June Trip: Desert, Laughlin, Nevada

I was lucky enough to take off with 4 good friends for Laughlin, NV earlier this month. It was a great time, driving in the desert, you realize how far you are from legitimate large size urban sprawl.

Laughlin, NV is build along the Colorado River, across from Bullhead, Arizona and 99 miles south of Las Vegas. As a group we have done Vegas before, so Laughlin was quite different, but we expected that. We stayed at the Aquarius Casino and Hotel, which was formally a Flamingo. There was Flamingo designs still in the elevators, so it may not of been too long ago when the change was made.

From what I have read, Laughlin, NV was named after Don Laughlin, founder of the first hotel/casino, Don Laughlin's Riverside. According to online reports, he is still alive and from my estimation, is like the Godfather of the city. Can you imagine, being the originator of a large destination vacation city? I mean, not even Walt Disney had that kind of power to name the city after himself!

The swimming pool at the casino was terribly small for the amount of people who stay at that hotel. The pool was the size you would expect from a 300 room Holiday Inn Express. In any event, the pool was on the 3rd floor, so it was on top of the connecting building roof. The connecting building connected the casino to both hotel towers. So it is understandable from a engineering standpoint that the pool could only be so big. Maybe they will upgrade it sometime. The best pool I have seen was at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, where a tidal wave machine took place every 15 minutes. Quite awesome.

As a group, I don't think we came ahead on the gambling side of things, but it was pretty even. You would win a few bucks at one casino, then lose at the next, only to win at the third.

It certainly allows you to enjoy small casino/hotels in Laughlin. The Colorado River had wave runners for rental and farther up the river at a Mojave reservoir you could rent boats. If you are into smaller crowds and not big into the glitz of Las Vegas, then Laughlin, NV maybe your "bet" for a gambling vacation in the heat of Nevada!

M