Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

luci

May

stoneman wrote: »

Booked the Carriage house for March, looks like our sort of place. Went for the 1 bed suite with kitchenette because it has the bigger bathroom with a tub compared to the one with full kitchen. Good rate of $92 a night inc tax as well with the AAA rate (just show your AA card). Thanks to Triker and others that found out about this place

Hmmm, not sure you're going to like the Carriage House given the places you've stayed at in the past. The furnishing are quite old fashioned compared to most hotels.

Boa stayed there based on my recommendation and loved it, but he had to accommodate 2 teenagers and it was perfect for a family.

We've stayed there 5 times and going back twice next trip. Always a one bedroom suite, but we much prefer the kitchenette and full bathroom as it has a much bigger bedroom with a separate sink.

Vikki_74

Hi everyone!

I'm extremely late in posting this as we were actually in Vegas in early October 2010 - got married whilst we were in the US (not in Vegas) and have just been mad busy with one thing or another since we got back! Anyway, I can't remember enough detail for a proper trip report sadly but thought I would post a few comments which may help others as this thread was soooo much help to me when I was planning our trip...

Hotel
We stayed at the MGM Grand on a great $55/night rate for a Bungalow King Suite. The room was fine for the money (comfy bed, big bathroom, separate seating area, a small fridge which was great for storing a few bottles of water etc) and despite some reservations before we went about the hotel's location towards the south end of the strip we actually found it worked out ok for us. BUT, personally, I wouldn't choose to stay there again - it's just too big! It took us so long to get from the strip to our room everyday, and down to the pool was another massive hike which meant we only made it down there once...the size of the place just gets a bit annoying after a while!

Buses
On a couple of days we purchased a $7 all-day pass for the ACE/Deuce buses and used them a fair bit going up and down the strip, particularly to Downtown. The ACE was about a million times better and really not an unpleasant experience, just had to keep remembering where the stops were as they're obviously more limited. Found the Deuce do-able as I'm used to suffering on public transport every day at home but so busy and slow, so I'm not surprised many on here won't use it.

Food
Found it difficult trying to find somewhere for breakfast so ended up in McDonalds a couple of times just out of desparation Not sure where others eat in the mornings - we didn't usually want a huge breakfast but struggled to find many places that weren't either full service restaurants or a bit of a rip off (like $5 for a pastry in Paris - sorry, I'm just too tight to pay that!).

We made it to Stripburger and it lived up to expectations so thanks everyone for recommending the place so highly :beer:. I had the blue cheese burger with fried onions, think OH had the bacon and cheddar, we shared a portion of strings & fries and both had a milkshake too - cookies & cream for the OH and I had some fantastic mocha creation which was their shake of the day/week/whatever. Everything was yummy, best burgers either of us have ever eaten and we couldn't eat all the fries & onion strings there were so many! Total came to just over $35 so used our $25 restaurant.com cert which made the meal an absolute bargain and we were stuffed for the rest of the day!

We also used a couple of restaurant.com vouchers in the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood - Fresh Grill and Bar (delish buffalo chicken wraps and yummy fries, would really recommend it for a quick meal - it's counter service and nothing fancy but everything was made fresh to order) and Ben & Jerrys (doesn't really need any explanation does it?!).

Vouchers aside, we also ate at America in New York New York as it was handy to get over there from the MGM - thought the food was really nice (we both had the jambalaya which had huge prawns in and loads of big chunks of chicken, sausage etc), it wasn't too busy and there was so much choice on the menu.

Only tried one buffet at the Rio - decided to stop off there as we had a car for one day (see below) and I had read good things. Overall I wasn't HUGELY impressed - the amount of food choices was pretty amazing but none of the savory stuff was really great. Had to go for the experience of a Vegas buffet though, and the desserts did make up for it - think I ate about 10 different ones and felt pretty sick later! We were hoping to see the carnival in the sky show thing (is that actually what it's called?) whilst there but sadly it wasn't on that week for some reason.

SHOWS
We were planning to book on line for Ka using the summer of cirque promo before we went but never got round to it. Luckily however when we joined the MGM players club they gave us a 2 for 1 voucher so used that and prices worked out ok. Thought Ka was good but didn't enjoy it as much as the cirque show we saw in Orlando a couple of years ago - to be fair though, I think that's partly because we both found the theatre so hot and stuffy we kept dropping off to sleep!

We also went to see the Jabbawockeez MUS.I.C. show at the Monte Carlo and thought that was amazing. We went on opening night but still managed to get reduced tickets at one of the booths on the strip - were going to go for the cheapest section but that was sold out so we went for the next one up which cost us $58 each including taxes and booking fees etc. It's not a big theatre so these seats were fine - we were on I think the second row of the balcony bit and could see everything, not to far away at all.

For anyone not familiar with the Jabbawockeez, they're a street dance type group who won America's Best Dance Crew - think along the lines of Diversity from Britains Got Talent but a million times better. The show's a bit hard to describe - basically it's just them dancing the whole time, but there's kind of a story to it and somehow they also manage to make it funny. We just thought it was brilliant and would definately recommend it to anyone - I think even if you don't really know who these guys are you'd be impressed!

We also saw the Nathan Burton comedy magic show at the Flamingo for free thanks to an offer from SmarterVegas which someone had kindly posted on this thread last year. It was fun, nothing completely amazing but a good way to spend an hour or so in the afternoon for £0! I'd recommend going if they had a similar offer on again. We just took the regular seats up on the balcony (I think you could upgrade to the floor below for $10) and could see everything fine as it's really not a big place.

OTHER
We hired a car for one of our days in Las Vegas and took a drive out to the Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire state park. Had a great day and it was nice to get away from the craziness of Vegas for a while. Valley of Fire is not the Grand Canyon in terms of wow-factor, but is still a cool place to drive through and with Hoover Dam makes a nice circular trip from Vegas which is very do-able in not too long a day if you're short on time but still want to get a bit out and about away from the strip.

DOWNTOWN
We went up to Freemont Street one night on the ACE bus and absolutely loved it. More so than the strip actually - we just really liked the whole atmosphere there and the cheaper drinks / food / gambling. Saw a couple of the light shows on the canopy - Kiss and Queen if I remember correctly - and thought the whole set up for that was really cool with the lights all going out at the casinos etc. A couple of other highlights were the $1 frozen margaritas and $2 beers in one of the casinos (the Freemont?) and $1 hotdogs and deep fried oreos (oh my god, they sound awful but they were sooooo delicious and only $1 or $2, we just had to try some for the novelty!) in one of the other places - can't remember the name but I think it was kind of Hawaiin themed, seem to remember the girls on the door wearing leis or something. Only did a bit of gambling on penny slots but found the cocktail waitresses came round a lot more frequently than in the strip casinos, were friendlier, and the free drinks were stronger.

At the end of the day, would be go back? Yes, I think we would, but not for a while, and I definately don't think we'll be making an annual trip like many on here! We had a fun trip and I'm really glad we finally got to visit after wanting to for years, and there's a lot that we didn't get to see that we would have liked to, but there's a lot more places we want to see in the world first. Maybe it's because we don't gamble much (penny slots and a bit of video poker for the hubbie was about our limit) but it's just not somewhere I'd keep going back again and again.

Wow, that's all ended up a lot longer than I planned, but hopefully my waffling will be of interest &/or help to some!

joaniemerc

ferf1223 wrote: »

first row because you've got a 3-seater row in front of you.

We're flying to LV on Boxing Day with Virgin and we can select our seats in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to bag a couple of the 2 row seats. I get why you wouldn't want the last two seats 'cos of loos, but what's the drawback of the first row having a 3 seater row in front please?

If the middle two have gone, is the first row of two better than nothing?

TIA

ferf1223

March

foxystoat69 wrote: »

Great forum, lots of interesting info.

Can anyone recommend the best listing guide for "what's On" in Vegas (show/music etc), specifically for a week in Febraury (19th to 26th)?

Thanks in advance

I like this one - seems to be pretty comprehensive for music concerts.

http://www.lvol.com/events/vegas_concerts.html

I also usually check

http://www.vegas.com/shows/

You can choose the type of show (headliner, comedy, etc) and your dates.

Don't book tickets through either - chances are they will be overpriced from what I've seen - usually booking through the box office (for one off shows) is best...for resident headliners and production shows, sometimes you can find discounts - depends on what you're interested in. If there are some you might be interested in you can post them and several here regularly use the 1/2 price booths, etc - could let you know if they regularly come up there.

This one too

http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/play/shows/index.jsp

ferf1223

March

joaniemerc wrote: »

We're flying to LV on Boxing Day with Virgin and we can select our seats in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to bag a couple of the 2 row seats. I get why you wouldn't want the last two seats 'cos of loos, but what's the drawback of the first row having a 3 seater row in front please?

If the middle two have gone, is the first row of two better than nothing?

TIA

If you're in the first set of 2, you have a full row of 3 in front of you, whereas the next 3 sets of 2, you don't so the person in the aisle seat of 2 has more legroom.

And yes, in our opinion, any of the sets of 2 is better than being stuck with a random stranger next to us for that long.

totallybored

November / December

duchy wrote: »

I've not flown with UA transatlantic before but now they've merged with CO they are back on my radar. (I'm already booked with them for domestic flights in May on an award ticket). I was completely turned off flying UA for a long time by someone who worked for them at LHR-the way she and her collegues talked about passengers just made me not want to fly with them ! Since then I've been switched onto them domestically a couple times when flights misconnected and thought they were OK.

Economy plus is just extra leg room -no other benefits-Is that correct ?
I have CO status so will automatically be booked into E+ with UA would like to know more about how you found it please.

Its just extra leg room but it does make a huge difference from standard economy. I think I paid $59 or $69 to upgrade each way and I'd say it was definately worth it. If you're not going to be pay for it then I'd recommend trying it.

Also, I prefer to get to Vegas early afternoon and there is an early Chicago flight from LHR which is convenient.

As for the service, I found it no better or worse than other US ailines. Although, all I want on a flight is a couple of cokes and to sit in peace and quiet.

duchy

May

Thanks -sounds like your needs are like mine -and yes as CO and UA have merged I count as a UA FF too so it's freeeeeeeeeeeeee

totallybored

November / December

mookybargirl wrote: »

Back to hotels - lol My favourite subject :rotfl:
Has anyone stayed at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in the City Centre? Reviews looks great and it's not much more than my current Venetian rate for the first half of my trip at the end of March........

I stayed New Year's Eve and the night before last week. I hadn't really wanted to be in Vegas for NYE but as we were there I thought the Mandarin would be a good choice away from the crowds etc as there is no casino and doesn't attract the more party crowd.

I was really looking forward to it and I did love it but I was also disappointed. In Vegas I've stayed at the Encore and Palazzo and elsewhere the Four Seasons so I was expecting a gorgeous room and excellent service.

Postives:
I loved the room, I only had a standard room on the 9th floor but it was strip view and we were able to watch the fireworks from the room on NYE. The room is no where as big as the Encore \Palazzo with the living area but the bed was very comfy with a duck/goose down duvet. There is a small chaise in the corner next to the window. The room is all controlled by a touch pad next to the bed which controls custains, lights, tv etc. Only on one side of the bed though so Mr TB couldn't turn the lights on! My favourite part of the room was the bathroom. There is a clear screen around the bath so you can see it from the bedroom and see into the bedroom. The baths are huge but only come with bath salt and no bubble bath though. The bathroom is also much smaller than Encore/Palazzo. There is also a set of hair straightners in one of the bathroom drawers which I found really useful as I can never take mine to the US.

The wardrobe areas are also between the hallway wall and the bathroom with a small corridor area which I found really good as it meant we couldn't see our stuff (we don't unpack our suitcases and just leave them on the floor).

The lobby area is really nice, on the 23rd floor overlooking the strip.

Room service was good!

The hotel is very quiet and doesn't feel like Vegas so if you want somewhere relaxing and quiet whilst still being a couple of minutes away from everything (it took about 2 minutes to walk to Aria, 5 to the Cosmopolitan).

Negatives
The service wasn't what I was expecting. When we arrived I had to open the taxi door myself and close it despite there being doormen and many staff milling around. I also had to open the door into the hotel myself on most occasions. Now I'm not being over fussy with this, I've stayed in plenty of hotels and if you have doormen this is what they are supposed to do! We also had an issue with our room not being cleaned. Some of the staff were excellent though.

The lifts were annoying! You have to take one set of lifts to the 23rd floor and then change to another set to the rooms. This is fine but I found several times that when going down to the entrance from the 23rd floor lobby the lift would suddenly stop at the 3rd floor (Mozen bistro is there) for more people to get in and this resulted in people then getting out on the wrong floor and a bit of confusion as they weren't expecting it to stop (an old guy in a scooter thing reversed out into people one time as he was expecting the ground floor!)

Would I stay again, probably not. The rate we had wasn't cheap (around $500 a night) and I don't feel that it had anything extra special over other Vegas hotels. If you like luxury hotel rooms I think the Encore is a better room for a sleek modern room and the Palazzo room is more comfortable. I loved the location as I like Aria and now the Cosmopiltan so I think next time I'd like to try either of these (maybe a corner suite at Aria). Out of 5 I'd have to give it a 4.

ferf1223

March

Vikki_74 wrote: »

For anyone not familiar with the Jabbawockeez.... I think even if you don't really know who these guys are you'd be impressed!

Thanks for that - I love street dance and have been thinking about trying to see this show, may try to fit it in in March...good to know that tickets are available at the half price booths.

Glad you guys liked Stripburger - the blue cheese burger is my favorite.

Thanks for the trip report - really enjoyed reading it.

luci

May

The Jabbawockeez started off in Studio 54 at the MGM last May, but quickly got a bigger venue so they must have been very popular. We could have seen them for next to nothing when they started, but it's not my kind of thing.