Archive for the ‘Las Vegas Reviews’ Category

Aveda Centennial Hills Salon Review

August 11th, 2011 | Rss Feed

Centennial Hills Salon & Day Spa Review

Rating: B+ (Excellent service but prices are a bit high.)
Neighborhood: North West Las Vegas
Address: 7991 West Tropical Parkway #120 (Near I-95 & Centennial)
Website: Centennial Hills Salon & Day Spa

Centennial Hills Salon & Day Spa

Looking for a place for the bride and bridal party to be pampered before the wedding?  I recommend the Aveda Centennial Hills Salon.  This salon offers you everything you would want before you walk down the isle.  Don’t have your own stylist; Centennial Hills has someone for you.  Need help with your make-up; they can help with that also.  Stressed out planning your big day?  How about a massage or a facial? One thing I definitely recommend is a manicure or pedicure.  Every bride and bridesmaid is going to want to have his or her hands and/or feet pampered before the wedding.  What a great idea for you all to do together!  I have been to Centennial Hills Salon a number of times and have always been pleased with the service I have received.  I especially like nail technician Jenica.  Centennial Hills Salon also offers a discount for bridal parties.  Make sure you ask when you make your reservations.

 

The Cupcakery Review

June 27th, 2011 | Rss Feed

The Cupcakery Review

Rating: A
Neighborhood: West Las Vegas
Address: 7175 W Lake Mead Blvd (Near I-95 & Lake Mead Blvd)
Website: The Cupcakery

Everywhere you look, you see cupcake bake shops.  However, we feel one of the best in Las Vegas is The Cupcakery.  At about $3 per cupcake (when buying one at a time), they better be good and these satisfy your palette.  Their cupcakes can satisfy anyone with their variety of options from pumpkin, red velvet, Boston creme, chocolate peanut butter and much more.

Be sure to call or stop by the store to inquire about their wedding offerings.  Besides the Lake Mead location, The Cupcakery can also be found in the Monte Carlo Casino and in east Las Vegas on Eastern Ave.

 

Pinball Hall of Fame Review

March 11th, 2011 | Rss Feed

Rating: B
Neighborhood: East of Las Vegas Blvd
Address: 71610 E. Tropicana, Las Vegas NV 89119
Website: Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame

While not known to the casual vacationer to Las Vegas, the Pinball Museum is a worth  while stop.  The pinball museum is located across from the vacated Liberace Museum.  It is in a large warehouse style building with limited lighting to showcase the classic games.

The best part of the pinball museum is that visitors can play most of the pinball games.  Visitors can play 70′s baseball pinball machines, space invaders video game to a modern Avatar pinball machine.

A great feature of the pinball hall of fame is its giving to charity.  The operator of the PHoF, according to their website, works just to maintaining and restoring pinball machines without pay.  He has also made significant donations to charity which include to the Salvation Army.

 

Day Trip from Las Vegas – Area 51 Rachel, NV

October 13th, 2010 | Rss Feed

About 115 miles north of Las Vegas is the infamous Air Force Base known as Area 51.  Area 51 and Rachel, NV are known for UFO sightings.  There has been hundreds of UFO sightings in the area over the years.  Rachel, NV has been designated as the “UFO Capital of the World”.   The only business in the area serving food is the Little A’Le’Inn.  The Inn has a restaurant selling a great burger called the Alien burger.   The Inn also has alien memorabilia, clothing, and area maps.

Rachel does not have any gas stations so be sure to fill-up in cities along the route before getting to the area.  Except for a couple of ranches, the town of Rachel is the only settlement in the 98 mile E.T. Highway drive.  Please see below sign for a reminder.

The “Extraterrestrial Highway” aka E.T. Highway aka Nevada State Highway 375 stretches 98 miles from US-93 in the southeast to US-6.   To get to the E.T. Highway, drive north on US-93 from Las Vegas.  In addition, the  E.T. Highway is the fastest route  between Yosemite National Park in the west and Zion National Park and Grand Canyon in the east.

25 mile south of Rachel is the top secret military base known as Area 51.  There are 2 gates of entry into the base where visitors can stop and take pictures of the “Do Not Enter” signs.  However, driving from the paved main road to the gates is about 10 miles on a dirt road.  See below picture of one of the dirt road drives.

In conclusion, if you want to travel to see Area 51 and Rachel, NV – the UFO Capital of the World, we recommend to see the Little A’Le’Inn and to camp out under the stars to view the unsuspecting UFOs in the sky.  For more information about the Rachel, NV area and Area 51, visit the following web site: Official web site of Rachel, NV.

 

Retro Bakery Review

August 1st, 2010 | Rss Feed

Retro Bakery Review

Rating: B
Neighborhood: North end of Las Vegas
Address: 7785 N Durango Drive #130 (near Durango & I-93/95)
Website: Retro Bakery

A big fad right now are cupcake wedding cakes.  Also popular are custom wedding cakes and custom groom cakes.  With shows on television such as Cake Boss, DC Cupcakes and Ace of Cakes, many bridal couples are willing to spend extra money to have a one-of-a-kind wedding “cake”.

The most popular cupcake at Retro Bakery is the Hop Scotch.  The Hop Scotch consists of vanilla cake topped with vanilla buttercream dipped in butterscotch ganache.  The store is open Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays.

Retro bakery can provide cake orders for weddings.  However, give them a minimum of 2 weeks for custom orders or special cupcake toppers.  Custom cupcakes start at $3 each or $36 per dozen.  Custom wedding cakes are also available.  Everyday cupcakes are $2.65 each.  Custom cake prices are determined by size and intricacy of design.

Cupcake towers are available for rent.  A 4-tier cupcake tower holds 70 cupcakes.  A 5-tier cupcake tower holds 120 cupcakes.  Either tower you can rent for a $40 fee.

The workers at Retro Bakery were very friendly and willing to answer any questions.  The downfall of the bakery was that they had no printed information about providing cakes for weddings.  We were instructed to go to their website.

Retro Bakery will deliver anywhere in the Las Vegas area, for an additional fee of $20.  Otherwise, Retro Bakery is about 25 minutes NW of the Las Vegas Strip.

If you like buttercream cupcakes, then Retro Bakery is the place for you!