Monday 15th December left home at 3.00am slightly earlier than planned as we were unable to check in on line and had seen that flight on Sunday had been cancelled, arrived Gatwick in record time at 0530, checked in shortly afterwards and hung around until departure which was only slightly late. Flight was very full, freezing cold and lots of people had colds, so happy to arrive in Vegas about 2.30ish. Immigration quite quick this trip but waited ages for our bags, out for a quick smoke in the pouring rain then taxi to the Rio.

This was our 4th trip to Vegas in 3 years, went last Christmas and April and June year before. We have stayed at MGM, Barbary Bills and Mirage and were going to stay at Bills and Golden Nugget this year but Husband had good offer from Rio and we took up the offers that Palazzo and Venetian had just before we left.

Anyway arrived at Rio about 3pm, had a suite on 19th floor of Masquerade Tower, had read good and bad reports, I thought the room was really good for what we paid, it was very large, clean, great shower, nice and bright (I could see what I was doing) and quiet. We managed to stay up till about 9pm, had been up about 28 hours by now after about 3 hours sleep the night before, woke up at about 2 am starving so we went and had breakfast in the All American which was good, then back to bed and slept till about 7 am, now on track for as normal timings as you need in Vegas. Tuesday was cold but sunny so we went over to Gold Coast for a few hours then over to Palms for our first visit, back to Gold Coast where we had a snack in TGIF's, never visited one before thought it was pretty good, then back to Rio, had dinner in All American, have been here previously and had good food this time not so good at all.

Wednesday, woke late, and decided to take shuttle to strip, got off shuttle at Paris just before midday and it was just starting to snow, went to Miracle Mile shops and Planet Hollywood, ate at Planet Dailies had excellent pasta meal. When we came out of PH it was snowing very heavily, so we went to Paris and Ballys, then to Bills where to stayed for quite a while and caught the Big Elvis show, then decided to go to Caesars, it was still snowing heavily and the floors were very slushy and slippery, did the Forum shops and hung around Caesars for a while then got the shuttle back to the Rio, needed to get cleaned up after walking round in the snow, went over to Gold Coast, it was still snowing but we found a shortcut through car park and into side of GC so we weren't to wet, had dinner at TGIF's which again was very good, hung around GC till quite late and when we left it had stopped snowing.

Thursday, moving day for 3 nights in the Venetian, no problem checking in early had a suite on the 9th floor which was very nice, spent the rest of that day in the Fashion show Mall and the evening went to Palazzo, Wynn and Venetian. Had dinner in Grand Lux in Palazzo first time in Grand Lux for us, it was very good.

Friday we spent most of the day in the Wynn, husband's favourite casino, he spends hours on the slots, I play a little and play video poker but am not too keen on losing my money, I would rather spend it in shops, perhaps I'm just a bad loser but I don't expect to win much on slots and it seems you have to put in more than you win so I don't lose too much, husband just enjoys it for the fun! We did have the Wynn buffet in the afternoon as husband had enough points for quite a few free ones and they gave us a line pass which was nice, quite a good buffet, we are not a fan of buffets at all and this is the only one we have eaten at in Vegas so can't really compare it.

Saturday we got a taxi to the Premium outlets near downtown which we haven't been back to since our first trip and we bought quite a bit of good stuff here, it's pretty good for outlet shopping then went to Magnolias, 4 Queens for lunch which was v.good as usual, spent the rest of the day downtime, had a good ice skating show going on, then had a nice meal in Carson St at GN later before we got a taxi back to Venetian.

Sunday checked out of Venetian and into Palazzo for 5 nights, again no problems with early check in had a great suite on 29th floor, I preferred this to Venetian the room was slightly larger and brighter and the bathroom was fabulous. We had a wander around the Palazzo then the Wynn then decided to walk down to the Riviera for our first and last visit, bit boring and quiet we thought, then walked down to the Sahara which was further than it looked, don't mind walking but it was freezing, stayed here for a while then had a look at Slots of Fun because we had never been there either, husband had a good day on the slots this day and won back most of what he had lost since we had arrived. Then we walked back to the Peppermill for a meal, first time here and we thought it was excellent, then back to Wynn for a while, husband stayed out till very late and I gave up and went back to Palazzo before him, we both had crap colds this holiday - so unsociable!

Monday, got up late wandered around FS Mall for a bit more shopping, then to Wynn where the Encore opening was taking place, what a queue! decided we would have a look tomorrow so we stayed in the Wynn for a while the went to Palazzo and had another good meal at Grand Lux.

Tuesday went to Canal shops, Forum shops, Caesars, went to Bellagio to look at Christmas display and stayed here a while then watched the fountains and walked over to PH for another nice meal at Planet Dailies then walked back to Palazzo, Wynn and to take a look at Encore, looks fabulous in casino, husband wants to stay at Wynn or Encore next trip, told him to get saving!

Wednesday Christmas Eve, got up late again went to F S Mall for some last minute shopping then to Wynn and then Encore to play for a while then back to Palazzo to change for 7.30 reservation at Kokomo's in the Mirage where we had an excellent meal, last year we ate at Stacks and that was excellent also, the Mirage is not our favourite casino but the restaurants are very good and although we don't go for lots of expensive meals we do on Chrismas Eve. Went back to Wynn again where we stayed till very late and then made our ‘Happy Christmas' calls to home.

Thursday Christmas Day, got up very late went to Palazzo casino then to Wynn again, we weren't hungry in the day after last nights meal so we went to Grande Lux in the evening, meal was not good at all, they were very busy, if we go next Christmas we must organise something better for Chrismas day.
Friday going home day, flight left on time which is always good and was probably not much more than half full, trip from Gatwick took forever good job husband can sleep on plane so he is ok to drive, I can't sleep even for five minutes unfortunately.

All in all another great trip to LasVegas, peoplewise it was unusually quiet for the first half and very busy the second as it was last year. I wouldn't hesitate to stay in the Rio again and I loved our Suite in the Palazzo, but if paying normal prices the Venetian wouldn't be top of my list even though it is very nice.

Next time to may try Continental from Bristol via New York and maybe stopover for a few days, plenty of time to plan that!

We really love going away for Christmas but both getting really bad colds this trip was a bit of a pain. Last year the weather was cold but the sky was blue and it was sunny, this year it rained a bit, snowed and was grey alot, we didn't get to Town Square as planned and usually go to south outlets (not the better one I know) and the to Bass Pro and Silverton but this trip we were a bit lazy, still that's what holidays are about.

Until next year!!!