Las Vegas Trip Slideshow

Presentation of our trip to Las Vegas with my girlfriend and her parents, and walk across the Strip for almost four hours. The main places of interest in these images: Circus Circus, Riviera, Wynn, Fashion Show Mall, Venetian, Treasure Iceland, Mirage, Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, MGM Grand, Excalibur, Tropicana. And who can forget Sponge Bob.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Fsp401nCs&hl=en

Comfortable 5-Star and 4-Star Benidorm Hotels

Benidorm is a Valencian municipality and coastal town of Alicante, Spain. It is situated in Marina Baixa's comarca region along the western Mediterranean Sea. Benidorm used to be a small village before the 1960s. At current, it is world renowned for its beaches, skyscrapers and hotel industry.

It is Alicante's 5th most populous town with 64,956 permanent inhabitants. With its tourist-oriented economy, it is considered as one of Spain's most important holiday resorts and vacation destinations. Its mild climate makes it an ideal winter and summer destination.

Benidorm is also called as "Bemiyork" or the "Manhattan of Spain" because of the numerous tall apartment buildings and hotels that formed its unique skyline - making it incomparable to anything else on Costa Blanca.

For an enjoyable stay in Benidorm, don't miss out on the following:

Mundomar - This is a sealife and animal park.

Aqualandia - This is a family water park.

Altea - This is a charming old town about 12 kilometers from Benidorm.

Benidorm Palace - This place showcases a Las Vegas-style cabaret with dinner shows. It has a seating capacity of more than 2,000.

Terra Natura - This is water and Wildlife Park.

Terra Mitica - This is a huge theme park that features different thrill rides.

For activities in Benidorm, you can enjoy walking through interesting places like Albir, Calpe, Finestrast and Villa Joyosa. Boat trips are also accessible to Calpe and Isla de Benidorm Wildlife Sanctuary. You can also go to the Tabarca Island off Alicante.

Benidorm Hotels
There are more than 240 hotels in Benidorm you can choose from. There are also holiday apartment complexes that offer comfortable amenities and quality services to guests. There's always an accommodation that will fit your budget. Here are some 5-star and 4-star Benidorm hotels to consider:

Villaitana Wellness Golf and Business Sun Hotel- This 5-star Benidorm hotel is located on a hill that overlooks the bay. It is only 34.5 miles from the Alicante Airport. It also features two golf courses, several outdoor heated pools, lovely gardens, paddle courts, tennis courts, a complete Spa and a fitness room. The hotel is also disable accessible, has 11 restaurants, a 24hr. open reception, convention center, a huge play area and it guarantees high speed Internet access.

Villaitana Wellness Golf and Business Sun Hotel has 176 well-appointed guest rooms that is furnished with traditional Spanish furniture tastefully blended with warm colors for that welcoming atmosphere. Their standard double rooms are equipped with air conditioning units, in-room safes, satellite TVs, walk-in closets, mini bars and spacious bathrooms. They also have a junior suite room that also comes with a 26 square meter terrace and a living area.

The address of the hotel is Avenida del Alcalde Eduardo Zaplana Hernandez-Soro 7-03502 Benidorm. Their phone number is 0044-203-027-7155. The nightly rate for this hotel starts at EUR138 - inclusive of tax.

Belroy Hotel Benidorm - This 4-star Benidorm hotel is set on a conveniently central location. It is close to the city center and the Levante Beach. It offers extensive recreational facilities such as a gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool, sauna and an onsite restaurant. They also have a solarium, conference facilities and a business center.

Belroy Hotel features 125 well-appointed rooms and 56 tastefully decorated apartments. These rooms offer tranquility and peace to guests apart from the exquisite hospitality of its staff. Rooms are equipped with color TVs, air conditioning units, private bathrooms/ensuites, irons with boards, mini bars and hair dryers among others. With Belroy Hotel, you are assured of a relaxing stay.

Is the Only 7-Star Hotel in the World For Real

While we may wonder what happened to 6-star hotels, how about 5-star hotels? There are many of these all over the world and of course a five star hotel is supposed to be of the highest quality in every area. There are many hotels in the world these days that are five star but in the last ten years or so the concept of 6-star hotels has emerged to show superior service, opulence, and attitude.

Some hotels have such absolutely exemplary service that they claim to be 6-star hotels as opposed to 5-star hotels. I heard a story of one traveler at a 5-star hotel in Indonesia who could not plug in their cell phone to the electrical outlet of their room. She went to the desk to ask if they could help them find a charger with the proper plug and was told yes, she could find one at a store right outside the hotel complex. This was not sufficient help for the traveler and she complained to her friends about supposed "5-star service." Had she been at a 6-star hotel like the Crown Macau in Macau or the Oriental Bangkok in Thailand, if the claims of superior service by these hotels are to be believed, then she should have been told to wait and the staff would have delivered a new charger to her room for no cost.

This brings us to the only 7-star hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. It is the tallest operating hotel in the world, although an empty hotel in North Korea and the Rose Tower in Dubai (yet to open) are taller. It's renown has prompted other 7-star projects still under development in places like India, China and Pakistan. It's architecture renders it to look like a sail and was designed the best engineers in the world. If you walk in at three in the morning, you will be greeted personally, by name, and you can tell them you want a full meal of lobster in your room immediately and they will most certainly oblige you, for no extra cost. At the Burj, you get what you pay for and what you pay for is a seven star hotel. It may be marketing, but the opulence, grandness and humble, outstanding service at this palace of a hotel probably do deserve the moniker of 7-star hotel. Some call it a 6-star hotel but it is one step above even six stars. Add the location, beauty, features and stellar courtesy of this hotel and it should equal the best hotel in the world. At $1000 and up per night, it definitely should be.

Cheap Vegas Hotels Off the Strip

Las Vegas and all the glitz and the glamor is a fairly new thing, although its difficult to imagine it to be so if you are a casino enthralled in the joys of winning or the depressions of losing. Not so long ago the whole area was nothing but a landscape of sand and cactus plants - for as far as the eye could see stretching for mile upon mile. That was up until Howard Hughes changed it all.

Over the past 4 decades the city of Las Vegas has undergone a huge amount of change. First off came the mega hotels with their huge casinos and bright lights to dazzle everyone who walked in the doors and then the Summerlin master planned community. There has been constant change even since the 1960's. Not only to meet heightened safety regulations but also to keep up to date with the patrons - the high rollers and the not so high rollers alike.

These days though there is room for discount hotels and cheap Vegas hotels. There has to be because most of us cannot afford to go to the casino and blow a large bank roll on a regular basis. How else to attract the masses to the area?

You may think the words discount and cheap are indeed - cheap, meaning not so good or low class. Don't let this fool you. Cheap and discount really means that hotels are vying and competing for your business. In which case even high end 5 star hotels at least at some times of the year offer their potential patrons package deals and discounts. Even if these hotels are on the strip.

The key thing that keeps Vegas going is the casinos as not enough tourists go to fill all the hotel rooms day in day out year after year. So with this in mind what happens is that the hotels offer cheaper rooms and cheaper food to bring in the punters, making up any losses in the reduced hotel rates by what they then make in the casinos. Its a clever philosophy really.

So where are the cheap Vegas hotels to be found? Well if you want the real cheap places don't go to the strip, obviously. Downtown is cheaper than the strip but well off strip is where the actions at. If you find some of the smaller motels off strip you can come up with some real bargain deals. Or why not think about a place like Sam's Town which is around 10 miles from the strip. A long way off for a regular venture into town for sure but if you are only making a few visits to the big casinos then it will save you money for sure.

There are great discounts to be had and many cheap Las Vegas hotel around these days in particular, both on strip and definitely off strip. Spend a little time on research and you will come up with a great deal.

The Deuce on band Las Vegas

Our ride on the Deuce double deck bus upstairs



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKK3XfRw8g0&hl=en

MY 2002 Las Vegas Trip - Video Camera - Assignment 3 of 7!

Since late 2002, here is some video I shot in Las Vegas, mostly from the hotel / casino, during a short break - have always been my second home! This is part 3 of 7 (This was shot with a Sony TRV900.)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSveQ_gQhqM&hl=en

Le Rêve: Beam of Light

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7wCa4G4Uw&hl=en