Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

nvh wrote: »

Agree with you and ferf, and as what wdyw says really, it just seemed a burger joint to be honest

To clarify, I'm one of the ones that thinks Stripburger is awesome.

Welcome back! Sounds like you had a good time and your photos of your room at Encore made me happy as we'll be there in about 5 weeks...can't wait!

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The plan was to go to Vegas for my birthday... unfortunately, a large convention and pricier hotel rooms put paid to that so we decided to go a few weeks earlier.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As you may know, the wife usually writes 'diaries' of our trip on the computer, however i've cut this down by quite a lot as in honesty, we didn't do too much as unlike other trips, we knew this wasn't likely to be our last (as we already have plans for next year in our heads). This is why the array of food isn't too vast because we spent a lot of mornings around the pool, before getting ready and heading out in the afternoon.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I'll try to catagorise as I do babble so you can cut to whichever bit you want I'll try to post some pictures on later too.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pre-Flight[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Nabbed a £9 room at Travelodge Heathrow (T5) – nice new basic hotel – not too noisy, and even though we had a late flight the next day, it meant we could chill for a bit the night before and not have to worry about traffic etc[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Did Purple Parking “Meet & Greet” - used them before and again, no problems – cost £95 for someone to meet us at terminal (where they have a proper bit of the car park segregated especially for them), they then drive off and park your car offsite and return it to the terminal when you get back and give them a ring.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]At the airport, we went for lunch at “Giraffe” ( http://www.giraffe.net/ ) - eaten at other locations of this chain before and everything was as expected. Nice food, nice drink, and only slightly above normal prices (£30 for two meals, a cocktail and a beer)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]BA Direct Flights From Heathrow[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The BA flights were booked last October'ish, following a 'Tesco Clubcard' promotion of double airmiles that we decided to go for. Can't remember exact costs but I think we had to pay around £300 total cash for 2 of us for the flights. Bargain! [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We wanted a direct flight so although the later departure time was an inconvenience, the chance to try something new and Heathrow over Gatwick made it BA 1 – 0 Virgin. Though I would have preferred not having to pay extra to reserve seats pre-checkin (which we didn't bother doing on the outgoing), and also preferred the twilight check-in possible with Virgin[/FONT]

… [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]as luck would have it, the BA and BAA strikes were both averted, however it was all a little more worrying than I had envisaged when booking last year! (… not to mention that flipping volcano!)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Not long after we booked these, BA shifted the departure times of the outgoing and return flights back by another 40 mins or so. Slightly annoyed as I really do prefer the earlier Virgin departure but now't we could do. However, when this was added to us still sitting on the runway at 5:20pm when we should have left at 4:10pm, it was a little more than annoying! We didn't make up the time and ended up landing in Vegas at 8pm, not reaching MGM Grand till 9pm[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As mentioned, on outgoing, we didn't pre-reserve seats, so got row 24 (back row, fully reclining) on the way out – group of 3 but fortunately I wasn't sat next to a mad 'un![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On the return journey, we did pre-reserve seats and I stumped up the £50 per person for exit row – well worth the money as I wanted to be comfy!![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Food on the plane was quite nice outgoing (had 330ml Groslch and Heinekin, chicken tikka for missus and braised beef for me). This was shortly after take-off and just before landing we got half a “Egg and Spring Onion” sandwich, and half a “Chicken Salad” sandwich, and a muffin.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Food on plane back was a bit rank (manky cheesy pasta thing) – though maybe the “end of holiday” depression made it taste worse again, that was shortly after take off, and then just before landing we got some a turkey wrap and yoghurt. Beer ran out quite quickly on this return journey so had a Groslch and then a London Pride. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Just as a heads up, each drinks 'cart' has two bottles of sparkling wine on it as well...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Film choice was not too bad but not great – watched “Shutter Island” on way out, and “The A-Team” on the way back... wasn't much else that took my interest though.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We were overweight on the way back (knew we would be as we got a 99p luggage weigher off ebay and its never been wrong!) - So the cost for us to upgrade 1 suitcase from 23kg to 32kg on the way back was $50[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Hotels[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]MGM Grand – Taxi to MGM from airport was $12 + tip – got room on 21st floor (not 23rd as previously posted!) - [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Celebrity Spa Suite for (on average) $75 per night for 6 nights – Friday night bumped the average up! We have a view of Tropicana, Hooters and the airport tho nowhere near the noise from that like we had staying @ Mandalay Bay[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Whoever has previously mentioned West Wing exit is so right, it doesn't save a lot of time but every little helps and worth sussing out where it is (down past Nob Hill, down a corridor full of rooms (we initially thought we'd gone wrong at this point)), through the bar then out into the blazing sun![/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Missus had a manicure and pedicure here and says the MGM spa was nice, there was a chair that massaged her back and the treatment was well worth the $156 (!!!!)[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Only really ate at food court here but no issues with anything[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Checkout was at 11am – did not try to extend this.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Furness Creek Ranch [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]– here for two nights in a basic cabin room (200's block) – we've stayed here before and although it's expensive ($153 p/night including rediculous $10 p/night resort fee!), and basic (compared to Vegas), it was also Labour Day weekend so one of the cheapest and quietest places to be! Not many dining options but this place has a great (perhaps unique?) pool, and quite a bit of wildlife roaming about... and oh yeah, it's a tad warm there too! (48 degrees in the evening... not sure if that temperature incorporates the ground burning your feet off and the 30mph hot wind in your face haha)[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Platinum Hotel[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] – Solitaire Room, 4[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] floor facing the strip for 2 nights ($99 p/night with free wifi and bottle of wine). Now the missus and I really loved this place. I'll be honest, we didn't really venture from it and as previously posted, it was a great place to just chill out for a few days by the pool. The fact you can go get some food and drink from Wal-Mart makes the whole thing very cheap. Room has fridge, ice machine, microwave, cooker / oven, balcony, jacuzzi for two people. Really is fantastic![/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It also seems to have some great 'Happy Hours' offers on so you don't have to stay in the room for cheap food either![/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Was about a 10 or 15 minute walk down to the atomic testing museum and didn't seem far to the back entrance of Ballys. [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]1[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]st[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] morning here we saw our very first clouds and also got rained on on the balcony but it soons got sunny again. Balcony is great for just sitting on and chilling out in the evenings, with a pack of tortilla chips and dips, and some beers! Whole stay here (overall) was cheap![/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Requested and received a later checkout of 12noon.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Encore Hotel[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] - 53[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]rd[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] floor, north facing room for 3 nights – early check-in wasn't a problem[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]First hotel of our trip without a fridge but we coped as the ice machine was just across the corridor. Also first Vegas hotel without a jacuzzi – again, we coped![/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Hard to say anything here that people shouldn't expect from this type of place – food was great, service great[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Had some 2 for 1 drinks in the Society Bar ($13 total) – missus had Sangria and I had a Mojito[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Only thing that did annoy me is in the shop, there weren't really prices on anything (because we don't care about money?)[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Missus had a spa here too – 50 minute aromatherapy massage here ($170... maybe we dont care about money!) She made the day of it though, using the jacuzzi's, sauna, steam rooms, waterfall showers – she says its the best she's been in (closely followed by Bellagio).[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Got $25 room credit here thanks to an offer Luci sent me. Total cost p/night including tax was $145 including 1 friday night. Worth every penny we thought![/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Managed to get an extra hour for checkout (as plane didn't leave till 8:40 so we pratically had a whole day to kill) – so were out at 1pm, though we did keep our room cards and returned just to lie on a sunbed and dip our toes in the pool later that day[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Taxi back from here was an absolute bargain @ $12 + tip[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Shops[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Forever 21 in Fashion Show Mall seemed alright... prices akin to primark[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Ross Dress for Less nr. MGM Grand gave me some decent denim at prices even my gran wouldn't sneer at[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Hollister down at Town Square, and the Outlet down at Primm gave me some bargains[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Abecrombie down at Town Square also had stuff on sale that the Fashion Show Mall one didn't have on sale so got more bargains from there.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Macy's had a one day sale preview on the day before we left... I had no idea what a sale preview was but it was basically “we're doing a two day sale, but we'll call it a one day sale and state that it has a preview” – got loads of bargains from this – went there one day sale last year and the discounts are absolutely massive![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]H&M in Miracle Mile – can always find clothes here but never in the england one!?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Food[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We made it our mission (and succeeded) to photograph everything we ate! (as you do!) - led to some funny looks and I think some people may have mistaken us for food critics! Especially when we were sober [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]First week, we mainly did 'breakfast and lunch', we then moved into a 'lunch and tea' mode. Can't really fault any of the food we had – the diablo's one nearly killed me due to the sheer amount though![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 1 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dennys (Nr. MGM) (breakfast – Meatlovers Scramble for missus and Steak Burrito for me with drinks) – basic food was what was needed here after being up since 5am – happy with what we go - $24[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Margaritaville (Nr. Caesars) (lunch / tea - Volcano Nachos) these were an absolute mountain!! will put the picture of them on – we were going to have the quesadilla's to but were advised we'd die of being overfed if we did - $16 + another $16 on 2 x margeritas[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 2[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]McDonalds @ MGM (breakfast - Sausage McMuffin for missus and I had bacon egg an cheese McGriddle and a sausage biscuit) – sorry, lazy option I know! Sausage biscuit was... interesting! ~ $12[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Diablo's (Outside Monte Carlo) (lunch / tea – fundidos, chips, salsa for starters, followed by chicken and steak fajitas and margaritas) - this was a “restaurant week” set menu @ $30.10 per person for all of that - love this place and they knew we wanted to split the food so did it for us! (ie. I ordered fundidos, missus ordered salsa, so they just split the lot between the two of us) – really good service here[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 3[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Starbucks @ MGM (breakfast to eat in the room – random selection of pastries and juices) - rip off but what do you expect from starbucks! ~ $23 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Blondies @ Miracle Mile (lunch – chicken parmesan sub for the missus and chicken caesar wrap for me – shared a bowl of curly fries and a corona each) – been past here a few times and it was a nice place to sit outside of and watch the world go by – portions were quite large too! - $44[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]House Of Blues @ Mandalay Bay (late tea – missus had a blues smokehouse burger and I had the buffalo chicken sandwich, along with a pina colada and a corona) – we usually end up here after a few drinks – good as always! - $24 + $25 Restaurant.com voucher[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 4[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Shop @ MGM (breakfast... purchased the day before – muffins and juice to eat in the room) - $6[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Nathans @ MGM (lunch – bought a massive chicken club salad and a krispy chicken salad – just shared them) – absolutely massive – and quite nice too – ate these in the room - $23[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Greenbergs @ NYNY (tea – missus had a turkey toaster, I had a turkey club – both had diet coke's) – just a sandwich shop – nowt to yell about - $23[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 5[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Peppermill (nr. Riviera) (breakfast – missus had a Lorraine Omelette with toast, I had Canadian Ham and eggs with an english muffin – along with juice) – always wanted to try this place – portions were big and it was tasty – service was quite slow in here but it was packed - $40[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]ABC Stores (nr. Hard Rock Cafe) (tea – just bought a load from the fridges – some white wine, beers, sparkling rose and some sandwiches and crisps) - $25[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]McDonalds @ MGM (errr... instead of a kebab?! - had a burger and chips around half 1 in the morning) - $10(?)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 6[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Jack in the Box @ Boulder City (lunch – missus had chicken fajita pitta and I had a chicken club ranch burger both with curly fries – also had two tacos and some tasty milkshakes (oreo cookie and a vanilla)) – always wanted to try this place and it was ok for a late lunch - $18[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General Store Furness Creek (tea – grabbed some sandwiches and beers from the store) – run of the mill, nothing to shout about but not many alternatives! ~$20[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 7[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General Store @ Furness Creek (breakfast – muffins / pastries / juice) – ok and no alternatives - $14[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General Store @ Stovepipe Wells (lunch – sandwiches, crisps, drinks) – ok and no alternatives - $18[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Corkscrew Saloon @ Furness Creek (tea – open steak sandwiches with fries for us both and a massive plate of onion rings along with drinks) – steak was really nice, there were also a million onion rings – quite pricey but I had no issues with paying it! - $71[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 8[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]General Store @ Furness Creek (breakfast – left overs from yesterday and juice) - $10[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Subway @ Primm (lunch – missus had a chicken teriyaki sub and I had buffalo chicken sub with crisps and drink) – we didn't want to eat here but everywhere was packed! - $20[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Platinum Room / Wal-Mart (tea – did a shop at Wal-mart to last us the next few days) - $70[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 9[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Wal-mart food from the fridge! (breakfast / lunch - Bagels, cheese, salad, ham, turkey etc etc)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Stir Lounge @ Platinum (tea – happy hour so 50% off tapa's, and 50% off beer – had chicken skewers, flatbread & crispy shrimp – 4 coronas – also collected free bottle of bubbly (part of the offer we had booked under) – food was fantastic, and bar staff really friendly – happy hour was indeed very happy! - $40[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 10[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Wal-mart leftover food from fridge! (breakfast)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Stripburger (late lunch – missus had a southwest chicken burger, and I had cheese, bacon and onion strings burger – we also shared a basket of fries, onion strings and fried pickles – tasty stuff and a couple of cocktails too) – seemed ok food for the price! Really like the fried pickles (gherkins!) - $45 + $10 restaurant.com voucher[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Encore Shop (late tea for me – turkey bap or something like that – no price on it but turned out expensive!) - $9[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 11[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]El Segundo Sol @ Fashion Show Mall (lunch – missus had pulled pork taco's, I had short rib tacos – both came with rice, black beans, salsa etc – mine was absolutely gorgous! Was worried about this place follow reviews I read but I really enjoyed it – it's new so maybe it took a while to get their act together (same owners as Mon Ami Gabi so not completely incompetent)! - had margarita and michelob ultra lime beer (tasty!)) - $45 + $10 restaurant.com voucher[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Cheesecake Factory (dessert! - a cherry cheesecake and a peanut butter chocolate one please waiter! - very nice! Very filling! As always, didn't finish!) - $18[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Encore Room Service (late drunken snack tea! - buffalo chicken wings, and 3 angus beef sliders) - $43 (I think!) - we got an the additional $25 resort credit knocked off this[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 12[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Zooza Crackers @ Encore (lunch – missus had caesar salad, I had turkey reubon and some fries and soft drinks) – seemed fine, maybe a little pricey ~ $30[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Switch @ Encore (tea – Tomahawk Steak for two, fries, mac with cheese and a 'cheap' ($65) bottle of white wine, along with a 'dessert' cocktail and courvosoir) – fantastic food and a bit of a treat – service was absolutely astounding and the steak was a monster! Exquisite and worth every penny for the experience – novelty of the room 'changing' every half hour or so too ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHUTUB1L7Io )- $225[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 13[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Johnny Rockets @ Fashion Show Mall (lunch – missus had a smokehouse burger and I went for the cheese bacon double with fries – also had a cola with 'vanilla' shot and a butterfinger milkshake) – ok, this place is a chain but it feels so unique for vegas – old style diner – no cutlery tho! (unless you have the chilli burger) – it was a sight seeing me wrestle with my burger - $38[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Shows etc[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Went to see Ka whilst we were at MGM. Had bought tickets using the “Summer of Cirque” offer. Got Section 203, Row DD – the place seemed completely dead so we shuffled down the row a bit so we were closer to the centre section. I know you have to like Cirque, but if you do then what a show! Really loved it and thought it was great value for money. Loved the 'beach' bit and also the bit where they're running up the vertical platform. So entertaining and definitely had a 'wow' factor.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Compared to “La Reve” i'd say it was better, but only due to the variety of things that they were able to do on and with the large moving platform – La Reve is a great show but is limited slightly more due to the fact its set in and around water. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Did the Atomic Testing Museum as we got some Groupon coupons for it for (IIRC) £4 each – well worth the money and was something different for us to do! Lots to read in there but must have been in for an 90minutes easily![/FONT]

sorry for the spacing above guys... i put it all in word and it's freaked out when i've pasted it over for some reason

ferf1223 wrote: »

To clarify, I'm one of the ones that thinks Stripburger is awesome.

woops lol sorry - took me ages to catch up so think i 'scanned' over some stuff too quickly

ratkarth wrote: »

can anyone remember the link for something posted ages back, think it was last year
ive had a look but cant find it
basicly its a map of the strip showing changes through the ages
daryl

This one?

http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/map/

nvh wrote: »

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Stripburger ...Really like the fried pickles (gherkins!) [/FONT]

Yay! That does it, I am absolutely getting them next time...I have been intrigued before, and had tentatively decided that I'm getting them next month, but this seals it.