Vegas Girls Guide

This year I was lucky enough to travel to Vegas for the third time, I feel I have enough knowledge to share all the best places to club, eat, shop, get your hair done and the best way to do it all.

ACCOMMODATION

So far I have stayed at the Bellagio, The Wynn Encore and the Cosmopolitan. I would say these are the three hotels you hear about the most when people talk about where they stay. Caesar’s Palce for me has nice shops and usually good entertainment in house but for me it’s slightly dated. Ceasar’s and the Bellagio hotel have prime location in the centre of the strip so between the two hotels without a shadow of a doubt the Bellagio wins. I have been on a girls holiday, a hen party and with my fiancé so I have defiantly seen a wide range of sights.

The Bellagio Hotel

I stayed here four years ago on a girls holiday and loved staying here; it has the best day pool (we will talk pools later) as for hotel pools pick a good one because you can’t pool jump hotel to hotel, you have to pay but more of that later as I have lots of tricks. Our room was sensational; two huge beds, a view over the strip and the fountains and the room was brightly coloured with a huge jacuzzi bath tub. However this did not start of as amazing as this. We checked in and asked for a nice room. The receptionist tried to sell us the new suite in the refurbished wing for $120 a night each. We couldn’t afford it so we said no. When we go to our room we were so disappointed; it dark with a brown interior and a horrible view. It was such a nasty little room. We called the reception and politely asked to be moved. Ten minutes later we were moved. We got moved to the new wing and didn’t have to pay a penny. The room was of the same grade, yes it had been refurbished but why should we have to pay more. I travel a lot, nine times out of ten I get given a horrible room with a horrible view. I am sure they do this to test you, give everyone a horrible room and save the good ones for if and when people moan. My advice is to always ask for another room, don’t be rude but realise they definatly have nicer ones. I can not fault the Bellagio, I had the best stay there. The pool is the best day pool, it’s not known for pool parties but for prettiness; a couple’s holiday or for tanning this pool wins for me. This hotel is also the only hotel that feel like a hotel when you enter as the entrance leads to a beautiful reception and they are famous for their seasonal flower garden exhibitions. Where as every other hotel you walk head first into a casino which makes me anxious after a couple of days. The restaurants are fab, the cafe for brunch is mind blowing and I went there four times on my last stay. For Paris 30th last year we when to Picasso’s fine dining and sat outside. We had a beautiful, romantic night and I would recommend this to any couples. The Hermes store at the Bellagio has a reputation for being the best in the world fyi.

The Wynn Encore

I stayed here last year with Paris. I loved this hotel because its new and modern and felt really luxury. The pool was really nice; during the week its a nice everyday hotel pool but they also have the Encore beach club which is a great pool party. Our room was a small suite and it was modern and sexy with a great view. I think you get best of both worlds here. When I stayed here the first time I felt like it was awkward being at the end of the strip but taxis are cheap and this year I ended up spending a lot of time this end of the strip because I visited the Fashion Mall opposite the encore. Mizumi and Sinatra’s are two of the best restaurants I have been to; the design and food is beautiful, they are a must for friends or couples dining. The brunch restaurant was just as good as the Bellagio Cafe actually it’s btter. I wouldn’t waist your time eating at any restaurant outside of the hotels because the top hotels can not be beaten. Le Reve show is also at the Wynn which I would recommend. Over all this is such a fab hotel and probably just beats the Bellagio for me, which is not far behind at all. The Wynn is pricey but if you are going to somewhere like Las Vegas then don’t do it half hearted. I am not saying book a tower suite but save a little bit extra because it goes a long way and make the trip more special.

The Cosmopolitan

I stayed here last month in April for my hen. I was really looking forward to staying here as I have heard lots of great things and majority of people I know stay here. It’s meant to be young and modern. I knew it was next to the Bellagio so I knew the location was good in the centre. By the way ignore the centre location it means nothing, just get a cab it’s so cheap. I was so disappointed with the Cosmopolitan I can’t even tell you. I honestly would not recommend this place. If this had been my first visit to Vegas I would have been rather disappointed and thank the Bellagio for my amazing stay the first time round. To start with the checking in was terrible, we had some drama with one of the girls forgetting her credit card for the room deposit and the man shouted (as Americans do) that we couldn’t afford the room, yes that room we had already paid for. We was then was given room five floors apart!!! We argued for an hour to get a room near each other which was a horrible room. This put a downer on our arrival and made us late for dinner. My sister had organised a lovely cake to be sent to my room, which was meant to be a surprise but they ruined thesuprise and spelt my name wrong. After 24 hours of moaning we got a slighter nicer room but our party were on separate wings. The room were nothing special in comparison to the Wynn or Bellagio, the restaurants were nothing special and the brunch place is not worth even looking at. The pool is horrendous, you have to pay for a bed even if you are staying there and the free ones are separate form the pool. The pool party was disgusting and dirty and we walked in and out and ran to the Bellagio. On the last day we wanted to relax and catch a tan but we couldn’t do this at our own hotel because the pool party was tacky and loud and the other pool was boring and we had to pay for beds. We went to the Bellagio and asked to use the pool, understandably they said you had to be a guest. I told the lady how horrible our own pool was and please hep us. So the lady at the Bellagio who gave us free pool passes, thank you! We had the best final day relaxing by the pool. Avoid the Cosmopolitan. Either pay a little extra for the Wynn, Bellagio, Mandarin or Aria or go really cheap and expect a basic stay but spend your money else where at the pool parities.

Restaurants

Favourite restaurants; The Bellagio Cafe, Bellagio Picasso’s (mainly for the view outside,) The Wynn Sinatra’s and Mizumi, The Wynn Society Cafe had the BEST brunch for sure. I went to Hakkasan at the MGM Grand was a bit dissappointing, I thoguht it had no atmosphere. I feel if you were a celebrity and wanted to dine in private with friends then yeah it’s good, other wise for a normal perosn who wants to be thrusted into excitement and a vibrant atmosphere then don’t go here. The tables were too separated and the atmosphere wasn’t great. I am really glad I went there and tried it out, it was my number one place to try for my hen and we had fun but over all it wasn’t as amazing as what everyone saids. We went to Gordon Ramsey’s burger restaurant which is at Planet Hollywood and this was worth going to. The sweet potato fries were covered in honey and sugar which I didn’t like so maybe don’t order them.

Night Life

The first time I went to Las Vegas I partied 24/7 and slept for days when I returned home so I strongly recommend everyone to do this, it’s part of going to Vegas. I have been to XS, Marquee, Pure (re opens early 2015) Omnia and Hyde. I loved them all and recommend them all. My huge tip for clubbing is probaly the most important tip. Boys have to spend a lot of money and they have to pre plan or book a party promo guy where as us girks can really use being a girl to our advantage. Don’t rely too much on just being “a girl” because everytime I have been to a club in Vegas the queue is never ending and they consit of hundreds of girls. Hopefully after reading this you wont be one of those girls that queue. To start of it helps if you have a nice accent, the Britsh accent seems to work a treat. Start with dressing nice (im sure you will all do this) there are lots of girls walking around trashed on too much alcohol, wearing too tight body cons and foam flips flops. Don’t bring this girls down too much they are the reason we have the chance to get in without queueing or paying. I know plenty of pretty British girls that have been to Vegas and not got in the club even though they were on the guest list so I must be doing something right.

The misison starts in the hotel room, you need to make yourself look super hot and sexy which is the best part of being inVegas. I am nearly 30 so for me I feel like it’s the only place I can wear short slutty outfits haha. Once you arrive at the hotel walk confidently to the front of the quete, go right to the front. There is usually five plus men on the door that are responsible for letting people in. Make eye contact with one of these until he looks back, smile at him and start talking. I usualy say what ever comes out, usually something simple like “Hello (never say hi or hey we are trying to be really British here) theres six of us can we come in” it doesnt matter what you say as l0ng as you have his attention, look him in the eyes and smile and bang you’re in. I’ve always been given a free table with free drink, I don’t care about the drink because I hardly drink it’s the table I want because the clubs get so packed. If this fails it means you were not confident enough, walk away and try again at another club. Don’t bother with the guest list it gets you no where and never queue because you will be there all night.

If you don’t want to club there is so much mroe to do. I went for late night dinners with Paris and saw a few tribute shows and saw the La Reve. With the girls the second time round we were over clubing after the secind night so we went to see Britney Spears, which was a hen spurise for me. I loved loved loved it, every song reinded me of when I was a teenager and I knew every word to every song. We had such a fun girly night. People keep asking me what se was like; in all honesty it looked to me she was bored of performing, sang her songs then whipped off the stage. There were lot’s of skipping and hair flippng but with that said I really loved it and so happy I managed to see her. There is always someone major performing, at the momment Mirah Carey is there so anythign like this is worth doing.

No for the Chippendales 🙂 I have seen banners around Veags for this and it did nto even cross my mind to go. I hate anything like this, tacky and cringe but we did not know what to do on the last night, our money was running low and we did not want to go clubbing. I suggested the Chippendales because I thought oh why not, we are on a hen let’s do something cheesy. It’s held in the Rio hotel which is not a great hotel so even when we bought the tickets we thought oh god look at this place. Anyway we got ready and off we went. OH MY GOD it was the best night I think I have ever had with the girls. From start to finish we were screaming our heads off, it was hilarious. I thought it would be tacky stripper men showing their horrible willies but it was not like that at all. Ok not all of the men were hot but there was someone for everyone and me and my friends all had our eyes on the same guy haha jesus this sounds terrible but it’s only a bit of fun. There were no willies flapping and in a cringey kind of way it was…… can I say tasteful?? It was all just fun and the men were truley great dancers, they were just like Channing Tatum in Magic Mike but actually the dancing was better. If you want to get up on stage I would suggest wearing somthign birthday or hen related, everyone who wore somthig like this got pulled up. I never had my bridal veil on so I did not get chosen than god. I said to the girls I would have been such a white girl acting like Taylor Swift dancing next to the other girls that were so into it and funny. The tickets were $75 and it was the best $75 I have ever spent. Yes it’s cheesy and may sound tacky but who cares? I promise you; you will laugh all night and it will be so much fun and so Vegas. Make sure you buy a drink and bring back a Chippendales cup.

Shopping & Day

For me I am not a huge shopper on holiday I do it for my blog and for Chelsea Styling so I stay away from the shops when im away. However if you want Chanel or Hemes the shops are great. America definatly recieves the collections before the UK and they seem to have nicer colours. The price is usually the same maybe 5% more. The Bellagio Hermes is meant to have great stock and they don’t give you a hard time when you want to buy something, unlike here in London. The malls are good, the one opposite the Wynn is the best. I went to Macy’s and stocked up on Anastia Beverly Hills make up. Vicotira Secret used to be a hot spot for me but now I don’t care because we have a store in London and the best bikinis are all online anyway.

One thing my sister wanted to organise for me was a place for us to get ready. She found the most amazing hair salon called The Blowout Dolls House. I loved this place and recomnned it for a hen party or simply to get a fun blow dry. The location is in a container park so the shops are those huge metal containers, its really cool and I never knew it existed. The salon is like a dolls house as you can see from the photos. The blow dries were $35 and we were all really happy with our hair. Some of the girls got their nails and make up done too. My sister Stevie done a great job finding this little gem.

On my first trip to Vegas I took a day out to visit the Grand Canyon. I didn’t have too much money so the coach trip was the only option for me. The coach drive is so long, I think it was about five hours long and we only had one stop there and back at McDonalds or Pizza hut which was gross and annoying. We also had to stay there for hours and wait for the entire coach to finish taking photos, so there was alot of driving and waiitng around but the actual destination was worth it. The grand Canyon is something incredible to see and I am glad I have ticked that off my box. The other options are via helicopter but all the helicopters the day I went were cencelled due to bad weather so driving is maybe the best option. Howveer I would recommend hiring a car, this way you can stop when and where you want, drive faster than a coach and leave when you want. This trip will take up your whole day but it’s a sight worth seeing.

Pool Parties

As I said before some of the pools are better than others but it depends what you want. The Bellagio and the Wynn have great pools that you dont have to pay for if youre staying there. The pool parties are for me 50% of Vegas, I get so excited and this is why I diet so much before and dedicate so many hours to finding gorgeous show stopping bikinis. What did you think of my Seafolly one piece?

Wet Republic is AMAZING and I have been three times. My advice is try and book a weekend when there is great DJ. Do not take a big bag because they won’t allow you to take it in there. The first two times I autmatically took a tiny bag but last month I took my Chanel Deuville and they told me to put it in the cloack room, I was so anxious someone would steal it, so don’t take a big bag. You are allowed a small cross body bag, think WOC and a bit bigger. Don’t bother taking a selfie stick either as they are banned and so are SLR professional cameras. Each time I have been to Wet Republic I have been super lucky; the first time I went I said to my friend lets have a photo in the pool before it gets too busy (see photo of Laura and I in the pool) as we were posing a guy came over to us and asked if we wanted a bungalow. I had no idea what it was but I said yes. He took my hand and took us to a mini bungalow, it was literally a small house on the balcony! At Wet Republic there are a few beds scatrered around usually priced at £2000 and then there are the bungalows which have mini pools, food, drink and beds. We had the time of our lives and it was all for free. The next day was even better because Steve Angello pointed at me on the dance floor and invited my friends and I to the DJ stand. I have had some of the best most fun days of my life at Wet Republic. Call me shallow but I am holding onto these days before I have babies hanging off me and don’t have the body to flaunt anymore. This isn’t the bad life but I want to enjoy my twenties whilst I still can, so make the most of your youth to queue jump, get free bungalows and have the time of your life.

When I went back last month I was a bit anxious because the time before we had such a great time and got this free bungalow so what would happen if we didn get another one? When we arrived I was already in a fail, anxious mood because my Chanel tote had been confiscated and it was packed, way more packed than the last time I was there. You couldnt even walk around let alone take a photo. Just as we were about to walk out because it was way to hectic a guy walked over to my friend Christine and asked if she wanted a bungalow, this is what you call “Happy days”. We posed until we had enough photos that made us look skinny, took dancing slow motion videos, danced along to Calvin Harris and went home to get ready for the eveneing. I think we had a sneaky McDonalds in between.

The Encore pool party is really fun and just as good, I would recommend going for sure. Perosnally I have the best memeories at Wet Republic but the Encore is just as good.

I hope my Las Vegas guide has helped you for your holiday or inspired you to book Vegas. If you need to ask me any questions I am happy to answer if you comment below, not via email.