Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

adamg

August

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyHQtu3CRnA
Hi if any of my regular MSE can help me out my clicking on the link to a video I made to help my cousin win a £25,000 wedding with 106 jack fm hertfordshire. Much appreciated!

pebblesmax

November / December

photome wrote: »

Any one seen Absinthe at Caesers...Paul Carr raves about it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-carr/the-strip-diary-day-thirt_b_850119.html

Our friend saw it and really enjoyed it. We're hoping to see it in a week or two.

mookybargirl

March

Ok, so I've at least started writing my trip report now :rotfl:

Here's a sneak peak, whilst I'm still writing it....

Saturday
After a sunny few days in San Francisco, we hop on a quick flight over to Las Vegas and we land not long after 2pm. The sun is shining, and we've got 10 nights to enjoy Las Vegas. We're off to the Cosmopolitan for the first 5 nights, so we grab a cab, and head on towards the strip.

We arrive at Cosmo, and it's just gone 3pm. I'm hopeful that our room will be ready, but I've been reading a lot about Cosmo since it's opening, and I know that there's been some delays in people getting into their rooms, even after check in time. On top of that, we're arriving on a Saturday. I don't have high hopes. We manage to get out of the cab with no bell man anywhere in sight, so we end up at the bell desk inside the lobby to get rid of our bags whilst we check in. It would have been nice for this to have been done outside. The lobby area is stunning. It's all sparkly and new, with lots to look at on the ever changing walls. We've booked the Wraparound Terrace Suite and I ask the lovely check in man to find me a nice view in the East Tower with a $20 tip. (I've read that this is the best tower). I figured the tip is sufficient, as after all, I have the room I want, so he can't upgrade me to another type of room. He struggles (a lot) and manages to find one, but it's not ready yet. He offers us a $25 food and beverage credit to apologise for the inconvenience that our room isn't yet ready. He takes my cell number and tells us that someone will call us when it's ready, and if we've not heard anything in an hour, to pop back. He gets the tip all the same. As we've already dropped our luggage, we take the opportunity to go and check out the hotel. We look through the casino resisting the urge to play anything, walk upstairs to some of the other levels, use the wi-fi to check our emails etc, take some photos, walk down to where the buffet is (it's a long walk down a corridoor, so you won't just stumble across it) and also try to find the secret pizza place that I've read so much about. For anyone looking for this, go to the 2nd floor and it's right next to the football table. It's only $3-$4 a slice and it's really very good. I loved the mushroom pizza.

By now, it's pushing 5pm and still no call about our room, so we head back to check in. Unfortunately, the man who checked us in isn't around, so we approach another desk. The lady was very nice, but tells us that our room still isn't ready and no room in our category is even available. At this point, hubby finds this unacceptable and although the lady is apologetic, that's not good enough. He's absolutely calm throughout and that after 2 hours, having no room available is not what we'd expect from any hotel in Vegas or anywhere else. We've paid for a pretty special room, so we're expecting good service from the Cosmo. The check in lady gets a manager to talk to him, as she just can't seem to find anything and doesn't really know what else to say to us. I'm quite worn out now, and I really just want to get to our room, have a shower and start enjoying our trip. I get a little upset that I've booked a great room for our wedding anniversary tomorrow and things aren't going as we'd expected. Surely, 2 hours is sufficient to get our room ready. The manager manages to find us an "angle room" that's available now and can secure us a east tower room with a great view for the morning if this is acceptable and offers us a $300 f&b credit. We accept and he walks us to the room and also gives hubby a card for a specific concierge if we need any help with reservations for the evening for dinner or a show. He explains that they don't sell this room type and use it mostly and comping big players. The "angle room" is in the West Tower, but it overlooks Bellagio fountains. It doesn't have the separate bedroom, but it does still have 2 bathrooms. It really is lovely, and will do for now. We'll be waking up it in tomorrow on our wedding annivesary, and it's still one of the best rooms we've had in Vegas.

After a quick shower, I feel much better. Hubby calls the concierge the manager gave us and gets us a reservation at Scarpetta. It's a little later than we'd have liked, but as we've got $325 to spend at Cosmo, I'd like to eat at Scarpetta. We order a quick drink at the bar before our table is ready. I ordered a Cosmo, lol. The table we have overlooks the Bellagio fountains and although the tables seem close together, the chairs are arranged so that you don't feel that you're dining with everyone around you. After only a slice of pizza earlier, we're both starving. I ordered a creamy polenta starter, and the roast chicken. Hubby ordered the short ribs starter and the roast duck. He orders himself a little bottle of wine. It's great that they have these is only one person is drinking. (The wine is $55 and it's not an expensive choice by any means. Not for the light hearted). The food is superb and the bread basket has an especially amazing bread with chorizo slices through it. We both agree that the food is really is worth the money (to us). Hubby says it's one of the best meals he's ever had and would put it up there with Prime. I thought it was excellent, but not sure it rivals Prime for me. We finished off with chocolate cake and the bill is $240 + tip. I'm positive we'll come back as the food really was superb. At least this one is on the Cosmo........

Off to bed for us. We've not gambled yet, but there's plenty of time for that.

PS - The whole report will be on a link, so as not to clog up the whole board

mookybargirl

March

stoneman wrote: »

ferf, being a pudding fan yourself I think you will be disapointed with the Wicked Spoon buffet. It all looks fancy enough but there is little substance, there are fruits dipped in chocolate on sticks, and a nice selection of ice creams but little else.

Can't talk about lunch, but when we were there for dinner, I had creme brulee (which was great!), chocolate sponge pudding with caramel sauce and little cheesecake and lemon meringue pie mini desserts. I do agree that a lot of the little items are very similar, but I thought that the choice was ok.

pebblesmax

November / December

What a good read. The meal sounds lovely, and it's getting me in the mood for Vegas. 48 hours and 30 minutes until we fly out, not that I'm counting or anything.:j:j:j

mookybargirl

March

So jealous pebbles. Hoping to go in Sept again, but it's a long shot after just buying a new car - lol

How long are you guys out for this trip?
PS - I've still not managed to see Big Elvis..... :rotfl:

grubby23

pebblesmax wrote: »

What a good read. The meal sounds lovely, and it's getting me in the mood for Vegas. 48 hours and 30 minutes until we fly out, not that I'm counting or anything.:j:j:j

We might end up on the same plane then. We are flying out at 11.05 with AA, also getting quite excited!

Cheers

grubby23

Has anyone a list with free credit to play slots when signing up for player rewards. I remember that at the Wynn you got £10 and also Caesars offered something similar.

Cheers!

pebblesmax

November / December

We're with US Airways. Just had an email confirming our upgrade on the leg from PHL to LAS.

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

duchy

May

22 days left on the countdown for me ....added Boise ID to the trip this week so will be seeing a bit more of Idaho than I expected before hitting Vegas.
Trying to decide if I *really* want to fly out of Idaho at 6am on a Sunday morning (only other alternative is 5pm which wipes out the whole of Sunday in Vegas) one is too early and one too late so thinking which is the lesser of the two evils. I can change my flight at no cost so will keep thinking (and checking for the lunchtime flight to open up) for now.