Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

GRIGGSY

I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice regarding the above hotels. My Husband has decided that he would like to spend his 30th in Vegas so I now have approx 6 weeks to organise this. I have found two deals which look ok and the difference in price is £2 per person so not much in it. Any way I have read through this thread and have found that a lot of people seem to recommend the Treasure Island (took me a while to figure out what TI stood for) but I was wondering what others thought of the MGM Grand. I am looking at approx £555 each for 7 nights with flights from Scotland. Now as I have never been I think this price isn't too bad, but just out of curiosity is it good? Any help/ advice on these hotels would be greatly appreciated.

Jo

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

GRIGGSY wrote: »

I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice regarding the above hotels. My Husband has decided that he would like to spend his 30th in Vegas so I now have approx 6 weeks to organise this. I have found two deals which look ok and the difference in price is £2 per person so not much in it. Any way I have read through this thread and have found that a lot of people seem to recommend the Treasure Island (took me a while to figure out what TI stood for) but I was wondering what others thought of the MGM Grand. I am looking at approx £555 each for 7 nights with flights from Scotland. Now as I have never been I think this price isn't too bad, but just out of curiosity is it good? Any help/ advice on these hotels would be greatly appreciated.

Jo

Are you able to check the price of the flights on their own? That's the best place to start - find out what those flights cost (the same flights that are being sold with the package), then you'll be able to see what you have left for hotels...you may also see that you have a different option for flights that is less expensive than the package -whcih can be considered.

There are a lot of types of rooms at MGM, so knowing what type of room will also help to know if it's a good deal or not...same may apply to TI...only fair way to compare is to look at the various deals available for that same type of room as prices can vary.

MGM is a massive place - some love it, others avoid it...both for this reason...it has loads and loads of stuff to do, but it's a very big complex (is or used to be the largest hotel in the world) so can be quite a trek from one part of the complex to another...so reviews are mixed...we've never stayed there, but I know others here have and can give you their thoughts.

mookybargirl

The Bellagio Fountains

Oo, top 5 places to eat is very tough! I still have so many places on my list to try. These are what I think, but if you asked me tomorrow I might change my mind :rotfl:

1. Prime
2. Top of the World
3. Pearl
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Maggianos

As for fast food, I've not tried In N Out Burger, but I LOVED Fatburger. I want one now. This is making me hungry.

EDIT - I've stayed at MGM Grand and we liked it. Yes, it's big, but so are so many other hotels. OH could never find his way around in MGM, but I did fine. We always used the West Wing shortcut so it never seemed too big. Lots of places to eat, decent pool and plenty of other things around you (M&M's World - woo hoo). We like MGM and would stay there again if the price was right.

davidmcg2u

The Secret Garden

GRIGGSY wrote: »

I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice regarding the above hotels. My Husband has decided that he would like to spend his 30th in Vegas so I now have approx 6 weeks to organise this. I have found two deals which look ok and the difference in price is £2 per person so not much in it. Any way I have read through this thread and have found that a lot of people seem to recommend the Treasure Island (took me a while to figure out what TI stood for) but I was wondering what others thought of the MGM Grand. I am looking at approx £555 each for 7 nights with flights from Scotland. Now as I have never been I think this price isn't too bad, but just out of curiosity is it good? Any help/ advice on these hotels would be greatly appreciated.

Jo

Hi,

We're going in March but are going down to Manchester for the flight, out of curiosity what date are you travelling, from what airport & who was the quote with?

We stayed at the MGM in April 2008 for 3 nights & enjoyed it. As stated above it's massive and can take a bit of time getting from your room out to the strip - in fairness though this didn't bother us.

David

sosolidnix

Hey,

Basically me and my friend we are both planning on going to Vegas in Sept 2009. We are both 21 now and wondering if this year is the best time to go especially with all this credit crunch going on. Exchange rate aint amazing and also I heard not as many tourists are going to Vegas. What do you people think? We seen Caesars Palace for 6 nights and including flight for £606. We think that is a really good price but just confused whether it is the best time to go this year or if we should hold out for this trip next year?

nvh

The Bellagio Fountains

It's been difficult to think of anything that could be classed as a proper 'restaurant' i guess, but we've tried all sorts and we're basic kinda people so none of this could be described as posh - but nice all the same! so this is basically where we've had what i'd define as a nice meal

In no particular order:
Isla Mexican (@ TI - Mexican Restaurant)
Il Fornio (@ NYNY - Italian Restaurant)
California Pizza Kitchen ( @ FSM + Mirage)
Gonzalez Gonzalez (@ NYNY - 'chainy' Mexican place)
House of Blues (@ Mandalay Bay)

Fave buffet is: Mandalay Bay Buffet

Next trip we are probably going to try 'Mix' @ Mandalay Bay which is a bit of an upmarket move for us but snuck in there last time we went and thought it looked lovely!

... now for a new 'category'...

Worst Meal: Excalibur Buffet

sosolidnix wrote: »

Exchange rate aint amazing and also I heard not as many tourists are going to Vegas. What do you people think? We seen Caesars Palace for 6 nights and including flight for £606. We think that is a really good price but just confused whether it is the best time to go this year or if we should hold out for this trip next year?

if you have the money, i'd go this year as america are also suffering a bit of a dip which means that although it's a bad exchange rate, its also cheap over there as they've lowered prices to get the crowds in...

As for the Caesars Palace offer you've seen, I recommend using Ferfs advice above, remember to use the offer 'hotel' sites listed in the first post as well to try and get the hotel for the cheapest price

Also, advice from a few pages ago states that be warned, the basic rooms are abysmall (I think if you search for Froggits posts you can read about his Caesars stay)

davidmcg2u

The Secret Garden

Hi guys,

That's it all sorted now - I decided to book my last 3 nights at Planet Hollywood which was £143 for our last 3 nights - thanks for the tip on cityandshow.com - the are really some superb rates on here at present.

So 4 nights in the Venetian followed by 3 at Planet Hollywood - my partner will be pleased as she thinks we're doing 7 nights at the Paris.

The more I look around the more I was tempted to hang off to the death as the prices just keep getting better but I would've kicked myself if I missed out on these.

Roll on 11th March, well the 10th as that's when we go down to Manchester. All I need to do is re-read as many of the hints/tips and note down as many as I can.

Thanks guys for all your help!!

pebblesmax

The Bellagio Fountains

I've had good results with the $20 tip at PH. We were upgraded to a resort room, and we were there for two whole weeks. I didn't expect much, maybe just a better view since we were there for so long.

davidmcg2u

The Secret Garden

pebblesmax wrote: »

I've had good results with the $20 tip at PH. We were upgraded to a resort room, and we were there for two whole weeks. I didn't expect much, maybe just a better view since we were there for so long.

Did you enjoy PH?

Should I try upgrade even though I got such a good rate?

We liked the look of it last time and it's in a great location so at less than £50 a night we had to grab it!

pebblesmax

The Bellagio Fountains

The standard rooms are fine. Only you can decide whether to bother with the tip . We do like PH, but have been getting better offers from elsewhere recently so haven't stayed there since last May.

I'll see if I can find any photos of our standard room if you haven't seen them yet.