Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

iltisman

March

Has anyone tried the Tropicana since it has been refurbished. I looked in the casino a couple of weeks ago and it looked much better.
I used to stay there 10+ years ago and its location was great but the rooms became very tatty.

Froggitt

I dont think anyone noticed that it had been refurbished

stoneman

September

We stayed there a few years ago in the west wing, thought it was OK, but the pool is very nice.
P.S.
Just googled and the west wing is being demolished and major renovations planned, so i personally would avoid.

BaileyB

I got a Mustang fron Dollar, took alot of work though. I ordered it from MGM and went there and told run out so can have a jeep instead told them not happy. After alot of going back and fore said i wanted to try the airport told me it would be a waste of your time. Went to airport and got one. So if anyone has a Mustang/convertable ordered with Dollar just go straight to the airport. They did arrange a pick up from the MGM to the airport for us too.

Currently in Hollywood (bit of a dump really lol) Back in Vegas on Monday staying at Cesars Palace.

gamboller

January , February

19May 2011 to 28th May

Flights with delta Shannon to Vegas then 24/5 Vegas to San Francisco then home on 28th.

Very reasonable? 1269euro for 2

Any opinions? Would you tag on LA or New York to this and add a few days

stoneman

September

gamboller wrote: »

Would you tag on LA or New York to this and add a few days

How can I put this?
NO!

crazyhazel

January , February

Hiya peeps

Off to Vegas again tomorrow. Have booked in at The Tuscany Suites. Does any one have any good or bad info - things to look out for etc

Thanks in advance
:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

ferf1223

April

greetings from slightly cloudy Vegas!

Have had a good trip so far...highlights

first class upgrade ORD to LAS (500 mile sticker upgrade, we'd paid $60 for the 2 additional stickers we needed a few months ago). We were split up - only upgraded about 9:30 am for a 1:15 flight, but that was fine with us for the extra comfort. Have to say though having been lucky enough to travel business on the transatlantic route last trip, domestic first pales so, so much in comparison. Absolutely not complaining, were delighted with the upgrade.

Had booked Palace Tower Deluxe at Caesars and asked about complimentary upgrades at check-in ...guy said he would see what he could do and ended up in a Bellagio-facing Augustus Tower room...exactly what we were hoping for so we were thrilled. Tipped $20 (I had had it in my hand - but I don't like the 'sandwich' myself).

Met up with a friend from high school I haven't seen in 21 years - we went to Grand Lux (excellent as usual). So cool to see people after so long and think 'she is EXACTLY the same person'...we laughed a lot.

ATV tour (Groupon, Awesome Adventures, $85 I think) meant really early start first morning (had to be there at 7am, 45mins-1hour drive meant we left about 5:45 because I am me and naturally got there about 6:30)...it was fun, but it kind of scared the bejesus out of me in some places - I've never ridden one before...by the end (2 hours) I was a lot more comfortable though. Our guide was a great girl - really funny, personable, told us lots about the area (Eldorado Canyon). There's a scene in 3000 Miles to Graceland filmed on the property (and a blown-up plane still there).

Yesterday was the Hoover Dam bypass/Colorado River Bridge/Mike O'Callaghan Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge tour...Bridging America...according to the article I read attendance was over the 20,000 expected. It was really well organized on the way out (apparantly 60 double decker buses in use)...on the way back it was a bit less well organized but as a result of standing in a really long, really slow queue to get the bus back to the car pebblesmax found us! so cool. we had plans to meet up for lunch after, and we had said 'maybe we will see you on the bridge' but when we got there thought that there was no way in this world that would happen with so many people. It was great to see her and Tony again (and our friend Norm)...and really cool to be a part of an event like that. Afterwards we went to Mr Lucky's at Hard Rock for lunch and all had the $7.77 special (steak, 3 prawns on a skewer, mashed potato, can't remember if the drink was included too or not) and really enjoyed it - I was not planning on trying the special (I am not a fan of the Ellis Island steak special) but to me this was really good! I was really happy that I tried it and would recommend it, really glad that pebbles suggested it. Only thing that might let it down for some is the rub they put on the steak. My hubby isn't a big fan of peppercorn anything - and he was OK with the steak, he enjoyed it...but I could see it putting some off. To me it was delicious.

Wandered around the rest of the day - had a good win on a Capricorn Mountain - entire screen but one was butterflies - $216 for a $0.75 bet...happy enough with that!

and those frozen Bailey's at O'Shea's? OMG...they are waaaay too good. I don't normally like Bailey's as it tastes too alcoholy to me...but we had 2 doubles each...that's a lot for us.

Had BB Kings (with restaurant.com voucher) for dinner. We are putting it on the list with Blondie's and Raffles at Mandalay Bay - if you have a restaurant.com voucher it makes it a good deal...if not it is overpriced. The catfish was absolutely delicious - maybe the best I have had...but the fries were terrible, the hushpuppies were terrible (both had no doubt been cooked ages before) and hubby's pulled pork barbeque was very good, but portion was a bit mean based on the menu price - it was enough, yes...but seemed not a lot for the money.

Today is ????? then Cher tonight.

ferf1223

April

My hubby just reminded me of something our friend Norm mentioned yesterday.

Harrah's All Stage Pass - unlimited shows for 48 hours for $99 (some have supplements - $40 per ticket).

http://www.harrahs.com/allstagepass/

In some cases there are 2-for-1's readily available for several of these or other deals...so it may or may not be a great deal. And you can't pick up your tickets until 2 hours before the show, so there's no guarantee that there will be availability, and quite a lot of faffing about to get here and there 2 hours before...it wouldn't really be something we would be interested in but maybe others might be.

TangoBunny

September

Traveled to Gatwick via train on Tuesday 28th Sept. Bought open return tickets in advance when they were on a summer special offer Mine cost £71.70 and Al's over 55 ticket cost just £25.Journey took us 5 hours and we went straight to Virgin bag drop when we got there.....having previously done my online boarding earlier that day. Only 3 couples and a family in front of us so we were seen really quickly,got our boarding passes and made our way down to Orange car park to ring the Ambers guesthouse......there was a bit of a mix up and we waited to be picked up for nearly an hour which I wasn't best pleased about. Anyhoo got there eventually. Lovely clean guesthouse and our room was nice. Went to the pub across the road in the evening for a few drinks before settling down at around 11pm.


Wednesday September 29th

Woke up at around 6am,couldn't sleep for the traffic noise and planes taking off so had a shower,got dressed and went down for breakfast .Really great choice for breakfast,continental,cereals,fruit,yoghourt or of course traditional English....Everything was self service...Bacon,sausage,hash browns,mushrooms,beans,tomatoes....help yourself to as much as you want and they did the eggs any way you asked....I got scrambled and Al had fried and we had toast and coffee to follow......That finished went back to the room to pack up our stuff and then the owner took us to the airport...Went straight through to Departures and hung round the shops until they put up our gate no.....trudged the 20 min walk as you do and waited to board....could see our plane through the window and we got Virginia Plain which I knew had the Odyssey IFE system so I was well chuffed.
Very uneventful flight....disappointed with the food as even though we were fairly near the front in row 37 they managed to only have the vegetarian option left by the time they got to us to we had no choice but to take it....it was some sort of penne pasta thing....had a couple of mouthfuls and left it ...Al only looked at his and didn't attempt any....so we just ate the chicken salad starter and the Gu pud sweet....Al ate his roll and mine as he was hungry....they came round later in the flight with a choc ice,then we had Honey Chicken wrap,then coronation chicken sandwich and a cookie.....they ran out of spirits again as they always do about half way into the flight but didn't bother us as I'd put some little Vodka's in my bag just in case so we got a couple of cokes and made our own drinks.
Watched Iron Man 2,The A Team,The Runaways and Diary of a Wimpy Kid ..Got my pre-ordered Buy before you fly Absolute Vodka 2 for £20 can't fault it.
Landed on time and spent the next hour in immigration as the Thomas Cook flight had come in just before ours waited ages for our luggage then realized it was on the other conveyer belt...Got taxi straight away just 3 people in front of us....told driver to take quickest route and not to take tunnel.....which he did....I asked what the temperature was and he said 96 F ….......fare was $14.50 to the IP so he got the change from a $20.
No one at check in so went straight up to counter...asked for my 2 weeks booking to be linked and requested a non smoking pool view on high floor....got 14107 a double queen which was fine with us.. just 4 rooms from the elevator and more importantly the ice machine....I remember last year at MGM having to trek down 2 corridors for the nearest one...got to room unpacked half our stuff and headed down to the bar for a few beers. Decided we would try the theory of not having a nap on first day but staying up as long as possible to try and beat the jet lag. I can't believe the change for the worst in some ways on the strip....twice as many tramps and beggars,the !!!!!! slappers are now out far earlier than they were before and they are not just Mexican any more,all nationalities are now forcing those bloody cards and magazines at you including women and teenagers ….there are also loads of those looky likey peeps dressed as Elvis,Marilyn Johnny Depp etc.....and don't get me started on those time share touts....they are everywhere and so annoying....Moved on to O'shea's had a couple beers then onto Bills for a strawberry margarita and a beer then got as bit hungry so went to Fatburger....Jet lag is starting to have it's effect now and my eating habits are always the first to suffer....ate half my burger and binned the rest....back to Hawaiian Marketplace...had a couple of beers there while we watched a duo on stage....I could see Al nodding off once or twice so we thought we'd head back up to IP.....intended to try and make it till midnight....piled into bed before 9pm and Al was literally snoring less than 2 mins later.....



Thursday September 30th

Awake at 1.30am,3am,4am 5am and eventually got up at 6am...no point in just tossing and turning. Had a coffee in room and headed to .PH Spice market as we had destination coupons.com $5 off vouchers expiring today....I just can't seem to stomach food for the first few days after long haul....don't get me wrong...food was lovely but I don't know what it is...I start off with the best of intentions then start to gag once I'm quarter of the way through.......Weather was a little cloudy but it was brightening up so we headed to the IP pool for a couple of hours. Went up to room at about 1pm,freshened up then headed down to Bills to meet Luci.....found her in sports bar eventually and had a chat for a while...Luci passed on the American Casino guide to me(thanks Lesley).she'd decided to try for Nathan Burton tickets as it was their last day and we didn't want to take up to much of their time....so she parted company at Flamingo and headed back to the IP for a nap.
Had about an hours kip so made a couple of vodka's and drank them while getting ready for the evening.
Headed to food hall by Casino Royale and opted for Panda express 2 entree's and a side with 2 spring rolls and drinks $17 can't go wrong.....as we were sharing a plate it's hard to say how much I ate but probably about a third. After that we went to the Mirage for me to pick up our Ka tickets....got them on the Summer of Cirque offer over the phone...best seats we could get were section 103 row E seats 11 and 12.That done we walked round forum shops for a bit then wandered over to Bills....really good band on called The Hipsters so we decided to stay for the rest of the evening...started off on the pitchers of Coors then moved on to the Vodka and lemonade's....left Bills at about 1am and hit the sheets by 1.30.


Friday October 1st

Awake at 4.30 am...then dozed back until 6.15....got up had shower Logged onto IP WiFi $9.99 for 24 hours...checked my e-mail,checked in on a few forums...spoke to a few mates on Facebook,read Luci's blog updates and then made our way to Hash Hash a Go Go for breakfast. Why do I waste my money on goof food I don't eat...We both had the basics and Al had extra bacon with his...I ate about a quarter of it and started to gag again.....didn't like the coffee thought it to bitter and it was freezing in there so food went cold quickly....not that I noticed as I wasn't eating mine....bill came to $28.80....paid up and went......only to find the heavens had opened and it was raining.....how bloody dare it rain in Vegas...crossed to Mirage intending to catch tram to TI....guess what...closed for maintainance so we had to walk.....to early for Fashion Show Mall so went over road bridge to Wynn to kill some time...wandered around then went back to Starbucks in FSM for a coffee.....Everywhere was really slippery to walk because of the rain and this wind came up out of nowhere so it was really squally....walked over road bridge to FSM and nearly fell at least 6 times so took my flip flops off and walked barefoot....FSM still not open so went upstairs to food court and had a tea while we waited....wandered around for a couple of hours...didn't buy much just some souvenirs for work mates and friends and a top for daughter in Wet Seal....Walked back to IP and headed for pool as sun was trying to come out....took my laptop down with me can caught up on my blog/TR may as well make the most of it seeing as I'd paid.....started to get really hot so went back up to room at about 3.30 pm....maid was talking to security guard in corridor,passed them,got to our door and saw it was open....panicked thought we'd been turned over checked room but everything was still there I was livid and was all for reporting it but Al said no and went to have a word with security dude...maid gave him evil eyes but Al said he wouldn't report her for leaving it open....she said she'd only just done it but we only had her word for that...
Anyhoo...made a few voddies,played some cards and got some kip.....Woke around 6pm so got ready to go out down to MGM for Ka.....Stopped at food court by MGM and had Wendy's chicken sandwich combo for 2....I ate half by chicken and a mouthfuls of fries....that was it gagging again...at this rate I'm going to be slimmer going home than I was coming.
Moved onto MGM for the 9.30pm show....theater was not full by any means and I supposed we could have asked to move but Al was happy to stay where we were....Really enjoyed the show....awesome acrobatics...excellent and well worth the.................we paid..After we wandered round the Miracle mile for a bit and then up to Bills....Trio on stage were just finishing their set so we got seats real quick and indulged in a pitcher of Miller Lite as the Coors was off.....stayed for an hour or so as the band were a bit to heavy for us....stopped in O'Sheas for a Bailey's slushy and then up to IP to watch the Dealertainers and indulge in one more pitcher before heading up to bed at around 2am.

Saturday October 2nd

Woke at around 6.30am...Weather looked OK so decided to spend the morning at the pool. Not sure what to do about breakfast so had a little wander around ...thought we may try Emperors Buffet....so I asked girl on way in if they had a good choice of fruit...she told me to go and have a look,I couldn't find any only tinned fruit and desserts....so we shelved that idea and plumped for Cafe@Harrah's. Al had the 2 egg breakfast with a side of sausage patty and I had the Sunburst fruit platter....when it came mine was enormous.....2 banana and pecan sandwiches with Philly cheese,pot of yogurt and a huge amount of sliced fruit,strawberries,banana,kiwi,pineapple,grapes and 3 types of melon....and I almost ate it all and didn't gag once....Al says his was the nicest breakfast so far so we may go back tomorrow. Bill came to.$36.70.Crossed road to Mirage and went down to BB Kings to make reservations for Monday night
Back to the room to change and pick up my laptop so I could write my TR up. Down to the pool at 9.30am and it's steaming hot....guy at pool bar said it was supposed to reach 100 today....stuck it out until 1pm and couldn't take anymore so back up to room to freshen up....we needed to find an ATM so thought we'd go to Casino Royal as it's only $1 per drink Lovely guy at bar called Mark...really friendly and works at the speed of light....we were fascinated watching him......had 3 strawberry margaritas and Al had Michelob's Left CR at 3pm and the heavens had opened....it was raining yet again...I can't believe this that's twice now since we got here..Back up to room for a siesta but maid was in process of cleaning so we popped down to the shop to pick up some postcards.....Stamp machine's have mysteriously disappeared from the IP so we'll have to get some at the UPS place at Flamingo up to room,wrote postcards,had a game of cards and then a nap.....oooops overslept until 7.15pm....obviously body still in UK time.
Quick shower and change then out by 9pm....fancied pizza but not going to risk a restaurant just yet. Sent Al up to McDonald's to get fries and I nipped into food court for a couple of pizza slices.....dining all done we slipped over to Forum shops for a wander around then into Caesars to collect our Cher Tickets which I'd booked via Travel zoo on the upgrade offer....paid $131.15 with taxes for 2 2nd Mezzanine seats. That done headed over to Carnival Court to see if we could catch the Crashers my favorite Vegas live rock band...Since we got here I haven't seen one live band play at carnival court....just a DJ and tonight was the same....so I asked the guy in the drinks booth and he said they were playing live somewhere on the strip....Couldn't be arsed to go go and search for them so opted to do the usual.....Called in O'Shea's picked up a couple of Baileys smoothies and listened to a couple of Dudes play some Irish Folk music then moved on to Bills where a band was just setting up their stuff....Recognized Frankie the bass guitarist straight off....yeay it was the Crashers how jammy is that.....got a pitcher of Miller and settled down for the evening.......back to room by 2.30 am.

Sunday 3rd October

Up at 7.15.am...noisy neighbors across the hall woke me up .Had a quick shower and off to Cafe@Harrah's for brekkie....We both had 2 egg breakfast and coffee. I almost ate all of mine.bill came to $28.04...Very cloudy start to the morning so decided to do the South outlets. Crossed to stop at Mirage...no ticket Machine so walked to the one at Ceasars which only takes credit cards....kept rejecting mine so had to walk to the stop at Bellagio where I got us 2 x24 hour passes $14 bargain. Got Goldline to outlets and got there about10.30am.Spent most of my money in the Vans shop as it's youngest daughters fav brand of shoes....picked her up 2 pairs trainers, a purse and 2 vests(start to my Xmas shopping)..Also picked up some koolt shirts and some pj's in various other stores. Spent around $150...Caught Goldline back to FSM end called in Wallgreens for supplies,water,mixers,snacks etc....popped into CR for a $1 margarita and Michelob then up to room to dump purchases.....down at pool by 2.15pm and it's quite hot prob in the 90's..... after a couple of hours it started to cloud over and I'm sure I could feel a bit of rain so we went back to room played some cards and had a few drinks. Siesta until 6pm when I was woken by dudes across hall thumping on the door to be let in..... had shower,changed and caught Deuce down to Excalibur....Band was playing at Dicks so we decided to eat there,Al had the Big !!! Burger and I had the Brisket Sammich. Which was beef chunks in a bun covered with hickory smoked sauce....lush but there was no way I could eat it in a bun...lol...used my knife and fork or I'd have been covered in the stuff...with 2 Pints of Bud the bill came to $42.67......I ate about half mine but I'm getting better....stayed for a while longer then moved onto the lounge bar....there was a Salsa/Latino band playing we weren't keen and the lounge was empty so we decided to wander around seeing as we were down this end of the strip....took the moving escalator to Luxor and stopped for a drink at the bar then walked out through main lobby took some photos then out onto the street. I don't like it this end at all very dingy and no one around...crossed the road to Tropicana to see the improvements....had a drink by the bar.....they''ve done a good job fair play....very white though...crossed over to MGM and had a drink at the Crazy Horse bar ….got the deuce outside the coke bottle up to Flamingo....Called in Bills....had a pitcher of beer and watched some peeps making fools of themselves on the karaoke....not really our cuppa tea as everyone was American and we didn't know half the songs....moved on to O'Sheas....got a couple of Baileys smoothies and some miller for Al and watched the band Kings of Kavaner in the bar headed back to IP around 1.30am had a drink in the room and went off to sleep

Monday 4th October

Noisy sods opposite were banging on the door of 104 and woke me up at 4.40am....why have they always got to hammer on the door...it's obviously not their room....I saw 6 people coming out of there yesterday...I'm sure they are paying for 1 double and sharing hence why they don't have a room key card.
Eventually went back to sleep.. about an hour or so later ..
.Al woke me up at 7.20am so I was ratty as hell got dressed and went down to Betty's for a coffee then caught the deuce down to Denny's down by PH ….. I had the Grand slam and Al the Lumberjack slam....he ate the lot apart from the pancakes...I ate about a third of mine Bill came to $26.60 and I used a $5 off coupon I found in one of the various magazines you get,,Walked down to Ross Dress for Less...I bought a pair of flip flops and slippers for myself and 2 pairs of distressed leather biker type boots for the girls(1 pair each for work) one pair was on clearance $13.99 but the other pair exactly the same style and size was $19.99....I tried but the girl at the till wouldn't reduce the second pair for me....stupid I thought but hey still good for leather boots .Walked back to IP stopping in Bills for a strawberry margarita and a beer. Dropped shopping in room...bloody maid had already been by 11.30am.....first time this week she was early....typical...I'd left my laptop charging on my bed so she didn't bloody make it...Anyway changed into bathers and went down to pool....lovely and cool today as there is a bit of a breeze. Breeze turned out to be a bit of an understatement we started to get huge gusts of wind so strong at one point the umbrellas around the snack area were blown over and at one point 2 plastic chars,a sunbed,several towels and the potato chips from the snack stand all ended up in the pool....poor girl in charge of poolside snacks was running round like a headless chicken.... then despite a beautiful clear blue sky water falls from above....how is it raining there isn't a cloud in the sky...we decided enough was enough and toddled down to the offie at Carnival Court to pick up some mixers....I can't believe how expensive coke and lemonade is out here $ 4.95 for a 2 litre bottle....at home Alan drinks tango orange with his vodka and I drink Russian with mine....so I brought some with us as I knew we wouldn't get either out here but supplies have run out now so we have to buy in. Back up to room to play some cards and have a few drinks then nap time.
Got to BB Kings 10 mins early...table not ready so was given a pager.......20mins later it went off,not a good start when you've reserved before...couple couple next to us at bar didn't make reservations and theirs went off just after ours....so whats the point....Now I don't know if any of you have been here to eat but if your going I advise you take a torch and a cardigan with you way to dark and air con is on full blast,could hardly see the menu.. and I was cold,,,..took another 20 mins for our order to be taken and a further 15 till our drinks arrived,service is awful at this place they need to get more staff on as they obviously can't cope....Tables are far to close together and every time one of the waitresses/waiters passed by they either knocked mine or Alan's chair.....didn't help they couldn't see where they were going I expect.... Spilled my drink twice and stabbed my lip with my fork when my chair got bumped by waitress....she didn't apologize once. Anyway food eventually arrived half an hour after ordering....Al had the pork chop dinner and I had the catfish dinner....mine was OK...much like fish'n chips nothing special and I didn't like the hush puppies at all,there was meant to be coleslaw with it but I couldn't find mine...could have been there and I missed it but I didn't come across it...Al said his food was awful nowhere near as good as mine,he kept eating bits of gristle and fat because he couldn't see his food.....terrible....asked for bill and that took another 20 mins to arrive....by now I'm frozen to the bone and can't wait to get out of there....Bill came to $50 less our restaurant.com $25 voucher...by the time they added on tax and took $10 gratuity it was $36.78 ….no wonder they take the tip up front...they know damn well they won't get one otherwise.....Never going there again....freezing cold,pitch black poor service,to cramped and mediocre bordering on pretty awful food.....crossed the road to Carnival Court...still no live band...what's going on used to be one every night....haven't seen one there yet....Had to go back up to room to get my cardigan as I was that cold....not surprising...there are quite a few people walking around in sweatshirts and jackets....what's up with the weather thought it was meant to be hot here.....Moved on to O'sheas....got a baileys slush and watched the band until the end of their first set...weren't keen on them so went to Bills.....by now I have the worst heartburn ever...so had a soda water to see if I could settle it.....washed down with a few rennies.....Karaoke again here tonight and there were some pretty good singers so we stayed.....my stomach isn't very good so I stay on the water...Al indulged in a pitcher of Coors.....got bored and tired by midnight so went home to bed.....stomach played up all night and I felt really sick....hope it's better tomorrow as we have tickets for Cher


Tuesday October 5th

Woke up at 4.30am really bad stomach...couldn't get back to sleep for ages....Al woke me up going out to pick up milk for coffee at 7.45am.....had cuppa tea in the room and got dressed and went to Denny's for breakfast....must have been 40 people waiting to be seated...knew his nibs wouldn't wait so went back to [email]Cafe@Harrah's....got[/email] seat straight away....I'm staying off fatty food today so just have toast and a bowl of fresh fruit....Al has 2 egg breakfast.....Bill comes to $26.97..
Wander round down to Flamingo and round the shops.... back to IP and realize I still haven't bought stamps for my postcards at this rate I'll be home before them .Down to pool for a few hours sunbathing....still a bit of a breeze today. Back to room for siesta around 2ish as we have to get ready early for Cher tonight.....Decided to go to Harrah's Buffet for food as we didn't want to go walking to far.. plus I had a$5 offf each buffet coupon someone handed me in Carnival Court...That done we headed over to Caesars Palace via the forum shops....Loads of people are going into the Colosseum already and it's only 6.45pm...we decide to go and have a drink first.....go through to our seats at about 7.10pm...my god we are high up in 2nd Mez but our seats are center right in the middle....Cher being the diva she is doesn't come on until 7.50pm.....Al wasn't fussed when I booked the tickets but he really enjoyed the show....far to many costume changes but it was a good show.
Karaoke on at Bills yet again....getting sick of it now so we go to Margarita ville for a change....stayed for a few drinks then move on to O'Sheas....band playing called B Jerk....had far to many vodkas and went home to bed at around 2am