Down Under Part 7...Frolicking through Hobbiton

I am not a big Lord of the Rings/Hobbit fan.  And by this I mean I slept through the last Hobbit movie...in the theater.  I mean I love Orlando Bloom and I like the overall message of The Lord of the Rings.  I think it's a great story, if we could just leave out 90% of the fighting that'd be great.  I mean the fighting could still happen, but maybe I don't have to watch it.  That being said, I loved this day.  Anyway Monday morning the 10th of November we got up at Erin's in Buckland Beach and headed for Hobbiton.  Like the actual Hobbiton. That's right, be jealous.

Totally driving on the right
side of the car!!

Our car was me, Caryn, and Bri.  I started out driving and we followed Sarah, Liz, and Kristina.  Once we were out driving for a bit we stopped to take some pictures at some pretty lookouts and then we stopped at a little diner type place in the middle of nowhere to get some food/drinks and such.  

Then we took one of the prettiest drives I think I've ever been on.  It was probably the long way to get to Hobbiton, but it was completely worth it.  It really set the mood for the whole day.  It was green rolling hills, big puffy clouds, and blue skies.  I took this opportunity to bust out the one song from Lord of the Rings I had on my iphone which I think was the main song and I put it on repeat until we got there.  The music with the drive was seriously unbelievable.  

Then we pull up to this sheep farm (cue the sheep jokes, i.e. I am in sheep, do you know sheep PR?, The sheeps they go baa they go baa they go baa baa baa etc.) and it's actually where we buy our tickets for Hobbiton.  So we buy our tickets and look around and take some pictures while we wait for our tour.  Once it's time for our tour we hop on a giant bus with a bunch of other people and head for the hills.  It wasn't a very long drive.  Like 5-10 minutes maybe.  

It was so neat when we got there.  I don't think I can fully explain it right.  You walk down this path and then all of a sudden you're standing at the bottom of a bunch of hills and there are tons and tons of hobbit holes everywhere that are little houses.  There are gardens and trees and all sorts of shenanigans. I probably have a picture with almost every hobbit house.  Bri and I had our picture taking down pat.  We would swap super fast to take pics so we didn't get in people's way too much...yet.  (I'll admit writing this right now almost 6 months later I'm looking at the beautiful pictures we all took and I'm almost crying because I loved it so much and want to be there again).  So we weren't actually allowed in the Hobbit holes because most of them there was nothing behind the doors since this was the outside set.  But there was one we could stand in and peek our heads out of.  Then we get to the main house...Bag End.  The tree above it is fake and apparently every dang leaf was hand painted.  I guess if you make the Lord of the Rings movies you're allowed to ask whatever you want of people who work for you and they do it.  

So me and Bri had previously discussed frolicking through Hobbiton.  We decided it would be best if it was filmed.  Bag End is at the top of a hill so I had Caryn film and play the LOTR song while me and Bri frolicked in Hobbiton down the little hill.  Some people's reactions were priceless.  It was totally worth it!  We took another opportunity to frolic around the May pole from the party field scene area.  That time we accidentally hit the May pole which had bells at the top so we had to run away fast so we didn't get caught.  Again, it was so amazing there.  I can't even describe the feeling I had standing there looking out at everything.

The last part of the Hobbiton tour was that you got to go to the Green Dragon Pub and get a drink.  Of the drinks two were alcoholic and one was not (the ginger beer).  So we all go up to the counter to order and I start to drink mine...twas not ginger beer, but instead was a delightful hard apple cider.  It was yum...but I behaved and gave it back and got my ginger beer.  Then we went over to order some treats from this cute bar tender dude.  He posed for my picture.  So we all sat there in the Green Dragon eating and drinking until someone discovered that even the bathrooms were themed and cool there.  Of course they were.

      

Once we were done we got back on the bus and headed out of Hobbiton.  We spent a little time in the gift shop getting a few people gifts and signing the guest book.  Then it was time to roll out.  We drove to Rotorua to our hotel.  We had almost a tiny apartment there.  It had an upstairs and downstairs and a few rooms.  After grabbing some good food at the nearby countdown (grocery store) we headed to the bus stop to be picked up for our Maori Village experience.  On the bus they explained the rules that when we first got there they would do this traditional chant thing and it was disrespectful to laugh.  I always worry when I'm told I can't laugh.  I mean if they wouldn't have brought it up I probably wouldn't have laughed anyway, but since they said I couldn't it made it kinda hard.  Me and Bri were not allowed to look at each other until they were done.  

We go into the village and go to different areas where they show us chants and games and the Hakka .  It was pretty interesting.  They then did a little luau.  But let's be honest.  I was there for the dinner.  It was delicious.  There was so much food and yummy lamb.  I really was surprised that the food was so different from a Hawaiian luau.  Still so good though.  On the bus ride home our crazy bus driver gave each group there a chance to sing a song.  We figured people already hate americans enough that we didn't need to give them an extra reason by singing God Bless America or something like that...so we sang Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree.  Yeah, that happened.  Then this guy decides he's going to sing She'll be coming around the Mountain while driving so so so many times around the round about.  I believe Sarah later told me she heard me say, "This is my own personal hell".  But we made it back to our hotel and we all quickly went to bed.  We had had a long amazing day.  And we had more to do the next day.

Down Under Part 4 I Get to Hug a Koala

Nothing of consequence happened while we were waiting for our flight to Australia except I got some Acai from a guy who didn't understand me and added the wrong toppings.  Life goes on.  We got on the plane, took some selfies, slept, ate some butter, I had the most delicious milk I've ever tasted, and then we filled out more forms...yeah.  We were flying LAN and their instructions were all in spanish.  They fed us so I liked them.

We got into Sydney pretty early in the morning.  I think around 8am their time which is 10am New Zealand time and 2pm Idaho time (the previous day).  It was Friday and we had all that day and all day Saturday.  The first thing we did after we got our baggage was get a shuttle to our "hotel".  So all 7 of us get on this shuttle and then two other girls probably around our age came on as well.  When we told the driver that we were staying at the Ibis right next to Kings Cross one of the girls laughed and explained that was the red light district.  After seeing the guys in Sydney...sign me up.  And honestly the area wasn't that bad.  We got to check into our two rooms early that day.  Each room had 4 beds (2 bunks) and a small bathroom that basically was also a shower at the same time.  So if someone showered the whole floor got wet.  I can't complain too much.  I was just happy to be in Sydney and really didn't spend that much time in the "hotel" anyway.  I'd stay there again...

We left our hotel and walked to Kings Cross train (subway) station and rode way way out (ok maybe it wasn't really that far) of the city.  On the way everyone fell for a marketing ad of orange soda.  Then we got off at the Pennant Hills station and then took a bus to the Koala Park Sanctuary (future me:  They only take cash.).  I was a little worried for a bit when we had to switch to a bus.  I'll say I'm pretty good at subway maps, but not bus ones.  Well we made it in time for the Koala feeding which was why I wanted to go there anyway...so I could hug that koala.  They chatted for a minute about it and then the trainer lady took one off its little tree and set it out so people could touch it.  I went through the line and got my picture petting it and stuff, then a guy after me actually cuddled with it and I had to do that too of course so I went through the line again.  This time I fully hugged/cuddled the koala.  Loved it!!  Then we went and fed some kangaroos and played with them.  We walked around the rest of the park to see the other not so advertised animals including a cool parrot that said, "hello" "bye-bye" and "Want a cracker".  When we left there we were supposed to go to the temple, but everyone was tired and hungry including me and we honestly just didn't know how to get there by bus.

We headed back into the city to the Town Hall train stop.  We ate lunch there in this little underground mall thing.  I had lamb kabobs.  I ate so much lamb on this trip.  It was yummy.  We walked around this pretty church that was unfortunately closed.  It had gorgeous purple trees all around it.  In fact all of Sydney had these purple trees.  I think they are jacarda? trees.  At this point some people went back to take a rest at the "hotel" and a few of us went to find Laduree at the Westfield mall.  Of course I had to spend way too much on a little box of pretentious macaroons, but considering they have very few stores all over the world I didn't mind.  And the cookies were good.  A couple other people left to go back to the "hotel" at this point, but me and Bri stayed so she could grab something quick.  We got it and decided to walk back rather than take a train.  It was a lovely day and sunny.  Plus when we walked through Hyde park there was a weirdo getting his picture taken.  Well worth seeing that.  We walked down some small pretty streets, pretty sure we walked through a pot breeze, and made it safely back to our "hotel".  (Side note:  I LOVED that park.  It reminded me of a small version of central park.  I wish I had that park to walk in every day...with that weather.)

After a couple hours of getting ready Caryn, Erin, Kristina, Sarah, Liz, and I walked to Capitol Theater to go see Wicked!  Everyone was so excited.  I was the only one who had seen it before of that group.  On our way we found another set of missionaries getting some pizza.  They asked if we were coming to game night?  Nope, but if I lived there I would.

We walked around the theater and the shop when we got there.  I tried on some sweet sunglasses and we passed out the tickets (none of us sat together because it was cheaper that way).  We grabbed some dinner at the little cafe before the show started.  It had free wifi.  So nice.  We made our way back to the theater and took our seats and started the show.  It was awesome.  Even though this was the 4th time I had seen it, it was still completely worth it.  I loved it.  At intermission Caryn and I decided we needed the special drink cups that lit up with our mocktail in it.  I also got some of Australia's version of whoppers to munch on.  After the show it was pretty late so we took the train back and headed for bed.  Great first day in Sydney!

Down Under Part 3 Pamphlets to Hell

The very first thing we did when we got off the plane was...well...go through customs...I hate it.  Helpful hint:  If you have an old passport like I do, just get a new one with the stupid chip in it so you can avoid the 1-2 hour lines.  Seriously.  Traveling internationally, customs gets old real fast.  Luckily this time they were quick and we were shortly reunited with our amazing friend Erin who moved to New Zealand earlier in the year.  We got our luggage, got into her car (the wrong side), and she drove (on the wrong side) to her house where we would stay and meet up with 3 more of our friends in a couple days.  I had to set up my little blow up mattress that I brought with sheets and everything.  Then we chatted and slept.  It had been a long day.

The next morning Erin went to work so Caryn, Bri, and I decided to explore around the neighborhood where we were staying.  It's in the Buckland's Beach area.  It's really pretty there and right next to the ocean.  Erin had told us about a great bakery we had to try so we went down by the water and then "hiked" up the little hill path thing to the bakery.  Well they only took cash and we didn't have any yet. We asked this lady where the closest bank/shopping area was that took cards and she said it was about a 20 minute walk.  She said she could have offered us a ride if she could.  Nice people.  It was a pretty day so the walk didn't sound too bad.  We were hungry though.  We made it to the grocery store (Countdown) and got some meats and cheeses and L&P and pastries and such and took it out to a picnic table to eat.  Again we met a friendly lady who was there and chatted for a bit.  We got some money exchanged and headed back to Erin's. On our walk back we met up with American Missionaries!!  Always fun to run into them.

We chilled until Erin got home and then we went to Hell's Pizza.  I got the Lust Deluxe.  It was really yummy.  While we were waiting for our pizza we took a group shot with a little menu.  When our friend Paul saw it he had to comment that Erin was so nice to make us pamphlets to visit her...inside joke.  I think that night we watched some good ol' Pitch Perfect and went to bed.

               

The next day around brunch time we went to a little cafe down by the water.  It was super windy that day so didn't really enjoy being outside by the water.  I had some of the best hot chocolate (they make it bitter down there) and fish and chips.  Caryn also got fish and chips and Bri got the best waffles ever.  Since it was so cold when we were done we got some ice cream and headed back to Erin's place.  Her backyard has a fence so it blocked the wind which meant I spent some time laying out there and listening to the song "Men at Work" better known for it's line, "we come from a land down under".  Yeah...I love sun and songs about places with sun.

While we were basking in the New Zealand sun the other three girls (Liz, Sarah, and Kristina) arrived.  When Erin got home we went out by the water again to get Indian Food for dinner.  It was really yummy and I saw one of the most gorgeous sunsets.  Then we went back to Erin's and got situated.  Seven girls in a one bedroom house with one bathroom can get tricky.  We made it work though.  Some of the girls stayed up and watched a movie, but me and Bri went to sleep since we had to be up at 3am to catch the shuttle to the airport so we could all go to Sydney.  Super early, but totally worth it. I got up around 2am to get ready for the day since we would hit the ground running in Sydney.  This is when Erin's blow dryer attacked.

Caryn and I had bought a New Zealand approved hair dryer before we got there and had it sent to Erin's.  Erin had hers right there though so while Caryn straightened her hair in front of me I used the blow dryer to heat up my hair.  Bri was also in the bathroom because she was going to straighten the back of my hair when Caryn was done.  All of a sudden...flames started shooting out of the blowdryer. I threw it because it was hot and freaked me out (which happened to land right around Caryn's feet) and the power went out.  It was insane.  See the things that happen down in hell (again inside joke).  Well we got over it and headed to the airport because Sydney was waiting for me.

Down Under Part 2 It's Gettin' Hot In Here

Our flight from Las Vegas to Hawaii was filled with a lovely Benadryl induced sleep.  It was much needed after our early travels to Vegas and then not flying out of vegas until 1am.  We got into Honolulu Airport a little before 6am on November 2 2014.  That was just enough time to grab our bags and head over to the shuttle pick up area to get to our rental car.  The guy who picked us up on the shuttle was great.  He was friendly and made sure we knew where we were headed and how to return the car when we were done.  Awesome customer service.  Then when we got to the rental car place they were super rude.  As soon as you told them you didn't want their "gas refill" option (which means that you can return the car back with half a tank and they will pay to fill it up at a lower rate, but they charge you for half a tank no matter how full you bring it back...this isn't a good option for a one night layover on Oahu) they became terrible and snappy.  Then they saw our luggage and told us we had to get a bigger car and pay an extra $10 a day.  We explained we had done this in another similar car before.  They didn't care.  Terrible customer service.  For reference this company was Advantage womp womp.

We took our car (we named Chandler) and went Kailua to put our toes in the ocean on Lanikai Beach and then to Cinnamon's Restaurant also in Kailua.  So far it's been my favorite breakfast ever.  I got my usual Red Velvet Pancakes, but I also had to get the Guava Chiffon Pancakes too.  If I can swallow my pride gulp I'll admit that the Guava Chiffon ones are better.  I would love to have those every sunday morning.

Next we headed to the North Shore to enjoy some beach time.  Luckily it was early enough in the morning that we got a great parking spot at the Waimea Beach Park.  It was glorious there.  We played in the ocean, soaked up some sun, and took naps.  I love naps.  A couple of us ended up a little lobster like from this excursion, but totally worth it for me.  I could do relaxing beach days like that frequently.

For lunch I wanted to go get food from food trucks.  I had seen a special on the Travel Channel about these little food truck areas on the North Shore and wanted to give it a shot.  I had actually eaten at one of them before.  Giovanni's Shrimp Truck.  Oh my goodness.  It was better than I remembered.  I had a half order of the lemon butter with a side of their hot sauce.  If I lived there I would probably eat that daily.  I also got an Acai bowl with granola and honey and banana.  Caryn lived in Brazil and ate those before and said the ones they have there were legit.  I was not disappointed.  I wouldn't mind that for breakfast every day (except the day I get my pancakes).

 

After lunch I dropped Bri and Caryn off at Pearl Harbor to go out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.  I had already been so I used this time to drive to Waikiki and check us into our hotel.  I forgot how terrible the traffic was in Waikiki.  It's bad, and there are so many one way streets that are allegedly two lane, but seriously should only be one lane.  HATE IT.  Then the hotel elevator only worked when you scanned your card.  Unfortunately I didn't get this memo so I just kept riding around because other people were requesting the elevator on other floors.  I had too much luggage, there was no air conditioning in the common areas of the hotel, it was hot, and I was frustrated.  I was almost in tears when I made it back to the lobby and someone explained it to me.  I got the luggage up there and then went and picked up Caryn and Bri.  It was a glorious 86 degrees that day.

We headed back to the hotel, changed, and walked to Waikiki beach.  We walked around there for a bit and spent some time in some of the stores and then headed to bed for sleep in an actual bed.  It was a pretty good day in Hawaii.

The next morning we got up, repacked, and headed to the airport.  I got to stop by a store that the company I work for owns which was neat.  I met people I had talked to over the phone, but had never seen before.  It was neat.  Then we went and got gas in the car so we didn't get charged the bajillion dollars they swore we would if it wasn't "completely full" and "filled up within 2 miles of the rental car drop off".  In case anyone (or future me) needs to know here's the address for the nearest gas station to the airport:  Chevron Honolulu, Valkenburgh Street, Honolulu HI.  You're welcome.  Just say no to their stupid half take gas fill up program.  We returned the car and got to the gas station and then got shipped out to the nether regions of the airport where there was no food, no shops, one vending machine, and, according to the crazy lady, only one outlet.

Short little story:  We got to our gate pretty early for our flight from Honolulu to Auckland, New Zealand.  Because we were some of the first people there we found a spot in the corner where we could set up all of our bags, plug in our phones, and just chill for a couple hours.  This middle/older aged lady came and sat practically right next to us.  Now this was a huge gate...huge.  And if you saw how it was all set up you would realize it wasn't in the main part of the airport so it's not like random people not on the flight were taking up seats from another gate.  This was just our gate.  She could have sat anywhere.  We were watching videos and a little loud which is why we picked a corner of the airport so we wouldn't bug anyone.  She acted all annoyed and then came up and said she wanted one of the outlets because we had the only ones in the whole gate.  Rude.  There were others.  So we packed up our stuff and moved next to the completely empty outlets.  I hope that lady's phone somehow fell in the ocean.  end of story.

We got on the plane to New Zealand and mentally prepared for our 9 hour flight.  We watched movies, chatted, read, laughed, and ate the whole way.  I might have also taken a small nap.  We got into Auckland around 10pm. on November 4th local time.  This was 20 hours ahead of our home time.  They made us sit there while they sprayed us and our baggage down on the plane.  It was weird.  Then we walked off the plane into NEW ZEALAND!!

Down Under Part 1 The Journey Begins

Isn't there a quote that says something like, "A thousand mile journey begins with a single step"? Well the single step on this journey began when Bri, Caryn, and I got our tired selves up before dawn on November 1 2014 to catch the shuttle from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah.  It was mostly an uneventful "sorta bus" ride.  They had the heat up to about 1000 degrees and my feet got a bit burned.  We had good weather, and by the time we got to Salt Lake it was in the 60s and sunny.  Pretty nice for Utah/Idaho in November.  We were dropped off right at the airport so we didn't get to do our usual mall/food trips in Salt Lake that I love.  Honestly I was just antsy to get on that plane because I felt like that was the real start.  Then I saw the plane...it looked like a pretty sketchy start.

Do people seriously still fly in things like this?  Guess so because we did.  I loved the fact that the plane was fairly empty.  We each got our own row and the flight attendant (let's call him Stove) was pretty entertaining and didn't seem to care too much about any safety shenanigans which I appreciate since this was not my first rodeo (flight).  We made it to Vegas alive around noon.  I was grateful.

We had rented a car in Vegas, but the rental car place wasn't right at the airport.  We had to take a shuttle to a rental car mall where they had tons of different rental car places and then from there ours was even further so we got on another shuttle (luckily free still) and rode to our rental car place.  It was fairly quick and easy.  Once we paid and probably signed away our first born children to them they gave us a number and pointed out to a lot where our car was waiting with the keys in the ignition.  It was behind a truck so I didn't see it (from here on the car will be known as Beverly) yet.

I'll explain first that we were traveling internationally.  I had a huge bag to check, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack, Caryn had the same, and Bri was just missing the checked bag.  We also had a couple neck pillows on top of all that.  Basically we had a ton of crap plus the three of us.  When we walked past a truck and saw the car they had rented us I thought we were going to have to strap Bri to the roof. Meet Beverly.

Well we ended up getting all our luggage and ourselves in this little car and headed out for the strip since we only had about a 12 hour layover there.  We parked at the Paris hotel and headed for the Bellagio Gardens.

We also saw the lovely chocolate water fall they have there.  Next we hit up the Cosmopolitan to eat at Secret Pizza.  It's this sweet pizza place that really doesn't have any directions or signs to get there.  You just have to know where it is...or google it.

 It had really good pizza and a neat little hallway to get there.  Not super pricy either for Vegas.  After a little time on the strip we went down to Fremont street.  We got froyo, watched a ceiling light show thing, and saw some people that barely had clothes on.  Neat.  We played $1 each at the slots there since you can still pull the little handle to play them.  Nobody walked away with enough to pay for this trip sadly.

Once we were done down at Fremont Street we still had some time to kill before we needed to be back at the airport so we parked down at the MGM Grand and hit up the M&M store and the Coke store.  The Coke store ended up being the real star of this leg of the journey.  On the second floor they have a little cafe looking area and for about $8 they have a "Coke Tastes of the World" where you get 16 little cups of different Coke products from around the world.  It was so much fun.  I would have to say the highlights were the Fanta Pineapple from Greece and the Bibo Kiwi Mango from South Africa.  The low and by low I mean pretty close to hell would be Beverly from Italy.  Which is how the rental car got the name Beverly.  Beverly is terrible.  The best way to describe it would be to mix bitter with death and add carbonation.  Bri said if she was ever rich...or bored in Vegas she would love to just sit all day watching people taste each drink one by one and wait for the moment they drink Beverly.  I bet that could be a great youtube video montage.

                              

Once we were done there we returned Beverly, made it through security, and camped out until we loaded up for our next flight to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Review: Las Vegas Strip Hotels

Ok so I've been lucky enough to have stayed at 6 of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip so far.  Each of them have pros and cons so I thought I'd let everyone in on my opinions on them.  I hope to be able to add to this list in the future...

Oh Vegas...how I love your sparkly lights...
1.  Stratosphere:  Now I'm almost hesitant to add this as part of "the strip" since it is so far to the North end that it would be an unpleasant and possibly sketchy walk to get anywhere else.  I stayed there in the month of April.  The pool was a pool, nothing special about it besides it wasn't on ground level, but it didn't give you a good view of anything either.  They do have a small necessities store there, but most things you do have to go elsewhere for.  They did give us free rides up to the top of the stratosphere so that saved us some money.  I didn't ride any of the rides at the top though, we just went up to enjoy the view.  Also the window in the room didn't open at all.  I know that's fairly common in Las Vegas, but even in April the room was miserably humid.  Overall it wasn't a bad stay, but I probably would not stay there again since location is a big one for me.

Pros: Price, Customer Service
Cons:  Location, Pool, Room

Caesar's Palace Pool Area

Swim up Bar Area Caesar's

2.  Caesar's Palace:  Home of The Hangover, and while I didn't stay in a penthouse I did truly enjoy my stay here.  First and foremost the location is IDEAL.  It is seriously in the center of all the action on the strip.  You are close to tons of food choices, malls, entertainment, clubs, and the always fun in Vegas people watching.  Everything there just seems clean, and yes it is Vegas so it probably isn't all clean, but it's a lot of white marble looking material and just feels uncluttered.  I loved that I felt pretty rich staying there...even though I'm not.  Next happiness...the POOL!!  To me this is also super important in Las Vegas.  The pool has an amazing atmosphere. Once again it makes you feel like you are a millionaire at your own luxurious pool.  There are four pools you have access to.  One round, one rectangle with a swim up bar/gambling area at the end, and two smaller rectangle pools.  The room was fine.  Nothing super special, but everything looked clean and not too small.  The window again didn't open.  I would love to stay at this hotel again.
Pros:  Location, Pool, Atmosphere
Cons:  Price

Paris Room

Paris Bathroom

3.  Paris:  This hotel definitely has charm.  When you walk it in it meant to feel like you are walking around Paris, France.  The check in area has very pretty chandeliers and mirrors to give it a luxurious Paris atmosphere.  The hotel also has a small Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph which is pretty fun.  The room reminds me of what I would imagine a bed and breakfast or boutique hotel to look like.  The shower and tub were separate and the bathroom really spacious.  The food at this hotel is amazing.  They have crepes, a buffet with French food (yummy), a Piano Bar, Sugar Factory (an awesome candy store and restaurant), some other specialty restaurants, and the restaurant on one of the floors of the Eiffel Tower.  Sohere.  The pool was average, it was under their Eiffel Tower, but overall it was just a pool.  Location is great on this hotel.  It's right across from the Bellagio hotel which is really center of all the action on the strip.  I would stay in this hotel again if I came in the winter, because of the pool I wouldn't pick this hotel to stay in the summer.
many options.  I really do recommend the buffet...see my other post about Vegas buffets
Pros:  Location, Food, Atmosphere, Decor
Cons:  Pool, Price

4.  Flamingo:  Flamingo is right across from Caesar's Palace so again, excellent location.  They used to scent the casino with coconut spray which I enjoyed (so it smelled like a mixture of tropical and the usual Vegas cigarette smoky smell) but the last time I went I didn't smell it so maybe they stopped.  The hotel itself is ok, nothing super special to see on the inside.  They do have a flamingo and tropical bird garden that's fun to see outside.  They have a buffet and Margaritaville, which is a pretty fun place to eat.  The rooms had just been remodeled when I stayed there.  No carpet on the floor, average bathroom, cute decor in the room (some pink fluffy pillows...not for everyone).  The pool was great.  There was a DJ, lots of shade, waterfalls, lots of space, and a tropical atmosphere.  I even participated in a limbo contest (and came in 2nd).  The pool was for sure the best part of the hotel.  For that reason and it's location I would totally stay there again.
Pros:  Location, Pool, Price
Cons:  Atmosphere

Yeah...I had long hair..and this is the
buildings around The Quad Pool

5.  The Quad (Formerly known as Imperial Palace):  This hotel is right next to the Flamingo so the location is still in the area I would consider decent.  This hotel was under construction while I was there and still was when I came back 8 months later...not impressed with that.  The room was pretty small, but it did have a balcony which I appreciated.  It was nice to get some air in the room even if it was 100 degrees outside.  At least it wasn't humid in the room.  There really isn't any food choices there except a small convenience store where you can get snacks and sodas.  There is food close by though since you are still pretty much in the heart of the strip.  The pool was average.  It was in the middle of a courtyard so you are surrounded by tall buildings and not too tropical feeling.  With all the buildings and pavement around it is HOT in that area.  I could only lay out for about 10 minutes before I had to get back in the pool.  This hotel though is one of the cheapest hotels to stay at on the strip so if I was going in the winter or had no other options I would stay here again based on location.
Pros:  Price, Location
Cons:  Pool, Construction, Atmosphere

The Mirage Pool

6.  The Mirage:  I stayed at the Mirage most recently and to be honest I have some beef with them right now that if it gets resolved I will update my feelings on how things were handled.  Basically I stayed here in the month of April based on the fact that they advertise on their website a heated pool (since in April the temperature can range anywhere from the 50s to the 80s).  The pool was not heated...like at all...when you stay at a place to enjoy pool time and then can't because their "heated" pool is freezing it's quite a downer.  I've emailed them and have yet to hear back from their customer service team.  Despite this situation the pool area was beautiful.  Extremely tropical and very similar to the flamingo pool.  I would have loved to have used it...the room was average (the window did open a crack).  It is in a great location still.  There are restaurants at the hotel, but I didn't eat at any of them.  They do have my favorite show in Vegas at this hotel, Beatles Love, but it wasn't playing when I went this last time.  Overall if they can do something to fix their false advertisement and sufficiently make it up to us in some way I would love to stay at this hotel again.  If it's not fixed then I have no desire to stay at hotel that has horrible customer service and doesn't take care of their guests.  Again, I will add to this post if it is ever resolved.
UPDATE:  So I emailed them and while it took a long time (almost two months) to finally get it all resolved we figured out something to make things a little better.  They offered us a one bedroom tower suite room for a very discounted price for 3 nights.  One of the nights was technically free, but we still paid for the other two.  This stay was much different.  Maybe it was the room and the fact that it was the dead of summer.  I was happy with this outcome and since they fixed it I would stay here again, but probably not in the winter.  The pool still wasn't heated in the summer (not that I would want it to be) but their description still states it is heated year round.  Oh well.  The room was amazing and we had a great view.
Pros:  Pool Atmosphere, Location
Cons:  Pool Not Heated As Advertised, Room, Price, Customer Service