Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

tingtong

nvh wrote: »

stayed @ Paris 'Red Room' (5nts) and Mandalay Bay '750GR' (3nts)

any questions?

What did you think of the Paris Red Room ? We've got 7 nights there from this weekend, so just interested what you thought.

Sounds like you had a good time anyway.

neilbond007

The Bellagio Fountains

stoneman wrote: »

nvh,
Was it a tip that got you into a Red room? We are allocated a regular room but am going to try my luck for a Red, will go with $50 as we are staying 8 nights. Worth a punt as we are only paying just over £300 for the duration.

There is a huge thread on this website about the $20 tip.
No need for more than that is the general rule.

http://www.travel2vegas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28555

tingtong

neilbond007 wrote: »

There is a huge thread on this website about the $20 tip.
No need for more than that is the general rule.

http://www.travel2vegas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28555

To be fair, I think Stoneman's quite clued up on the $20 trick. However, most people (on here at least) seem to agree that when you are staying for 5 or more nights, a slightly more generous amount should increase your chances of an upgrade.

I would agree that $50 is probably the right sum for an 8 night stay.

c_l_a_i_r_e

The Bellagio Fountains

TingTong thanks for the dollar express link, should come in very handy in the future :T

Stoneman, for the dates i checked netflights had both dollar and thrifty options for the same cars, with the thrifty option being about £20 cheaper. So it looks like we'll be going with thrifty this time.

I've noticed the car rental rates are higher this year, and its made worse by the fact we're looking at 8 nights rather than 7. I was tempted to forego the car or even hire it for a few days but OH is adamant that we take it for the whole trip as he likes the flexibility of having it.

On the subject of cars we've hired both the 300 and the charger. Initially i thought i preferred the charger (300 makes me think of a funeral car lol but OH loves it), but we hired it for the second time last year and i hated how basic and drab it seemed inside. However, it looks like we'll be hiring it again as its cheper than the 300 and i need to keep the car hire cost down somehow:rolleyes:

Nvh i'm so looking forward to reading your TR, thats view from Paris is stunning. We've stayed in the 750GR room at MB and loved it, really hope you did too.

FluffyFiFi

The Bellagio Fountains

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on my trip to Vegas, although I have to say that nothing really prepares you for the reality. I was a bit disappointed with Vegas to be honest. Probably because I was there 20 years ago and remember it being very cheap which this time it certainly wasn't. As there were four of us (husband, 13 year old son and 10 year old daughter) the cost for 4 tickets for everything was very high. It was also so busy everywhere, queues for everything which got a bit wearing after awhile. Trying to move along the Strip was difficult due to the volume of people and I got fed up with the !!!!!! pushers trying to hand out cards all the time. However, it was a great experience and I am glad I went.

We had two nights at The Stratosphere which was a horrrible, horrible hotel. Didn't like it one bit, the room was small and our window was about 2 foot wide as we were in a corner and our view was restricted. I had paid for a high room with a view so was disappointed. We were also next to the ice machine which woke us up everytime someone used it. I asked to be moved but despite having 2,500 rooms nothing was available until the following day. Managed to move to a better room with a great view of the tower, this was much nicer and would have made all the difference if we had had this from the start. I found the staff at the front desk unhelpful and unfriendly. Despite this, the view from the tower was excellent and as we were staying there we could go up for free, we enjoyed this both in daylight and at night.

We drove to the Grand Canyon which took ages - although didn't help that we set off for the wrong rim and added about 200 miles to the trip!!! We stayed overnight at The Grand Hotel and this was great, we were really surprised that when we arrived there was snow on the ground and it was -2, we were all in t-shirts and shorts and looked a bit out of place when we checked in.

On our return to Vegas we had three nights at The Luxor. I had booked a pyramid room but there were none available so they upgraded us to a tower room. This was a lovely room and we were on the 16th floor so had a good view. The children were happy to be left in the room in the evening so we could go and have a drink and spend sometime in the casino.

Our last two nights were in Mandalay Bay and our room overlooked the beach, we were on the 18th floor and were blown away by our room and the comfortable beds. The children loved the flat screen television and the one in the bathroom.

The things we enjoyed about Vegas:-

The MGM lions, great attraction and saw them several times.

Fountains at Bellagio, probably our favourite. Saw them during the day first but then came back in the evening and I think they were even better.

Rainforest Cafe at MGM.

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, liked the touch pool with the rays and the children enjoyed this a lot.

The Beach at Mandalay Bay was very good, but very busy and everyone was packed in, once we got a spot on the sand it was relaxing. The wave pool was my favourite but the children liked the lazy river.

Red Rock Canyon didn't take too long to get to, got us out of Vegas for awhile and the scenery was fantastic.

The view from the top of the Stratosphere.

What we didn't like:-

Not being able to make tea/coffee in our room.

Having to queue all the time.

Restrictions on using the pool - Luxor shut at 7.00 and Mandalay Bay at 5.00.

People and traffic everywhere at all times, particularly at night.

High cost of food and drink, one wine and one beer cost $18.

The people trying to sell time-share.

Our biggest disappointment was getting a taxi upto TI to see the sirens, the 7.00 pm show didn't go ahead due to the weather. We waited around for the 8.30 show but they cancelled that at the last minute as they said it was too windy.

Once again I would like to thank all those who gave advice on this forum. Without this I wouldn't have got the rooms at bargain prices or found out about the coupons to make our holiday money go a bit further.

If anyone is going to MGM in the next couple of weeks I've got a credit voucher which I didn't cash in. It's only for $3.01 but I am happy to put it in the post to someone if they want to use it - just pm me.

funkyfin2000

The Bellagio Fountains

pm sent thanks for the trip report

stoneman

The Bellagio Fountains

c_l_a_i_r_e wrote: »

Stoneman, for the dates i checked netflights had both dollar and thrifty options for the same cars, with the thrifty option being about £20 cheaper. So it looks like we'll be going with thrifty this time.

I was just going to post that there didn't seem to be any option on what company you went with when you book through the agents. they just offered you the cheapest rate and you found out when the voucher came through. Didn't realise that you could pick and choose the company.

nvh

The Bellagio Fountains

Okey dokey - just sorting out the report now

Quick answers to other stuff tho

re: Dodge Charger v. Chrysler 300 - main reason i wanted a Charger is that I haven't got the opportunity to drive one of those in the UK - in fairness, from what I saw they have similar interior stylings (obv. due to being the same company) so I didn't miss out on that much (I hope!)

Paris Red Room - I thought it was a fantastic room - if nothing else, the fact it's "new" makes it so good, nice bouncy beds, no worn carpet or dodgy stains! etc etc - will post piccies of our room shortly to give you an idea, although you saw the view from our window which also complemented the room perfectly (and you could just hear the music for the fountains too (faintly)).

To put it in comparison, apart from lack of spa-tub (which the missus really wanted), it piddled all over our stay @ 750GR (mandalay bay) which was worn and just felt 'old' after our Paris stay - tho in fairness we had other issues with the room there that soured our stay a bit

Getting the room - spot-on stoneman, $20 got us that... I didn't ask for a red room, I just stated it was our anniversary and had they got something with a nice view, she stated she had something on their 'Diamond' members floor that would be perfect for us and had a good view (floor 26 i think we were)

Indout96

The Fremont street experience

Probably because I was there 20 years ago and remember it being very cheap which this time it certainly wasn't

Thats why we always stay in house now, Breakfast at the house, shopping in the mornings, afternoons by the pool then out for the evening meal and hit the casinos / attractions / shows every night. Its amazing how much you save on breakfast & lunch by not eating out as we are there for 10 days in September it add up to quite a saving.

FluffyFiFi

The Bellagio Fountains

funkyfin2000 wrote: »

pm sent thanks for the trip report

I've sent a reply.