Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

Trust_2

The Sirens of TI

that should have been

'In costco if you want a go phone pay as you go'

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Here is another link to 40% off Love. It may be better using this one rather than the one I posted earlier as there is some concern that you may need to stay at the Mirage to use the earlier one.

http://www.broadwaybox.com/lasvegas/shows/the_beatles_love_by_cirque_du_soleil.aspx

Gilly_flower

We got back on Wednesday and I have been lazy logging on but Coatze has inspired me (and Congrats by the way!).
MrFlower and me have just got back from 2 weeks touring round the south west states (courtesy of Tesco Clubcard!). I'll concentrate mostly on Vegas but if anyone wants info on the other bits please PM me.

We flew into San Fran - and were amazed as there was less than 5 minutes queue at immigration - I had expected the worst. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for 3 nights (better than the normal Holiday Inn as you get a free buffet breakfast) & then picked up the hire car and travelled down over several days through Yosemite, Sequoia National Park & Death Valley to Vegas.

We had a 1 night stop in Caesars Palace (Forum tower room) before heading off to the canyons- Caesars was great apart from a long queue to check in (about 20 minutes) and the bed in the room was really, really soft. Plus points were the electric curtains (hours of fun for travellers more used to skanky motels...) and the TV in the bathroom mirror.
We joined Total Rewards and got $20 dining credit each for the buffet or the Augustus Cafe (I believe this offer is still running), but as the buffet there is only on for breakfast & lunch, we went over to the Spice Market buffet at Planet Hollywood (and used the same vouchers Coatze used). Fab buffet - lots of choice (even for us awkward veggies) and the food was very tasty.
After this one night, it was back on the road for more National Park overload. We went to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley & the Grand Canyon before heading back into Vegas- experiencing lovely desert heat, a sand storm, a snow storm and a windchill of -9C in various places en route!

Back in Vegas we had 2 nights at the MGM Grand. I was worried that the hotel was going to be just too big and it was going to be annoying dragging our luggage around; but the walk from self park to our Grand Tower room was not too bad. The room was not up to the luxury of Caesars but was perfectly fine. (Ask for a room without a connecting door if you want privacy though as it sounds like the people next door are in the room with you - you can hear everything they say/do!). Also no fridge/minibar to stash drinks in, nor coffee machine.
We joined the Players Club (after queuing 30+ mins- queues were bad everytime we looked) -no useful freebies but we could have got 2 for 1 KA tickets.

While we were there, the American Country Music Awards were on so there were lots of stetsons and cowboy boots in evidence. Vegas was v v v busy- no sign of the economic downturn (but there again, this was spring break & the run up to Easter weekend).

My tips for first-timers:

• Don't underestimate how long it takes to either walk along the strip or get the deuce. We kept thinking- "oh we'll pop up to TI and then up to Freemont street then back to the Mirage..." and it all went terribly wrong and we missed Sirens completely on both nights (I know its not great but I was well annoyed!).
• The free shuttle from Paris to the Rio is a pain in the bum (had to queue for ages, then the shuttles are tiny and fill up and you have to wait again); but the Carnival World buffet is AMAZING - easily as good if not better than the Spice Market, and even more choice.
• If you have a hire care, either take or hire a Sat Nav -this is the first time I have driven in the states and there is NO WAY I would have been happy navigating around Vegas without it telling me where to go.
• As Coatze said, $7 Deuce passes are a great idea as they take you all the way from the Outlet Mall at the bottom of the strip to Freemont at the top, and leaves you free to enjoy the $1 margaritas!!!!

...............Now I'm back home avoiding writing a essay and sulking cos it's going to be AGES before I go again -sob!

Feff36

Thanks for this info, Coatze, it was really useful. I, too, will be a first timer to Vegas at the end of May and am also staying at the Venetian.

tingtong

For those going to Vegas before the end of the month, this looks like a pretty good deal for lunch at Rosemary's Restaurant (No.2 on Tripadvisor)

http://www.vegasdiningscene.com/offers/rosemarys_lunch_0908.html

Looks like you just print out the page and take it with you, unless I've misunderstood.

pcg2001

The Fremont street experience

Gilly_flower wrote: »

I'll concentrate mostly on Vegas but if anyone wants info on the other bits please PM me.

We flew into San Fran - and were amazed as there was less than 5 minutes queue at immigration - I had expected the worst. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for 3 nights (better than the normal Holiday Inn as you get a free buffet breakfast) & then picked up the hire car and travelled down over several days through Yosemite, Sequoia National Park & Death Valley to Vegas.

We had a 1 night stop in Caesars Palace (Forum tower room) before heading off to the canyons-
....

After this one night, it was back on the road for more National Park overload. We went to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley & the Grand Canyon before heading back into Vegas- experiencing lovely desert heat, a sand storm, a snow storm and a windchill of -9C in various places en route!

Hi Gilly_Flower, I loved your trip report (as well as Coatze: congrats on the engagement on a Venetian gondola!! I smiled when I read you don't gamble. We don't gamble either, and yet I loved LV.). I think no one will mind if you share the details of your other side trips from Vegas. I would really like to know more about your car rentals and your trips to the natural parks and canyons. This is a trip I would love to make one of these days. I loved LV last year and the grand canyon, well beyond my expectations, and am really looking forward to going back, this time via San Francisco, so it would be great to read some details on accommodations, drives, etc. Thanks in advance.

PS: I am planning a New York trip this year, but keep coming back to this forum, I am either a masochist or really caught the Vegas bug .

CUPCAKE_2

Hi anyone been to this dinner show? Any reviews. Has been off-broadway to high aclaim.

lindseydaniel

Hey all,

We're off to Vegas in just under 2 weeks to get married and we are wanting to do a night helicopter tour of the strip.

I have found one online on the Viator website which is £47.99.

Can anyone recommend any others and also would it be cheaper to book in advance or just wait until we get there.

Thanks

Daniel

gordylad

well done to the last two trip reports and all others as I find these worthwhile reading. When the part of the forum like this is so long it would be good to browse and then skip directly to a trip reports section and wonder if this could be done?

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

CUPCAKE wrote: »

Hi anyone been to this dinner show? Any reviews. Has been off-broadway to high aclaim.

It was at Rio until fairly recently. I haven't seen it, but I haven't read anything good about it unfortunately.