safe
• bath
• separate shower
• comfortable couch in a brushed suede finish
• broadband internet which costs $14.95 for 24 hours.
• coffee maker
• magnifying shaving mirror

We have opted for a non-smoking room with a king sized bed which turns out to be very comfortable. It has a red leather pleated feature headboard, nice linen and large comfortable pillows.

At the end of the bed is a pouffe for sitting on.

The room is very clean and the only thing we are unable to find is a clock radio.

Okay, bags down and cameras out.

King Sized bed with leather feature headboard.

Computer Desk with coffee machine and phone

TV, TV Cabinet, Wardrobes, minibar.
The cabinet is looking a bit worn and the doors stick. The safe, ironing board and iron are inside the wardrobe.

Comfortable couch, Coffee Table and Pouffe

Vanity Unit showing space for towels

Vanity unit showing magnifying shaving mirror

The hallway and guest elevator entrance has a soft luxurious looking decor.

Somewhere to sit and to check out that you look ok while waiting for your friends before hitting the Strip in style.

View of the Paris pool from the 25th floor. That shade was welcome relief from the oppressive heat of the sun.

The public toilets for  mademoiselle in the Paris Hotel Las Vegas

Just a couple of the views from the room and the top of the Eiffel Tower. 

Looking back over the Paris hotel from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It is too high for me to fit all of the hotel into the picture.

Some background about the Paris Hotel and Casino:

Work began on the construction of the Paris Hotel on April 17, 1997 and at the opening on September 1, 1999 there was a fireworks display from the Eiffel tower and the French Actress Catherine Deneuve turned on the Paris lights for the first time.

Although the project to build Paris was first announced by Bally’s Entertainment, building didn’t commence until after   Hilton Hotels purchased Bally’s.

Covering around 24 acres (97,000 m²), Paris cost 785 million USD dollars to build.

The replica of the Paris Eiffel Tower was meant to be built to the full scale of Tower in Paris but because the airport was way too close the tower was reduced in scale to around 5/8ths of the size of the original.

Inside the casino the ceiling has a painted blue sky with white clouds. This is a theme that is also found in other casinos like Caesars palace. The back stands of the Eiffel tower reach down through the ceiling right down to the casino floor.

We went up  to the top of the Eiffel Tower in the elevator and had our photo taken to commemorate the event. The trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower costs $10.00 for adults during the day and $12.00 at night.  Check your hotel brochures on things to do on the strip. We found a two for one deal so the trip to the top only cost $10.00 for the two of us. Bargain.

There is also the Eiffel Tower restaurant which is around 100 feet above the Strip, where you can experience fine French Cuisine prepared by acclaimed Chef J Joho.

Some of the other places you can dine at Paris are:

• Ah Sin – Pan-Asian Parisian dining which has an indoor/outdoor location on the Strip.
• Cafe du Par – Pick usp some sandwiches and salads beneath the Eiffel tower.
• JJ’s Boulangerie – A working bakery where you can purchase sandwiches made from freshly baked bread, soups, salads and pastries.
• Le Burger Brasserie – Gourmet burgers. We didn’t get to try these because there was always a long line waiting to get in, but we were told on a number of occasions that these burgers are the best.
• Le Cafe ile St. Louis – a sidewalk cafe that is always open and serves American food with a French touch.
• Le Provencal – French-Italian food served to the accompaniment of the singing staff.
• Le Village Buffet – Food prepared at live cooking stations
• Le Artistes Steakhouse – Enjoy rotisserie food in elegant surroundings with Impressionist art.
• Mon Ami Gabi – Another bistro that comes highly recommended that always had a long line to get into. French bistro serving steak frites and a variety of fruits de mer.

So as you can see there are plenty of culinary delights to keep you well fed during your Paris stay.

Entertainment:

• Anthony Cools Experience – Raw and Uncensored – Nightly at 9am (Dark Wednesday) – not for the shy and timid.
• Ooh La La at Paris - A Topless Revue.  Thursday – Tuesday 7pm and 11pm
• Jubliee! at Bally’s – Saturday – Thursday 7:30pm and 10:30pm
• Jubilee – Backstage Tour – Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 11am
• The Price is Right – Live stage show at Bally’s. Costs around $50.oo to participate. Shows run Tuesday – Thursday & Saturday 2:30pm and Friday at 7:30pm

There is also plenty of free entertainment with DJ’s providing music that you can dance along with.

You have the option of checking out using the Video Check- out system on your televison or by telephone.  I prefer to wait in line to check out so I can make sure I haven’t been charged for things I haven’t used.

And sure enough there was $48.00 worth of mini bar charges for items we hadn’t used.  I explained that we had moved things around to accomodate drinks we had brought at the downstairs shop but that I has put everything back in its place when we were leaving.  The charges were removed from the bill and I was only charged for the internet connection. So no hassle and everything was quickly sorted out.

Checkout experience – bit of a wait to checkout, but that is to be expected. Staff friendly, efficient and accommodating.

I purchased a package deal through Expedia.com.au that included the airfare from San Francisco and four nights at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas and you it pays to look out for great last minute Vegas values at Expedia.com!

The beauty for me, of booking through expedia.com.au is that it gives me the prices in Australian dollars so I know exactly how much my trip is going to cost up front. For this trip the return airfare to San Francisco with 4 nights at Paris cost AU$951.02  which is approximately US$793.

So if you are looking for a hotel with maximum exposure to the Strip, Paris is in a great location, the staff are helpful and friendly and the rooms are very comfortable and pleasant to spend time in.

Today we leave San Francisco. After breakfast I go up the road to do the washing so that we have clean clothes when we get to Las Vegas.

On the way down in the lift a rather irate women grumbles to us not to lose our key as the cleaning staff are most unhelpful and she has to go down to the desk to get another.  I bit my tongue as I do quite often these days. But I would have thought that as an adult it is your responsibility to put your key in a safe place, and I know I would be most unhappy if the cleaning staff let me into my room without any security checking, after all how would they know who I am.

As always our checkout experience at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites is flawless and the receptionist is friendly and efficient.

We have a short wait for the shuttle to arrive. It is not the shuttle company used by the hotel but we found the driver to be pleasant when we arrived and are quite happy to use them again for the return trip which only cost us $12 plus tip as against the $16  plus tip when we arrived.

Now for the fun part:

At the United check in we are unable to use the electronic check in device as they need to check our documents. So we move from queue 1 to queue 2, which of course is much longer.  A number of passengers are complaining because they have just found out that there is no free baggage allowance and they have to pay for every checked in bag. I am not too happy myself but when we finally reach the check in counter, we don’t have to pay as we are overseas passengers, having first boarded in Sydney.  So with smiles all round we head off for queue no 3.

We are then separated from queue 3 and taken to queue 4 to have our documents checked again. The young man behind us remarks that he thinks that we are being taken to the strip search queue. LOL all round but a few aren’t so sure this is a joke.

A young woman gives each of us the once over and makes lots of squiggles on our passes in hot pink pen.

And onto queue no 5. I point out to Val the benefits of arriving early when traveling overseas.  Now its time to remove our shoes, unload the laptop and place everything in the trays to go through the scanner. I know straight away what is going to happen and sure enough I am not disappointed.  My gold bangle that I have worn since my grandmother brought it for me when I was 10 years old, sets off the alarm.

So I am sent to stand behind a cordoned off area while a female attendant is called to deal with me.  I explain it’s the bangle and remark that after setting off every alarm in the US last time I was here, I had meant to have it cut off.  We have a rather jovial conversation as I already know the drill and she asks what happens in Australia. I tell her that I very rarely set off the alarms back home. “But what if you were carrying a gun”, Oh dear! I tell that I believe the sensors are able to have some metals tuned out, gold being one of them.

Then its off to the aircraft. Boarding, the flight, the landing and leaving the craft are all relatively easy and without incident.  So if you are an overseas traveler or don’t mind paying for checked baggage then the service with United is fine. We pick up the baggage, catch the Showtime Shuttle for $6.50 one way and we are off. I didn’t buy a return because we haven’t decided where we are going to stay for the last 4 days as yet.

We arrive at the Paris and I am so thrilled I chose this hotel. After walking from the drop off point, through the Casino we arrive at the Reception area.  The receptionist asks if would like an upgrade to a room with a view. Having been through all this before I decline saying thank you, I am sure all your rooms are lovely. She proceeds with the booking and tells me she has upgraded us anyway.  Thank you very much.

Our room is on the 25^th floor looking straight out to the Eiffel Tower and directly across to the  Bellagio where we can watch the fountain show every hour. The room is just lovely. Will give a more detailed review of the hotel in a later post.

After fossicking around for a short time we head off out in search of food, not having eaten since breakfast.  At that point a Deuce bus comes along that says ‘Downtown’ so we hop on and purchase a day pass for $7.00. This way we can use the buses to take us up and down the strip to the other casinos, rather than walk everywhere like Paula and I did last year.

Once we are settled on the bus I remember reading on the net that the Deuce buses don’t run to Fremont St and start thinking. “Ohmigod! what will we do if it stops nowhere near Fremont St.”  Well we will just stay on the damn thing and ride it back of course.  I tend to have panic thoughts followed immediately by completely rational and logical ones so I am used to this kind of thought process happening .

Well I am absolutely delighted to tell you that the Deuce buses now go to Fremont St.  The bus goes straight down Las Vegas Boulevard and stops at Fremont St East. From there it is a short walk up to the Fremont St experience.

The noise is amazing; this whole area has had an uplift over the past year. I am loving it.  They are celebrating the ‘Sounds of Summer 69′; it’s the 40 year anniversary of  Woodstock and there are a number of excellent bands belting out the music of my era. I want to stay and dance but we are hungry.

On the way to the Plaza we stop off at the Golden Nugget to see the Worlds largest golden nugget and the shark tank with the enclosed slide that goes through the tank into the pool.  Then its off to Lucky 7’s.

But what’s this Lucky 7’s is no more, I am stunned, I have been hanging out for their fried chicken and chocolate cream pie for over a year now.

But wait, the restaurant has had an uplift and a name change, its now called “Stuffed” at the Plaza.  And of course its no longer $7.77 for the meal but $12.50 plus tax.

I am sooo disappointed, the chicken is undercooked and I just can’t bring myself to eat raw chicken, the next piece is dried out. But I will try again another day, after all it is after 10pm and they are ready to close.  I do score a piece of chocolate pie though and it lives up to my memories.

After eating we head off to watch the Fremont experience.  We stop to listen to a couple of the bands while we wait for the 11pm show.  And I find a Wheel of Fortune machine at Binion’s, Just like the one at the Gold Coast Hotel. I lose $20 to start with but then win $40 so we are okay at the moment.

Then the  Fremont St Experience show starts and it is KISS, one of my favorite bands. Val has decided that we should spend the last 4 days at Downtown, however, he has yet to see what else is on offer.

Then its back on the bus.  We are at the wrong stop, but this is obviously common as a lady dressed in a psychedelic ‘Summer of 69′ t-shirt points us in the right direction. She says it is a mistake that everyone from out of town makes.  You think you would pick up the bus where it dropped you off but you have to go to the next street down, no big deal.

On the bus I get talking to a group of Angels – Avon ladies who are in Las Vegas at a convention. The first couple of ladies I talk to are from Kentucky and what beautiful accents they have, I could listen to them all night.

And so here it is 1am and I am writing up Day 1 in Vegas.  Val is sensible he is in bed asleep. Me I am just so happy to be here once again, I have to admit that I may have left my heart in San Francisco but I am fickle and I am having a love affair with Las Vegas.