text: 1.5 stars, rounded up because one star reviews make me so sad.\n\nFoolish me was not paying attention while planning a trip and ended up here with a five hour layover beginning at 9pm.  We were headed home to Hawaii, and thought it would be fine.  Land, grab some food, catch some sleep, hop on the plane, continue our sleep, and be home in time for breakfast with friends.  I did not count on the airport not being ready to help me with my plans.\n\nWhy, oh why, in an airport with flights at all hours of the day and night, would all of the restaurants close at 9pm?  Why would the only things open be the news stand and a pizza hut serving whatever had been under the heat lamp for the past few hours?  \n\nWhy, oh why, would there be no signs telling people how to get from the main terminal to the itty bitty terminal one needs to find to check into Hawaiian Airlines?  And why when you find your way to the itty bitty terminal would there be nothing warning you that you won't get to check in until an hour before your flight, no matter that the pre-security waiting area is nothing more than a line of empty counters and a few scattered seating areas?  No food, hidden restrooms, and no space for the plane-full of people who assembled, waiting for the check-in process to begin.  Most of my layover was spent standing, waiting for someone to fire up the computer.  I've never cursed having checked luggage more than for this flight, not even the time I moved from Germany to Korea with a 6 year old and 9 bags all weighing 70 pounds each.  \n\nBecause the flight was not available for check in ahead of time, I had to stay ahead of the high school group which filled the entire coach section of the plane.  There were a few hundred teenagers, their adult handlers, and a few scattered families and other late night travelers. We were easy to pick out, as we were the only ones not wearing the school colors (maroon and white) and we were the ones battling to be first in line so we could find places to sit once we made it past security.\n\nAt some point during my endless purgatory, a friendly worker asked me if I had enjoyed my time in Vegas.  I explained that  I had been to Vegas before, and enjoyed it very much, but that this was just a layover.  I also told him that this was quite possibly the worst airport experience I'd had in 40 years of air travel, and that if I never returned to Vegas it was simply because I wanted to avoid this airport.\n\nObviously, I have realized that the on-the-spot review might have been a bit harsh, so I've settled on rounding up to two stars instead of down to one. The rounding up has everything to do with the staff, almost all of whom were friendly and as helpful as they could be, considering the constraints of the actual airport.