Speaker 1:
You're listening to The Travel Podcast. Travel Podcast. Today's most exciting travel destinations. Brought to you by people with a real passion for travel. Great holiday ideas, real reviews, practical advice. And all the best deals in one simple podcast. The Travel Podcast. Now, here is your host, Steve Witt.

Steve:
Hey everyone, welcome to The Travel Podcast, where we aim to inspire you with some brilliant news, views, and behind the scenes look at some of the most amazing destinations in the world. I'm Steve Witt, co-founder of one of the UK's biggest travel companies. And, as always, I'm joined by our travel experts. These are guys who all live and breathe travel, every single day. More importantly, they're absolutely passionate about traveling the world. So, today I am joined by Matthew and Lauren, welcome guys.

Matthew:
Hello.

Lauren:
Hi.

Steve:
They are absolutely experts in Vegas. They love it, so they'll be talking about that more in a moment. But we are also joined today by a special guest. Duncan, welcome Duncan.

Duncan:
Morning, thank you. Or afternoon.

Steve:
It is. Just quickly, for anyone's who not met you before, bit of background to yourself, just so we know why you're so important to today's podcast, please.

Duncan:
Basically, my background has been travel since I left school, so for the last 30, 40 years, I've done nothing but the travel industry. But for the last five or six years, I've been heavily involved with [inaudible 00:01:30] who operate out of Vegas. I act as a sales manager for the UK and Ireland.

Steve:
Fantastic. So you're going to be able to give us a great insight, a little bit sort of behind the scenes maybe, of Vegas, and what goes on. Also, joining us today for the first time, we actually have a studio audience. A virtual studio audience, I should say, because we're all recording this from home. But welcome to everyone who's joining us, who will be able to ask questions as we go. So I may be coming to various people throughout today's podcast. Ask some questions. So guys, if you've got questions as we go... I actually can already see them coming in, so fantastic. Thank you for that. I'll be picking those out as we go.

Steve:
But, Vegas, that's the topic today. An absolutely fantastic destination. Lauren's literally just come back a very short time ago, so it's very fresh in her mind, and Matthew's got a huge insight, and he'll explain why in a moment. But Vegas is one of those places I've not been to yet, so I'm going to be looking at it from that point of view, and asking all the questions that a newbie might be thinking of. But Matthew, tell us about Vegas.

Matthew:
Vegas, Sin City for some, I absolutely love it. I spend 11 months living there, so I've got a lot of knowledge from the Strips, so what to do in and around and away from Vegas. For those who may not know where it is actually located, it's in the southern part of Nevada. It's about four hours northeast of Los Angeles, so out towards the west side of America. Which makes it a great one stop shop if you want to go for a long weekend, for a few nights, or even as part of a multicenter or a fly drive where it's very accessible if you twin it up with somewhere like San Francisco, Los Angeles. Maybe Arizona or even into Utah and Colorado and get to see the Rockies and some of the amazing national parks that surrounds Vegas itself.

Matthew:
But going into Vegas, there's the Vegas Strip where a lot of movies you may have seen would've been filmed, and is on many people's bucket list to go to for the world's renowned resorts, casinos. It's not just about the resorts and the casinos, though. What a lot of people don't think about is all of the amazing restaurants, world class shows. They've now got a lot of sport there. So your ice hockey is now in Vegas, and coming, hopefully next season is the NFL. So depending upon, with the current climate, if the NFL season gets to go ahead, there will be a Las Vegas Raiders who are moving from California.

Matthew:
It is really a place for everyone. Even families. A lot of people don't think about for children, just having a look around the hotels, which Lauren will go into more detail, from my recent visit, is an adventure in itself. The hotels are mini resorts. You can spend at least half a day walking around some of them, and still not get and see everything.

Matthew:
I'd say it's a bit like Disneyland, especially for adults. There's something for everyone, but also, it is still good for families who want to see it as part of a multicenter stopoff. See some of the shows, and also visit some of the restaurants. I always highly recommend it myself as a place you've got to go at least once.

Steve:
I've got in my head this picture of the Strip, I guess, with the bright lights, the casinos. That doesn't seem family friendly to me. It just seems like gambling. Have I got the wrong idea?

Matthew:
Yeah. Obviously the historical side of it is there are the casinos. There are hotels that have to have no casino in. Again, with the families, it's more about where you can see the lights. Going and seeing the Bellagio fountains. You've also got horse riding away from the Strip. You can use it as a base to go and see the Grand Canyon. You can go out to the Hoover Dam in Lake Mead and get to see elements like that.

Matthew:
Predominantly a lot of people think it's adult only, but it doesn't mean you can't go if you have got a family. There's some great shows. The Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show would be amazing for families. There's a lot of family-friendly restaurants. It's that side of it. Predominantly a lot of people think it is just for adults, and a lot of people go there for the gambling and the partying. But doesn't mean that if you do want to get there but you are part of a family, doesn't mean you can't go.

Steve:
So Lauren was there literally a couple weeks ago?

Lauren:
Yeah, right at the beginning of March.

Steve:
So, we will class you as an adult, but why did you go to Vegas? What made you choose Vegas?

Lauren:
I just like to go for Vegas. I actually went my birthday, so it's somewhere that I've always wanted to go to. I actually a really deal for it, so I got that all booked up. I did it for four nights, which I think was actually a really good amount of time to go for. We kind of did most things that we did want to do.

Lauren:
So, some highlights for me that I did. As from a recommendation from Matthew, I went up to Fremont Street and did the zip line over that. You literally zip line over all the people. You've got a little bag hooked to you as well, full of your stuff in it, and that was a really cool experience. You can choose to do it sitting down, or you could actually lay down and do it flat, which was mad.

Lauren:
I did a lot of shopping over there. They've got really cool malls over there. One of my favorite ones was actually Miracle Mile shopping, so it's kind of got all the hops that you'd expect over here, but then all the American makeup stores, which absolutely loved. Was very nearly over my weight limit coming back, which wasn't great.

Lauren:
I didn't manage to catch any shows, but I did actually go and see Christina Aguilera. She was on her residency over there, and it was honestly insane. That was definitely the highlight of my trip for me. As Matthew said, the hotels themselves are like mini resorts. I can't even tell you how many hotels I went into and got lost in. They are absolutely madness. They are genuinely like resorts. You've got all the shops in there, the restaurants, the bars. You'll literally go up one set of stairs, turn left and right, and you'll be lost. It's like a maze in there. You can honestly spend hours in there.

Lauren:
We actually stayed really central in the Strip, as well. We stayed at The Flamingo Hotel. You'd literally just walk outside and everything was there. You had the Bellagio nearby. I did a lot of walking there. I think I've walked more than I probably have in my life, up and down that Strip, constantly.

Lauren:
We also did the Titanic Experience, which I didn't really know about until I went, but I would definitely recommend going there for anyone who is interested and does like finding out about the Titanic. What's really cool is when you go in, you get given a little card with the name on it, and you go around, you look at all the artifacts and hear all the stories, and you find out if your person survived from the Titanic, as well. So that was something that was really interesting.

Lauren:
It's so hard to explain Vegas. I don't know what I expected when I went, but that generally wasn't it. It was on such larger scale than I think I ever could have imagined.

Steve:
So you'd never been before?

Lauren:
No, never.

Steve:
What made you choose it?

Lauren:
Just because of all the hype about it, to be honest with you. I've had so many people talk about it, and I just wanted to go see it for myself, to be honest with you.

Steve:
Okay, so I'm going to bring Duncan in now. Duncan, how many times have you been to Vegas?

Duncan:
Five or six. Six times now. Six times now. It's one of those places, I think, until you've been, you don't really understand it. Even some people who come back who aren't a big Vegas fan, there's something that then still wants to draw them back. Because even just simply people watching, and what goes on. It just attracts people. There's always something going on. Yeah, it's a very interesting city.

Steve:
Do you tend to do the same thing each time you go, or do you do different things?

Duncan:
I try and do different things, because once you've been somewhere five or six times, it's nice to do different things. I've done some of the mainstream stuff, but because of my relationship with Maverick, sometimes I'll say, "Let's go where you go in the evening," not necessarily to the Strip, and they'll take us to different, smaller areas off the Strip. We'll have a beer somewhere else.

Duncan:
I think if you go into Vegas, and most people, Lauren's a typical example, go for three or four nights. If it's your first or second trip, then just enjoy the Strip and everything that's going on. There is so much to see and do, and it's not all about the gambling.

Matthew:
No, and talking about people watching, what Lauren said, going to downtown Vegas, which is old Vegas, the original ones, the hotels when you got down there have the nostalgia. If anyone's watched the James Bonds, I can't remember which James Bonds it is, where he goes out to Vegas. A lot of that was all filmed in Fremont Street. It's got that nostalgia and can take you back in time, almost. But people watching on Fremont Street is one of the best places, if not the best place, to people watch in the world.

Matthew:
Lots of street artists and very, very good fun. Very good fun. They also have a show, it's Undercover Fremont Street. When you look up, they have a nightly LED show and display with music, and a lot of the casinos actually have bars. If you are drinking, you can walk down the Fremont Street with a drink, looking up, and seeing all the sites, and then going to some of the casinos. If you like to see inside of those ones, they're a lot smaller than the big, major resorts now, but they also have some of the best, or cheaper, gambling, if you are looking to go to Vegas to gamble, then Fremont's normally a great place to go if you don't want to spend big bucks.

Steve:
So, the guys in the audience have got some great questions coming in. A lot of questions about how do you choose which hotel to go to? Because there's loads of them. How do you pick? Or what's your favorite? Or what do you recommend? Or how do you think about it?

Matthew:
Lauren, how did you pick yours?

Lauren:
I picked The Flamingos, actually on recommendation because most of the rooms had just been refabbed. And to be honest with you, the location of it. You generally don't spend much time in your room whatsoever. So I wasn't really overly fussed on having a super nice hotel, but the hotel we stayed in, The Flamingo, it was really lovely. Our room was really great, as well. That one I literally went on recommendation and location, to be honest with you.

Matthew:
I would say it's a bit like Lauren said there, it's more about what you want out of Vegas. So if you want to be around a lot of the hustle and bustle, majority of all the major developments have been quite central of the Vegas Strip. So around Flamingo, around the LINQ area, Caesar's, Paris Hotel, Bellagio. Obviously if you're looking potentially for sporting, and want to go see the ice hockey.

Matthew:
Or potentially you go and see a concert, you may to stay somewhere close to where that concert is. I know MGM, they've got a new product out by New York, New York, where they've got Central Park, which is where the ice hockey is. So if you're basing yourself just to go and see the ice hockey, and don't have to walk that far, you may base yourself in the southern part of the Strip.

Matthew:
If you want to go, and you want a bit more relaxing, and you want to have a nicer pool, then you pick it potentially on which one has the nicest pool area and won't get shaded by the towering hotel in the afternoon. Some of the pools, like the Flamingo, for instance, sometimes, at some points during the day after a certain time, it's actually in the shade, because it's in central. So it's all dependent upon what the person, individual wants, I think.

Steve:
So I've heard of the Strip, yep. I'm guessing there's other areas within Vegas you need though think about? Or are there certain areas you need to think about? Because the Strip, is that the more expensive area for a hotel, and the further out you go, it's cheaper.

Matthew:
The Vegas Strip is what everyone would consider as Las Vegas, but it's not actually in Las Vegas, it's in Paradise. It's an area of Nevada, whereas downtown, where Fremont is, that's Las Vegas. So that's where Las Vegas started as a city. All the new developments are just south of that.

Matthew:
That's where most of the hustle and bustle is, is on the Strip, whereas pricing wise, you could get a really good deal. I suppose it's just dependent on what's going on. If you're going and there's a UFC fight, or boxing, or something major going on, like conferences, it could be the fact that it's just expensive wherever. Again, I'd say I personally would choose it based on what you want to experience, personally.

Steve:
Duncan, I'm guessing you've probably stayed in a few different places when you've been out there?

Duncan:
I stayed at two or three, but we tend to get put where we're going to be because of basically for business rather than pleasure. I think Matthew's right, a lot depends on what you're going for, who you're going with, how long you're going for.

Duncan:
You know, if it's a [inaudible 00:15:14] or a bunch of guys who want to do a little sport or go out and play golf, and then just visit some bars in the evening, it'll be different than if you're going with your family. So there is something for everybody, and there's no... I don't think there's actually a right or wrong answer to which hotel you pick. It really is down to who's traveling, who you're going with, and what do I want to get out of it.

Duncan:
A lot of the time, I'm told, "That's where you're going to be on this occasion," so I don't get a great deal of say on it. But there is something for every demographic, and every permutation of who's traveling.

Steve:
Obviously, lots and lots of different hotels. The names that we may be familiar with, you've mentioned things like the Bellagio. Are they ones to go for, because people have heard of them, or would you go for the ones you may not have heard of?

Duncan:
I think wherever you are in Vegas, the standard is very high. The ones on the Strip live up to their expectations. I do like the Wynn, [inaudible 00:16:11], and the MGM properties, but there's some smaller things out there. Bear in mind that Vegas's definition of small is not what we would call small in the UK. But there is some great little properties out there, you just got to [inaudible 00:16:26] a little bit and see what you want from your stay.

Steve:
Let's say you booked your hotel, and you're going to Vegas, but you don't actually have a plan once you get there. What, and how, do you go about deciding what to do? I've never been, so I'm going to rock up. What do I do, Matthew?

Matthew:
We actually, Lauren and I discussed this before coming on, and we put together some of the top things to do. It's why we also got Duncan here, because he can go into even more detail about it. Again, there is so much to do, as I mentioned earlier, from going to the different restaurants, different shows. We would definitely, I would always recommend, especially if you're only going for a few nights, is doing the foodie tour, which is Lip Smacking Foodie Tours. They're renowned for being one of the best, or the best, foodie tour in Vegas.

Matthew:
What they do is they'll take you through generally around four different restaurants throughout the Strip. Obviously you pay for that tour. You can top up and also put a beverage package on if you want, so that means your meal would be paired with a drink. It could be a cocktail, something that would then go with the meal you're having.

Matthew:
That is a brilliant way, especially with doing it potentially... I would say something like that is great to do on your first night when you arrive. Because one, you get to see some great restaurants and go to some great restaurants, but you're also getting to see and taken around the Strip by a local, who's got the knowledge, who's also going to tell you about different areas. If you're going into a certain hotel, they'll tell you about the history of the hotel. Different arts.

Matthew:
So you then get a good bearing of where you are within Vegas and how to get around. Then what we've got on top of that, as well, which I'll go over to Duncan for this bit, is the fact that you can also partner it with doing the Maverick helicopter flight at night, which is a great way to see all of the neon lights from the stars. From the sky, even. What we'll do is, Duncan, if you can just... The thing with Maverick Helicopter Tours, they're massive. If you're looking to go and do something, one of the biggest things to do on the Strip would be doing the helicopter tour of the Vegas nights at night, and also going to the Grand Canyon.

Matthew:
The Grand Canyon, if you're doing a coach journey, is an all day trip. So you're going to be up ridiculously early in the morning, and then you get back late at night. A great way to do it, and be able to see it, and still be able to do other things within the day, especially if you're only there for a few nights, is to go by helicopter. So Duncan, can you tell us a bit more about Maverick Helicopters and especially the Grand Canyon tour and the Strip at night?

Duncan:
Yes, of course I can, no problem at all. Then just to add to your point about Lip Smacking Foodie Tours, some of the tours and some of the restaurants that they get into, you can only get into if you book six months in advance. So a lot of time they're going to get you into restaurants that you wouldn't normally get into. So that is also an extra that they bring to the table that give you an experience that you can get that you possibly wouldn't get if you tried to book a restaurant when you got out there, or three months before, because they are using that type of restaurant.

Duncan:
We were with them, and we do one of the best tours that they do. Takes you around these restaurants, and then it's finished with a 20 minute... We pick you up from the last property, and it's finished with a 20 minute flight through Vegas, over Vegas, at night. Take you up and around the stratosphere and back. Then we will take you back to your hotel after that.

Duncan:
But just seeing Vegas at night, with the way it's lit up, with the fountains that go off at one of the hotels. It's just a fantastic way to see it. A lot of the pilots know with fountains are going off, or when the volcano's going to erupt, and they will feather back so that you get to see the best from your Strip tour.

Duncan:
Again, the Strip tour is a great way of getting your bearings, as Matthew said. It's great to understand where you are in relation to other properties, so that when you go out walking the following day, you can see... Well actually, we saw that last night, so we know this hotel or this attraction is there in relation to where we are.

Duncan:
So it's a great way of getting your bearings, as well. When it comes to Grand Canyon landing tours, or going out to the Grand Canyon, we do know from our own research that 91% of people who go to Vegas will do some form of a helicopter trip. Usually going out to the Grand Canyon. We're also conscious of those 90-odd percent people, only 28% of you are booking it in advance. I can't stress the importance of booking it early.

Duncan:
Lauren mentioned that she went for four nights. Typically, if you go into Vegas, we all go for three or four nights. As a helicopter company doing these excursions, we fill up about 72 hours before, which is three days before. If you leave it until you get there, you won't necessarily save any money. But what you run the risk of is not getting the best experience.

Duncan:
There's a lot of different factors that go into these helicopter excursions. From our perspectives, the way that we work is that we pick up from every hotel on the Strip. When we pick you up, we would only do three or four hotel pickups before taking you to our departure point. Our departure point, our heliport, is on the Strip. It's actually right by the Welcome to Vegas sign.

Duncan:
We're trying to minimize the amount of time that people spend, that you're spending in, a mini bus environment. Once you get to our heliport, which in effect is the back of Vegas airport, the pilots do the safety briefing. We check you in, and within half an hour, you're in the air.

Duncan:
We fly you out to a landing site. Our landing site, to get there, we fly you out over Lake Mead, and we fly you out over the Hoover Dam that Matthew is talking about earlier on. Our actual landing site is the best landing site you can get. There's various landing sites within the canyon. Our particular landing site is the furthest away from Vegas, and it's the deepest dam.

Duncan:
What that means is that when we land and we switch off all the engines, and you're on the ground for about 35-40 minutes, but it's total peace and tranquility. To us, the idea of the canyon is taking in the scenic beauty. Some of the landing sites that are closest to Vegas mean that you have helicopters flying over them to get in and land. So being furthest away, we don't have any helicopters flying over us to get to a further site.

Duncan:
So they're giving you that peace and that tranquility. For us, that's a lot of what going to the canyon is about. Taking in the scale of it, being as low down as you possibly can. Our pilots are the ones who do any tour narration. It's not pre-recorded audio, they're talking to you. They can answer your questions straight away, because it's a fully interactive radio system on board, with noise canceling headphones.

Duncan:
There's times where they'll be talking to the control tower, and they'll be playing pieces of music that might sort of be indicative of flying into the Grand Canyon, Top Gun or Ride of the Valkyries or something like that, just to enhance the whole experience that you're getting.

Duncan:
When we land back at the heliport, we then return you to the hotel, and again, three or four stops and you're back at your hotel. Our idea is that if you were on a tour where you had breakfast at 8:00 in the morning, we pick you up at about 8:30, quarter to 9:00. We do the whole pickups, take you out, fly you out to the Grand Canyon. You have your 40 minutes on the ground, and then the flight back. You can be back around the pool for 1:30-ish for lunch. We're not eating into that whole time of the day, but we're giving you the right experience by minimizing how much time you spend in the bus. That is the best way for us to experience the Grand Canyon.

Steve:
I love the idea of [crosstalk 00:24:30]-

Matthew:
That's a brilliant way of actually doing it. Like you said, you're back for lunch, and back around the pool. So especially, like you mentioned, it's very, very important to book in advance for whether it be a helicopter tour, or potentially even if you want to go see a Cirque du Soleil show, or a restaurant. If you're not doing a foodie tour, the most popular ones, it's a lot of Michelin star restaurants and celebrity restaurants in Vegas now. Anything like this is very important to book in advance to make sure you have that availability, but it also means that you get to on a short duration, like what Lauren did, you don't have to take a whole day out just to go see the Grand Canyon. I think it's a brilliant option. Steve, did you want to say something?

Steve:
I love the idea of time saving. I'm a very practical person, but I'm guessing for a lot of people, this might be there first ever time, and only ever time, going up in a helicopter. Have you guys ever done it?

Matthew:
Yes, done it a couple times.

Steve:
I've done it. The most amazing experience. Duncan, talk us through what people might be feeling and thinking? It's far more than a practical experience, isn't it? This is something quite special.

Duncan:
It is very, very special. A lot of people are very apprehensive about it, because it's not something we all do. But it is incredibly special. The sensation when you first get onto the helicopter, and you get in it, and they're strapping you in, and then you get into the air and we hold there for about 30 seconds before we really go anywhere. Then as you move across the ground, and you pick up a bit of speed and you take to the air, the whole perspective of what you're seeing, you just feel closer to it than when you're on a plane. For my, I find it very exhilarating. I love it, I love it. But it's, again, totally [inaudible 00:26:22] environment.

Steve:
You can do some very special things in these helicopters. I'm going to give a shout out to Jill, who's listening, she's in our audience today. She said they played the Magnificent Seven theme tune when she dropped into the Grand Canyon. An amazing experience. So she's actually flown with you guys. But she also did something extra special over the Strip, which was actually get married.

Duncan:
Excellent. Very good. Wow, that's an experience, yeah. When was that, did she say?

Steve:
No, no. Just that it was the most amazing, which I guess she has to say, really. Yeah, got married in Vegas while flying down the Strip in a helicopter.

Duncan:
Fantastic. We can make that happen, we can make that happen.

Matthew:
Yeah, so, some of the other things that we're talking about. Obviously, I know Lauren mentioned earlier about she went and saw Christina Aguilera. Lauren, when you went to see Christine, which hotel did you go and see it? [crosstalk 00:27:19].

Lauren:
She was at Plant Hollywood. She was absolutely insane. It wasn't a concert or a gig that you [inaudible 00:27:27] and then you pay. It was pretty much like a full-on show. All of it was really great, to be honest with you. Even going into the hotel, going through security, everything was really quick, really easy. Everything [inaudible 00:27:40]. Everyone was really lovely there, as well. It was honestly amazing. If you're going to Vegas, I definitely recommend seeing who's on residency, and going to see someone if it's someone that you do want to see. They are so worth it. It was about two hours long, as well. I could not recommend it enough.

Matthew:
I think it's one of those things, like you said, residencies are massive, and it's some it's some of the place, like nowadays, I don't know if Elton John's still doing his, he may have finished it by now. But Brittany Spears did residency, so if you wanted to go see Brittany Spears, the only place was to go see her is Vegas. They do get world class acts which aren't around. I'm pretty sure Celine Dion's still doing hers.

Steve:
Question then, because I've never been. I love the idea of going to do something like that. I'm guessing you can't just walk you pretty and get tickets to go and see Christina Aguilera.

Matthew:
I don't know.

Steve:
[crosstalk 00:28:32].

Matthew:
I suppose it would be a bit like if you're going to the West End theater, there might be... Or in Broadway in New York, you can't go and get last minute tickets. If, for instance, someone hasn't shown up, or if they haven't sold out for a certain show. If you're not fussed about what show you go to, you can go and pick up or ask your concierge at the hotel what tickets are available if you're not fussed about the show. Otherwise you'd just have to, if you go online and see what shows are on in Vegas, and then there'll be online booking systems which you go and book with.

Steve:
I'm guessing if you talk to a travel consultant, or a travel agency, they'll be able to help you package something around the actual trip, rather than actually arriving and then trying to plan something.

Matthew:
I'm sure they would be able to book all of the other elements. I don't know if they'll be able to book the tickets. But, for instance, if you definitely wanted to go a certain type of year, then yeah, you definitely want to speak with a travel agency, or a travel consultant to be able to build that for you. Again, be able to do the same for the helicopters because everything you want to do is try and get it pre-booked. I don't know how much of all of those elements they'll be able to book for you, but it is definitely worth getting those expert's advice because again, with that, they'll know the hotels, and they can work with you to figure out best places to be.

Matthew:
We also discussed things to do when you're away from the Strip. As I mentioned earlier, you've got Vegas's position and a great place to do multicenter. So if you're out going that far, some people want [inaudible 00:30:12] Los Angeles and do a fly drive, or you may want to go and explore some of the national parks. We've talked about the Grand Canyon, and a brilliant way to go and see it is via Maverick and the helicopter tours.

Matthew:
But, you've also got Zion and Bryce in Utah, which are absolutely stunning to go and walk around. Obviously the Grand Canyon is awe-inspiring because of the size and the massive of the canyon, whereas Bryce and Zion, as national parks are probably some of the best in America, if not the world, for the natural beauty of the rock formations of when you're walking around. Especially Zion, it's only a two and a half hour drive north of Vegas. It's a great thing that if you wanted to add on and make it, do a week trip, flying in and out of Vegas, you could also go up and do a few days in a national park, and explore the national park. Come back to Vegas, and fly home. So there's something that I recommend, along with-

Steve:
So how would you do that? Would you hire a car?

Matthew:
Drive. Yeah, I'd hire a car. Definitely. Driving in America, most of the cars are automatics. They obviously drive on a different side of the road to everyone in the UK, but the roads are very wide. It's not a difficult drive. It's very straight. It's just one road up, and then you take a right turn, and go in, and you head towards the national park. On the way back, you come out, turn left on the interstate and head back down to Vegas.

Matthew:
It's also one of the great things to do, is actually to drive into Vegas at night, to see the lights. When you come over the hill, you see the bright lights of Las Vegas, and you have some great Vegas show tunes playing on. It's an inspiring thing to get very excited about, driving into Vegas.

Matthew:
But you've also got, away from the strip, you've got places, especially when we're talking about families. You can go and hike into Red Rock Canyon, which about a 30, 40 minute drive from the strip. Then you've got Red Rock Canyon and Mt. Charleston, which is a little bit further, but you can actually ski that. But a great way to explore.

Matthew:
For children, you can also do horse riding. Duncan mentioned with the helicopter ride, you actually go over Lake Mead, which is where the Hoover Dam, the end of the Hoover Dam. Another thing you can potentially do is do paddle boarding on Lake Mead, or even rent a boat house, and have a day or two out on Lake Mead, which is a big thing for a lot of Americans.

Matthew:
There's so much to do away from the strip. Vegas is great if you just want to do what Lauren did, which is a short weekend stay, a lot of stuff around the strip. Do the helicopter tours, and go and do the food tours. Go see some shows. But if you want to spend a little bit more time there, and people think, "Oh, I won't have anything to do," you can have plenty to do. There's so many different elements and outdoor activities, as well, that you can do whilst you're there.

Duncan:
Just on the activities side of it, we actually have another tour that takes you out to the Skywalk, which is the glass bridge that takes you out over the canyon. You can walk out, and it's over part of the canyon, and look right down.

Matthew:
Yeah, glass bottom. Do you know how high that is off the floor of the canyon?

Duncan:
4,000 feet.

Steve:
I'm lost. Why would anyone want to do that?

Duncan:
Haven't done it. I don't question myself. But it's an experience. [inaudible 00:33:44]. If you like people watching, it's a great way of watching people try to walk on glass.

Steve:
I'm obviously joking, because I'm just scared of heights. I can imagine, an amazing thing to do.

Duncan:
Cheers.

Steve:
So, obviously, Lauren went for four days. Can you go for a week? I'm guessing by what you said there, Matthew, it wouldn't be a problem to fill a week.

Matthew:
No, and again, depending on what you're going for, and you want to see and you love your shows, you can go and see a different show every night for a week. There's so many different variations, you could go and see, like I said, if you are a massive... I'm going to go out there, Celine Dion is still doing her residency, I need to check that. But if someone like Celine Dion, you're going to see Celine Dion, but you also love your Cirque du Soleil, so you can go and see... Book to make sure you're there when Celine's doing her residency. Get tickets, and then each night around that, go and see different Cirque du Soleil shows.

Matthew:
A lot of hotels, there's a lot of, like Duncan was saying, there's some hotels that are very small and boutique, but there are also some shows that are very small and boutique, that are very unique. But again, are quite short. There's so much variation of Vegas and what there is to do in Vegas. I think Tenn and Penn?

Steve:
Penn and Teller.

Matthew:
Oh. It's the magicians.

Duncan:
Penn and Teller.

Matthew:
There we go, that's the ones. They're huge. They've got a show out there. So again, you've got magic shows. You've got Cirque du Soleil. You've got artists out there. If it's something you like to do, you could do that every night. If you love your food, you could just stay there and go and eat somewhere new in a brilliant restaurant each day.

Matthew:
Or, I know someone asked the question about pool parties. Something that I'm sure Lauren, I've been to pool parties, it's a great time. It's a lot of people do go to Vegas in the summer for the party scene. So they'll go pool party during the day, go and have a nap, and then go out in the evening, and go and see one of the clubs where they've got world star DJs.

Matthew:
The question was, are you able to go to pool parties in other hotels? You are, as long as it's a... Certain hotels will have a hotel-only pool. So for instance, the Cosmopolitan is not a good example. They have Marquee pool party which is open it everyone, you just need to buy a ticket to go into Marquee, which is in the Cosmopolitan. You also have Marquee club in the evening.

Matthew:
Whereas you also have the Boulevard pool, which is a swimming pool which is above the Boulevard, which is the main strip of Las Vegas, but that's only available for hotel guests. But they also have some DJs play around there, but it's more calm, it's not really a party. It's just a good, vibrant scene. Depending upon which hotel you're in, you'll be able to access your pool if you're a hotel guest.

Matthew:
If it's an actual pool party, then predominantly you'll be able to access those no matter which hotel you're staying in. A bit like with the night clubs. The hotel is like the host venue, but it's actually owned by the night club, it has that residency, so you just have to get tickets to go in.

Steve:
I did a quick Google while you were saying that, Matthew, about what events ar on, what shows are on, and this isn't the full list, but a quick Google you'll find them all. But Gwen Stefani, the Village People, Santana, Jerry Seinfeld, Shania Twain, Aerosmith. My personal favorite, Barry Manilow. Kelly Clarkson, Robbie Williams, Morrissey, the list goes on and on. There is no shortage of shows to see, but probably the one that I would go for is Cirque du Soleil.

Matthew:
It's really good. Like I said, there's so many different variations of artists that have shows going on. So, talking about duration, it's really dependent upon what you're doing. I say if you're doing a fly drive, then I'd say three nights, four nights. You'll be able to get to see quite a bit of Vegas, and it's a good way of doing it.

Matthew:
If you're a family, again, there's, Duncan mentioned it, where he's gone out for business, there are areas away from the strip that all the locals go to. There's also hotels away from the strip. So if you're going with the family and actually want to do something a bit more outdoorsy and adventurous, you've got Lake Las Vegas, and they've got some hotels around there, which is just outside of Vegas.

Matthew:
If you want to go and do some hiking with the family but still be able to drive in and you're doing a fly drive, you can go out to stay near Red Rock Canyon, and they've got hotels out there with lots of shops and restaurants. So you can still experience Vegas, but be away from the hustle and bustle and be able to do other things.

Matthew:
A lot of people don't think how diverse Vegas is. A lot of people just have that mentality of, "I'll just go and it's there. It's a party town. I'm going for the pool parties, I'm going for the night clubs. Maybe a show." People get to know a bit more about it for shows, but it's got something for everyone.

Steve:
Brilliant, few questions before we wrap up. [crosstalk 00:38:49].

Duncan:
[inaudible 00:38:50]. What I want to say is because we know that most people are in Vegas for three or four nights, I would strongly recommend that you do your research about who's on. What might be out there that you might want to see, and if you can, get those lined up. If you're traveling from the UK, it's going to be part of a much bigger holiday, possibly, and a bigger ticket item, and you're investing quite a lot of time and money. And to get somewhere and then not get to see the one thing you might really want to see, I would certainly say to people, research who's on, what you want to see, what you want to do. If you can get it booked in advance, I would get it booked in advance.

Steve:
On that, I know you mentioned earlier about obviously especially the Grand Canyon and the Vegas strip at night. Helicopter tours, booking out 72 hours in advance. Most people don't book until they get there. If someone is interested and they want to go and have a look, can they see videos? Do you have videos of the tours that someone could go and look at?

Duncan:
Yeah, if they go to the Maverick website. We have tours on there, we showcase each of our tours on there. The Grand Canyon tour, the strip flights tells you what it's about, what you get for your dollar or your pound. So we cover all of that in there.

Duncan:
Yeah, and we do have one particular tour. Just very quickly, that is the canyon landing tour, but it's time to leave the canyon as the sun is setting over the canyon rim, which means that when you et into Vegas, because we're on the strip, you get the night strip flight, as well. So you get the best of both worlds. You get the Grand Canyon, you get the canyon in the sunset, and the strip flight. But that tour, for example, sells out about four to six weeks before. So this is all about if you're going to be there for a short period of time, and you want to maximize what you do and giving this possibly parts of a much bigger holiday, then it's well worth doing your research in Vegas and getting some of those things booked.

Steve:
Brilliant, good advice. Book early. Lauren.

Lauren:
I was just going to second what Duncan said you wanted to do. If you are going for a few nights, make sure you plan it all ahead. We kind of had an idea and planned out most things that we wanted to do. But we actually left the Grand Canyon tour too late, and we just couldn't get the availability when we actually got there. So I definitely second what Duncan said. Plan, book ahead if you can, for the things that you do want to do.

Steve:
Brilliant. Some questions coming in. Keep questions coming in for a few minutes before we wrap up. What's the flight time to get to Vegas?

Duncan:
Depending on wind conditions, usually about 9 to 10 hours depending on.

Steve:
And any great tips, question from Sue, any great tips on how to get over jet lag so you can maximize your time in Vegas?

Duncan:
Personally? When I land, I don't go to bed until 11:00, 11:30 at night, and I try and get up at 7:00, 7:30 in the morning. I try and get myself into that time cycle straight away. So the minute I get on the plane I change my watch, and do the flight, and if it lands at six, I still go to bed at 11:00, 11:30 at night. Even if you just go for a walk and you people watch and have a coffee or a beer or something, that works for me. But everybody's different, but that works for me. I don't know about Matthew or how Lauren got over it.

Matthew:
I do the same. I just stay up and force self to stay up. If I wake up 2:00, I just keep going back to bed until it's a normal hour, and then get up. I know there is the temptation to get up early and go and explore, it's like you're saying, it's that if you're only there for a short duration, you've just got to battle through to get yourself into the time zone as quickly as possible. Which is setting your watch when you get on the plane, and then staying up late that first night, so then you'll sleep through most of the night until morning in destination. Then you're pretty much good to go. That's how I am, I know other people don't [inaudible 00:42:41].

Steve:
What did you do, Lauren? Was it party through?

Lauren:
No, I was the same, to be honest with you. If you're flying east-west, you've got to stay up as long as you can, to be honest with you. Same as what Duncan said, go to bed at 11:00-ish. You've got to try and get into that routine. Only sleep on the plane if the destination you're going to is nighttime. Like Duncan said, as soon as you're on that plane, get into the timezone of where you're going. I did, I had to power through and stay up as late as I could that first night to try and adjust to it in time.

Steve:
Amazing. Another good question. What's the best time of year to go to Vegas?

Duncan:
Year round.

Matthew:
Depends what you want. If you're going for the pool parties and you've got to wait until around about, what, they stay open towards the end of April into May, going through until about September? I think it's labor day weekend's the last... It's just sort of major closed, there will still be some open year-round in the winter, but predominantly you're there for the summer months for that. Then it's dependent upon what you're going for. If you're going for shows, then when's that show on, is it only year-round? Is it only on during a certain time of year?

Matthew:
Obviously in the winter, the weather's a bit cooler so there's not as many people. So if you don't want to have as many people around, then obviously the winter is a good time to go. But the days are shorter, so if you're looking to do a lot of activities and be outside, then you time it for spring and autumn.

Matthew:
So it's hard to say, because there's so much to do year-round that it's dependent, again, what you're going for. In my opinion, I don't know if... Lauren, you went in March, so.

Lauren:
I went at the beginning of March, and actually that was the start of pool party season. They were solely opening, so the one I went to at my hotel, that was actually the first day of it.

Lauren:
The weather, I mean, it was warm during the day. In the evenings, you definitely needed a cardigan or a jacket, but it was actually great going in that time of year. It wasn't too hot to go out and explore, whereas like Matthew said if it is more the pool parties and things like that, then a bit more into the summer where it will be a bit hotter. I definitely reckon March was a great time to go, to be honest with you.

Steve:
And it can get super hot, can't it?

Matthew:
Yes, around 40 degree celsius in the summer.

Duncan:
Right.

Matthew:
If you're walking on the strip, you just don't walk... You can't walk during the day, because there's so much tarmac it'll add about 10 degrees on, so you'll be sweltering. And all the hotels are massively air conditioned, so a lot of people sometimes get nosebleed or start to feel sick because they're going from cold to extreme heat.

Matthew:
A lot you'll see during the middle of the day won't be as many people. Most people will be around the pool area, or out and about, but not on the strip. At nighttime, it comes to life, so you'll see people pushing children around in their strollers at 10:00, 11:00 at night, because it's then about 30 degrees, or 20-odd degrees, so they can still go out and see, like Lauren said, the strip at night. Go and see the fountains, but as a family, rather than trying to do it during the day where it will be too hot for the children, they'll either go to the lakes, go up into the mountains, go to the pool, or do indoor elements. I mean, you can still go during the summer. Don't be put off by the heat, but just be aware it will be hot.

Steve:
So that's it for questions. Thanks guys for today. I think we've learned a lot about Vegas in a very short time. My key takeaway was you can pretty much go to Vegas for everything. Whether you're going for fun, pool parties, or whether you want to go for families and see the shows. Vegas has a lot more to offer than just the strip, and the casinos, although that's a great thing to do. You can go off, go to the Grand Canyon, go off and see the sites, go off exploring. Easy to get around and one of the most fun things to do is to get a helicopter and enjoy the sites, beat the queues, save time, and do something pretty unique.

Steve:
But the big thing is book before you go, because otherwise you could be disappointed. Did I miss anything?

Matthew:
No, no, I think that's the nutshell. And don't forget, if you're going to Vegas, make sure you do check out downtown Vegas. Old Fremont street is a great experience, and you get to see all the old hotels. So it's definitely worth the trip.

Steve:
Brilliant. So Duncan, thanks for your time today. We'll put links to Maverick Helicopters and some of the sites and sounds and experiences in the show notes. But thanks for your time today, and if you are going to Vegas, make sure you book a Maverick Helicopter flight, because they are pretty special.

Duncan:
Thank you.

Steve:
Thank you all for listening today. If you have enjoyed us, please do leave a review on iTunes or your chosen podcast platform, a nice five star review so that other people get to share in everything from our podcast. Thanks very much.

Speaker 1:
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