Name: Alexis McMullin

Occupation? Content creator

Preoccupation? Exploring the best places in the world

Place you live? Chicago

Can you sum up Las Vegas? Vegas is a condensed version of every entertainment district in the world all smashed together into an extremely vibrant, lively area! There truly is something for everyone, whether it’s fine dining, fun shows from famous artists or troupes, comedy, shopping, and so much more! In addition to this, the city is a melting pot of people from all around the world, which makes it an absolute blast to be here!

What is the best thing about Las Vegas? The best thing about Vegas is that there truly is something for everyone. The minute my husband and I checked into Paris Las Vegas, we couldn’t stop looking around – it feels like you’re walking down a Parisian street, with clouds above and fun shops selling things like macaroons (my personal favorite), as well as restaurants and direction posts for fun things to do. My husband was excited about the dueling piano show and I was excited about the pool.

What is a common misperception about Vegas? I think a lot of people think that Vegas primarily has activities involving drinking and gambling – we actually didn’t do either of those and had an absolute blast! We’ve also enjoyed visiting Vegas in the past and will be back again! There really is so much to do and it’s not uncommon to see entire families enjoying shows, hitting the pool, and just having a good time.

If Las Vegas was a person or character who would it be? Vegas would probably be the Energizer Bunny, because there is always something going on! That said, just like watching the Energizer Bunny on TV, you can always change the channel or hit the power button – we were tired one night and came in to watch Oceans 11 in our room (while taking breaks to look out the window at places the movie was filmed at)!

Can you tell us about your experience staying at Paris Las Vegas? Our experience at the hotel was amazing! We started off by checking in, then going right up to our room, which to our pleasant surprise had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower and pool! After figuring out how the TV in our bed’s footboard worked, we decided to head out and explore. It was fun seeing the shops in Le Boulevard, which totally reminded us of Paris – it was fun to see a cute little Gelato shop and be able to buy a macaroon!

It was a beautiful day and we had just come from cold Chicago, so we pretty quickly decided it was time to hit the pool. We enjoyed the sun for a bit and I particularly liked all the flowers around in some of my favorite colors. My husband really liked how the pool was close to the Eiffel Tower, which we found out was actually made out of the same blueprints as the one in France! The one at the Paris Las Vegas is an exact half-sized replica – pretty cool!

In addition to the pool and the interior of the hotel, we also spent some time walking around the Strip which was a ton of fun. After walking around the area, we decided we needed a really good view, so we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which was great! It was fun to watch the Bellagio Fountain water show across the street, see just about everything in Las Vegas, and also try to spot our room in the hotel.

The final thing we did was eat. A lot. We went to Martorano’s, which was amazing! Having been to Italy a few times, I’m a pretty picky Italian-food eater – and this was really good! The chef calls his sauce “Sunday gravy,” and it is delicious! We also had some tasty mocktails – yum! We hope to come back and would love to spend more time exploring the other restaurants and shows that Paris Las Vegas has to offer!

What did you like about Paris Las Vegas? There was so much about the hotel that stood out to me – I really loved how incredibly detailed the building was. Whoever designed the architecture and interior did an amazing job and must have had the time of their life! It really looked and felt like you were outside walking through a boulevard street when walking throughout the building and you can look around to see thoroughly decorated buildings, complete with balconies and curtains and lights in windows.

In addition to the interior design, it was also fun to see so many landmarks out of our window – the location is really great, right in the middle of the Strip, so you can see pretty much everything! Especially from a Charlemagne suite, which has views in almost every direction! We could see all the fun casinos, people watch, look at the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, and get ideas for fun things to do on some of the large TV screens that spot the Strip.

The service at Paris Las Vegas was also really good. I called the front desk a few times and was always greeted with “hello McMullins,” which made my day. Our room service was yummy and we just had a great time in the hotel.

Can you tell us about the activities you participated in? We participated in a few activities at the hotel. The first of these was the Eiffel Tower Experience – we went up an elevator (that had an amazing view) 44 floors to the top of the Eiffel Tower and learned all sorts of interesting things from the staff member that took us up. One of the cool things we learned was that the hotel was originally going to build a full-sized Eiffel Tower, but that it would be so big that planes couldn’t land at the airport, so they had to make it smaller (crazy huh)…and it’s still huge! At the top, we had a 360 view, which was a ton of fun. We also found a secret, that you can put your phone camera on these little holes on the ground that are the size of a pencil and the camera can see all the way down. Pretty cool!

The second activity we did was go to dinner at Martorano’s, which was a fun experience. The restaurant was started by the founder, Steve Martorano, who is from Philadelphia and cooks really good Italian food! The restaurant has a cool vibe, with all the wait staff dressed up like they’re from an Italian-American Philadelphia movie! The restaurant also has light-up menus, which we thought were neat and had amazing mock-tails – yum!

Other activities include shows and shopping – we enjoyed a bit of both! There is also plenty else to do, so we can’t wait to come back again.

If a friend was visiting Las Vegas what would you suggest they do? If my best friend was visiting for a day, I would tell them to rest up the night before and get ready for an amazing day! I would go to breakfast at the cute café Mon Ami Gabi, which has nice views and is very quaint. After eating a breakfast, I would go for a quick walk down the Strip, then hurry back to the hotel and go to the pool. After lounging by the pool, I would recommend going to the spa for some relaxation, then getting ready to go out and explore! There is a Gordon Ramsay Burger restaurant next door at Planet Hollywood, which looks amazing; I would go there for lunch. After that, I would recommend going across the street to watch the water show and get a perfect picture of the Eiffel Tower (the picture of me in red is taken on the railing above the water show – you’ll see it if you just look across the street from the Eiffel Tower). After getting this picture, it’s time to shop! I’d probably go to some of the nice shops at The Forum Shops at Caesars, which is a nice little walk down the road. After that, I’d come back to the hotel and shop at the cute Le Boulevard before changing for the evening.

In the evening, I would definitely head to dinner at Martorano’s, because that is some amazing Italian food! The pasta is just how I like it in Italy, but have never found anywhere back in the States. After a nice dinner, I would recommend going to a show. There are a lot of fun ones to see, so take your pick! After the show, there are a few options. If my friend was feeling in the mood, I would say to go to Omnia for nightlife. However, they could also have a great time at the dueling pianos or enjoying some gaming back at the hotel. Whatever they decide to do, I know they’ll have a great time before going back to their room and enjoying their view one last time before laying down for bed, having had an amazing day in Las Vegas!