Las Vegas is a city of superlatives. The biggest this, the most expensive that, the brightest, shiniest, most outlandish whatever. So it comes as no surprise then that the biggest shock on The Strip is actually showing restraint. Enter The Cromwell, the only standalone boutique hotel along the famous stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. I’ve been…

“And this spin, ladies, is known as the firepole. Someone grab an extinguisher — because you girls are on fire.” I wasn’t sure what I loved more, our instructor Dani’s well rehearsed banter or the fact that she was conducting our entire class — Viator’s Stripper 101 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino — in seven-inch…

“Alex, you have got to come up to East Fremont!” My friend Liz, a passionate Vegas transplant and trusted advisor on all topics, had been telling me this for years. Yet somehow it never quite made its way onto any of my Nevada itineraries. Four trips in and I’ve done my fair share of exploring outside…

My name is Alexandra Baackes, and I have a confession to make. Seeing the Princess of Pop live in Las Vegas? It was a highlight of my twenty-six years on this planet. And I’m not ashamed. The fact that a preteen in the early 2000’s was obsessed with Britney Spears doesn’t need much of an explanation…

Long time readers know that the Vegas itch hits about once a year — this past August, just two weeks after returning from Aruba, Sin City called again. Around a year ago, my girl Zoe and our sisters and I were all in New Orleans having a blast, and started dreaming up what our next trip…

I’m back from Burning Man. While technically we left Black Rock City late Sunday night, between travel time and de-playa-ing it wasn’t until today that I was back in front of my laptop. I’m teetering on the edge of overwhelmed as I look at the backlog of work that’s piled up in my absence, yet still…