Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

stoneman

The Bellagio Fountains

Vegas is pretty dead between those dates, rooms are dirt cheap but it is bloody cold at night. We have been 3 times over Christmas and New Year and have decided that it's just too clod to be comortable walking around in the evening

Froggitt

The Fremont street experience

Stew68 wrote: »

Froggit,

Would appreciate a bit of advice, i'm toying with the idea of popping over to Vegas, flying out on the 26th December and flying back overnight on the 31st December (avoiding New Years Eve!!). Is Vegas noticeably busier over that period or am I likely to get some good deals on rooms for those nights??

Its likely to be a fairly late decision, booking in December so i've got a while to make my mind up but just wondered what to expect.

Thanks,

Stew

We were in Vegas 22nd to 30th. The last two days we moved to Caesars as the Venetian deal we were on wasnt available on those days. Youll miss the silly prices of New Years Eve.

It seemed to get busier about 28th Dec.....noticeably more people on the casino floors, but longest queue to eat was only ten minutes or so.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

Stew68 wrote: »

Froggit,

Would appreciate a bit of advice, i'm toying with the idea of popping over to Vegas, flying out on the 26th December and flying back overnight on the 31st December (avoiding New Years Eve!!). Is Vegas noticeably busier over that period or am I likely to get some good deals on rooms for those nights??

The year we went we flew out 27th December 2004...didn't seem to start getting too crowded until the 29th, then the 30th got quite crowded and the 31st, well, that was just nuts. But the year we went, NYE was on a Friday - so probably more people adding a day or two and making a long weekend...since it's Wednesday this year, it might be that you find less people on the lead up to NYE itself, maybe?

As for the temps - I agree it can be quite cold - we've been a few times early Jan as well as the late December/early Jan trip...it has been bitterly, bitterly cold sometimes, and others we've walked around in long-sleeved tops and jeans without jackets during the day.

I just found my trip report from that NYE trip...totally forgot that was the same trip I got some sort of tummy bug/food poisoning...good times!

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Thanks all for your advice so far, I'm not worried about the cold, i've done Chicago and Boston in December before without too many problems.

Like I said it'll be a late decision, will depend on the old finances closer to the time.

Thanks again,

Stew

pcg2001

The Fremont street experience

ferf1223 wrote: »

80% restaurant.com code is out - PRESENT - good until Monday, 15th June.

By coincidence I was browsing to see how the restaurant.com vouchers work and came across this. Sorry for the newbie question, but how does this work? Do I need to pick the restaurant in advance, and the date? or can I just pick a restaurant and a month??
TIA.

battyboimatt

Yayyy im in vegas but all alone just waiting for maintance to call as the tv in my room in Encore is not working as it should he he, well I shall do a trip report and some pics when I get back in total I will have spent 4 nights it should of been 5 but American Airlines cancelled my flight and got me out here a day and a half later than I should of at least they put me up in a hotel.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

pcg2001 wrote: »

By coincidence I was browsing to see how the restaurant.com vouchers work and came across this. Sorry for the newbie question, but how does this work? Do I need to pick the restaurant in advance, and the date? or can I just pick a restaurant and a month??
TIA.

You need to purchase the voucher in advance, and they are good for a full year from the date of purchase. Once purchased you print the voucher yourself to take with you when you visit. Nice thing is that you can print it as many times as you want so if like me you manage to lose the original, you can print it again before you leave. Then when in Vegas you visit the restaurant at your convenience...some do suggest reservations, others reservations are not required. Do check the restrictions on each restaurant as they can be different - some are only good during the week (so no weekends), many are only good for parties of 2 or more, some do not allow alcohol to be included in the minimum spend amount, some add a gratuity automatically before the discount (no problem for us, but I know some people have had cases where they didn't want to leave 18%+ due to poor service)...and you can only use one voucher per restaurant per month - so you can't buy 2 to use at the same time at the same restaurant.

Any other questions let us know - several people on the forum use the certificates so someone will be able to help you out.

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

battyboimatt wrote: »

Yayyy im in vegas but all alone just waiting for maintance to call as the tv in my room in Encore is not working as it should he he, well I shall do a trip report and some pics when I get back in total I will have spent 4 nights it should of been 5 but American Airlines cancelled my flight and got me out here a day and a half later than I should of at least they put me up in a hotel.

Oh no...well, at least you are there now and can make the most of your slightly shortened holiday.

pcg2001

The Fremont street experience

ferf1223 wrote: »

You need to purchase the voucher in advance, and they are good for a full year from the date of purchase. Once purchased you print the voucher yourself to take with you when you visit. Nice thing is that you can print it as many times as you want so if like me you manage to lose the original, you can print it again before you leave. Then when in Vegas you visit the restaurant at your convenience...some do suggest reservations, others reservations are not required. Do check the restrictions on each restaurant as they can be different - some are only good during the week (so no weekends), many are only good for parties of 2 or more, some do not allow alcohol to be included in the minimum spend amount, some add a gratuity automatically before the discount (no problem for us, but I know some people have had cases where they didn't want to leave 18%+ due to poor service)...and you can only use one voucher per restaurant per month - so you can't buy 2 to use at the same time at the same restaurant.

Any other questions let us know - several people on the forum use the certificates so someone will be able to help you out.

Thanks ferf. It is good to know people have found them easy to use. Since I seldom find a reference to them here at MSE I thought there might be a catch. They seem to work as a 2 for 1 thing, since to spend for example $35 in a restaurant, you are in fact spending $2 for a $25 voucher (with the wonderful discount one of you shared!!), plus 20% gratuity on 35: $7, plus the remaining $10 (35-10) = $19 for a $35 meal + service. I am not sure of how good value they are for more expensive minimums. I got a few for ... New York ... restaurants (yep, that's my destination this year), since at $2 price, I can afford not to use a couple if I think the restaurant is not worth it. And I looked to book different cuisines as well and close to my hotel.
Thanks again for the prompt advise! You guys (and gals) are :A!

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

pcg2001 wrote: »

Thanks ferf. It is good to know people have found them easy to use. Since I seldom find a reference to them here at MSE I thought there might be a catch. They seem to work as a 2 for 1 thing, since to spend for example $35 in a restaurant, you are in fact spending $2 for a $25 voucher (with the wonderful discount one of you shared!!), plus 20% gratuity on 35: $7, plus the remaining $10 (35-10) = $19 for a $35 meal + service. !

I suppose it depends on how you look at the gratuity, really...we would normally tip 20% of the total bill as standard unless the service was really terrible - so the restaurant adding on 20% is a wash for us. As for the minimum spend, we always look at the menu prices and figure out if we would hit the minimum ordering normally...if we would, we order the certificate as for us it's a straight $23 off our meal taking into account the cost of the voucher.

One of the best ones we used was the $75 off $150 order at Envy...but there were 4 of us...my in-laws were gobsmacked that for $6 we got a voucher that took $75 off the bill.