Last week I took a four-day, five-night jaunt to Las Vegas. My best friend from college joined me for the girls’ getaway. The last time I had visited Vegas, I was about 10 or 11, and it was one of many stops along a cross-country family road trip. Needless to say, I had yet to experience true “Las Vegas.”

After an uneventful flight, we landed, grabbed our bags and a shuttle and headed over to the Wyndham Grand Desert. McCarran International Airport is literally a hop, skip and a jump from the city center — a convenient feature. We were not staying on the Strip, but we were only a few blocks away. Once we settled into our room, we walked up to the Strip to grab some lunch and wander about. That night we took in our first Vegas show, Australia’s male revue, The Thunder from Down Under. The corny Excalibur show was good for a few laughs.

Having checked the weather, we knew our only day of sun would be Thursday, so we decided to take the morning and relax by the pool. We followed up a morning of sun with lunch and a manicure, then we headed over to the Fremont Street Experience. Fremont Street, the “original” Las Vegas strip, has been reinvented as a sort of street fair experience. The world’s largest TV screen, canopied over the several city blocks of the Experience, plays shows every hour on the hour. Spray paint artists and street musicians, as well as other entertainers, line the streets; and casinos, eateries and more abound. We followed up Fremont Street with dinner on the modern-day Strip.

Friday, we began the day with a visit to the Las Vegas sign and then went in search of bingo. No casinos on the Strip offer the game because, as we were instructed, having a bingo room simply takes up too much room. We decided to play bingo at Palace Station casino. Sadly, we lost — both times. For dinner, we headed over to the Venetian, where we enjoyed Italian at Canaletto. After dinner, we took in La Reve, the Wynn’s Cirque du Soleil show. We chose this show based on the glowing recommendations we received from everyone we asked. Even concierges and staff who were not fans of the Cirque series highly recommended La Reve. It did not disappoint, and I would highly recommend it for any of you in the Vegas area. Our Las Vegas night on the town was capped off by cocktails and dancing at Blush, the Wynn’s boutique nightclub.

Saturday was our last full day in Las Vegas. We started off with a delicious brunch buffet at Paris. Despite the long entrance line, the overwhelming selection of food was well worth the wait. We enjoyed afternoon massages at Mandara Spa at the Paris and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the Strip. We wandered around all the major casinos, including Caesar’s Palace; caught the Bellagio’s fountain show; grabbed dinner at Bally’s; checked out the Mirage; admired the lion habitat at the MGM Grand; and played some slots at Planet Hollywood. We wandered a lot and got a good taste of the famed Las Vegas strip.

Thankfully, we were scheduled to fly home Sunday, so we avoided the flight cancellations caused by the big snowstorm that hit the East Coast last weekend. We arrived home on time and ready for the work week — and another snowstorm. There is so much to see and do in Las Vegas; it’s overwhelming, but I think we sampled a bit of what the city is known for — we gambled (a little bit), ate at a buffet, enjoyed shows, relaxed in a spa, explored and much more. Viva Las Vegas!

– Kimberly Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive

Even though I grew up outside Philadelphia, only about an hour-and-a-half from the Jersey shore, I had never really spent any time in Atlantic City, the East Coast’s answer to Las Vegas. Until last weekend, that is.

Three girlfriends and I decided to escape for a girls’ weekend. We started with dinner at a newly opened Mexican restaurant in our area and then began the drive to Atlantic City. Traffic was light, and it only took a little over an hour to get there. The bright lights of the city hit you right away!  Having never been there, I had no idea where to go or what to do. We were staying at the Trump Taj Mahal, which we found easily. As the property was self contained, we didn’t leave, but I hear the Borgata is definitely a place to check out when in Atlantic City.

Much like in Vegas, options abound in Atlantic City. There are tons of places to stay, unlimited (and top-quality) dining options, a wide range of gaming options and top headliners performing nightly. I almost forgot to mention the plethora of high-end shopping and abundance of bars and nightclubs.

I’m not much of a gambler. I have no idea how to play any of the table games. I think I lost a total of $5 by haphazardly trying my hand at slots. One of my girlfriends, however, won $180 on a slot machine! Gambling or not, I had a great time just wandering around, dancing and getting a feel for Atlantic City. The night was good preparation for an upcoming February trip to Las Vegas.

The next morning we were heading back to Philadelphia, but we could not leave the shore area without making a stop at our favorite breakfast place, Uncle Bill’s Pancake House. There are several locations in the area, but we visited the one in Ocean City. As always, Uncle Bill’s did not disappoint.

We spent the next night in Philadelphia, watching the Eagles lose miserably to our arch-rival Dallas Cowboys, mingling at popular Philly hotspot Public House and grabbing a late-night snack from the world famous Geno’s.

– Kim Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive

Last year I vowed not to stay home for the New Year’s holiday this year, but guess what I did? Stayed home. I did some quick Internet searches, several times, on Orbitz, Travelocity and Kayak, but I found nothing that jumped out at me. I wanted to reach out to some of my client friends in the industry, but I was so bogged down with business and year-end work, I just never got around to reaching out.

So I was here the day after New Year’s, watching the news, when I saw that Hawaii is continuing a two-year downward slide. I happen to be a big fan of Hawaii and think it is a great destination. Many people think it is too sterile and too expensive, but when you go to Hawaii, everything works and the people cannot be more friendly. As far as the expense, I have a friend who refers to it as “Hawaii money,” and when I traveled there with my family, no matter where we ate dinner, it was always the same price. Expensive, but orderly, friendly and tasty; so definitely worth it.

But have you see a lot of promotions for Hawaii? Have you seen any spectacular marketing or advertising about the Islands? I haven’t. Additionally, Hawaii and its hotels cannot get their sights off the West Coast market. This is where they spend nearly all their marketing dollars. In case they haven’t heard, California is in the dumps, so perhaps they should open their minds and reach out to the less-recession-hit East Coast?

Several years ago, Hawaii won Best Domestic Tourism Destination from the readers of Global Traveler. When I reached out to the CVB, I received a less than “aloha” response. I was a little shocked. Not only did they seem not to care, but they were not interested in coming to the awards ceremony or responding to me as if they were honored.

Now they think President Obama’s trip to Hawaii is their best marketing tool. This is the same guy who told travelers not to go to extravagant meetings and not to travel (the AIG effect), which resulted in the loss of 100 meetings in Hawaii. Companies canceled their meetings in fear of what these meetings would look like in the AIG effect-hungry press. In my opinion, Hawaii could not have picked a worse spokesperson.

Hawaii is obviously misguided and has no idea how to get people back to the islands. It was an easy out to blame the economy. Perhaps the CVB needs to talk to some of the people who check guests in at hotels, who serve the meals and who attend to your needs while in Hawaii. They are the people that make Hawaii great. The guys at the Royal Hawaiian’s Tiki Bar have better insight on the true Aloha spirit than anyone at the CVB.

To all our blog readers, subscribers and friends of Global Traveler, a Happy New Year!

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

I thought you would all be interested in an update on the Hotel Bel-Air. As you know, Global Traveler held many events at the property, and it become our home-away-from-home. It closed this past October for massive renovations, including the completion of the spa.

The Hotel Bel-Air refurbishment is still in the design phase, and I am told it will be spectacular. The owners are bringing the property up to the standards of today’s guest while still maintaining the residential feel for which the HBA has been known for many years. Those of us who frequented the property are anticipating the changes as well as looking forward to what will remain the same.

The swans are still on property and are very happy to be home throughout the refurbishment. As those who have been to the Hotel Bel-Air know, the swans are a signature of the property. They make their home in the little pond over which guests cross to enter the hotel.

Alexandra Champalimaud, the famed designer of other Dorchester Collection properties as well as Boston’s Liberty Hotel and the American Airlines Arena skyboxes, is the interior designer. She just won an award for “Interior Designer of the Year.” David Rockwell, the HBA restaurant designer, was just awarded, for the second year, the opportunity to do the 82nd Academy Awards production. The Hotel Bel-Air definitely has the top people on this project!

The Bar will be also be upgraded, yet the area’s illustrious history will be maintained, which I think is very important. Overall, I am told the process is going well, with an anticipated completion date in mid-2011. That might be a bit optimistic, but one never knows.

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

As my birthday approaches, I look around at the friends I’ve known the longest and think, “Has that much time really gone by?” It’s also fun for me to think about how much we have all accomplished in these past years — even if it is still hard for me to look at some of my friends in a professional light. I laugh when I think that the biggest prankster I knew is now a corporate lawyer. Another one of my friends is one of the key people behind some of the biggest advertising slogans we all repeat on a daily basis.

This weekend, while visiting Philadelphia, reality quickly set in when I saw one of my oldest and closest friends take action as I’ve never seen before. Allison is a doctor. I’ve seen her work hard and study hard over the years, but to me she is still Allison, not Dr. Allison.

As we were walking home from a night out in the City of Brotherly Love, we saw some activity outside a bar and a group of people huddled around one girl lying motionless on the brick street. Before I could say a word, Allison was in full sprint. As she arrived at the scene, she dropped her purse and told the crowd to stand back so she could examine the girl. From where I stood (far back), the girl was not moving whatsoever. In my opinion, it seemed like the paramedics took forever to arrive. When they finally did arrive, Allison explained the situation as she helped hoist the young and far-too-drunk girl onto a gurney and into the ambulance.

Allison, without a hair out of place, said the girl had regained consciousness, but was disoriented and most likely had a concussion. We don’t know what caused the girl to go crashing down, but she and her friends were all drunk and distraught. I can’t say the people walking by seemed to care all that much. Perhaps it is a common occurrence outside that particular bar. Nonetheless, I was so proud of my friend for stepping up and taking charge. It goes to show that hard work and passion do pay off. It also goes to show that it never hurts to hang out with doctors!

– Alex Young, publisher and CEO