Each week, our holiday hero, Neil Simpson, delves into a brilliant holiday topic and does all the legwork so you don’t have to. This week: last minute vacation until Las Vegas.
It might pay off to vacate Las Vegas until the last minute this summer, as plenty of deals are on offer as the city struggles to bring visitor numbers back to pre-pandemic highs.
Prices tend to drop as temperatures rise (in summer it can top 100F), but holidaymakers now have a choice of hotels with new attractions, refurbished rooms and added extras.
Book a last-minute trip to Las Vegas this summer and you could land a bargain – prices tend to drop as temperatures rise, and there are deals on offer as the city struggles to get visitor numbers back to the all-time highs to bring about the pandemic
Check into The Strat – formerly The Stratosphere – and stay in a sleek, contemporary hotel visible from across the city.
Though the rooms aren’t huge by Vegas standards, each has been renovated during the pandemic and offers easy access to the city’s SkyPod and Observation Deck, which sits 1,149 feet above the Las Vegas Strip.
Thrill-seekers can take a roller coaster ride into the sky on the SkyPod or take on the hotel’s other mile-high attractions like Insanity, Sky Jump and X-Scream. For a quieter experience, enjoy cocktails at Level 108 Bar or dine at Level 106 with stunning views at the retro revolving restaurant.
The Strat Hotel is best for the adventurous as it has its own rides like Insanity (pictured).
Big Attractions: The Mad Apple circus show is the hot new attraction at Hotel New York New York
Take a three night short break at The Strat with British Airways Holidays from £1,099 per person including flights or stay seven nights including flights this summer from £1,229 per personbritishairways.co.uk/lasvegas).
Mad Apple, a newly opened Cirque du Soleil show featuring magicians up close and personal, is the hot new attraction at the New York New York Hotel. Another famous name of the hotel is the Nine Fine Irishmen Pub. The interior was manufactured in Dublin, shipped to Vegas and rebuilt in the heart of the hotel. Reserve a table for shepherd’s pie and bangers and mash with imported beers and whiskeys.
Across from the hotel lobby, look for something a lot more American: a massive M&M World branch.
Book flights and three nights accommodation in New York New York with Kuoni’s new online offshoot Breeze from £816pp (Breeze.kuoni.co.uk).
Nearly 25 years after it opened and two decades after its appearance in Ocean’s Eleven, the Bellagio remains one of the ultimate Las Vegas hotels.
This year, guests check into renovated rooms with handcrafted mattresses and a mix of granite, marble, and mother-of-pearl in the bathrooms. Eat at restaurants like the Picasso, whose walls are adorned with the artist’s paintings and ceramics, book a private poolside cabana, or wait until dusk to see the Bellagio’s fountains—one of the most photographed events in America. Book in advance to get flights and five nights later this year from £1,059 per person (dialaflight.com).
The Bellagio (above) remains one of the ultimate Las Vegas hotels, and this year guests are checking into newly remodeled rooms
Find a younger, even more opulent vibe at Virgin Hotels’ new outpost, a few blocks down the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel’s restaurants include a steakhouse, a branch of celebrity-friendly Nobu, a juice bar, and a branch of After’s Ice Cream, one of America’s most colorful and Instagram-friendly new brands.
You can head outside to find DJs playing poolside at Elia Beach Club, book hot stones, warm scalps or other treatments at the spa, or catch up-and-coming acts performing at 24 Oxford, a nod to Virgin Records’ early days in the London Oxford Street.
Book a seven night stay this summer including direct flights on Virgin Atlantic from £1,070 per person (virginholidays.co.uk).
