Posts under ‘USA’

The Roosevelt Hotel is a luxury hotel that first opened for business in 1927. built in a Spanish style the hotel is named after the 26th President of the USA, Theodore Roosavelt and has been the place to stay for Hollywood’s A list since it opened and even hosted the 1st Academy Awards Ceremony back in 1929.  Some of its more longer term residents include Clark Gable and Carole Lombard who’s old penthouse is now named in their honor. Marilyn Monroe also spent some a lot of time at the hotel as well as Montgomery Clift, both stars are said to haunt the hotel to this day with sightings of Montgomery wandering the 8th floor hall and Marilyn dancing in the ballroom. Read the rest of this entry »

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado is a large 1909 built Georgian Hotel. Built by Freelan Oscar Stanley, the man behind the Stanley Steamer, (a popular car before those new fangled internal combustion engine cars come along) the hotel has had plenty of famous guests over the years including Steven King who got the inspiration to write “The Shining” there. The hotel was even used in the 1997 TV mini series adaptation of the novel, as well as TV shows “Most Haunted”, “Ghost Hunters” and the film “Dumb and Dumber”. Many of the hotels staff and previous guests claim to have heard plenty of noises from empty rooms, as well as see things move by themselves or of other apparitions that come and go. The piano in the lobby is also often heard playing a tune despite no one being at it, staff think this may be F.O. Stanley’s late wife who did play the piano. Today the Stanley Hotel is still open as a luxury resort and also operates history and ghost tours of the building. The Stanley is situated about an hour from Denver, in front of the Rocky Mountains. Read the rest of this entry »

The Golden Nugget is the largest of the Las Vegas Downtown casinos consisting of just over 1900 guest rooms and 3500 square metres of gaming space. The casino is currently undergoing a major expansion to increase the hotel space by 500 rooms. The Golden Nugget opened in August of 1946 and is famous for its huge gold nuggets on display including the worlds largest, called the Hand of Faith it weighs in at a whopping 27.21 kilograms and was found in Australia. The Golden Nugget has some great dining options including a branch of the world famous Houston steak house Vic & Anthonys. There is also one of the best buffets downtown with live cooking stations and a huge array of tasty foods.

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The Wynn is one of the most beautiful and luxurious of the Las Vegas casino resort complexes. Located on the Las Vegas Boulevard between Riviera and Spanish styled Palazzo and opposite the Fashion Show Mall the hotel has over 2700 rooms, 10300 square metres of gaming space, and huge conference, theatre and convention facilities. It is sister to the adjacent Encore which has just been completed and doubles the facility. The complex features some amazing shopping and even is home to a Ferrari dealership- very handy after a huge win. The gardens are spectacular and grounds make up the Wynn Golf Club. For partygoers there are several great nightclubs including Tryst which includes a 90ft waterfall and lake in the centre of the club- it is quiet spectacular. For diners there is no better in Vegas, with choices like Ristorante di Mare, Bartolotta and the world famous French Alex which holds two Michelin Stars and is the restaurant of Iron Chef USA Alessandra Stratta.

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Bills Gamblin Hall and Saloon is one of the smaller entertainment complexes on the Las Vegas Boulevard and doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of the big resorts but has a great old time charm which makes it very popular with the young and elderly. Their signature attraction is one of the Strips ‘best’ Big Elvis yes you heard it right, he is a 500 plus pound impersonator of Elvis Presley and boy is he talented. The casino features just under 200 rooms and has around 1600 square metres of gaming space with all the favorites including slots, poker and a race room. There is plenty of free entertainment in the gaming rooms and drinks and food are very reasonable.

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The Aladdin was one of the first of the theme resorts on the Vegas strip, but that has made way for one of the most exciting Planet Hollywood Las Vegas. This 2600 room resort has 9300 square metres of gaming and huge show rooms and shopping strips. Just renovated the resort has one of the freshest looks on the strip. A drink or two at the Mezzanine is a must for any visitor it has spectacular views of the video walls and neon of the gaming lounge and a great way to escape the Vegas heat. Planet Hollywood has some great dining too, the Spice Market Buffet is a must for anyone hungry with an international selection of dishes. For fine Japanese its hard to go past KOI it has an amazing candle lit atmosphere and for steak lovers the Strip House offers some of Vegas’ juiciest steaks.

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The medieval themed Excalibur opened in 1990 and has been a favorite on the Las Vegas Strip. Having just over 4000 rooms and over 9300 metres of beautifully themed gaming space the casino is a treat for young and old alike. The hotel was the worlds biggest hotel at opening but many more Vegas mega hotels have claimed that title since. The resort features one of Las Vegas’ longest running and most popular shows THE Tournament of Kings. This amazing show features medieval jousting and is a lot of fun and can be done as a medieval dinner show. For the ladies there’s plenty of buff action with the Thunder from Downunder show and there is always some entertainment playing around the complex. Being a family hotel the kids haven’t been forgotten either underwater legend Sponge Bob Square Pants features in an incredible 4D adventure ride and the huge pool is one of Vegas’s best.

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Opening in 1959 the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum is regarded as one of New York’s City’s most impressive architectural landmarks and is home to some of the most renowned works of art found anywhere in the world. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright the white concrete building is a amazing piece of artwork in itself. The artworks are displayed along a helical spiral ramp which stretches the entire building. The centre of the building is lit with an incredible skylight which shines sun on the forecourt and ticketing area. The Guggenheim has become such a success in New York other Guggenheims’ have been built around the world, including Venice, Bilbao, Berlin, and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The museum has an ever changing collection of art with Impressionist, Post Impressionist, early modern and contemporary making up most of the collection. The Guggenheim can be found on the Upper East Side overlooking the beautiful Central Park.

Standing on the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street the 102 Story Empire State Building is the tallest building in New York which it has held the title of for more than 50 years, (from its opening in 1931 to 1972 and then again from 2001 to present after the destruction of the World Trade Centre twin towers in lower Manhattan). Only the Chicago Wills or Sears Tower is higher in the USA and has only just fallen outside the top 10 tallest buildings in the world. The Art Deco structure has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers and any visitor to the magnificent building will have no doubt why it is an amazing and beautiful engineering feat. The Empire State offers a magnificent observation deck with 360 degree views from the 86th floor and for a few dollars extra you can visit the 102nd floor, but from the Empire State Building you see all of Manhattan except the beautiful Empire State itself- so here at Tripandom we have a tip for you- try the Rockefeller Tower instead- It has a great observation area on the 70th floor offering an amazing look at the Empire State Building- this is where we took today’s photo.

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Times Square is known as the Crossroads to the World and is one of New York’s most exciting intersections. The square is really just a huge junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretches about three blocks from West 42nd Street to West 47th Streets. The intersection is a dazzling display of huge video screens displaying all the must have products being advertized by whoever is the celebrity face of the minute. Once a bit of a sceeedy area the area is now family friendly and home to many iconic restaurants, bars, cafes and specialty stores, including New York’s Hard Rock Café, the M&Ms store, Toys R Us, Virgin Megastore and Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. Then there are theatres including the New Amsterdam Theatre home to Mary Poppins and the rest of Broadway is only steps away. Currently Times Square has been closed to cars, as a trial to turn the area into a pedestrian only zone, trials have been good and have hopefully after some studies of traffic flow and the surrounding area the area may become permanently car free. New Years Eve is the biggest celebration of the year at Times Square, hundreds of thousands gather in the often freezing temperatures to watch the crystal ball drop at the count of midnight.

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