Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2013

ooh - they're like buses!!! just need one more... thanks for the trip reports lizzielie and photome!

Photome - How much was the Porterhouse special downtown? Have you stayed downtown before? What do you think? We had one bad (aka. dull and a little bit 'icky) experience downtown before so have never rushed to get back but keep thinking we're missing out!

Also, was the dresscode @ Mix as I recalled? Sorry you fell on an awkward night for it... we've had that before but they've never shut off the whole of the 'patio'!

Lizzielie - glad to hear you made use of the cheaper spanish departures - how did you find it? Would you do it again?

We never found the Flamingos at Trop... one of those ones where we got lost once trying to find them about 7 years ago and never tried again - same with the wildlife thing @ Flamingo - any tips

How many LP's had you earnt by the way? It sounds like a lot for two people Jealous of what you managed to get / do- well done!

Lizzielie- great trip report and it does sound like you guys made out like bandits with the MyVegas thing!

thanks so much for posting.

ferf1223 wrote: »

Lizzielie- great trip report and it does sound like you guys made out like bandits with the MyVegas thing!

thanks so much for posting.[/QUOTE

He he, we did quite well, and I am still really grateful for the poster who originally made me aware of it here! It definitely made a big difference to our experience. Well worth the time and effort we both put in

Finally got around to putting something together from our trip in March...a lot of what we do is the same stuff we do every trip so I've tried not to repeat myself on that stuff again.

Night before departure – Twilight Check-in and Gatwick Hilton – both really make a big difference to our enjoyment of the holiday, we think.


Flights – Virgin PE (reward seat sale), really like the refit planes, enjoyed a few movies, not terrible food (except hubby is allergic to mushrooms and they put them in EVERYTHING), decent service and are getting spoiled by PE, booked again for October. It is probably not technically worth the additional cost but it is so much nicer an experience for us than economy...we aren’t frivolous people, we do a good job at saving money on most things and I think maybe have decided that this may be something we can justify splurging on.



Check in at LAS now opens at noon, not 11...this does sort of impinge on our normal check in and head back to the strip thing. It is still do-able, but an hour less time to play with. We got a bit screwed this time as arrived at 11, found out about the change AND it was further delayed due to time change in the UK/later flight time than normal...so we actually ended up going back to the strip for about an hour – then back to the airport to check in – then back to the strip for another hour or so...not as nice an end to the trip as would have liked.


Hotels


Paris – booked standard room for 8 nights with 5 nights comped, asked nicely at check-in if any complimentary upgrades to a P room might be available. After much checking, intervention from another member of staff, first putting us in a P room on the 6th floor eventually were given a renovated Red P room on 30th floor and of course tipped. Very nice room, and had a fridge (ex-mini bar) we were not expecting.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZy7SibK08U


Cosmo – double-booked 2 nights as hubby had a comp offer and there was no point in actually moving from Paris. Asked about cost to upgrade to a Terrace Suite (I wanted to do laundry, you see)...upgrade cost way too rich for us but the very nice guy did put us in a Terrace Studio 1 bed instead of the type of room we had booked. Great view and love having the terrace (and not just because it’s nice to have a place to smoke).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mexr_5rf0Qg


Hire car – picked up from Dollar at TI our first afternoon from the lady with the awesome hair...got stuck with a ‘mini SUV’ – I cannot remember the actual make and model...I was absolutely terrified at first (I drive a small car normally and have never driven an SUV of any size), but it did turn out to be OK and quite comfy. Only downside was no way to store stuff in the back without it being in full view – this ended up being annoying a couple of times, we’re used to a proper boot.


Dining

We actually weren’t quite as food-centric as normal this trip. In hindsight, we blame the lunch buffets...if we have a buffet for lunch we haven’t had breakfast and found that we generally don’t want dinner – not a proper sit-down dinner at least...maybe a grab something on the way to the room. So that starts to cut down on dining slots to be filled. We don’t think we had a single breakfast either the whole trip...which is weird because American breakfasts are something I really like and miss.



Several of the usuals – PF Chang’s, Grand Lux, Silverton Buffet (lunch, LVA BOGOF – hubby is still talking about the beef brisket and probably will be for the rest of his life), Earl of Sandwich, In and Out, Toby Keith’s


A few revisits –


CC Steakhouse (MyVegas $150). Very good and frankly a heck of a lot of food for 2 people...we had steaks, sides (including a shared prawn thing), 2 beers, 2 coffees – too stuffed for dessert - and was still just $151...we hadn’t tried to bring it in so close to the comp total...and still aren’t sure if our waiter was or was not sneering at us a bit when he brought the bill..he mentioned the voucher at the start of the meal as well – in some way that made us feel a little bit like we didn’t belong there – but whatever dude. I still think there are better steakhouses in Vegas for the same money or a bit less (ENVY, Austin’s, Sonoma Cellar all on restaurant.com)...but it’s very good, and for free it’s fantastic.


Santa Fe Station buffet (lunch, LVA BOGOF) – hubby wanted to check if the steak fries were as good as they were last time (verdict – yes). Really like this one – like all the Station buffets.


Pink’s @ PH – one of those walking by, we’re hungry – think he would have gone to Earl of Sandwich again if left to his own devices but I overruled.


Aria Cafe – the Greek pizza I liked so much last time is GONE...sadly...but the reuben was quite good which was nice since Canter’s at TI is also no longer there.


New places –


Luv it Frozen Custard - finally after meaning to try it for years. It isn’t a replacement for Cold Stone - completely different ice cream experience - but I thought it was pretty darn tasty. ‘Regular’ size is a bit on the big side even for me.


Popeye’s Chicken at Excalibur – not new to me, but new to me in Vegas and first time visiting one in years...I love this place, love the spicy chiken, red beans and rice and biscuits...at least in the realm of fast food...actually ended up here twice once being after checking in for the homebound flight and spending a bit of time back on the strip..even hubby declared the chicken strips (regular, not spicy) to be quite good. Thank you Wizbit82 for mentioning the tragic demise of Cold Stone which resulted in hubby doing some googling and bringing to my attention Popeye’s was here now (I would still bring back Cold Stone for all of us if I could).


Bellagio Buffet (Lunch, MyVegas) – very good...would I pay for it? No, probably not, but the food was very nice. My reading comprehension clearly goes when food is involved as I actually read the sign about beef being cooked medium rare and still took one of the sliders under the sign...that went straight to hubby’s plate when I realised (he went back to get more). We certainly left well-fed and enjoyed the food – just not sure it’s worth full price to us.


Steak ‘n Shake at Southpoint – we were at the south outlets on our last day, hungry, not sure where to go and I said ‘you know, I think there’s a Steak ‘n Shake at Southpoint now according to photome’...hubby replied ‘sold!...what is photome’? I love this place – I grew up with it...I usually go there when I visit home but didn’t our last trip home so this was so great. Picked up some of their seasoned salt to bring home too.


Shows



Love (again -3rd or 4th time, we argue about it) – couldn’t resist the $55 seats – last row but perfectly good view, decided to buy a ridiculous cocktail – succeeded in drinking it all during the show and not needing a bathroom break – but then ruined the impressive nature of this achievement by boasting about it to my hubby (“TADA!”) and promptly scattering the remaining ice all over the floor (narrowly missing the person in the seat in front of me).



Criss Angel (MyVegas) – much better than I was expecting (but I was expecting it to be horrible)...I would never pay full price, not even sure I would pay $55 (probably not) but for free or for cheap it was worth seeing, I thought.


Gambling

This was our best trip ever...still did not come back with more than we started with, but did bring back about 66% of our total gambling/spending budget. Started the first night when we both came back to the room with more than double our daily budget (usually the first night we blow the lot so this was novel). I had a good Sex and the City win (shoes bonus, Miranda, all but 2 - $324) and a $200 Blazin' 7s. Hubby had a $600 win on Super Clump Wizards or something similar – loads of wilds and top symbols


I continued my love affair with Blazin’ 7s. I don’t play it that often – certainly not constantly as at $3/spin there’s no way...but I had a few $200 and one $300 win and I rarely put more than $21 into one at a time...I have some sort of connection with those machines, it is odd. The only type of machine I can say with 100% certainty I am vastly up on over the years. Hubby had a $160 triple retrigger bonus round on Vampire’s Embrace at Paris. Hubby had his first sapphire win on a Life of Luxury machine (he doesn’t normally play $1.50/spin).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17P8M1Vf4yc


Southpoint also gave hubby a Mystical Mermaid feature with a total of 130 free spins and $280 win for $0.80 bet...which more than paid for Steak ‘n Shake!


It was very nice to have such a good trip gambling...and I don't think we had any stretch where we were both doing poorly...normally we seem to have a 2-3 day stretch where we can't win anything...that didn't happen this trip.


Other stuff
The Foot Spa – “45-Minute Foot Massage and Ion Detox Soak” - $29 Groupon...this was worth doing – decent experience...could have skipped the ion detox soak (if I did it again I would bring a book as I was really bored sitting there for 30 minutes doing nothing - it was 10am, it wasn't time to relax yet). Massage was like a bit nicer version of Hawaiian Marketplace – you are in your own room too. For $29 was well worth the money...the voucher wasn’t clear that it was a 30 minute soak THEN a 45-minute massage (and not just foot massage either, full body – with clothes on yes but still).

Shopping – I know we’re unusual but we are quite happy at a combination of Boulevard Mall and the south outlets...got quite a few bits and pieces and again thanks to Luci for mentioning the (Free) VIP Shopper Club which gives you the chance to download additional vouchers for all their locations.

https://www.premiumoutlets.com/vip/

Geocaching – we found 27 total this trip – some of the coolest ones ever – if anyone is into geocaching and is in Vegas and has a car must check out the caches by cindy2206, you will not be disappointed. I also got my first ever ‘first to find’. Squealed like a proper geek too...but did find a great spot for photos of the Strip from the top of the Showcase cinema parking garage out back of MGM as a result.

Thanks to all you folks for all the good info you have shared with all of us that helped to make this trip a great one.

Cannot wait for October trip...seems so far away but just over 5 months isn't that bad. I suppose.