Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Thanks for the responses (especially Stoneman), very helpful.

I probably won't use the internet facilities and I won't be driving (so they cancel each other out I guess).

I'm not going to Vegas to go full out running around the whole time i'm there, I did that last year and fancy taking things a bit easier.

I'm pretty certain i'm going to cancel the MGM and book the Signature, but now I see that its only £80.00 more for a 1 bedroom suite above the cost of a Junior Suite!!

That makes a Junior suite £240.00 or a 1 bedroomed suite £321.00 for three nights, either way I think its a real bargain.

Decisions, decisions!!

Stew

FluffyFiFi

The Bellagio Fountains

Not sure what to do, we are in Vegas for 2 nights and then off to the Grand Canyon on the Saturday night to get away from the higher rates the hotels all charge over the weekend. We then come back to Vegas on the Sunday and have a further 5 nights before going to San Diego. Now I am thinking that as we will have to be in Vegas on a Friday night it would be better to stay in a cheaper hotel and I have got The Stratosphere at $111.13 for the two nights, i.e. works out to be approx £36 per night. We are then looking at coming back to stay at the Luxor for 3 nights which is $147.12 or approx £34 pn. We then thought for the last two nights we would go a bit upmarket and stay at either MGM or Mandalay Bay. Mandalay Bay would cost about £80 a night and the MGM only £44. We have got two childen with us, aged 13 and 10 and one wants to stay and see the Lions and one wants to enjoy a luxury hotel. Does Mandalay Bay warrant the extra money or would MGM be great too. I have even thought it might be better to stay at the Luxor for the first two nights and then do both the MGM and Mandalay Bay but it would work out quite a bit more. I know you don't know our tastes so it makes it difficult to advise but any thoughts would be appreciated. I should add that neither DH or me are bothered too much about the casinos, we will have a car and plan on spending time seeing the sights, enjoying the rollercoasters and going for cheap buffets and maybe the odd good meal. I also fancy going to see Phantom and one of the Cirque du Soleil shows - which one would be best with the children to consider.

wdyw

stoneman wrote: »

I have stayed in both rooms. The Celebrity Spa is a very nice room, but the Signature has the edge for me. If you are thinking that you might need Internet access then MGM will charge you $13? for 24 hours. The Signature Internet is free,(or you could walk over to the Sig. reception area and log on from there) you also get to use the gym and get morning papers. So you might not be too far out with the $15 a day extra.
And the Travel Zoo offer link definitely says a charge of $15 a day will be added, not $20.
The only problem I found with the Sig. is that if you have a car you have to valet park it, so loads of tip money needed.

Also stayed in both, and would never dream of choosing MGM over Sig unless they were giving the rooms away free. As for the resort fee, it definitely is $20 nowadays and the third party link (Luxury Suites) hasn't updated their releavant FAQ page on the Sig since last year. You might get away with it but it might be worthwhile dropping them an email to confirm the $15/$20 issue.

I also remember somebody commenting here about the standard of the various towers comparing rooms (and cleaning/laundry/etc) booked through MGM/Sig and private condo owners/third parties. Might be worth trying to track it down.

battyboimatt

Is it June yet *sigh* Im in Vegas the 11th to 15th June why is it sooo farr away

wdyw

FluffyFiFi wrote: »

Not sure what to do, we are in Vegas for 2 nights and then off to the Grand Canyon on the Saturday night to get away from the higher rates the hotels all charge over the weekend. We then come back to Vegas on the Sunday and have a further 5 nights before going to San Diego. Now I am thinking that as we will have to be in Vegas on a Friday night it would be better to stay in a cheaper hotel and I have got The Stratosphere at $111.13 for the two nights, i.e. works out to be approx £36 per night. We are then looking at coming back to stay at the Luxor for 3 nights which is $147.12 or approx £34 pn. We then thought for the last two nights we would go a bit upmarket and stay at either MGM or Mandalay Bay. Mandalay Bay would cost about £80 a night and the MGM only £44. We have got two childen with us, aged 13 and 10 and one wants to stay and see the Lions and one wants to enjoy a luxury hotel. Does Mandalay Bay warrant the extra money or would MGM be great too. I have even thought it might be better to stay at the Luxor for the first two nights and then do both the MGM and Mandalay Bay but it would work out quite a bit more. I know you don't know our tastes so it makes it difficult to advise but any thoughts would be appreciated. I should add that neither DH or me are bothered too much about the casinos, we will have a car and plan on spending time seeing the sights, enjoying the rollercoasters and going for cheap buffets and maybe the odd good meal. I also fancy going to see Phantom and one of the Cirque du Soleil shows - which one would be best with the children to consider.

How about skipping Vegas completely at the start and heading straight to the GC? From there its not too far to Monument Valley or other tourist staples. 3 nights away from Vegas rather than 1 and not expensive Friday night stay ...more money to spend on your hotel after returning to LV.

If there are 4 of you are the prices for hotel rooms for 4 occupants?

....."enjoying the rollercoasters" ..... I scratched my head trying to think what other ones there are now apart from the one at NYNY ....completely forgot about Circus Circus .... does anybody ever go near that place now? and if they do, whats in the "arcade" area

FluffyFiFi

The Bellagio Fountains

wdyw wrote: »

How about skipping Vegas completely at the start and heading straight to the GC? From there its not too far to Monument Valley or other tourist staples. 3 nights away from Vegas rather than 1 and not expensive Friday night stay ...more money to spend on your hotel after returning to LV.

If there are 4 of you are the prices for hotel rooms for 4 occupants?

....."enjoying the rollercoasters" ..... I scratched my head trying to think what other ones there are now apart from the one at NYNY ....completely forgot about Circus Circus .... does anybody ever go near that place now? and if they do, whats in the "arcade" area

Yes, room is for the 4 of us.

We will have driven for 7 hours when we get to Vegas and don't want to do anymore on that day. There are loads of things to do, when I said roller coasters it was just easier than listing everything. We also want to get outside of Vegas and see Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. We do not want to go as far as Monument Valley as we are already spending a lot of our time in the car - we are coming from LA, going up the PCH and then coming to Vegas, then San Diego and back to LA.

photome

The Bellagio Fountains

wdyw wrote: »

How about skipping Vegas completely at the start and heading straight to the GC? From there its not too far to Monument Valley or other tourist staples. 3 nights away from Vegas rather than 1 and not expensive Friday night stay ...more money to spend on your hotel after returning to LV.

If there are 4 of you are the prices for hotel rooms for 4 occupants?

....."enjoying the rollercoasters" ..... I scratched my head trying to think what other ones there are now apart from the one at NYNY ....completely forgot about Circus Circus .... does anybody ever go near that place now? and if they do, whats in the "arcade" area

Speed at the Sahara and rides at the Strat

photome

The Bellagio Fountains

FluffyFiFi wrote: »

Not sure what to do, we are in Vegas for 2 nights and then off to the Grand Canyon on the Saturday night to get away from the higher rates the hotels all charge over the weekend. We then come back to Vegas on the Sunday and have a further 5 nights before going to San Diego. Now I am thinking that as we will have to be in Vegas on a Friday night it would be better to stay in a cheaper hotel and I have got The Stratosphere at $111.13 for the two nights, i.e. works out to be approx £36 per night. We are then looking at coming back to stay at the Luxor for 3 nights which is $147.12 or approx £34 pn. We then thought for the last two nights we would go a bit upmarket and stay at either MGM or Mandalay Bay. Mandalay Bay would cost about £80 a night and the MGM only £44. We have got two childen with us, aged 13 and 10 and one wants to stay and see the Lions and one wants to enjoy a luxury hotel. Does Mandalay Bay warrant the extra money or would MGM be great too. I have even thought it might be better to stay at the Luxor for the first two nights and then do both the MGM and Mandalay Bay but it would work out quite a bit more. I know you don't know our tastes so it makes it difficult to advise but any thoughts would be appreciated. I should add that neither DH or me are bothered too much about the casinos, we will have a car and plan on spending time seeing the sights, enjoying the rollercoasters and going for cheap buffets and maybe the odd good meal. I also fancy going to see Phantom and one of the Cirque du Soleil shows - which one would be best with the children to consider.

Mandalay bay is a much nicer hotel than MGM (IMO).

I have stayed at MGM twice and both times they havent had the room type I wanted ie 2 queen beds non smoking, They always have loads of king bed smoking rooms. I was talking to an american couple who had two teens with them 15 and 17 and they didnt get the 2 queens they requested ( you can only request) so ended up in a king room with two rollaway beds.

You can still see the lions at MGM without staying there, they are in a habitat not far from the front door and you wont be there long.

The pool at MB beats the MGM because of the sand and the surfing waves.

Wether or not that warrants paying double the price for is up to you, but are you sure both properties have included the kids as most will charge for any over 12 although I think MB is over 14. Of course you could always say they are both under 12 and hide one of them until you get in the room, they wouldnt have to be at check in anyway.

Stew68

The Secret Garden

photome wrote: »

Speed at the Sahara and rides at the Strat

I think Speed has been closed over the winter and the rumours are it isn't going to open again. Shame, it was the only thing that drew me to the Sahara.

Stew

FluffyFiFi

The Bellagio Fountains

photome wrote: »

Mandalay bay is a much nicer hotel than MGM (IMO).

I have stayed at MGM twice and both times they havent had the room type I wanted ie 2 queen beds non smoking, They always have loads of king bed smoking rooms. I was talking to an american couple who had two teens with them 15 and 17 and they didnt get the 2 queens they requested ( you can only request) so ended up in a king room with two rollaway beds.

You can still see the lions at MGM without staying there, they are in a habitat not far from the front door and you wont be there long.

The pool at MB beats the MGM because of the sand and the surfing waves.

Wether or not that warrants paying double the price for is up to you, but are you sure both properties have included the kids as most will charge for any over 12 although I think MB is over 14. Of course you could always say they are both under 12 and hide one of them until you get in the room, they wouldnt have to be at check in anyway.

I think this has made up my mind, the MD charge for over 14's so we are okay with that and for the two nights it works out at about $50 more than the MGM. There is so much choice I don't think 7 nights will be long enough.

Thanks, once again for your advice.