Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

mich_city

Phew.. think i've caught up on the thread!

We go a week tomorrow, cant wait! - Initially I wasn't too fussed about the Vegas leg of our trip but am getting giddy now after reading up and seeing pics on here and flickr

Am having kittens wondering what to pack, basically we are going from San Francisco - LA - Grand Canyon - Vegas - Yosemite and back to San Fran, i'm presuming its gonna be hot!

Our Vegas hotel is the IP, glad to see some positive reviews on here. Sure it will be fine, I dont intend to spend much time in the room

Have a good idea on things to do and shows that aren't in our itinery.. Like the sound of Fat Elvis.. And of course the cheesecake factory is a must visit!.. We have a tour to the Hoover Dam included from Vegas.

We aren't gamblers, so am hoping the slots will be easy to suss out.

We fly with Continental, good to know you can check in online 24hours before going.. never knew about that!.. Have etickets so will try and see if we can do it, save queueing at Manchester Airport

Better do a bit more reading up on tipping!

wdyw

mich_city wrote: »

Phew.. think i've caught up on the thread!

We go a week tomorrow, cant wait! - Initially I wasn't too fussed about the Vegas leg of our trip but am getting giddy now after reading up and seeing pics on here and flickr

Am having kittens wondering what to pack, basically we are going from San Francisco - LA - Grand Canyon - Vegas - Yosemite and back to San Fran, i'm presuming its gonna be hot!

San Francisco catches a lot of people out, I always reckon it to be the same sort of temps as over here. Todays high is meant to be 18C and low 20's towards the end of the week. low to mid teens is not unusual there in June. Vegas on the other hand is hot (but not very at the moment), high today in the low 30's, heading towards the high 30's towards the end of the week.

Bexster

ferf1223 wrote: »

It may change day to day.

If your package price is £1250, if you take out the flight price of £947 you end up with £303...at today's exchange rate that = $498 for the hotel - less than $100 a night I assume including tax...so I would say that you have a pretty good deal...assuming the flights on the package are the same flights you priced at £947 and not flights with a connection in the US.

It's possible a better deal will come along, but if your dates include a Friday and or Saturday I'm not sure how likely as less than $100/night average for Venetian is pretty good (they did a promo I think last summer which was pay the temperature - so if it was 97* that day, you paid $97 plus tax, if it was 108*, you paid $108 plus tax)...but even that deal wouldn't be better than the less than $100/night including tax. the other thing is the exchange rate - at the moment it's $1.645 - could be better or worse by the time you go, so booking direct and paying in dollars could be more or less....so it's really up to you - if it's a price you're happy to pay and not look back, then go for it - sometimes people prefer to know it's booked and won't be more expensive...other option is to book the flights, then stalk the hotels.

One thing though - not sure if the math on your hotel calculation is right - $895/1.6 is a lot more than £412.

Wonky maths by me haha!

I think by the looks of it last minute.com cant be beaten for that deal as its direct flights and is 5 nights. We are not staying the weekend it is sun to thurs so am glad we will miss these !!!!!! people are talking about!

Thanks for all the advice.

Am intrigued to see Oscarbobbins reply on the clubcard vouchers and the brilliant price they got.

pennylane99

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.

hmmm...make sure they fix those tv screens, will be at Encore myself in 2 weeks time...lol

mich_city

wdyw wrote: »

San Francisco catches a lot of people out, I always reckon it to be the same sort of temps as over here. Todays high is meant to be 18C and low 20's towards the end of the week. low to mid teens is not unusual there in June. Vegas on the other hand is hot (but not very at the moment), high today in the low 30's, heading towards the high 30's towards the end of the week.

Thanks, better pack a light jacket then.. am rubbish at packing, only used to going to ireland so packing for rain

What facilities do you have in IP rooms? i'm guessing it wont be a top room as its booked as part of our organised tour.. OH cant function without his tea fix in the mornings! All the rest of our hotels state coffee/tea making facilities but this one.

thanks all

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

mich_city wrote: »

Thanks, better pack a light jacket then.. am rubbish at packing, only used to going to ireland so packing for rain

What facilities do you have in IP rooms? i'm guessing it wont be a top room as its booked as part of our organised tour.. OH cant function without his tea fix in the mornings! All the rest of our hotels state coffee/tea making facilities but this one.

thanks all

You won't find tea and coffee making facilities in most Vegas hotel rooms - they want you to have to come down to the casino to get these sorts of things. Either bring a dual-voltage travel kettle or buy a Hot Pot or similar at Walgreens or CVS on the strip...also probably want to bring tea bags as from what I'm told (coffee drinker here), American tea bags are not going to be satisfactory.

In most other cities you may find a coffee maker in the room, some of which can be used to boil water for tea...but you're unlikely to find a standard kettle provided anywhere.

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

No tea/coffee making facilities at the IP as ferf says. Another consideration is that they don't have safety deposit boxes either.

There is a link to my hotel reviews of the IP in the last couple of pages of this topic where I list everything that's in the room.

stoneman

The Bellagio Fountains

pennylane99 wrote: »

hmmm...make sure they fix those tv screens, will be at Encore myself in 2 weeks time...lol

I don't know if all the T.V.s are the same in Encore but ours took an age to kick into life every time we used it, must need the tubes warming up;)
you have to click the power button, then wait about 10 seconds while the screen sorts itself out. Don't be anxious and start clicking the bopper, wait till you see the main menu appear, it may seem like nothing is going on but it just seems to take a long time to react to the bopper.

mich_city

luci wrote: »

No tea/coffee making facilities at the IP as ferf says. Another consideration is that they don't have safety deposit boxes either.

There is a link to my hotel reviews of the IP in the last couple of pages of this topic where I list everything that's in the room.

thanks, just had a read of that.. sounds fine to me

dont think I can check in online with my eticket as tried to check flight reservation etc but every number I tried wasn't recognised, perhaps as it wasn't booked with them directly but thru cosmos?.. oh well!

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

mich_city wrote: »

thanks, just had a read of that.. sounds fine to me

dont think I can check in online with my eticket as tried to check flight reservation etc but every number I tried wasn't recognised, perhaps as it wasn't booked with them directly but thru cosmos?.. oh well!

Call up the airline you are flying with and they should be able to give you their locator number.

I booked with netflights and their locator number didn't work on the United site. I called United and they gave me the correct one so I was able to select my seats.

I won't be able to check in online as the flights to LHR are with bmi.