Living it up in Las Vegas

The best place to stay is the Las Vegas Hilton because it is right next to the convention center and attracts more meeting groups than hard core gamblers. The resort has a wonderful pool, several great tennis courts, a full spa and exercise room, and a salon, so you can get pampered all day.

At night, there are seven delicious restaurants on site to choose from ranging from a terrific steakhouse, to a French restaurant, a Japanese steakhouse, a Mexican restaurant, a diner, a Chinese restaurant and an Italian restaurant. All are terrific!

The Hilton also boasts great live entertainment. We have seen Steve Harvey, the Beach Boys, Pat Benatar, and the traveling troupe of Rent. My favorite early afternoon activity is to drive out to the Red Rocks Canyon and just admire nature for a few hours. I can easily spend five days in Las Vegas without ever gambling and have a great time!

We were invited to the 2000 New Year's Eve party at the hotel, and it was superb. They gave each couple a pair of Waterford Milennium goblets as a keepsake!

Quick Tips:

Don't play the Jeopardy slots; no one ever wins the jackpot. The Red, white and blue slots and Slingo seem to pay out often.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis and walking are the best modes of transportation. We love walking from the Hilton to the downtown area to see which new casinos have opened and to see what types of water or light shows they have outside. There are tons of high end dining and shopping places in Vegas now. It's just like being in NY, only much easier to get from one store to another!

For $39/night, you can not get a nicer room in the city. Plus, if you are a Gold Honors member, you get an upgraded room. No matter what, you probably will have a great view of a golf course and the Stratosphere. You can see and hear people on the Stratosphere Rollercoaster if you open your window. The Las Vegas Hilton because is right next to the convention center and attracts more meeting groups than hard core gamblers. The resort has a wonderful pool, several great tennis courts, a full spa and exercise room, and a salon, so you can get pampered all day.

At night, there are seven delicious restaurants on site to choose from ranging from a terrific steakhouse, to a French restaurant, a Japanese steakhouse, a Mexican restaurant, a diner, a Chinese restaurant and an Italian restaurant. All are terrific!

The Hilton also boasts great live entertainment. We have seen Steve Harvey, the Beach Boys, Pat Benatar, and the traveling troupe of Rent. My favorite early afternoon activity is to drive out to the Red Rocks Canyon and just admire nature for a few hours. I can easily spend five days in Las Vegas without ever gambling and have a great time!

We were invited to the 2000 New Year''s Eve party at the hotel, and it was superb. They gave each couple a pair of Waterford Milennium goblets as a keepsake!

The spa services are also excellent. I love to get facials there.

This hotel was outrageously expensive and not worth it. You can stay for $40 at the Las Vegas Hilton for just as nice a room. Plus, there''s no charge for tennis at the LV Hilton, but Paris makes you borrow Bally''s courts and pay $12/hour. The spa and exercise room were great, but I had to wait an extra hour when I had a hair appointment because they were running really late!

The Cafe St. Louis had the best onion soup and chicken tenders ever, but most of the other food was average and overpriced. The hotel is convenient to all of the other newer, expensive properties. They had every employee trained in basic French phrases which turned out to be funny when a French couple decided to ask questions in French of a bewildered waiter. This was truly an establishment for high rollers.

I was so excited when I stumbled upon The Cheesecake Factory when shopping in the Caesar's ritzy stores. Ever since that restaurant opened in Washington DC over ten years ago, it has been my favorite.

As is the case with all of their franchises, we waited on line for 45 minutes to get a table. I couldn't wait to get the Santa Fe Salad, my favorite, and my husband wanted to get the Caesar Salad Sandwich. Neither tasted as good as they always do in DC, so we were disappointed. Service was also pretty slow, which is also unusual. We decided to console ourselves with slices of their amazing cheesecakes. I got my favorite, Snickers, and it was as good as ever. My husband got the Oreo, and it was great, too.

We gave the restaurant a second try on our next trip to Vegas and ordered different entrees. Unfortunately, they were also mediocre. Having eaten at the Factory in Santa Monica, Denver, DC, and Florida, we know that this one is not up to par on its main courses. I recommend getting a slice of cheesecake to go (only a 15 minute wait) and enjoying it on the seats by the huge aquarium in the atrium. Slices start at about $6.00, so it's not a place to stop for cheap eats.

After listening to Pet Shop Boys music for over 15 years, it was awesome to see them live! The Joint is an amazing venue for concerts. We have seen Savage Garden and Elvis Costello perform here on previous occassions, and VH1 taped all three live performances and later aired them. This was the only one of the three concerts that was standing room only. Usually there is seating (assigned seating).

It was Halloween night 1999, and the Pet Shop Boys did not disappoint. They showed up on stage in funky costumes. They were amazing as always, but their background singers for songs from their latest album were truly outstanding. They all put so much energy into their performance, and the crowd was really into it! We loved hearing old favorites like Suburbia, West End Girls and Let's Make Lots of Money. This was my favorite concert at this venue. Since it's the Hard Rock, they really paid attention to acoustics when they built the Joint, and it makes the shows incredible. Prices are usually reasonable, too. Only 1,400 seats are available, so you are pretty close to the performers even when you are at the bars buying drinks during the concerts.