Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2016

It's definitely worth hiring a car. Some folk have spoke about Red Rock and Valley of Fire. Both are nice. I've done Red Rock more than VOF. There's also a very quaint ranch out beyond Red Rock. You can take that road out west and end up down at Blue Diamond/Silverton.

Red Rock Hotel - you could do a Myvegas buffet. Then do the canyon, then the ranch. Or you could do buffet for b/fast, canyon, then stop back at the shops behind Red Rock. Nice big outdoor shopping are there, plus there's a strip mall across the road from Red Rock Resort on Charleston - I think it has Marshalls, Ross, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy.

Another place that rarely gets mentioned is the Atomic Testing Museum, my husband really likes it. It's not my kind of thing so I've never been in, but he has walked over there from Platinum hotel. If it's not too hot, you could walk from the strip east along Flamingo, Atomic Testing Museum is about halfway towards Maryland Parkway where you will also find the 99c store on the right side, or Target and Dollar Tree on the left. Then up Maryland Parkway is other stores, including Boulevard Mall eventually. All kind of walkable, assuming you're comfortable walking for a few miles. Depends on temperature probably.

On the way back, you could even stop into Bahama Breeze, they have a good happy hour if you manage to catch it. I think it's very early evening, then from 10pm.

It's much easier to walk east off the strip than west.

kellyt1981 wrote: »

These tips for all the buses and places to visit are great - thank you.

Just a quick question - does it really matter / will I get found out.... If I book a room for two guests when they'll actually be four of us in there (2 adults 2 kids 13 & 11) I've realised the rooms are cheaper for two guests rather than putting four. Specifically it was for the MGM if that makes a difference. Many thanks

We did the 2 people per room thing for many years when my son was younger, we always booked 2 queens and never got charged extra.

There was one time we didn't get a 2 queen room as they were all full, we took the King room and then got a roll away bed from housekeeping, sorry to say that was at MGM.it was a long time ago though, we stayed at MGM twice over the years the other time we had to take a smoking room instead of the requested non smoking, so we haven't been back.

traveller wrote: »

Seldom Kid, loved your trip report :T Only thing is you made me realise how much I will miss Santa Monica-I keep questioning my decision to try San Diego,lol and that didn't help

Lesley, so glad you mentioned the Atomic testing museum. I bought the Groupon as my lot are into physics and aliens and all the stuff the museum is based on so for the price, I think $32 for all of us, I thought I'd give it a go. I'm desperate to go to the Valley of fire, but as we're not driving, It may be out of reach funds wise, unless we could get an Uber out there,lol. We may do the Grand Canyon, but only the west rim. I cannot do the 5 hour stretch,lol.

Kelly, just make sure no-one gets locked out and you'll be fine. My son got locked out of the Signature and security went back to our room to try to prove he belonged there,lol. As it was a private booking he was on the list anyway, with the company. I did a complimentary booking for Mandalay bay via Myvegas and was tempted not to put us all down, but as we are only using the pool I did, as apparently you all need a key to get into it. It said all I owe is the resort fee, I hope so. I splashed out on a Cabana there for $199 too which I thought was a good deal,well a splurge for us

Shouldn't be a problem with anyone getting locked out as check in always asks how many keys you want so even if only "2 people" are checked in, it's always possible to get 4 keys

$199 is a great price for a cabana at MB, I have never had one but was looking at prices for next week and they were like $300 at red rock

Seldom seen kid
Why did hubby short change the taxi driver? $16 is about the correct fare to MGM if not on the cheap side.

Well said SSK! Obviously everyone likes a freebie but I can't help thinking that if you set yourself up to believe you can get everything comped or whatever then, firstly it introduces a fair bit of tension into your holiday andand then, if you don't get what you expect you'd probably end up feeling disappointed and bitter. Tense, disappointed and bitter are things I'd rather avoid on my hols!

Last year we ended up with all our resort fees comped at MC because hubs was woken up horrendously early by the arena construction noise. We asked nicely if we could change rooms and the front desk clerk was happy to oblige but something went skewiff and we ended up at the front desk twice before we could access our new room. We weren't particularly bothered and didn't ask for anything but the clerk apologised and just took the fees off. We thought that this was excellent customer service and came as a genuine surprise. I can't help but think if we'd gone there in expectation of getting something knocked off the bill we'd have ended up disappointed!

We just love Vegas, it's our happy place and I'm always utterly delighted to be there.

Loved your TR, thanks for taking the time to write it. We had a similarly relaxed trip last year, we did absolutely nothing apart from lie by the pool, eat and play slots, we didn't even shop! It was just what we needed. That's what I really love mot about Vegas, you can have exactly the experience you want and it can be completely different each visit