Livin’ Las Vegas
In September, Philippa and I were invited to attend the IMEX America; the largest trade show for event planners in North America. Held in Las Vegas at the Sands Expo Convention Center, this is the go-to event for the global meetings, incentive travel and events industry and a great place to find out the latest trends and new destinations across the globe.
We travelled courtesy of the Hosted Buyers Program, our partner was Caesars Entertainment, who provided us with flights and accommodation. In exchange, we committed to making six to eight appointments per day with key suppliers and hotel groups, something we were keen to do to make the most of this fabulous opportunity.
We flew with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow and stayed at Caesars Palace for four nights. One of Las Vegas’ largest hotels, Caesars Palace has five towers of rooms, including high-end suites and villas. This means there’s something for every budget. The rooms have sleek, modern décor with luxurious furnishings and Roman-inspired artwork. There’s also a casino, luxury spa, seven different swimming pools in the ‘Garden of Gods’, as well as theatres, shops and numerous restaurants. The hotel has 300,000 square feet of meeting space. This place really is vast!
"It doesn’t hurt that there’s a glass wine cellar holding 15,000 bottles of wine”
The IMEX itself saw over 3,500 exhibitors from 155 countries brought together under one huge roof. Key themes of the event included diversity and inclusion, transformation and collaboration and sustainability, a key issue today in travel and tourism.
There were tourist boards and convention centres, major hotel companies, conference and exhibition centres, cruise lines, airlines, spa resorts and technology providers all exhibiting at the show. In order to cover the most ground, Philippa and I split up and each attended eight meetings a day with our key targets.
It was also a fabulous chance to network, hear brilliant, inspiring speakers and make superb new contacts for future events we will be arranging.
On our first night in Las Vegas, we enjoyed a wonderful welcome dinner at Old Homestead at Caesars Palace. A steakhouse restaurant with sultry décor, dark woods and burgundy booths, Old Homestead’s dining room and bar is a cosy and comfortable place to relax and unwind after a busy day. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a glass wine cellar holding 15,000 bottles of wine!
There were tourist boards and convention centres, major hotel companies, conference and exhibition centres, cruise lines, airlines, spa resorts and technology providers all exhibiting at the show. In order to cover the most ground, Philippa and I split up and each attended eight meetings a day with our key targets.
It was also a fabulous chance to network, hear brilliant, inspiring speakers and make superb new contacts for future events we will be arranging.
On our first night in Las Vegas, we enjoyed a wonderful welcome dinner at Old Homestead at Caesars Palace. A steakhouse restaurant with sultry décor, dark woods and burgundy booths, Old Homestead’s dining room and bar is a cosy and comfortable place to relax and unwind after a busy day. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a glass wine cellar holding 15,000 bottles of wine!
On the menu here are American favourites, like applewood smoked bacon, calamari, Kobe meatballs and warm banana bread pudding. The standout menu items are the famous cuts of meat.
On our final night, we dined at GIADA Restaurant at The Cromwell, followed by a fun night at Drai’s Nightclub. The GIADA Restaurant is the brainchild of Emmy-award winning chef, Giada De Laurentiis, who shares her delicious Italian cuisine. Thanks to its huge retractable windows, the restaurant is bright and airy and diners eating in the dining room or lounge are treated to breath-taking views of the Bellagio fountains and Caesars Palace.
Guests here can watch chefs prepare fresh pastas, breads and desserts from the open kitchen. Located on the second floor of the Cromwell, GIADA can seat 260 guests and there’s a private dining room for large parties.
Drai’s Nightclub is a dazzling multi-level rooftop hotspot also in The Cromwell. Set on The Strip, Drai’s is 25,000 square feet of plush space, including two full-service bars, 75 luxurious bottle service tables, and hosts live music from the world’s most celebrated DJ’s and chart-topping resident performers. From here we had amazing views of the Bellagio fountains.
We also managed to squeeze in time to take in a show, Cirque du Soleil. There are seven amazing Cirque du Soleil shows to choose from in Las Vegas; we saw O at the Bellagio. This was simply breath-taking, one of the best shows I have ever seen. It was a scintillating performance of acrobatics set in an aquatic world. From curtains up, we were just mesmerized by the skill and storytelling of the acrobats. We’d definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Las Vegas.
Our trip to IMEX was just four days, but we packed so much into those days and came away buzzing with new ideas and a wealth of great new contacts. We can’t wait to get working on our next events.
On our final night, we dined at GIADA Restaurant at The Cromwell, followed by a fun night at Drai’s Nightclub. The GIADA Restaurant is the brainchild of Emmy-award winning chef, Giada De Laurentiis, who shares her delicious Italian cuisine. Thanks to its huge retractable windows, the restaurant is bright and airy and diners eating in the dining room or lounge are treated to breath-taking views of the Bellagio fountains and Caesars Palace.
Guests here can watch chefs prepare fresh pastas, breads and desserts from the open kitchen. Located on the second floor of the Cromwell, GIADA can seat 260 guests and there’s a private dining room for large parties.
Drai’s Nightclub is a dazzling multi-level rooftop hotspot also in The Cromwell. Set on The Strip, Drai’s is 25,000 square feet of plush space, including two full-service bars, 75 luxurious bottle service tables, and hosts live music from the world’s most celebrated DJ’s and chart-topping resident performers. From here we had amazing views of the Bellagio fountains.
We also managed to squeeze in time to take in a show, Cirque du Soleil. There are seven amazing Cirque du Soleil shows to choose from in Las Vegas; we saw O at the Bellagio. This was simply breath-taking, one of the best shows I have ever seen. It was a scintillating performance of acrobatics set in an aquatic world. From curtains up, we were just mesmerized by the skill and storytelling of the acrobats. We’d definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Las Vegas.
Our trip to IMEX was just four days, but we packed so much into those days and came away buzzing with new ideas and a wealth of great new contacts. We can’t wait to get working on our next events.