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| - I had to go to this convention center to pick up my race number for the Las Vegas half marathon. Note: this convention center, for whatever reason, does not have its own parking and shares its parking with the Venetian.
First try was at lunch. I tried to get into the Venetian parking lot, but traffic barely budged. So I turned around and tried to park at the Palazzo. Got into the parking garage but no luck finding a parking space. After driving around for 1 hour, I gave up and went back to work, wasting my lunch hour driving around LV Blvd., Koval, Sands and the poorly designed Palazzo parking garage.
Second try was after work at 6pm. I knew I only had 1 hour to pick up my race number since the expo closed at 7pm so I parked at Fashion Show in case the Venetian was packed again. Walked across the two pedestrian bridges and then played chicken with the cars pulling into the Palazzo parking lot at 50 mph. Finally got there, got my number, and trudged back to my car at Fashion Show. I probably could have parked at the Venetian but, oh well. I didn't want to risk it and end up eating my $125 entry fee because I couldn't get into the expo to pick up my number. I only had time to do it today.
The convention center is pretty run down, especially compared to the Venetian. I'm not sure why they don't replace the carpet, which is torn in many places, including the stairs (dangerous!). Also, this convention center seems to host a lot of events so they need to do a much better job at directing traffic. One suggestion would be to direct the Venetian and Palazzo security guards to not, I repeat not, answer questions from every tourist that pulls up. That seemed to be the big problem with getting into the parking.
I am very disappointed that the Rock n' Roll Marathon decided to move the expo from Mandalay Bay to the Sands. I really, really hope that they do not do this next year.
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