Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

kellyt1981

April

stoneman wrote: »

Thanks luci, emailed Platinum as they had us at $109 and they reduced it to $99 including upgrade to Princess suite strip view with free wifi and wine. Already booked with Carriage House but we love the Platinum so much, and at only $10 more a night had to go for it. Maybe we might get to try out the CH but not this May

I too booked this last night, Princess suite with a strip view. I've looked on a couple of maps and i don't think it's far from the strip is it.....?

I already have a suite at the Palazzo booked but as the Platinum worked out $319 cheaper and is 200ft bigger I shall cancel it.

gerfus

May

We have just booked fights from 11-19 May from Belfast for £397 with Continental through Expedia.

We were in Vegas in November but thought those prices were too good to pass up.

Edit: Cashback through Quidco too - £7.95

macpep1

April

Hi All :wave:

Been a busy few weeks, so not had much chance to get on, passports received, estas printed off, travel insurance sorted, today just booked the fair fx $ card through the site, seems the cheapest way to do it as my debit card is on the "cards from hell" to use abroad :rotfl:. All I need to do now is get DD & DH outfits sorted for the wedding, my dress still isn't here but I am confident it will be :eek:

2 weeks today :j:j and I will be off.

I going to print off a lot of the places to eat/free things to do, we have the 2 kids with us and are only there for 5 days. One of the days is the wedding, and one the hen day so not a lot of time to do stuff. There is sooooo much useful info on here and froggit your map is fab :T

I have put $1100 on the card, do you think this will be enough? Its only 4 nights/5 days we are staying, we have to buy our own food with the exception of the wedding meal (I hope)!! The men are having a mini stag do there as the groom has already had his big one here but I have told DH he can have money for casino but when its gone its gone

pricey85

September

Quick question, I feel a bit bad asking questions when I can't offer anything in return but hopefully I'll be in a better position to contribute after my first trip. I've booked a Grand Tower room at the MGM Grand for seven days in September for $540 with no perks or extras. I'm quite happy with that price but given that the deposit is refundable does anyone think i'm likely to find anything better at the MGM by keeping an eye on the offers that come through on the various vegas hotel sites, or should I not bother?

duchy

May

Up to you -if the time spent to get a better deal is worth "the bother" or not.

This is MSE so most people want to get the best deal for their money so most people here will say yes-but we're not you.

Are you dead set on MGM or are other hotels also of interest? What sort of extras would interest you (eg free cocktails are no good if you don't drink-free club entry pretty useless if you don't club, discounted show tickets not worth it if you don't want to see shows etc) or is it purely a cheaper deal on the room you're looking for ?

Spursman180

March

ferf1223 wrote: »

Perfect example of why it's so hard to really give recommendations to others - we both think the renovation is awful. Better than before, certainly...so there is that...but we don't like it at all...at least not the casino area...but it's all down to personal taste which is so variable between people.

Totally agree ferf, even on a personal basis, places I've stayed and enjoyed previously were not the same this last trip. But also a couple of places that I never considered previously came out well on first impressions.

My players cards thinned out by a few after this trip as the degradation in service particularly but also the general worsening of odds across the board have made certain locations unplayable for me. The house will always have an edge and I am fully aware/ honest with myself about my gaming skills.

I a lot of people on here are casual players and the details of what odds and plays that increases the house edge, we are talking fractions perhaps but it is important to me, I'm not one to play a bad game because it is the only game in town.

I certainly know that whilst my last trip was one of my longer ones the turnover of my bankroll was probably the lowest its ever been. Probably why I got round so many casinos, some where there were fair odds got most of my action. Poker machines for example where I've been known to put some $30k through in coin over a week probably was for a 16 day trip less than a quarter of that. I did play some BJ and didn't put a cent on any of the other table games or roulette. Did do some craps otherwise it was poker. No tourneys just cash tables.

For info, I took $9k and returned with $6.5k. Personal expenditure other than gambling was closer to $1.5k with clothes, meals, gas. Machines cost me most of my expenditure and poker my biggest wins. After 4 days I was holding close to $11k leaving Reno only to get savaged by poker machines in Vegas and Primm, stabilised in Laughlin and profitable poker in LA.

So it is all in the eyes of the beholder, it is nice to have a decent decor in a casino but for me it is about feeling comfortable in the surroundings. You know the 'pub' sense one uses at home, you walk into a pub and spin right round and go back out without stopping type of sense. There are a couple of places in Vegas that do that to me and a couple of those are higher up the food chain. There are also a few towards the bottom that I am comfortable to use.

jadamcp

gracie10 wrote: »

great trip report jadamcp thanks for posting. where is the Abercrombie and Fitch you mentioned, think you said Town Square? is this one better value than the ones at FSM and Caesars? Always end up spending a fortune in both these.

Sorry for the delay as I've been working away for 3 days and its probably been answered already

It's at Town Square - approximately halfway in on the left hand side - we used the goldline to get there and it's a mile south of mandalay Bay. Many more items on sale so we spent a fair bit for family members in there on two visits.

jadamcp

Froggitt wrote: »

Hope you availed yourself of the 10% off card for foreigners.....often they will just discount it at the till without needing to go to CS for the card.

Yes, we had the card from our previous visit in late August 2010, think it must stay valid for 6 months.....

jadamcp

Froggitt wrote: »

You went to lots of shops outside of the strip.....how did you travel?

I'm probably comparing it to our trips to Orlando where I seem to have to drive to every mall, as we always stay at a villa we need that car to get everywhere...

Ace/Goldline is our preferred option as it's quick and we dont go too far off strip - from Premium Outlets at downtown to FSM, Town Square and Las Vegas outlets at the south of the strip.

We've never been to Primm, but maybe next time.

jadamcp

gerfus wrote: »

We have just booked fights from 11-19 May from Belfast for £397 with Continental through Expedia.

We were in Vegas in November but thought those prices were too good to pass up.

Edit: Cashback through Quidco too - £7.95

Great Price, yes far too good to pass up :j