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Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2012
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SHOWSyou just missed me do a little dance0
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SHOWSI've flew twice in August from Glasgoe to Philly - planes were pretty old with no seat back IFE - food was average but decent times though.
We also tried them once in March Via London then Philly, the London flight was excellent compared to Glasgow but 2 stops meant almost 22 hours on the way back - never again !!
Luci - did you get decent flight prices for next year from Scotland ? We might take our 23 year old daughter next Easter but are struggling to get flights for under £700 with BA, KLM come in at £593 for some dates but a 55 minute stop at Amsterdam might be a bit tight.0 -
VALUE FOR MONEYThey only move people who do laundry in Vegas though !!
so that's what I've been doing wrong?
I keep thinking that someone far more creative than me should really be getting over Cafe Press or something and setting up some MSE Vegas Washer Women (TM Luci) t-shirts. I would buy (and wear...and maybe wash in Vegas) one.
Does remembering a time that a certain degree of personal responsibility was more or less standard means that I am officially old?0 -
SHOWSThat's so spooky-I'm just playing with my Vegas website...........perhaps you could write me an article on Washing the WoS way for it
I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole
MSE Florida wedding .....no problem0 -
We also tried them once in March Via London then Philly, the London flight was excellent compared to Glasgow but 2 stops meant almost 22 hours on the way back - never again !!
Luci - did you get decent flight prices for next year from Scotland ? We might take our 23 year old daughter next Easter but are struggling to get flights for under £700 with BA, KLM come in at £593 for some dates but a 55 minute stop at Amsterdam might be a bit tight.
We have done the 2 stops a few times before BA started going direct and it took pretty much exactly 24 hours door to door. We prefer to pay the extra to have one stop in LHR.
ABZ-LHR-LAS has been around £834 since the flights came out. However BA have had 2 sales since the end of June when they came down to £759. There was one day last week or the week before when they were £686. I get daily alerts from Kayak.
We have actually booked using Avios points so *only* had the taxes, but better than full fare. Yes I know that a better use of Avios is to upgrade, but WT+ wasn't available not that I would have paid for it anyway as we prefer to spend the extra cash on better hotels and restaurants.0 -
SHOPPINGhello all, i am flying out to vegas with US airways. anyone done that? do you know if we go through all the check in at the first stop or not until we get to vegas? would be nice to do all the time wasting at the first stop. Also how bad is US airlines, i have not seen it much talked about on here and it was £300 cheaper than flying with BA or Virgin at the time of booking.
The only thing worse than flying Air Canada is flying with American carriers. The internal flights are very basic. The ground crews surly, and the majority of flight crews are barely polite. United's crew from Chicago to Winnipeg the other month were horrific, dropped a coffee in my laps and told me I should have held onto it tighter!:mad: No apology and then I had to ask for a plastic bag to put the wet clothes in. Be prepared to pay for you meals if they are carrying food.0 -
Good news for anyone who uses taxisthe Nevada Taxicab Authority has taken a new, tougher stance against the practice of long-hauling, or taking unsuspecting passengers on a circuitous route in order to artificially inflate the fare. It's a practice that largely affects new visitors arriving at the airport, and has long been the bane of many tourist's vacation, especially when they know they're being taken for a ride -- literally. Now, however, officials have ceased settling citations for less than the statutory penalties, which range from $100 for the first offense, to $350 for the fourth. In addition, temporary suspension may be imposed following the second offense, and possible license revocation following the fifth.0
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CASINOSPerhaps the Poll should also have "laundry" as an option for why you go to Vegas 0
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CASINOSadrienne1945 wrote: »I would imagine its just you being snobby. Its the first time over the years reading this forum I've ever noticed anybody being sniffy in that way. FYI last time in vegas stayed at Bellagio Mandalay Bay MGM Golden Nugget The next visit will be including Orleans and Bills. After all variety is the spice of life
Me snobby? lol.
I just cant see the attraction with doing laundry on holiday.
I would rather my wife did it when we got home. so would she...
Im fully aware the Orleans isnt on the strip, i have only been 7 times. (8th trip next month)
What i wasnt aware of was the Orleans does not have a washing machine. why would i?
It just makes me laugh how some of the regulars plug the off strip hotels because they have a kitchen and laundry.
If thats your idea of a holiday to vegas then fine.
Its just miles off from what i expect in Vegas.0 -
please understand this isnt meant as an insult to anyone and is not aimed at hurting anyone
but my trip report
We got a B.A flight from Glasgow to gatwick on july 31st, stayed the night at crowne plaza hotel gatwick, we usually pay roughly £50 for a night’s stop over in London but( i think due to the olympics) this time we paid £175 for a night. The hotel however was fantastic, we had free access to the swimming, sauna and gym plus as we were booked into the club rooms we had free drinks from 6.30-8.30 in the club lounge, would deff recommend the hotel to anyone.
Got up early the next day for the virgin flight to vegas, flight was delayed an hour due to technical difficulties but i reckon the pilot must’ve had a hot date cause we made it there in time J. Virgin were ok to fly with, nothing special but then nothing terrible either, the food was ok and as I was drinking bailey’s there was plenty of drink for the flight. I think though if we had paid for the flights we would’ve felt a wee bit cheated but as they were free we were happy enough.
Arrived in Vegas on time, had the usual check in at border control, you know the one, stuck there for an hour till the queue finally dissapears then get to go and pick up our luggage. Then transferred via taxi to the platinum via Swenson (thanks stoneman). Have to admit we loved the platinum if we could take it everywhere round the world we would. It’s looking a wee bit tired now but not too tired, the size of the rooms/layout/facilities (including pool), staff etc fantastic and I couldn’t fault them in anyway, I didn’t see any other hotel that had a balcony in Vegas and I have to admit we did spend time on the balcony every day so thanks to this thread we had fantastic accommodation.
Once we had dropped our bags in etc we nipped out for something to eat, we went to a place looking for ribs ( for hubby) and landed at the steak place across the road from the platinum, but they didn’t do ribs and the prices were way way way too expensive so we nipped over to Ellis Island.
Ellis Island what can I say, it reminds me of a place in Saltcoats that has puggy machines etc, the walls are all darkish wood with paintings of old ships on the walls, the food was ok nothing great infact I take that back the food wasn’t good, it wasn’t the worst I have eaten (the Mexican in Tucson wins that prize) but it really wasn’t good, but it was handy and next to the platinum and we were tired. The two of us then decided to head back to the hotel via the 7/11 for some supplies, we then had a wee spa bath (love the size of the baths in the platinum we would lie side by side in it comfortably) and bed.
Woke up at 1.30am for a wee bit then fell back asleep till 5am, got up and dressed nipped back to Ellis Island for breakfast ( it was better than the dinner) then headed to the strip. I think the best way I can describe the strip for me is it’s like an American version of Blackpool or Benidorm, incredibly tacky the buildings are big but I found them ugly, I wonder if it’s because they knock things down often. We walked to the Imperial palace to see what the car museum was about (father in law had told us to try it out) it was closed as we were really early so we wandered over to Ceasers palace.
There we walked about looking at the hypnotized individuals on the puggy machines feeding the machines and looking miserable ( this was the theme for the whole time we were there, no one seemed happy, no one looked like they were enjoying themselves at all) so we walked round the machines into the shopping area, oh dear, I spose if shopping is your thing then yay, but I found the fake blue ceiling and the pretense shop facades so tacky, the shops wern’t open yet and the place wasn’t busy so we could take our time and see what it was all about. We walked up to the top bit where they do that show thing just outside the cheesecake factory had a look around then headed back to the platinum, were we spent a few hours lying by the pool and catching up on our sleep. Had dinner in the room (love having a cooker and fridge etc there) then headed back to the strip to see if it had changed any.
There were a lot of people lying in their own urine/fecal soaked clothes (and looking like they need a good bath, shave and haircut etc) at the sides of the road, just sitting there with their cans of lager in their hands and seemingly indifferent to their situation, I think Vegas could do that to you . so anyway we went back onto the strip and walked about a bit watching the people put money into puggy’s , seemingly hypnotized by the bright lights and noises, dodged the people trying to give us !!!!!! cards as well as the hoards of people that were wasted walking about. Watched a band on a stage thing near a casino they were actually ok until they started their really unfunny filth talk which wasn’t needed and detracted from their performance in my opinion. Gave up and went back to the hotel.
Got up the next day and did the groupon scoot city tour of red rock. Now this was actually ok, I wouldn’t pay full price for it as I don’t think it is worth it, but it was alright, the guides do like to go on about how poor the place is how they don’t earn much and one guy was explaining he has either 3 or 4 ( I can’t remember which) kids to feed and really relies on tips etc, now if there are the same amount going out as our group and everyone gives $10 tips and they do two trips per day then they are getting $120 each per day, on the groupon voucher it explains that we are meant to tip on the full price not the half price full price would’ve been $250 so say a $25 tip? (We only gave $20) others may have given more than us though.
Anyway the tour, we stopped off at a couple of places took some pics and listened to the guys lament about how hard things are (like we all have it easy here in the U.K) I did enjoy this much more than the strip but I think it would’ve been greatly improved if the guys gave out some info about the canyon, what type of rock, how it had developed over the years etc, but then I am a nature lover and find those things interesting.
Came back from the tour and had another wee while by the pool which was relaxing, I couldn’t face the strip that night so we stayed in and watched t.v much more fun than the strip in my opinion.
Next day got up and went for a meal at the cheesecake factory; I have always wanted to eat there so this was my opportunity. The food was far too much and whilst it was ok again it wasn’t anything fantastic, watched the show that goes on just outside of the cheesecake factory, what complete and utter rubbish, seriously why do people stop and watch things like that? We walked away shaking our heads and headed back out to the !!!!!! card guys and the beggars looking for money and the people hypnotized by the lights and sounds.
That night we walked it to the pinball hall of fame place, it was ok, again ok nothing fantastic, but it let mr el play some of the games he used to when he was younger, we had a bit of a laugh and I managed to win the odd game. Walked back to the hotel and had a relatively early night.
Got up the next day and decided we really had to try and understand what exactly it was about Vegas that was so great, I though “oh hey I know I have heard people talk about the Venetian and how it looks lovely with the boats etc”, so we toddled off up there, via sephora where I did my one and only piece of shopping. Walked through the venetian and the palazzo ( I think that’s it) treasure island ceasers palace again ( where we saw a newly married couple just standing in the middle of the casino that looked so unhappy and miserable) and nope I still don’t get it, I truly don’t understand what is so good about the whole experience, we toddled off to strip burger where we had a meal before watching the show at treasure island, we waited about 5 mins for it to start and had a good spot to watch it, sadly the good spot meant it was really difficult for us to get out of the place 30 seconds after it had started and we had realized that we were not going to enjoy it. On the good side after 5 mins this huge guy must’ve felt the same way and started pushing through the crowd to get out, we followed directly behind him and managed to escape.
Got a taxi at Treasure Island to go to the kiss crazy golf, the taxi driver wanted to take us on a huge detour but I explained that I only wanted to go a certain way and she reluctantly accepted. Now we love crazy golf and always try and play a game when we go away so I was looking forward to this but like everything else in Vegas it was just terrible, the music was at head bursting levels, there was no skill required to play the game and we gave up after less than 9 holes and walked back to the hotel.
The rest of the time we spent in Vegas we spent in the hotel room and at the pool, these were the things we did enjoy.
Now Vegas served its purpose for us, we needed a place where we could relax do some sunbathing and get into the time zone and Vegas was ok for this. The platinum hotel was amazing, I would recommend it to anyone that doesn’t mind being just a short walk off strip and that likes to have a bit of peace and quiet away from the madness that is the strip. The scoot city tour I would say go for it if it is on groupon but it isn’t worth the full price.
We didn’t go and see any shows in Vegas as quite frankly I wouldn’t give over £100 to go and see cirque du soleil when I can see it in Glasgow for £50 and none of the others really appealed to us. We didn’t do any clubs as we don’t do clubs it isn’t our scene, I don’t do shopping either so that didn’t appeal to us. I found vegas to be a very depressing place full of people that were either hypnotized by a machine or wandering about looking lost / broken/wasted or desperately trying to buy happiness.
In stark contrast however we loved the Grand Canyon, Death valley, Sonora pass, Yosemite park, Redwood forest and the various beaches etc we visited but didn’t like Alcatraz I mean seriously a building on a rock come on, we didn’t like San Francisco much either which I was quite disappointed about as I thought I would’ve loved San Fran I think it was the brain curry that did it lol.
Talking of food,
The food in the U.S.A in general is rank, I only had two meals in the 3 weeks that I was there ( apart from what we made ourselves) that I can honestly say I enjoyed one was in the cracker barrel, the other in applebees.
So there you have it my trip report of Vegas, I can do the rest if anyone wants but I know this is a Vegas thread. I would say each to their own on what they want from a holiday and everyone is different, but Vegas is not for us.0
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