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| - As we pulled up to the Elara, trying to find where to park can be a challenge. It is a shared parking garage between Elara, Planet Hollywood, and the Miracle Mile Shops. This was the only timeshare in the Hilton Grand Vacations Club family that we had not stayed at and wanted to give it a try. The hotel/timeshare has 1201 rooms and soars 52 floors above the Strip.
* Parking Tip: Park on any level near the center elevators. Take the elevators or escalators (if you don't have too much luggage) to Level 3. There is a walkway directly into the Elara. Otherwise, you will have to walk through the mall with your luggage in tow.
The One Bedroom Suite has a full kitchen with stainless steel appliances, light cookware, and self-brew coffeemaker; Living area with 42" flat-screen TV, sleeper sofa, club chairs, coffee table and 8-foot HD Home Theatre Projector; High-speed wireless internet access; Bathroom has a 15" TV, washer/dryer combo, enclosed shower and toilet, and oversized jet stream tub. The windows are floor to ceiling with automatic shade retraction during the day and closure when it's time to sleep. The décor is very boutiquey with red painted walls in the kitchen/living room, red L-shaped sofa bed, and zebra-print lounge in the bedroom. We had a southern vantage with views of MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, and City Center. The pool looked beautiful from the room, but was too busy to try when the sun was out. The clouds starting moving in and closed our chance for sunbathing.
Having a full kitchen in your room has its advantages. We have a standard box that we bring that contains a non-stick frying pan, Brita water pitcher, and other kitchen necessities that the timeshares don't usually have. Plus, we bring a food staple of powdered drinks like iced tea and lemonade; refrigerated items that wouldn't last in our home refrigerator while we were gone, and select frozen items like salmon fillets, pizza, etc. to make during the trip. For lunch, I made a sesame chili marinated salmon fillet atop salad and inside whole wheat naan as a sandwich with some lettuce and cucumber.
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