The Vegas Experience – 2025

A quick disclaimer…this article is just one person’s experience and editorial.

How was Las Vegas, and the Las Vegas Super Congress in 2025?  With the congress and the Ultimate Latin Dance Championship, and the new venue, the Westgate hotel, this weekend event is now a full week long event in Las Vegas.

The Westgate Hotel

The Westgate hotel has some very good aspects and then some that leave something to be desired.  The hotel, like a lot of Vegas venues, is very big. And being next to the convention center means it has an enormous event space.   However, being far from the strip also comes with its drawbacks. 

Also, unless you have a car, it’s quite a trip to get to the actual strip.  One option is the tram to the MGM, but that’s $6 each way and can add up fast.  So, you’re usually stuck with Uber.  And if you do bring your car, be ready for the $20/night valet fee…plus tips.  Self parking isn’t that much cheaper at $10/night.

And for pet lovers, the hotel is pet friendly.  In fact, there are a few nice walking trails on the property to walk your dog.  They do charge $150 for pets, though.

Pre-Party

This year was the first year hosting the pre-party at the Sahara hotel.  Just down the street from the Westgate, access was very easy, either walking or by tram ($12 round trip).  And the venue is beautiful.  Far from the strip, you no longer have that “Strip experience” like at the Hard Rock, so it’s a completely different vibe.  Time will tell how the crowd responds to the new venue.

Food

The food options are limited.  And besides a 24 hour café, you’re stuck with Doordash if you don’t want to leave the property.

The Westgate does have a few restaurant options, though, during the day.  One of them was in the “Japanese Village” in the casino, Benihana.  Not exactly a celebrity chef restaurant and definitely not cheap, but they offer the dinner show with flying knives and fire that is pretty entertaining.

On the cheaper side was the Nevada Chicken Café.  They have some solid rotisserie chicken options with a ton of sides.  Mac & Cheese, potatoes, etc.  This was the Saturday dinner plan.

And then Sunday was the big event.  Bazaar Meats at the Sahara.  This is the celebrity chef restaurant by Jose Andres.  We tried the Cotton Candy Foie Gras, the Sobrasada Toast, the A5 Philly Cheesesteak, and for the main, the Vaca Vieja ribeye steak.  The sides were also very impressive, Roasted Leeks, and Brussels Sprouts Pedals.  Even the drinks are an event, like the Nitro-Caipirinha, made tableside, and comes out as a sherbert.  A very strong sherbert!

And for the brunch finale, we headed to Wally’s at Resorts World.  The salmon avocado toast hit the spot.  The downside, though, was that there is no decaf espresso option.  Not sure what that was about.

The Weather

Las Vegas can be a little strange in July.  It could be dry as a bone and 120 degrees, but sometimes, they also get some monsoon rain storms and very strong winds in the middle of summer.  This year, it was more of that latter.  Strong winds in the middle of the week blew doors out and created a little havoc in the city.  And on Friday, the pool party was actually rained out.  Once the storm had blown through, the rest of the weekend was pretty typical, 90 to 100 degrees. Hot!

4^th of July

Vegas tends to bring out the tourist in everyone.  And why not check out a fireworks show.  This year, Resorts World was offering a private 6^th floor patio viewing of their fireworks show for $45.  That’s cheap for Vegas and you get a front row view, not only the Resorts World show, but also to the Caesar’s Palace show just down the street.  And for the record, the Caesar’s show went on for a good 20 minutes longer than the Resort’s world show.  The party also featured a live band playing hits from the 70s to present day.

The Congress

And as for the congress, there was a lot going on.  Besides the competition, which was a very intense event by itself, the congress featured a number of big stars like Yamulee, Terry & Cecile, Simone & Danila, Luis & Andrea, Pablito y Su Mezcla, Tropical Gem, Tito & Tamara and many many more.  That made for a very entertaining night show.  With such a huge space, the congress featured a number of different rooms, Salsa, Bachata, stage shows, Huapango, and Hustle.

The workshops too had a lot of variety for attendees.  Not so much with the master classes and challenges of the past, they still offered dancers opportunities to pick up new moves and learn from the best artists in the world!

As for the highlight of the congress, the pool parties, lots of brave dancers risked heat stroke to dance poolside all weekend.  If you wanted to cool off in the pool, though, the only option was 1 main pool at the hotel   That meant you had to share the pool with kids and babies who also were having fun splashing in the pool.  Unfortunately, the venue did not provide an adult pool or a private pool option, like at the Tropicana in previous years.

Anyway, that was the 2025 experience in Las Vegas!