Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

FluffyFiFi

The Bellagio Fountains

mookybargirl wrote: »

Was just catching up on the thread. Sat nav maps were mentioned a couple of days ago. I got mine for my Garmin 660 in Sept/Oct from ebay, was either £40 or £50 and most places wanted about £100, so worth a look for anyone considering buying one.

We ordered the USA West Coast maps for our Tom Tom and it cost £25.00 - they had 25% off at the time and it works out a lot cheaper than hiring SatNav whilst we're there.

yorkie69

duchy wrote: »

You *have* read the Imperial Palace reviews on www.tripadvisor.com haven't you ?
I'm sure you'll like NYNY although I'd suggest if you stick with IP doing that first and then NYNY as it may feel like too much of a drop otherwise.

We have done IP first as it is the "cheap" option and the deal we have got puts us in a delux room which is the third rank of rooms so of decent quality.We know it won't be anywhere near the quality as NYNY but IP deal is cheap and also we can cancel if something comes along in the meantime.The position for us is another reason as it is our first time and first few days at mid strip and then down at the NYNY for second week.
i have read the trip adviser reviews and most of the last twenty or so are good reviews and we know we are not getting top quality but allows us to use some savings we've made to do some other things.
Also we are thinking of doing the grand canyon railway 2 night package from Williams which means driving too and from Williams and included is a night in Williams and a night in Grand Canyon with meals and train travel. Anyone done this or something similar or any advise on this would be appreciated.

sew109

The Volcano @ Mirage

yorkie69 wrote: »

We have done IP first as it is the "cheap" option and the deal we have got puts us in a delux room which is the third rank of rooms so of decent quality.We know it won't be anywhere near the quality as NYNY but IP deal is cheap and also we can cancel if something comes along in the meantime.The position for us is another reason as it is our first time and first few days at mid strip and then down at the NYNY for second week.
i have read the trip adviser reviews and most of the last twenty or so are good reviews and we know we are not getting top quality but allows us to use some savings we've made to do some other things.
Also we are thinking of doing the grand canyon railway 2 night package from Williams which means driving too and from Williams and included is a night in Williams and a night in Grand Canyon with meals and train travel. Anyone done this or something similar or any advise on this would be appreciated.

I have stayed at both NYNY is a fair mid range property rooms are a little small but in essence it is a decent hotel, I would probably not stay there again not because there is anything wrong but I prefer others. The Imperial Palace though on the other hand is not only "anywhere near the quality of NYNY" it is quite simply IMHO horrid. We stayed in a Love Tub room which was huge which meant it had huge amounts of dirt in it, the lifts are the worst I have been in and the casino one of the smokiest in Vegas I would put it on a direct par with Circus Circus with the location being the only saving grace but hey if all you want is location park in Bellagio car park and sleep in it. There is a reason that IP costs the same as a cheese sandwich in central London and that reason is that they are worth about the same. You will have paid a stack of money for the flights and will on spending money spend a little bit more and book somewhere that you will be really pleased to stay at, you are in a city that has amazing hotels at prices of 25% of other cities take advantage of it particually if you have got this great rate on your dollars. .

Where are you staying at the GC I have always wanted to do the train trip but never got round to it I would be very grateful to see some photos and see what you think of it.

by the way a delux room does not mean that you are getting somthing of decent quality

yorkie69

sew109 wrote: »

I have stayed at both NYNY is a fair mid range property rooms are a little small but in essence it is a decent hotel, I would probably not stay there again not because there is anything wrong but I prefer others. The Imperial Palace though on the other hand is not only "anywhere near the quality of NYNY" it is quite simply IMHO horrid. We stayed in a Love Tub room which was huge which meant it had huge amounts of dirt in it, the lifts are the worst I have been in and the casino one of the smokiest in Vegas I would put it on a direct par with Circus Circus with the location being the only saving grace but hey if all you want is location park in Bellagio car park and sleep in it. There is a reason that IP costs the same as a cheese sandwich in central London and that reason is that they are worth about the same. You will have paid a stack of money for the flights and will on spending money spend a little bit more and book somewhere that you will be really pleased to stay at, you are in a city that has amazing hotels at prices of 25% of other cities take advantage of it particually if you have got this great rate on your dollars. .

Where are you staying at the GC I have always wanted to do the train trip but never got round to it I would be very grateful to see some photos and see what you think of it.

by the way a delux room does not mean that you are getting somthing of decent quality

IP is booked but is fully refundable so if a great deal comes up later we can cancel.We know freinds who have been recently (last september) and they stayed there and they said for the price they prefered it to the strat or riveria where they have stayed before. I suppose it is personal prederence.
The train package (there are several different ones) stays one night at the grand canyon railway hotel in williams and one night in maswaki lodge in grand canyon village i think with train either way and some meals in as well as rim tour. in october around $600 for two of us plus car hire. prefer to do this rather than air tour as it gives us a couple of days outside las vegas in middle of trip over the weekend when prices of hoteld are slightly more.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

sew109 wrote: »

IThere is a reason that IP costs the same as a cheese sandwich in central London and that reason is that they are worth about the same.

I choked on my Diet Coke.
Seriously.

funkyfin2000

The Bellagio Fountains

Hey guys,

is it worth looking for good deals for late April yet? Can find a few luxor/MGM ones, but not really up my street....

Or shall it be nearer March time?

Also - Sat Navs...anyone suggest a decent one for me to use then (i will probably cancel it in on my rental agreement) with the american maps on?

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

funkyfin2000 wrote: »

Also - Sat Navs...anyone suggest a decent one for me to use then (i will probably cancel it in on my rental agreement) with the american maps on?

I bought this one (was a really good deal with full EU mapping from what I could see)...have only tried it in the UK so far but has been great - has found routes to places we drive to often that we never knew about and are much faster.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Satellite-Navigation-System-Mapping/dp/B000OV16MQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1232989966&sr=8-2

The list price on the full US maps is £69.95 and I expect to get it for £50 or less...not sure if they do a west coast only version as I haven't looked into it.

nvh

The Bellagio Fountains

lmfao - I too chuckled out loud to that one ferf!!

in my opnion, i'd do the train trip (cos it looks good) but nothing special about Milwaukee lodge or staying in Williams in my opinion... could you perhaps arrange your own lodging and do train from Williams, stay @ a rim-view lodge (phone for better availability) and then train back the next day (in the afternoon)?

never stayed in williams or the milwaukee so feel free to shout me down!

If you do as i suggest, I think you'll only need one night @ GC so can spend the 2nd night somewhere else en-route?

dunno, i'm babbling as I need to come off the computer now!!!

over and out!

funkyfin2000

The Bellagio Fountains

Cheers ferf i will take a look....

what about tomtom, anyone know which one to use?

tingtong

trets77 wrote: »

if i may make a counter argument.

The pound is in free fall :eek: and may sink even lower , wiping out any savings . grabbing something you consider a good deal now may be the way to go for some.

of course the pound may rally between now and then making it a bad bet , but i think if you are happy with the price , there are positives in taking the offer.

Very good point. I'm so glad that our hotel for April is booked and paid for (there's a very big convention on that week). When booking non-refundable deals, I just weigh up how much it's likely to go down against how much it's likely to increase, that's all you can do. By booking and paying now, at least you eliminate any risk of the price rocketing to something you can't afford. And you don't want to end up in the IP do you ??