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Are you looking for a fun place to stay and play in Laughlin, Nevada? Look no further than Ramada Express Hotel and Casino. With more than 1,500 rooms and suites, a 53,000 square footBook The Ramada Express Online casino, and seven restaurants, this hotel clearly has earned title, "Best Accommodations" for five consecutive years. Want more? Heck, they've got Vegas mega-casino theme concept down to wire, or shall I say rail, with their Victorianera train theme and decor throughout hotel and casino on this 27-acre property near Colorado River. Take your pick from river or desert mountain views: this hotel has it all and is chugging right along.

The Hotel

The hotel calls itself, "The Adult Place to Play & Stay." It is quite evident with its policy of allowing no children to stay in any rooms in newly renovated twelve-story East Tower. Yes, they do allow kids to stay in most of rooms in 24-story West Tower that's currently under restoration. Book The Ramada Express Online The outdoor swimming pool is very cute with its steam train shape and spa completing large locomotive wheel of train. Special adults-only hours exist for pool and spa to aid in your rest and relaxation. Friendly 24-hour security is always present to put any worried mind at ease.

The Ramada Express boasts of "25 Reasons Why They're Still #1 in Laughlin." They have been voted year after year by guests and locals as best hotel, casino, slot club, accommodations, gourmet dining, steakhouse, Italian food, seafood, cocktail service, cocktail lounge, live entertainment, hotel lounge, gift shop, concierge, banquet facilities, pool Jacuzzi, catering, bartender, chef, waiter, cocktail waitress, keno, room service, wedding chapel, and valet. Loyal guests? What more can I say? Read on.

There's a 24-hour complimentary award-winning valet to safely tuck in your car in surface and garage parking lots. If you want to watch other people really work, watch valets run to get next car for a customer. I'm a runner, but these people actually sprint. They make me tired just watching.

The room we stayed in was clean, comfortable and recently redecorated with green carpet with gold accents. Railroad themed pictures and memorabilia decorate reddish wallpapered walls. Each room has a table to spread out all your stuff, two upholstered chairs to kick back in, and a very firm mattress, which was fine with me, but not for my wife. Don't pack your hairdryer as it's already there. Non-smoking and specially equipped rooms are available. If a crib is needed, just ask.

The planes get smaller, Antilles get lesser, Carib beat gets more distinct, further you fly into Caribbean's Windward Islands.

I love Caribbean, especially during Carnival, and my new party central discovery is Dutch Sint. Maarten, crossroads of Greater and Lesser Antilles. St. Martin holds 29,000 French souls on 20 square miles of volcanic rock, while 37,000 people share 17 square miles on Dutch side of Sint Maarten. As a demarcation of meridians, ths island counts 82 nationalities as citizens, including Haitian, American, German, African, European, Canadian, Guyana, and all other Carib island people. With this diverse mix, no wonder island's music is a conglomerate of polyglot sounds. Everyone seems to turn out for Carnival, and many turn in late, or not at all.

Even though I spent only one week at Carnival out of 17 days of non-stop beat, from April to early May in 2002, I grooved into spirit like music notes on a score sheet.

Compared to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Sint Maarten is a laid back vibe with an ease of moving around, except when gargantuan, two-story towers of speakers, called tractor trailer trucks snake down Front Street.

Our jetted-in contingent of revelers gazed with awe at Grand Carnival Parade from balcony of famous Bearden Art Gallery on Front Street. We had a box seat and could reach out and touch visible vibration posing as steel band floats "gliding" down narrow 17th Century avenue like one huge note—LOUD—with every steel drum on island participating. Each float was followed by a choreographed bevy of island beauties, brightly costumed young female Carnival celebrants, with massive feathered headdresses, flags fluttering, shimmering bright mono colors, gilt and sparkle, rotating so spectators could pop a photo.