Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

cloudy_nines

May

TUESDAY

We woke up at 12pm and went straight to Qua Spa to use the Spa facilities and to get a massage. AMAZING! Such a beautiful place. Even better was that it was so quiet, I literally had it all to myself. Only once for about 3 mins did I share the arctic ice room with another lady. Had the roman baths, whirlpool, steam room and sauna to myself. Great stuff. We both had the midweek $99 massage which was excellent and such great value. The men and women's areas are separate but we didn't mind. I upgraded to include reflexology as well, again very nice and relaxing. I really do recommend this place!

In the evening we went for a wonder. I somehow managed to drop my camera down the toilet on the way back from the Grand Canyon and so we needed a new one. Went to a camera shop near Imperial Palace and bought a Nikon Coolpix for $200 (originally was $299) and walked away happy. Since we got back to England I checked the price online and we were seriously ripped off as the camera is worth no more than £70 ! Feel like right mugs now!

Had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi after reading the reviews on here. Waited about an hour for a patio seat but it was worth the wait as the views of the fountains were great. Played a few games of 3 card poker and craps at Paris but lost so not so good, think we'll stick with Pai Gow when we return! I thought the meal were mediocre but not outstanding, OH thought the same. I would go back though, it's just such a nice setting. Walked over to the fountains after and watched in awe for about an hour or so. So amazing it left us speechless.

WEDNESDAY

Last day boo hoo. Wondered round a few hotels before going for dinner at The Cheesecake factory again as the first meal was so good. Again, another great meal. Went to the Venetian and walked round their mock Venetial streets which were impressive. Walked to Wynn in the expectation of having a few last games there as that is our favourite casino as well as hotel, however the limits were high and we didn't have much money left. Went back to MGM and packed and showered ready for our flight. I managed to convince OH to play a few last games of Pai Gow seeing as it was our last night and all that. He agreed and so we went down at 1am and played through to 4am. Must have been our lucky night, as we won enough money to take us through to Monday in New York, result!

THURSDAY

Caught 12.20 flight to New York. Funnily enough flew over the Grand Canyon and got a better view from the plane!!

SUMMARY

Loved it loved it loved it! So much so we want to return next year before we settle down to have kiddies. We weren't bored even for one second as there is just so much to do and I feel we missed out so much as we didn't get to see the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, didn't get to the Stratosphere, didn't go on a gondola, didn't go up the Eiffel Tower to name a few. The weather was just right, towards the end it really started to heat up but it was a nice dry heat (as opposed to NYC where the temp was less but I was sweating buckets due to the humidity). The table limits were lower than I expected which was a pleasant surprise so we got plenty of gambling in at not too much expense, even at the higher end hotels which I liked. I thought we would have to stick with O'Shea's, Bills, Casino Royale etc etc. However, we tend to play slower games like Pai Gow Poker where you can play for hours and not lose too much as opposed to BJ / roulette etc.

I hope I haven't bored anyone to death, hopefully it's been a nice read!

cloudy_nines

May

luci wrote: »

You certainly packed a lot into your 11 days!!

Haha we did. We prebooked and paid for all the shows/tours/Qua Spa beforehand and 'booked' something every other day so we had a lot of 'flexible, do whatever' time as well

luci

May

MGM 3 day sale from $51 till 31 March Book by 30 May

MGM Grand 3-Day Sale!

Experience Maximum Vegas at the MGM Grand with this low rates!

Promotion Runs
May 27, 2010 - March 31, 2011

Offer Expires
May 30, 2010

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=001&host=promo&code=INB367

luci

May

Yes the golden rule is to do the lesser hotels first and leave the best till last, but I can understand why you did it with the price difference.

Even though we'd stayed at all the hotels before, so I knew what I was moving to, I was initially disappointed going from Encore to Bally's. The disappointment was short lived as there was nothing wrong with Bally's apart from the room being a bit old.

We quite like the rooms at the MGM, but would probably feel the same as you if we did the Encore first.

We really liked the Celebrity Spa Suite at the MGM, not because the room was fancy, but it was huge and we really liked the extra space and the jacuzzi was a nice extra.

bairn7

June

luci wrote: »

MGM VIP SUITE PACKAGE

Book your All Access All Suite package and experience non-stop Maximum Vegas!

Includes:
* Nightly pass to Studio 54 or Tabu
* Daily Gym only passes
* 2 for 1 cocktails at Studio 54 and Tabu

Promotion Runs
May 26, 2010 - January 31, 2011


Offer Expires
August 1, 2010

https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=001&host=promo&code=INB366&kbid=104541

Thanks again Luci, another great offer. Using this offer I managed to get a quote of $75 per night for 3 nights in a Bungalow Queen Suite compared to $63, $63 and $71 for three nights previously booked for a grand tower suite. Is this a good deal?

Does anyone know if I either of these rooms have a better chance of having a strip view? I'm going to try the $20 trick to ask for a high floor strip view but can't find a map of the suites relative to the grand tower.

Thanks

photome

bairn7 wrote: »

Thanks again Luci, another great offer. Using this offer I managed to get a quote of $75 per night for 3 nights in a Bungalow Queen Suite compared to $63, $63 and $71 for three nights previously booked for a grand tower suite. Is this a good deal?

Does anyone know if I either of these rooms have a better chance of having a strip view? I'm going to try the $20 trick to ask for a high floor strip view but can't find a map of the suites relative to the grand tower.

Thanks

Its a good deal if you want a bigger room. the chances of getting anything better with $20 at MGM are slim. Its the only place I have failed (twice).

WestHamDaz

June

Good read Cloudy, nice one. We fly out on Tuesday and really looking forward to it.

Never played poker over in vegas, whats it like? I play a little bit here, just with mates down the pub. Whats the atmosphere like, are there any 'local' rules or quirks that players use that you should be aware of before you play?

Gav86

June

Great TR! Love reading them when people post them.

Quick question. Ive got a $25 Stripburger Restaurant.com certificate. Its minimum purchase $35. Does Stripburger count alcoholic drinks in this?

stoneman

September

Nice report Cloudy, you packed it in. We just seem to sit around the pool all day now when not shopping. A couple of things though, you will never get asked for the ESTA form, it is an electronic registration and as soon as your pasport gets scanned the immigration guy will see that you have done it. The green form is gradually being phased out and has disapeared form some airport altogether. As for the Saturday afternoon pool adventure, that's Vegas. Saturday is get drunk by the pool day, we always join it. But yes it does get very rowdy at some hotels, you should be at the Flamingo!!!!!

stoneman

September

Gav86 wrote: »

Great TR! Love reading them when people post them.

Quick question. Ive got a $25 Stripburger Restaurant.com certificate. Its minimum purchase $35. Does Stripburger count alcoholic drinks in this?

Look on the cert. It will either say drinks not included or at the managements discression. But unless you are going there alone I don't think you will have a problem reaching the $35 minimum spend, we didn't.