Decent connection in Philadelphia. Arrived Las Vegas a little early actually. Still later than my original United Flight!
The first thing you see as you enter the terminal building - right at the gate, no less - slot machines! Welcome to Las Vegas. You will soon realise that this is definitely what Vegas is all about.
After picking up luggage, in the biggest, gaudiest, glitziest baggage lounge I have ever seen, filled with huge billboards and giant screen TVs advertising the various shows, nightclubs, restaurants etc, I chose to get an airport shuttle to my hotel. While this is a decent enough choice (fairly cheap) if by yourself, if travelling as a family it would be better to take a taxi. Less wait time - and probably lower overall price.
The Golden Nugget hotel is in the so-called "downtown" area, not the better-known "Strip" and is one of the further hotels from the airport. Journey takes around 15-20 minutes, whereas some hotels on the strip are 5 mins or less away. The airport is really close to the south end of the "strip". It doesn't actually take too long to learn the order of the hotels on the strip - just get any map - you'll see that there aren't really all that many, really. I will mention advantages and disadvantages of downtown vs the strip, and describe the Golden Nugget a bit more later. I'll probably add pics and maybe videos after the fact, as that could get time-consuming.
I was in my room by around 1.30 AM local time and tried to get some sleep because I had booked a Grand Canyon excursion for Sunday, with a pickup time of 5.50 AM. So with 3 alarms set, as well as the wake up call I headed off to the land of nod.
