LA + Vegas, need tips and recommendations!

fatboyonadiet

Not had any luck with priceline yet and no response to help from betterbidding, should I consider a split over 2 hotels? And how long should I leave it before I start doing that? Since I will have a car should I think about the airport hotels?

blindman

fatboyonadiet you have a PM

fatboyonadiet

blindman wrote:

fatboyonadiet you have a PM

Cheers and thanks again, you now have mail!

nives316

Circus Circus is the cheapest place to stay on the strip but it is pretty far down.

I didn't mind the walking really and there are shuttles between someof the casinos.

Have a great time .. Vegas in the best.

completely_lost

fatboyonadiet wrote:

Not had any luck with priceline yet and no response to help from betterbidding, should I consider a split over 2 hotels? And how long should I leave it before I start doing that? Since I will have a car should I think about the airport hotels?

I wouldn't consider an airport hotel as traffic is really bad in LA and there is nothing to do there at all. What areas are you bidding in again and how much have you bid up to?

jonesMUFCforever

Now I'm confused. Why has bad traffic in LA got to do with Vegas?

fatboyonadiet

completely_lost wrote:

I wouldn't consider an airport hotel as traffic is really bad in LA and there is nothing to do there at all. What areas are you bidding in again and how much have you bid up to?

Redondo and Santa Monica bid up to £35 for a 2.5* and above.

fatboyonadiet

ejones999 wrote:

Now I'm confused. Why has bad traffic in LA got to do with Vegas?

This thread is about an impending trip to LA and Vegas!

keepthereceipt

Hi again,

We are now just over the half way point of our trip and currently in Utah. Spent last night in a very nice Motel 6 in Hurricane, Utah which is near to Zion National Park.

To recap from earlier postings in this thread..

Arrived July 21. Spent first week in LA - Universal Studios, South Bay beaches/Santa Monica/Huntington?newport beaches/shopping etc.

Drove up to stay in Ventura for couple nights. Visited Santa Barbara/Solvang/vineyards/Ojai. Watned to visit a few of the places featured in the film Sideways!!

Drove to Vegas. Stayed overnight in Motel 6 Barstow.

3 nights in Vegas - we left there yesterday. Thoughts on Vegas.

We stayed in the Flamingo at $80 per night which is the Mon to Thurs rate. It was very busy and although the pool areas are massive it was heaving there so we didn't bother much.

It has been very hot so we have tended to use the car as much as possible. Although a car is by no means necessary in Vegas because you could plonk yourself somewhere central and then walk or use taxis, having a car has been great. It has allowed us to go to the malls, drive up to Downtown Fremont Street and also it has been cooler. Parking is easy because they are so geared for this and always swant to welcome prospective gamblers whereever you go.

If I came again and had a car I would stay off the strip where it was quieter and had a pool that was less busy. There are great deals to be had away from the strip as well because they had to try harder. One night we went for dinner at a place called Terrible's !!! over on Tropicana and it was great.

We went to the top of the Stratosphere - queue for an hour at night and also saw the 3d IMAX at the luxor which was incredible. Also saw - fountains at the Bellagio - a different performance every 15 mins
Volcano at Mirage - every hour but OK
saw inside of Venetian and Caesar's etc.

Didn't get many coupons which were that useful. Also disappointed that absolutely everything in the Flamingo was extra. They even wanted $1 to use the phone in the room for a local call which is usually free. Again these are the things you get for free off the strip and perhaps if you pay more for the hotel on the strip than we did.

I was there with teenage boys and not gambling so perhaps the perspective will be different if you are there to party.

Drove north on I15 via St George to Hurrican - next week will be spent visiting Zion/Bryce/Canonylands/Arches/South Rim and then hopefully on to San Diego. Leaving a lot of flexibility on the trip.

Saved this to last -
On Wednesday in Vegas we did the helicopter trip with Papillon. The prices on the net were different to what I got when I called them up. I also rang maverick but they were a lot more expensive - around $430 each.
Papillon seemed to have 2 trips which landed in the canyon - one for 15 mins and another for 30 mins. We went for the former. Cost was around $280 each for 4 of us.
Picked up from Flamingo by bus - taken to airport. Safety video. Allocated to our chopper. It was a 6 seater but we were told that the high temperatures meant they were underloading so it was just the 4 of us and a great ex army pilot called Virginia Williams.
45 mins flight there - over Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and then over the west rim of the canyon. Landed - champagne and cold drinks - then back including an amazing sweep round central Vegas. Total flight and stop took getting on for 2 hours.

The weather has changed today and it is cloudy and some showers at the moment.

Off to Zion now.....

wdyw

keepthereceipt wrote:

Drove north on I15 via St George to Hurrican - next week will be spent visiting Zion/Bryce/Canonylands/Arches/South Rim and then hopefully on to San Diego. Leaving a lot of flexibility on the trip.

Any thoughts yet on route between Arches and south Rim? While Canyon de Chelly is worth a look, you can't get to walk around the ruins and the town of Chinle is a bit of a hole. Don't miss monument valley and Navajo National monument is a nice wlak - especially if you get on one of the guided tours. From there its either straight to South rim or via Page. A perfect town for a quiet day by/on the water (Lake Powell - Huge arena a few miles out of town at Wahweap), but not a lot else. A few miles from Antelope canyon (grumble at the cost but just about THE best slot canyon) and a real hidden gem lookup point - Horseshoe Bend - where A Quiksilver Ad was filmed.

Pity about the rain ... ..but I'm sure it won't last or even better turns into a lightening feast!