Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

ajmoney

the dates for that section of the trip are 24-28 July and at the moment I have Ballys for £173. I am trying to see if rearranging some of our dates will help so it might be 26-30 instead.

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Hi there Digger,

Most of your questions have been answered already but I can give you personal experience of being in Vegas over the bank holiday weekend (Memorial Day), I was there last year and the strip was a madhouse, extremely busy, the best tip I can give you would be to make sure that you book places to eat in advance, we struggled finding somewhere to eat on the Saturday lunchtime and again in the evening. We left on the Sunday and I believe it quietens down later on the Monday.

I'll second the Wynn buffet for eating, really good selection of different foods.
I saw Love and Terry Fator (as mentioned by Ferf) and really enjoyed both of them, both are at the Mirage and if you try to book at the box office in person you may get a good deal on Love, I did with the tip from Luci who I think also managed to get the same deal. Terry Fator is a ventriloquist but he is amazing.

Hope that helps,

Stew

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Yes I agree with all the suggestions so far.

Buffet breakfast - Bellagio, Spice Market or Harrah's. I feel Paris has gone downhill and is nowhere near as good as it was. Oh, I forgot the Bayside buffet at Mandalay Bay! We went there last year and thought very highly of it. It's not as big as some, but the quality was excellent.

Shows - Love for certain, the Jersey Boys, loved Terry Fator and hubby loved Donny & Marie! I really liked it too, but I was surprised how much he liked it.

Don't miss the fountains whatever else you miss, especially at night.

To save your feet and see as much of the strip as possible, get a 24 hour pass for the Deuce and get on opposite Mandalay Bay. Go upstairs and keep moving seats until you get the front ones, then you'll have a brilliant view of the strip. It will take maybe 45 mins to get to the Stratosphere where I would get off, cross the road and get the bus in the opposite direction. I realise many people may not agree with this as the Deuce is painfully slow, but you do get to see a lot without walking.

c_l_a_i_r_e

The Bellagio Fountains

ajmoney wrote: »

the dates for that section of the trip are 24-28 July and at the moment I have Ballys for £173. I am trying to see if rearranging some of our dates will help so it might be 26-30 instead.

If you can make it the 26th to the 30th you can get the MGM for $59 a night with the exclusive promotion that includes the free buffets. In total incl tax it comes to £176:
https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=001&code=MKT233

Or of you're sticking with the 24th-28th you can get the monte carlo for a total of £196:
https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=MCH&host=promo&code=APRTIER

Obviously the 24th and 25th are dearer being the weekend, so i'd try and arrange your overall choices around wherever is cheapest for the two weekends you are there.

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Day 13 HERE

We go home tomorrow and I am ssssooooo not ready to go home.

ajmoney

c_l_a_i_r_e wrote: »

If you can make it the 26th to the 30th you can get the MGM for $59 a night with the exclusive promotion that includes the free buffets. In total incl tax it comes to £176:
https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=001&code=MKT233

Or of you're sticking with the 24th-28th you can get the monte carlo for a total of £196:
https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=MCH&host=promo&code=APRTIER

Obviously the 24th and 25th are dearer being the weekend, so i'd try and arrange your overall choices around wherever is cheapest for the two weekends you are there.

Thanks for your work, I have been sitting here for hours trying to get a good deal. We have found some brilliant offers but we are starting to worry that the price is creeping up, 4 nights at Ballys, 2 nights at the Grand Canyon, 4 nights at Flamingo and 4 nights at Paris brings us in at £592. The closest I can get to that is staying at MGM instead of Ballys but it takes the price up another £60, I know over two weeks it isn't bad but I would rather spend that when we get there.

I am giving up on the legwork for tonight but will probably be tempted to look again tomorrow. I am terrible for hunting out deals, I don't stop until I am happy.

Thanks again for your help, I will report back if I find anything better.

dan28

Excalibur from $26/ night
promo name: Early Bookings Save!
description: Double Rooms from $26/ night
Valid: May 7, 2009 - February 28, 2010
Expires: June 1, 2009
http://www.vegas-hotels-online.com/2009/05/07/excalibur-early-bookings-save-3/

MGM Grand from $48/ night
promo name: Indulge for Less!
description: Deluxe Rooms from $48/ night - $25 upgrade per night to Bungalow Suite - $30 upgrade per night to Celebrity Spa Suite
Valid: May 7, 2009 - December 29, 2009
Expires: May 20, 2009
http://www.vegas-hotels-online.com/2009/05/07/mgm-grand-indulge-for-less/

c_l_a_i_r_e

The Bellagio Fountains

ajmoney wrote: »

Thanks for your work, I have been sitting here for hours trying to get a good deal. We have found some brilliant offers but we are starting to worry that the price is creeping up, 4 nights at Ballys, 2 nights at the Grand Canyon, 4 nights at Flamingo and 4 nights at Paris brings us in at £592. The closest I can get to that is staying at MGM instead of Ballys but it takes the price up another £60, I know over two weeks it isn't bad but I would rather spend that when we get there.

I am giving up on the legwork for tonight but will probably be tempted to look again tomorrow. I am terrible for hunting out deals, I don't stop until I am happy.

Thanks again for your help, I will report back if I find anything better.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your original choices, so don't even entertain changing unless you find something that you like better for the same price or less. You've come a long way from the stratosphere plan so i wouldn't say you were terrible at deal hunting at all:p

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Luci,

Been there about not wanting to come home, I was almost in tears on my last day walking the strip. Thaks for the continuing trip reports and have a safe trip home.

Stew

trets77

The Bellagio Fountains

diggergraves wrote: »

Hi there.

My wife and I are Vegas 'virgins' and we visit for the first time in 20
days. How excited are we?

I've posted on this forum to ask for any advice/tips/help on how to best
enjoy our stay. After reading loads on here there seems so much to do -
far too much to squeeze into 4 days/nights. May I ask what are the
'must-dos' for your first trip and what can we leave alone?

I imagine like most on here we'll become hooked and want to return if and
when we can afford to. I'm going out to celebrate my 40th. Can you
recommend the best eatery (on a budget) to enjoy a really special meal
please? And which buffets have to be done for quality/price to say 'I ate
at .....'? And the best shows?

We are staying at the Mandalay Bay which I've learnt is as south on the
strip as you go (closest to the airport). Is it as good a hotel as they
portray on their website? What is the best way to transfer from airport to
hotel and at what cost please? Wouldn't want to be taken on a magical
mystery tour being newbies. I've also heard as much as a good pair of
shoes is important for all the walking you do, the Mandalay is so far from
anywhere you'll be best to use their Monorail which is free I think for
staying guests, am I right?

Does the $20 trick still work at present? At the Mandalay, what type of
room should we be requesting if we're lucky enough to be offered an
upgrade? I tried to e-mail them to soften them up but could I find an
address? Do you know of a way to contact them via e-mail please?

We fly out on 27 May. Our stay incorporates a weekend which I've read are
busier but I'm not sure if the US bank holiday weekend (I think there is
one) will make it even more toppers. Anyone been in Vegas for that week?

As you can read I don't I have a lot to learn but I am a willing student
who just needs all you teachers out there to give me some study material.

Thank you ever so much for anyone who can help and enjoy your next trip out
there.

like the others say it's all subjective and down to personal taste , but here is my 2 cents .

like you say you cannot hope to fit everything in like you say , so don't try .
some good ideas to do as a couple would be

• See the Bellagio Fountains then go to The Bellagio Conservatory
• Take a helicopter flight of the Grand Canyon
• Take a Gondalo ride inside The Venetian

You won't go wrong with Mon Ami Gabi as romantic meal , and you can cross of a must see while eating on the Patio ....seeing the Bellagio Fountains . find our thoughts and opinions on it from the link in post 4 . i can also recommend Blackstones in Monte Carlo , The Steakhouse @ Binions (downtown) .

i'll take The Bellagio Buffet or the Spice Market buffet over the Wynn Buffet any day of the week and twice on sundays . do not try to go to the Bellagio buffet at the weekend though , besides the fact they put the price up on fridays and saturdays there is always a queue at dinner time . it is worth the wait if it about 15 -20 min s ( we had a even longer wait at the Wynn Buffet) but not longer . Never had to wait for spice market buffet .

Best show for me is Le Reve @ the Wynn hands down , though i have not yet seen Love or O .
If you have not seen Phantom of the Opera then nows your chance ( i was a bit dubious but i loved it !!) . The Acoustics inside The Venetian Theatre are amazing .

Mandalay Bay is very nice ( we stayed in THE HOTEL that shares the casino ect ) . The deuce will serve you well here if you don't have a car . Bayside Buffet @ MB is pretty nice . we had a good lunch there .

For Breakfast try RED WHITE AND BLUE http://www.mandalayplace.com/dining/redwhiteblue.aspx
we had very nice Breakfast there .

get a taxi at the Airport and say these words "Don't take the tunnel . Las Vegas ain't London you will see your hotel from the plane , so you will know if the taxi driver trys anything ( very very unlikely )