Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

TangoBunny

September

when are you going Ferf??

ferf1223

April

14th October - can't wait! I think we miss you, just...one time we'll be there the same time and can meet up.

photome

Rainmaker_uk wrote: »

Just got back from Vegas had a great time!

Just a word of warning about the MGM Grande - very overrated in my opinion. Really needs a renovation - no flat screen (in fact had ancient CRT telly!) and no kettle or fridge in the room!!!

This is not a patch on other places I have stayed - IMO you can do a lot better for the money.

Overrated by who?

I agree it needs a renovation and there is other places I would rather stay but for the money you pay..I just had a bungalow suite for $55 a night:j.

As for kettle and fridge. AFAIK there is NO hotels with a kettle in Vegas ( a few have coffee makers) unless you stay in a condo. And most hotels will provide a fridge if you ask, including the MGM

trets77

wdyw wrote: »

Agreed!

I'm also quite happy with the MGM knowing its a really cheap option and a "decent" place to stay. "Overrated" makes it sound like you were under the impression that the MGM is a high end luxury hotel. If the OP wants to see what the MGM has to offer at the luxury end, book into MGM Skylofts next time or if you come up on the lottery (double rollover ....obviously), try out the MGM Mansion!

can at least dream about it

http://www.hotelsoftherichandfamous.com/hotels/Mansion-at-MGM-Grand/Mansion-at-MGM-Grand.cfm

ferf1223

April

photome wrote: »

As for kettle and fridge. AFAIK there is NO hotels with a kettle in Vegas ( a few have coffee makers) unless you stay in a condo. And most hotels will provide a fridge if you ask, including the MGM

Agreed - kettle usage in America is minimal...even in homes...I have never been in a hotel in the US with a kettle. Coffee maker, yes...kettle, no...we are a nation of coffee drinkers, mostly. You can buy a cheap hot-pot at Walgreens or similar if it's a necessity or bring a travel kettle...And fridges usually have a charge (free if you have medication that needs to be refrigerated)...though I have heard of people tipping housekeeping to make a free fridge magically appear.

Vegas more than anywhere else wants you to get out of your room and go down to the casino level to fill your needs...

I think it's good to have various reviews of various properties...just when the negatives are all things that could have been determined beforehand it seems a bit odd to highlight them. As for the CRT telly - several hotels in Vegas still have them in their rooms...it's never really bothered me but again, if the room has a flat screen telly it will say so on the list of amenities.

TangoBunny

September

Ferf....I remember I asked you before now....yes we miss each other by one day....I'm only just catching Luci as well....she very kindly agreed to meet on her last day and I know how hectic that can be without having to go and meet someone....still it's only for a short time and it will be nice to see her again as on out last meet she had to shoot off to go and see Cher.....will be meeting Pebbles as well at some point TBA....and anyone else who wants to join in on either meet

TangoBunny

September

ferf1223 wrote: »

14th October - can't wait! I think we miss you, just...one time we'll be there the same time and can meet up.

Going back next year in Oct...woop woop
Gang of us are going for 5 days NY and 5 days in LV

Perhaps if your there we can meet up....no dates yet I'm afraid

photome

trets77 wrote: »

can at least dream about it

http://www.hotelsoftherichandfamous.com/hotels/Mansion-at-MGM-Grand/Mansion-at-MGM-Grand.cfm

When I was there in Aug (MGM) I was playing cards next to a guy who had a skyloft comped. I was playing between $20 and $40 a hand he was playing between $1200 and $2000 a hand:eek:.

He was only in his 30s as well:(

They didnt comp me one:D

luci

May

We have just moved from the MGM. The rooms aren't the most modern, but they are in good order. We had a Bungalow suite which was massive at 694 sqft and yes it had a fridge. In fact for 10 of our 14 nights we will have a fridge and may even get one the last 4 nights if we get a P room at Paris.

No Vegas hotels don't have kettles, but research would have told you that. Again we have a kettle for 6 nights as we are staying in a suite with a kitchenette. Most tourist hotels in Europe don't have kettles, but you can find some that do if you research.

Not sure why the MGM was over-rated. It's not a high end property, it's more mid-range. Again perhaps the perception was wrong without proper research.

We could have had the Bungalow suite for $56 if we had stayed next week. We got $90 of freebies at check in. Where else would you get value like that?

totallybored

September

At last, I’ve finally caught up on sleep so have had time to do a TR. This trip was a bit more of a budget trip as we managed to fit in an extra trip at Xmas and we also took my dad this time (who is a bit of a typical northerner when it comes to spending money).
This trip was for 9 nights staying at the Encore and Mirage and we flew with American Airlines as I got a good deal in a sale earlier this year and paid just over £400 each.
Monday 6th Sept
Up at 3 am as we had a 7.50am flight from Heathrow to Chicago. Both AA and United have an early flight via Chicago that can get you to Vegas just after 2pm, I’ve not found any other routes that arrive in Vegas early to mid afternoon but if anyone has any suggestions let me know (I refuse to fly Virgin again). Flight to Chicago was great, plane was half empty. I’d booked 2 seats on the left together and then my dad across the aisle at the end of the group of 5. No one next to him in the next 3 seats. Row in front of him all empty so hubby took that and I had the two on my own. I also found economy to be better with AA than United with a bit more leg room (although we prefer United’s Economy Plus as hubby is 6’3 and it makes a huge difference for him). No idea what the food was like as I don’t eat airline food but they served breakfast and then a snack before landing.


Arrived in Chicago on time to be met with a huge queue at immigration. I’ve been through Chicago quite a few times and normally it takes a few minutes but not this time, over an hour. Luckily we had over 2 hours between flights so it wasn’t a worry. Flight to Vegas was much more of a problem. Spent an hour sitting on the plane at the gate to finally be told there was a problem and we weren’t going anywhere! The plane was too heavy so it couldn’t fly and we had to get off to wait for a new, bigger plane! I started worrying at this point that we’d be stuck in Chicago forever but as soon as we got off they did announce a new gate immediately to go to and the flight was due to go in about 40 minutes. Got on the new plane and it was exactly the same size and there seems to be another problem and we sit there for another hour and it turns out there is a problem with the oxygen this time! No idea why the weight is now not an issue though. Finally take off about 3 hours late.

Arrived in Vegas around 6.30pm, I was quite annoyed as I’d planned a few hours at the pool but now it was too late. However, for the first time ever our luggage was some of the first to come out onto the carousel. Got in a taxi to the Encore and told the driver no tunnel and to take the shortest route. He said he’d take the quickest and I told him no, the shortest and cheapest. He ignored me and took the tunnel. I know I should have kicked up a fuss but I was so exhausted I just let dad pay we when got there.

Checked in and got 2 rooms on the 57th floor next to each other at the end of the corridor closest to the strip with a strip view. View was amazing! I’d got an excellent rate for $109 a night with a $75 resort credit per room for the panoramic view rooms. Our room was a king and dad got 2 queens. Not so keen on the layout of the 2 queens as the beds are closest to the window and the sofa is in the corner where the bed goes in the king room and there is also no dividing TV between them. Dad is more than happy though.

As we were so tired decided to just go and grab some food in the Wynn so we headed to the Pizza Place. Prices were very reasonable, got a pizza to share and fries for me and hubby and dad got some chicken burger and fries type thing. Bill came to less than $50 so we charged it to one of the rooms.

Stopped to play a few slots on the way back through the Wynn and have a couple of drinks. Won some money straight away on the Wizard of Oz machine and had a few mojitos. Walked back to Encore, another drink and went to bed about 11 absolutely shattered.

Tuesday 7th September
Now despite being awake the day before for around 28 hours and having only had 3 hours sleep the night before that, 4am I’m up and awake and cannot sleep! Hubby on the other hand will not wake up so I read a bit of my book, look out of the window, watch TV and fill in time until nearly 7 when I can drag him out of bed for some breakfast. Grab drinks and pastries from the bar at the bottom of the lifts and charge it to the room. Costs around $20 which is pricey but a hotel in Europe would charge more than this so it’s not actually too bad.

Meet dad around 8.30 and head off to the Mirage to pick up the hire car. I rented a 4x4 Ford tank via Netflights for around £200 for a week including additional driver and fuel. Had to pay an additional $11 tax which I was annoyed at (this happened at Xmas too when I picked up a car at the Dollar in TI). As it was raining (yes, the first day of rain they’d had for about a billion days happens on my first day of holiday!!) I decide we’ll head out to Primm to start my favourite holiday pastime of shopping. Spent a few hours (only did one circuit of the shops, I have been known to do several) and got a mountain of stuff. Notable bargains were 30% off everything in Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, 40% off everything in Old Navy, $15 t-shirts in Hollister. Grabbed lunch from Subway in the food court as there is very little choice and it seemed the best of a bad bunch.

Headed back to Vegas and as the sun was now back and went to the European pool for a few hours with hubby. Plenty of seats and as last time we were there no one on the beds in and around the pool. I’m not sure why they don’t just allow people to use them during quiet times. No one is going to spent several $100 on a bed on a Tuesday afternoon when hardly anyone is around. I quite like the European pool as it’s relaxed but I do find it can feel like you’re intruding in some middle aged wife swap, swingers party. I imagine on a weekend it’s a bit more of a party atmosphere with a younger crowd but while we were there it seemed to be middle aged couples and the female would take her top off and sit on the ledge in front of the bar.

Met dad at 7pm and got a taxi to Aria. He wanted to go to Todd English Pub as he’d read online that they do dime beers from 9 on a Tuesday night. Thought we’d eat there first so headed in about 8. Dad had fish and chips which he said were good, hubby had roast chicken sandwich but wasn’t impressed when a half chicken on a plate appeared and he had to assemble his own sandwich and I ordered chicken pot pie which I wasn’t overly keen with it as it as a bit too sickly. As we were finishing eating loads of studenty looking kids started appearing at the bar. Obviously the dime beers had started! Anyway, loads of kids came in and they were all stood around with very small beers in what looked like plastic glasses. I decided I’d be more happy paying for beer elsewhere rather than staying somewhere with a bunch of drunk kids. The bill was around $90 including tip. I don’t think I’d go back for food as I didn’t think it was that great, I much prefer First Food and Bar at the Palazzo. Also, I hated the toilets. Not only were they dark and horrible but they had a woman with soap and perfumes etc. I hate this in toilets. I can get my own soap and paper towel, I don’t want someone to hand it to me and I don’t want to pay them a $1 for their rubbish perfume. I find it a cheap and tacky thing to have in toilets and didn’t expect to find it here. When we left the queue to get in was incredibly long full of scuzzy looking students. I’m not sure why somewhere in city centre would want to attract that type of non-spending crowd and it seemed out of place with everything else.

Played a few slots, had a cocktail at one of the bars and headed back around 11.30.

Wednesday 9th September
Met dad about 8.30 and headed to the coffee shop in the Wynn for breakfast. There is free wifi here and various bits of the casino in the Wynn which is useful. Back to the car and time for more shopping! This time the outlets near downtown. Got some things from Banana Republic and Gap and then off to Inn N Out for lunch! Went to the big one close to NYNY and it wasn’t too busy as we found an empty table straight away (have been there when it’s impossible to find a seat). After lunch headed back to the pool for a few hours before meeting back up with dad about 7.30.

Thought we’d do the south end of the strip so took a taxi to MGM Grand. Played some slots and had a couple of drinks. I decided I wanted to go to Ross so we went there but I couldn’t find anything (I also wasn’t in the mood for jumble sale style shopping so we didn’t stay long). Dad was hungry and had spotted Dennys on the way to Ross so we went there. I don’t like Dennys and find it quite depressing like a Little Chef but as I wasn’t too hungry it would do and also please the dad and hubby on the moneysaving front. After that we went over to NYNY for a few slots and beers, through Monte Carlo very quickly and into Aria which I prefer. Left around 11.30 and as we were in the taxi back to Encore I decided we’d head to the Peppermill for cocktails as I never been before. OMG, this is the pinkest tackiest place in the world and I loved it! Cocktails were so cheap and it’s just so pink! Wish I’d gone on other trips. It was also very easy to walk back to the Encore from here.