the Official Blog of the Unofficial Guides

“The Wall,” as it is known, is a black, V-shaped rift in the earth, nearly 494 feet long and ranging from 8 inches tall at its outer edges to 10 feet tall at its center. The design competition for the memorial, which was open to the public, was won by Maya Lin, then a 21-year-old in her third year at Yale. Both her concept and

With about 150,000 hotel rooms you can take your pick. Occupancy rates however are over 91% on weekends and average 84% for the whole week, compared to a national average of 62%. Most of the major hotels and casinos are in two areas: Downtown and on Las Vegas Boulevard, known as the Strip. Las Vegas Lodging Choices: Downtown versus Strip – this is

Grand Tour of the Disney World Swimming Pools Walt Disney World resorts offer some of the most imaginative swimming facilities that you are likely to encounter anywhere. Exotically themed, beautifully landscaped, and equipped with slides, fountains, and smaller pools for toddlers Disney resort swimming complexes are a quantum leap removed from the typical rectangular hotel pool. Some resorts, such as

After a two-year renovation, this irresistibly eclectic museum—affectionately nicknamed “the nation’s attic,” its entire collection tops 3 million items—gives full due to such treasures as the original 30-by-42-foot Star-Spangled Banner (the veteran of an eight-year conservation, it was one of the prime inspirations for the renovation and atrium-opening of the museum, and now has its own gallery on the second floor), the desk on which Thomas

A review of the New York-New York Hotel Las Vegas by Bob Sehlinger When it opened in 1997, this architecturally imaginative hotel-casino set a new standard for the realization of Las Vegas mega-resort themes.  The guest rooms are in a series of distinct towers reminiscent of a mini–Big Apple skyline, including the Empire State, Chrysler, and Seagram Buildings. Though the buildings