Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

GRIGGSY

dmg24 wrote: »

Afternoon afternoon!

Quick question - I am booking the MGM Grand for two nights in July. I have a choice of the Grand Tower Room, or the West Wing King for $10 per night extra. Is it worth paying the extra $10? I shall of course be using the $20 trick when checking in!

Thank you please!

I stayed there in Feb this year. We chose the tower rooms and had decided that we would not do the $20 trick as we didn't want a west wing - personal choice no other reason. Any how as soon as we got to reception the girl was saying to us that she could upgrade us free of charge to the west wing without even offering her any incentives. I turned it down due to it not having a bath tub ( I needed an excuse to use) so she gave us one of the better tower rooms instead. You never know same may happen to you and you wont have to pay the extra $10 a night.

lulu984

Ok this is what we've found so far...(dont laugh, its probably useless lol )

All at the beginning of Sept...

7 nights in Monte Carlo $502.72
7 nights in MGM Grand $655
7 nights in Luxor $670
7 nights in NY NY $585
7 nights in Mirage $643

I think these are all standards rooms, no suites or anything like that.
They are all with codes from smartervegas.com

Are these good prices? xx

Dowsy

The Bellagio Fountains

Part 2 of trip report...........................

Sunday 19th April:

Before we left the MGM we rang the Wynn to see if we could get an earlier room as check in was suppose to be at 3pm, they said that it shouldn't be a problem and noted our request but it would depend on availability.We checked out of the MGM about 11am and got a Taxi to the Wynn which cost $11+tip. Once we arrived we went straight to the check in desk which was located in a room to the right of the main entrance. We were amazed to see quite a small check in area and long queues compared to what we experienced at the MGM and we had to queue for some 30mins which was annoying. Once at the desk we were told we did not yet have a room allocation and would have to wait for one to be available. We gave our mobile number, detailing the country code and also asked if there were any upgrades available. The girl at the desk looked into the system and said there were tower suites available at an additional $100 per night. We declined and decided that any room would probably be pretty good but requested a nice view. Even the girl at the desk commented on the good deal we got at $129 per night (thanks to whoever on here gave us the tip). We walked back outside to deposit our suitcases into the storage area with the bell boy. He gave us a ticket with a number on to quote from our rooms when we got there - they would then bring them up. We left with our mobile in hand anticipating the call, and went to look round the fashion show mall which was just across the escalator from the Wynn. This is a great place to shop - there are lots of high street brand names all under one roof - Macy's, A+F, GAP and a particularly good Puma store if you like their trainers. At about 3pm we still had no call so went back to the check in desk, where there was still an ever growing number of queues. We queued again for another half an hour (which was annoying as we had already checked in!) and once at the front desk we asked why we hadn't been called earlier. The girl said they had tried to call us but supposedly had the wrong number! (we think she didn't take the 0 off the area code after +44, even though my other half had specifically said to earlier). Anyway, we finally had our room on the 32nd floor which we headed up to. You should note at this point that we may have merely been unfortunate to be checking in on a Sunday as this is a busy changeover day. We headed up the high-speed elevator (which could be ugly if you've had a few too many drinks!!) and found our room easily. Once in our room, we noticed straight away the view from our room through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows (complete with electric blind/curtain operation!). It was overlooking the fashion show mall and main strip (like the Palazzo, TI, Trump). It was a spectacular view but perhaps a golf course view would have been nicer. The bed and pillows were amazingly comfortable - usually I don't notice these things but compared to the MGM it was different class. We had a look in the bathroom which was immaculate, incredibly spacious and had a separate shower (with seat) and tub (very deep!). My other half was delighted! We discovered the mini bar but managed to resist temptation as decided we hadnt come to Vegas to stay in our room (also the prices were as expected for a mini bar). After spending a little bit of time in our room we headed down to the casino area to the 'parasol up' bar which was a nice little area to sit in and take in the surroundings. We purchased 2 budweisers (are you noticing a trend here?) and were happy when the prices appeared similar to those in the other main strip hotels - we were expecting higher ($6 each). After getting ready in our room we headed to the Venetian for our final pre-booked show - The Blue Man Group. The theatre and ticket pick-up desk was easy to find - that easy that we still had some time to kill in the bar before the show. I can't remember the name of the bar but they were warming up for live music and had waitresses tending the tables, who brought over bar snacks of olives and nuts which was handy as yet again we hadn't had time for dinner before the show. We went into the theatre which was almost full and enjoyed perhaps one of the wierdest shows we've ever seen but the audience participation was fun and the act was really clever. After the show you could take pictures with one of the 'blue men' but there was a bit of a crowd so we didn't manage to get up front. My other half thought they were a bit creepy-looking as they didnt seem to blink and stared directly at you. For the $55 tickets (40% off online discount advised on here) it was well worth it. My other half was craving some pasta so we walked through the Venetian, Palazzo and the Wynn, checking out the menus and found the Terrace Pointe Cafe at the Wynn. We didnt realise until after our last day but they have free Wi-fi connection in this cafe so those of you with laptops or wi-fi enabled mobiles can sit in here to access the internet. We ate and then went back to the casino for some gaming. The waitress service whilst gaming was very frequent unlike the MGM which we found to have a longer wait.

Monday 20th April

We got up early and headed for the Wynn buffet (I think we were early enough to avoid any queuing because when we left there was a very long queue!). After being allocated a table and ordering our drinks we headed up to check out the food. There was more variety than the MGM with sections divided by national dishes. There were Mexican tacos, Chinese snacks, Italian (pizza) and the usual American/English dishes. I suppose they have to cater for those who think its dinner time so the choice was amazing! All this for a set price of $18.95 each - which seemed steep to start with but now seems reasonable considering the variety. We found we were only eating twice a day due to the large amounts consumed at breakfast! I had read in the hotels guide book about the Country club steakhouse which looked amazing and you could eat outside over looking the 18th hole of the golf course. We telephoned reservations as this is advised but were told that they no longer open for dinner on Sundays and Mondays. Rather disappointed, we looked around for somewhere similar to book and came across the Botero steak house in the Encore (a fine-dining restaurant). We booked a table for later that evening. For the rest of the day we decided to head to the premium outlets downtown. We got a taxi and would advise this is definitely the best way to get there. The buses looked a bit confusing and its a long way from the main strip, between the Stratosphere and downtown. A taxi from the Wynn was only about $11 + tip. We got there early (as the shops open at 10) and went in the information point to collect our discount booklet (similar to the one from the LV Outlets). These outlets are definitely better (in our opinion) than the south outlet centre. Our favourite stores included Gap, Lacoste, Ted Baker, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Armani Exchange, Levi's but it seemed to cater for everyone's needs. After a LOT of shopping and walking (my other half's feet were beginning to suffer at this stage!) we decided to head back, as unlike the fashion show mall the shops were all separated and not under one roof so when leaving each one you were exposed to the sun (which was scorching at this time!) and we were shattered! We got a taxi from out front which cost the same and headed back to the Fashion show mall as I hadnt found any cheaper Puma trainers and wanted to buy some. I ended up buying two pairs in fact! A quick trip to Macy's for some MAC for my other half and we were done. We headed back to our room to get ready for our meal at Botero. We got there a little early as the Encore is joined onto the Wynn and easy to access so had a look around the Encore. It is a beautiful hotel and the layout of both the Wynn and the Encore appear to make navigating your way around a lot easier than most of the other hotels. Once in the Botero we were treated like Kings. We must have had 6 people serving our table, all very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. We chose a wine and decided not to worry about costs as it was our last night (if you are worried about this, by-passing the wine is definitely the way to go as it can make up a good 50% of the bill! - we noticed a lot of people didnt have wine). We asked for advice on the steaks as there was a lot of choice and a very helpful young chap told us all about them and recommended the 40oz Porterhouse steak to share. We weren't sure how many sides we needed but again he was very helpful and didnt prompt us to order more than we needed. We had the house fries and jalapeno carrots (which were amazing!) - the fries weren't like normal fries, they had a pepper kick. The steak was unbelievably good, coming in a hot sizzling dish, already cut with the bone still there so you could see how it was cooked. We would both definitely recommend this dish! We finished every crumb! Like most hotels you could charge the bill to your room which seemed easier so we did this and left a tip which was well deserved! We headed back to the Wynn and decided to have a go at roulette. We were a bit intimidated about how much the minimum bets would be but they actually werent too bad (starting at $10). The table we went to was $15 dollar minimum but the croupier said as new-comers he usually drops the minimum so we could play $10. It was a fun experience but sadly we are not millionaires.

Monday 21st April

Time to go home . Check out was at 12 so we decided to have breakfast first at the buffet and then finish packing. Again, we didnt have a queue and found plenty of choice. The queue for checkout was not so bad, we settled up and left our bags in storage again as we had an hour or so before needing to be at the airport. We played a few slots and luckily I won a lil something which was a good job as we were down to a bare minimum.. We got a taxi from outside the front to the airport which cost $15 + tip as being at the Wynn, we were further away this time. We arrived at the Virgin airways terminal and discovered we had a 2 hour delay, which we werent happy about and if we had known sooner we could have planned to leave later! Anyway, then once at the check in desk we were warned that we may not have seats together. My other half was somewhat surprised by this as she had been led to believe that she had allocated our seats online for both journeys before hand. However, we were told apparently you need to reconfirm your seats 24 hours prior to departure. This seemed ridiculous as the guy told us that they had no way of knowing that we were travelling together!! - it seems pretty unlikely to me that you would book 2 tickets together and not be travelling together!!! My other half insists its a ploy to make you upgrade at $499 each to premium economy. To cut a long story short, the guy was apparently 'so good at his job' that he managed to find us two seats together and we headed home.

We had a great time in Vegas. Pre-booking the shows meant that we were always clock watching to get back in time so would recommend a few days where you can just play it by ear. A few more days for us would certainly have been nice - there's so much to do and always new things to see. If anyone wants any other info we may have missed out please feel free to ask...

c_l_a_i_r_e

The Bellagio Fountains

lulu984 wrote: »

Ok this is what we've found so far...(dont laugh, its probably useless lol )

All at the beginning of Sept...

7 nights in Monte Carlo $502.72
7 nights in MGM Grand $655
7 nights in Luxor $670
7 nights in NY NY $585
7 nights in Mirage $643

I think these are all standards rooms, no suites or anything like that.
They are all with codes from smartervegas.com

Are these good prices? xx

They seem good to me:D Remember if any better rates come out later you can always cancel and rebook at the better rate as long as its at least 72 hours before your expected arrival. From that list my 2 choices would be Mirage and then either MGM/NYNY. I would definitely rule out luxor especially at that price. Mirage is the best of those hotels IMO and thats a very good price, their rooms have also been recently renovated and they have a great pool area. Also Mirage is up at the northern part of the strip with MGM/NYNY down at the southern part, so you would get a good all round experience of being on the strip. HTH

c_l_a_i_r_e

The Bellagio Fountains

Dowsy thanks for sharing your trip report, I loved reading it :T I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay at Wynn, i loved it there but i agree that the reception area can be organised chaos at times:rolleyes: I'm off to see now if i can find a menu for Botero, if you don't mind me asking how much did dinner set you back here?

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Dowsy, many many thanks for posting your trip report so promptly! I really do appreciate it.

We had a similar experience with check in at the Palazzo. Tried to check in at 12.30, left our mobile number, checked back with the desk several times as they never once called us and there still wasn't the room we wanted at 4.30pm so we had to take what was available.

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Claire, my Encore confirmation email also only shows the first night's deposit and no rates or promo code. However that is all that any confirmation from any hotel in Vegas I've had has shown.

MGM is the worst as all is shows is the confirmation code, no rates or anything, however everything was fine when we checked in.

c_l_a_i_r_e

The Bellagio Fountains

Thanks Luci:D I thought my palazzo confirmation last year had the nightly rates on it, and i couldn't remember any of the others but i guess i'm just worrying over nothing again lol

Luci hope you have a safe and exciting trip hun. Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back x

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Dowsy,

Great trip report, loved reading it. I enjoy reading other trip reports, it reminds me of my trip and makes me want to go back (again!!)

Have a great trip Luci.

Stew

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

c_l_a_i_r_e wrote: »

Luci hope you have a safe and exciting trip hun. Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back x

If it's anything like last year then you'll hear about it live while I'm there! I paid for internet access every day and logged on with a link to my trip report.

HERE is a link to my trip report from last year for anyone that's interested.