Staying in Startosphere comes with the advantage of free access to the tower, advertised as "the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States and the tallest building west of the Mississippi". The line was quite long, but we finally made it and enjoyed the city from 350 meters.

Later we met Yalda, then Soheila and Kaveh to have lunch at Pyramide Café in Luxor. We took advantage of the Luxor's guests (Soheila and Kaveh) to see parts of the hotel restricted to regular tourists. This hotel overtook Caesar's Palace on my list of the nicest Vegas hotels. Most of the other hotels we visited were disappointing. Mandalay Bay looked nice as a building but didn't have anything special inside. We saw a couple of lions in MGM Grand, but - since we didn't go there for a circus - nothing to be impressed about. Excalibur looked like a nice-little castle (especially at night, with its lights on), but only from the outside. New York was the worst, especially its outdated Times Square caricature. Walking so much - with the excitement level dropping lower and lower - put us in the mood to relax our senses with the Bellagio's dancing fountains. The last hotel we visited, Paris, was ok, I'll give it the forth place on my list.

• Las Vegas by night
• A tour of Las Vegas hotels
• Another tour of Las Vegas hotels
• Almost visiting Hoover Dam
• A windy day in San Diego
• A sunset in La Jolla
• Downtown and uptown Los Angeles
• Santa Monica, Malibu and Hollywood