Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009 part 2

Triker

October , November

Wednesday


Awoke at 8am. Made coffee and typed this, hubby still sleeping.

Hubby wasn't feeling too well so I went downstairs to MGM casino and then decided to get the MGM buffet all day for $33 as wasn't sure if we could go anywhere today. Charged it to the room.

Had breakfast which was lovely, I had bacon, waffles, cheese ravioli, rice, fried shrimp, crab salad and gorgeous mini desserts of strawberry tiramasu. Played on my new favourite machine, black and white sevens and managed to play for a good half hour.

Hubby rang and came down for food so I gave him the buffet with line pass and he went to eat lunch.

We then went to Gold Coast for a looksy as never been there before. Was ok, I was surprised as I lost money on everything, slots and roulette, very disappointed as I thought it was looser slots here. Don't think I'd go back. Best thing about it was $1.25 hot dog.

Then headed for the Wynn as haven't been there either. Was ok again, hubby didn't like it, it definitely had a different 'feel'. Found the sugar and ice cafe with waterfall, its actually called pizza place now. Made $70 on the $10 free slot play. Had a slice of pizza coffee and diet coke at pizza place, realised it had free wifi but didn't have ipod with me which was a shame.

Then headed to Barbary Coast and parked up, like we'd never been away, loved it, then on to Flamingo and I found Cops and Donuts again and then stupidly lost all my money. Initially won $75 but then lost it and more...very disappointed with myself. Then went to O'Sheas as they has the $5 blackjack tables so hubby happy. I lost more money in O'Sheas and gave up.

Headed back to MGM, I had evening buffet, crab, shrimp, mussels, and gorgeous mini key lime pie, mini pumpkin pie and a mousse which wasn't so nice.

Headed back to room and crashed out as tired at 10am.

Hubby went over to NYNY and lost his $100 gain from earlier.

Thursday


Woke at 5.50am went back to sleep until 6.30am and then got up.

Got up and decided to drive to Laughlin for a change. First we went to IHOP and I had pumpkin pancakes and hubby had omlette. This IHOP was near the premium outlets but they were'nt open. Headed out and absolutely gorgeous scenery. Just miles and miles of mountains and desert, very wild west, small green bushes scattered everywhere and after a while as we dropped down the mountain road into Laughlin, small red bushy cactii and lots of dried river beds.

Laughlin looked like a paired down vegas. There were a few casino's ,the Golden Nugget, the River Belle casino, shaped like a massive steam boat, liked the look of it so we went in there first, the Tropicana and Aquarius, we didn't go into the other two.

I, as usual, lost money on the slots, hubby played Blackjack. Lovely atmosphere in this casino and it was right next to the colorado river. We went outside and looked at the river as I had never been so close to it before. There were boat tours to London Bridge but they had gone in the morning. We went to the the Golden Nugget and played some more, again I lost, an enduring theme I think...oopsy.
We had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, mmmm, I had the crab buffet lunch, lots of crab and shrimp and some clam chowder. Hubby had fish and chips. There were tons of birds flying around trying to nick the food. There was a bucket where you put all your scraps and bits of crab shell in. They kept dipping into the bucket on empty tables.. This was a beautiful spot right on the river, very serene.

Anyway decided to lose more money on the slots and then we headed back towards las vegas.
Drove back via a different way. It was amazing, totally different scenery.

Up over the mountains and down into an amazing valley which stretched in every direction as far as the eye can see.
Beyond amazing, never seen a vista like it. And lots and lots of RV's and shack like houses. So many everywhere, but I couldn't see how anyone could live there as there didn't seem to be anything around. I also couldn't see where they got their water from as it was a dry as bone.
There were Joshua trees and cactii.
The road just carried on and on, mountains upon mountains and more and more. Saw jerky sheds at the side of the and little diners just a couple of shacks each. There were also very scattered sheds/homesteads everywhere, again I couldn''t work out who would live in such a harsh environment. Anyway came back through the Hoover Dam, security was tight and they made you wind down the window and had a good look at everyone in the car, in our case me and hubby. What they were looking for I don't know and it must be horrrendous in full tourist season trying to get through. Luckily for us it was sundown and not too busy. We stopped for a look and the building was really coming on, amazing engineering in a harsh and wild landscape. I 'm full of respect for the workers who have done this,
Then carried on and dropped down off the mountain into Vegas having first spotted Lake Mead.

Then..............WOW.....Vegas lit up at night from the mountain, unbelievable sight and breathtaking. Lights everywhere, hubby got a photo. Came back and went to Ellis Island for the steak special. Hubby in heaven, I couldn't manage it. Too full.

Gambled a bit and won on the sphinx game.
Headed to bed.

Friday

Walked over to NYNY shared at reuben sandwich at the food court deli, delicious. With a gherkin.

Then drove to Circus Circus and Slots of fun Tropicana big wins in Circus Circus from goldfish then gave it all back to the casino later, duh. Krispy kreme for 2 doughnuts, pumpkin and cinamon, mmmmmm.

Hubby had a great time at a black jack table until some horrible woman came and ruined the atmosphere so he upped and left.

Went back to Ellis Island I had chicken wings and hubby had the special again.
Headed back tired.

Hubby's birthday saturday.

Yesterday went to Egg works (highly recommend, not so keen on Egg and I sister restaurant))... I had the breakfast skillet with veg and 2 eggs, gorgeous and the banana nut muffin, YUM. Hubby had the omlette max. We then drove and I popped into Williams Sonoma and had a oogle at their cookery stuff, lovely. Resisted buying anything.

Then to mall, also found a NFL sports shop with hubby's alltime favourite player (Theismann) shirt in the window, so I bought it for him for his birthday. Good find, as OH notoriously difficult to buy for.
Found Macys got 11% visitors discount and they were having a one day sale, hubby got his 501's, some christmas presssies for the girls and a necklace for me. I resisted the Kipling Bags although it was tempting and didn't buy anything. How good am I?

Anyway back to MGM then out to Mandalay Bay, to a umm rubbish vibe, so we quickly left.
Ate at Panda Express, chow mein, orange chicken and broccoli beef, OH had chown mein, spring rolls and chicken. £17...Then to Orleans which was good. OH won a fair bit at blackjack, $300 I think.

Off back to Tropicana and gave goldfish more money, won $60 and then gave it all back, hubby gave me some more money but I said I'll lose it which I promptly did!! Watched him play for a bit and then I headed back.
Woke up with awful stomach ache, really awful, took some allicinmax and chewing gum. Eased eventually.

Thursday

Mooched a bit went to Ellis Island for breakfast I think and then to Sams Town, I lost loads, OH won .
Really like Sam's Town and would definitely go again on another visit, particularly liked their waterfall and volcano show.

Friday

Bad day...... woke up fully intending to go shopping. Unfortunately I had lost the car keys, much frantic searching later meant no joy. So a trip to Dollar and then awaiting the tow truck and ouch.... another bill. Think we were charged $210 in total for the loss of keys and tow truck. I was really upset with myself and got myself in a bit of a tizzy about it all.
Thankfully Debra, the amazing Dollar rep at MGM, helped us sort it out. We bought her some chocolates as a Thank You afterwards, She was really thrilled and gave me a hug but honestly she saved the day and we were very grateful.

Got a replacement car went to In and Out burger......finally and........ loved it. For those who are unaware In and Out Burger appears to be an American Institution, one I have missed on all three previous visits to the US including a Florida visit. I was determined to get there this trip and I'm so glad we did.
Loved it, I got a cheeseburger, vanilla shake and animal fries....yum. In the words of Samuel L. Jackson ala Pulp Fiction......'this IS a tasty burger'...lol.

Went to Suncoast and Orleans but our luck was out.

I went to Walmart for some goodies and OH went to Tropicana where he again had a bad night on the blackjack tables.

Triker

October , November

Saturday

Hoping today is a better day

Woke up, tried to log on to internet, couldn't connect, rang desk to find my credit card had been blocked, rang CC company but they will get back to me in 24 hours. !!!!!!.They had done the same to hubby's card despite him ringing up and telling them we were going to be here....always the same...tedious.
This is where it drops off as I didn't keep up with my diary due to the break in internet connection however here is a brief synopsis of the rest of our trip.

Trip to Death Valley......awesome annd slightly scary. I'm glad I went but wouldn't go again. It really is an amazing place but......lifeless and prehistoric if that makes sense. Beyond amazing but humbling at the same time. I have the upmost respect and admiration for whomever built the roads through and up and over, how they managed this feat of engineering I'll never know, in this place.

Hubby went for a walk up into the mountains bit, I stayed in the car because I couldn't walk far anyway. He took some great pictures at sunset, the colours in the desert are amazing.

Highlight was that on the way back, I saw a coyote walking across the road at night, made my day seeing this. We ate at the Furnace Creek Ranch, OH had country fried steak, I had chicken something, usual huge portions but nothing particularly special.

Tip ~The Furnace Creek Inn slightly up the road, bit high end will give a sizeable discount if you are a AAA member or in our case an AA member. Many places do give this discount for AA memership but I always forget about it.

Initially we were going to stay over but we decided to drive back as really I wanted to be back nearer civilization, wasn't a bad drive and we came through Pahrump which I think is the best name for a town anywhere....for some daft reason it makes me smile every time I hear it.

Red Rock Casino.

I really liked it but hubby didn't so we didn't stay long. It's new and quite funky in its d!cor but as I say we didn't stay to play. Blackjack table limits were high, hubby likes the $5.00 ones but no joy. We have an agreement if one or the other doesn''t like the vibe of a place we head off to the next one so thats what we did. After me giving the Wizard of Oz some more money, of course.

Suncoast Casino

A bit of a drive but well worth it, great casino, great atmosphere, we went 3 times it was that good.

Favourite machines

Without a doubt the Wizard of Oz and Goldfish, before I was a Cops n Donuts girl but I've defected. Quite like Jackpot Party and the Munsters.

Found Circus Circus to have the loosest slots for me.

Nicest meal

Nothing particularly stands out, we didn't do any fine dining. We ate out at Olive Garden one night and this was delicious, I had a four cheese stuffed mezzaluna with shrimp and hubby had lasagna. Now my other half is not one to rave about food but he loved the lasagna and commented more than once about it. My pasta was also amazing, trouble was there was no room for dessert...which killed me.

I also think Ellis Island's special has to win again, we ate there a total of 3 times, just love the rough and ready atmosphere, its a real place, very down to earth. I also got a T shirt this time as well from my player points so I'm a chuffed bunny.

I did manage to try the Bento box at Fashion Show Mall which was lovely. This was at Ra Sushi.

Egg Works is also lovely, would highly recommend, its a drive away but worth it, packed full of locals....speaks for itself really and the banana nut muffins are to die for and yes I really mean it. Prepare to wait awhile for a table especially weekends but its worth it.

The Egg and I isn't as good though, so I'd give that a miss, the difference was apparent from the service to the quality of the food, just didn't come close to the Egg Works. They are part of the same chain but the Egg Works gets it right.

Shopping

Well I'll let you into a little secret, I found the best shop in the world Tuesday Morning, they are scattered throughout the area but have top line products from high end stores, heavily discounted. For me, it was the kitchen stuff, they had Le Creuset, Staub, KitchenAid.....ahhhh I was in heaven and hell because I knew it was all too heavy to take home so I had to leave it. But they have everything from Disney christmas decorations if thats your thing, to clothes, toys, glassware, luggage. If you're a bargain hunter then have a look at Tuesday Morning.

Walmart, love it, I make no excuses, I LOVE WALMART.

Ross Dress for Less, again some amazing bargains to be had, it isn't just clothes they sell there, very like TK Maxx. I managed to get some lovely clothes for my girls at heavily discounted prices plus Samsonite luggage amongst other things.

The 99cent store......brilliant, stocked up on herbs, spices and sweets to take home.

Negative things.

There were 2 incidents that unfortunately caused me some distress, the first I've mentioned...losing the car keys, that was awful. I have since learned the 'wirecutter' trick to getting the keys to seperate from the wire loop so that there is always a spare one. However this info came too late for me. Car hire companies always put both sets of keys on one continuous wire so if you do lose them, YOU are liable for new keys.

It is also worth adding AAA membership or tow truck assistance to your policy as it should only cost an extra $5.00 as Debra (Dollar) rep told us and would have covered us when our hire car was towed off.

I also learned that no matter what level of insurance you take out you ARE NOT COVERED for losing keys, damage to the undercarriage of a car (by hitting a speed bump or debris) or tyre damage (if you have a blowout or a hole in your tyre).
I spoke to our insurance Carhire 3000 and they confirmed that UK insurers are never covered for these kind of incidents. How we get round this I don't know but for our next trip we're going to look into this closely in order to be as covered as posible.

The other incident was in Excalibur one evening, I was walking around looking for the Goldfish machines, hubby was at a blackjack table. I saw a row of them and walked over to see which ones were free, as I approached an empty chair an elderly man charged up to me and starting shouting in my face.
He said 'get away, get away, do you not understand, move now'......I said, 'what's the problem?' and stumbled a bit, nearly falling over my walking stick as he was really in my face screaming at me.I tried to back away but he kept coming really close to me, literally shaking with rage.
He came at me again screaming in my face ' move now, I warn you, get away', he was very, very aggressive and I honestly though he was going to hit me, he was so weird and angry. I backed away and then promptly burst into tears because he had been so threatening.....an american couple had seen the whole thing and the guy came over and asked if I was ok. I said I didn't know what was going on and why this man had threatened me. The american guy said to the man who had sat at a machine that he had no right to speak to me like that but the old man just ignored him.

I called security and to cut a long story short, the old guy said he was saving the machine for his wife?????That he was German and had difficulty with speaking english and that he didn't understand.....I said he had no difficulty threatening me, his english was fine then!

Security were great but I felt insulted when the Slot manager asked for my points card, I asked why and he said, 'I'll get you some extra points and a drink'......I said I didn't want any of that as I wasn't that cheap, all I wanted was an apology and for someone to explain to this man that he shouldn't threaten people.

Eventually he apologised, I was really upset still but managed to find my hubby and told him what had happened. I still felt really shaken so I decided to go back to our room. My OH was livid and wanted to look for the man but I said it had been sorted and I just wanted to leave. So that incident ruined an otherwise enjoyable evening.

Shows

Went to see the Jersey Boys, good show I enjoyed it buy hubby didn't. Glad I saw, it would recommend.

Ka by Cirque Du Soleil, again amazing acrobatics from the performers. Excellent show and at points, heartstopping.

Weird stuff

Getting electric shocks off everything. Especially the lift button which I refused to press in the end. One night the shocks that I kept getting from my Walmart shopping trolly were so bad, and painful, that I gave up in the end and left early.

One person I spoke to said that it was the static electricity because it was a desert area and so dry. She said that many people have sinus problems because of the dryness of the area.

Footprints on the concrete overhangs in car parks, who does them and why? There were even some on the ceilings on some carparks......baffled me how they got there.!!

Final thoughts

Obviously having a car is essential.

Can't wait to go back but we need to save and next time we think we're going to start off in San Fran and head our way down to Vegas by car.

Loved it, love Vegas, didn't love losing a lot of money. MGM is really tight on the slots and players card rewards, liked staying there but wouldn't stay again. Spent a lot of our money gambling there and only managed to accrue one free buffet breakfast! Not impressed. Chatted to quite a few americans who all commented how tight the slots were and they had been coming for years.

Plus when we checked our MGM account they appear to have charged us twice for the same item and ....guess what have not responded to emails....so not impressed.

I would not play WOZ in Tropicana, very, very tight machines with hardly any bonus rounds, poo! Conversely TI brilliant and kept getting bonus after bonus.

Circus Circus for Goldfish, machines near the Krispy Kreme stand, very generous, well they were to me.

Used the FairFX card, we both have one, withdrew money from various machines in various places, cheapest was Walmart $1.50, most expensive was $4.50 in one casino....oopsy.

My little netbook was an essential, for transferring cash to FairFX cards, to checking and booking shows and keeping in touch with family. Wasn't impressed with the charges on internet but as yet can't see a way round this.

The mobile phones were brilliant and more than paid for themselves.Really useful so we could keep in touch with each other especially if I went off shopping in the car and hubby was somewhere else.
Would highly, highly recommend.

Learned very late in the day that my strategy for playing slots was all wrong, instead of maxing the bet I went minimal and then started to win, I never won anything maxing all the time. I won decent amounts by buiding up my totals by minimal betting and it also meant I could play for longer.

Despite having saved up, I didn't stick to my plan of having a set amount each day for gambling, putting winnings to one side or being sensible. Duh!!

What did work as a plan was on the second week myself and hubby decided to split whatever winnings we had and gave half to each other.
This meant that whatever I won, I immeadiately withdrew and gave hubby his half. This stopped me getting careless and made nice surprises daily when we presented our wad of notes to each other. It also eased the pain of losing as it seemed to work that one of us would do really well when the other hadn't....usually me I have to say.

Weather, it was hot at the end of October, although we had 2 cold, windy days. I originally packed my suitcase, then took half out, then about a fifth more and still didn't wear everything. I also took too many shoes. About 4 pairs too many.

MGM Pool

We had a look and a walk around it one day, meant to go back and didn't.....time marched on and it kind of dropped off our agenda. Looked great though and if you're a pool person I'd recommend.

Walking from room to anywhere

This was hard work, before stayed in Barbary Coast, small casino (now Bills)but MGM is vast, and we felt it. Obviously I was limited as well but I almost had to brace myself for 'THE WALK' just to get anywhere. Another reason why I wouldn't stay there again.

So folks thats it, can't remember all of it, I didn't drink at all but had some lovely virgin cocktails like strawberry daquiri when I figured out there was more to order from the waitress than coke or OJ......DUH...again.

Already have a list of stuff we need to go and find/do for the next trip, missed the cheesecake factory again, would like to explore Encore, PH and Ceasers, oooh loads really.

I'll try to put some links in when I post this to make it a bit easier to find things/places.

Hope some of this helps you on your trip, thanks as always to this forum and to Tripadvisor for the many tips I've learned to make my trips excellent.

Froggitt

December ( including Xmas and New Year )

Thanks Triker.comprehensive review. Few Qs.......Vroom was that part of your package, your memberships or paid for? Also did you have pre-existing condition insurance and thru whom? Which Walmart as was it a HUGE one? How much were the phones and did they do SIM only? Jersey Bois.....were they available at Tix4 and how much?

Thanks - Froggitt

Triker

October , November

Completely forgot to add that on the flight home I took 1 3mg Melatonin and slept for 5 hours :eek:.....I have never been able to sleep on a plane, but this, a squishy pillow and my earphones worked a treat. Really, really helped with the jetlag plus made the journey go faster and I wasn't scared.:T

Triker

October , November

Froggitt wrote: »

Thanks Triker.comprehensive review. Few Qs.......Vroom was that part of your package, your memberships or paid for? Also did you have pre-existing condition insurance and thru whom? Which Walmart as was it a HUGE one? How much were the phones and did they do SIM only? Jersey Bois.....were they available at Tix4 and how much?

Thanks - Froggitt

Hi Froggitt, nope we booked the V Room seperately at the time of booking, £17 each and we booked about 8 months in advance. Now I'm not completely sure if you can access V Room if you're not on a Virgin Package but its worth ringing and checking.

Insurance is with Columbus Direct and they are really good re pre existing conditions, I have my DD1's asthma down and when hubby had a mouth op last year we added that....air pressure in plane, risk of stitches bursting thing...plus mine didn't add that much to premium. Somewhere on this forum I posted the details so I'll hunt it down for you in a sec, its an annual, multi trip worldwide policy for all of us.


Walmart it was 1 or 2 on the list........went a few times.:D Next to airport runway as they were planes coming into land just to the left as you went into the store.

I've put a link in to the phones now in the report.

Jersey Boys tickets were through the concierge....:o stupid I now know as I was charged $25 for the privilege of them booking them for me. I'll have to double check on what we paid, its written down somewhere.

Froggitt

December ( including Xmas and New Year )

This http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/T-mobile-USA-prepaid-sim-card-with-10-credit-Free-P-P_W0QQitemZ110450043562QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Mobile_Home_Phones_Sim_Cards_CV?hash=item19b755eaaa seems a reasonable deal for two people in Vegas, with triband phones, for a week.....am I reading it right that I buy two on ebay for ten quid each, and when I get there it costs $1 a day for unlimited calls to the other SIM card? $10 included so it will last the week.

Anyone any better ideas?

Triker

October , November

Froggitt wrote: »

This http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/T-mobile-USA-prepaid-sim-card-with-10-credit-Free-P-P_W0QQitemZ110450043562QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Mobile_Home_Phones_Sim_Cards_CV?hash=item19b755eaaa seems a reasonable deal for two people in Vegas, with triband phones, for a week.....am I reading it right that I buy two on ebay for ten quid each, and when I get there it costs $1 a day for unlimited calls to the other SIM card? $10 included so it will last the week.

Anyone any better ideas?

When are you going?

Triker

October , November

Tipping, forgot to add this bit too, we tipped all the time, usually 15% but 20% for really good service. We also tipped the maids by leaving some dollars and a little note on our bed saying thank you and a smiley face.

Can't recall anywhere where we had bad service.

I did here numerous people complaining that they'd been sat at machines and tables for ages with no sight of a cocktail waitress....this was never a problem for me for some reason.

The cocktail waitresses were partiularly appreciative if you tipped a couple of dollars for a drink, compared to what you'd pay at the bar....its a bargain.

Froggitt

December ( including Xmas and New Year )

Triker wrote: »

When are you going?

Towards the end of December

Froggitt

December ( including Xmas and New Year )

Triker wrote: »

Tipping, forgot to add this bit too, we tipped all the time, usually 15% but 20% for really good service.

That reminds me of when we had $50 daily credit at Venetian, but were going to the Canyon and out to eat somewhere else.......had a six dollar smoked salmon bagel for breakfast and rounded the tip upto the $50.....I think she thought we were barmy or more Brits that didnt uderstand tipping