Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

nvh

no worries Luci, didn't know if you'd be passing thru a !!!!!! casino - I think i've signed up (almost) everywhere now so like you, i've stopped taking notice but I recall they used to have signup promos advertised everywhere... always remember being pounced on in PlanetHo for their 'A'(?) card - not an unpleasant experiance!

WestHamDaz

when we signed up for the players club/!!!!!! in june 2009 we did it at the luxor and got a t shirt, and a bit of slot play from memory. offers varied from each mgm casino but there wasnt a lot in it.

last year at the end of out 2 week stay we went to the players club the night before check out and after looking at our account (me and the missus combined our 2 cards) they gave us 1 night off our bill, $200 off our meal at the MGM steak house and some $ off our bar bills - this was at MGM grand but we accrued our points all over, luxor/MB/ NYNY/MGMG

we're not massive gamblers either was was probably putting through on average $100 each per day in the casino

Traincrashing

November / December

luci wrote: »

Casino Royale has $1 Michelobs and margaritas. Bill's margaritas are now $2. O'Shea's has $2 beers and $5 Irish Car Bombs.

What is an irish car bomb!?

wdyw

Traincrashing wrote: »

What is an irish car bomb!?

Something that should be re-named. Aria had to publish a public apology after loads of complaints when they tried to promote an ICB dessert "in honour of St Patricks Day" in March.

As many pointed out, would a 9-11 smoothie be acceptable?

Angelite

I hope you don't mind my v. long trip report! My OH and I were there for five days from Thursday to Tuesday.

My OH and I aren’t your usual late 20’s/early 30’s year olds – we’re not big drinkers, we don’t like clubs and pubs, we don’t stay up til 3am (yes yes, we’re very boring) so there was nothing we loved more than sitting on our balcony and watching the fountains. This is my fifth time over in Vegas (my OH’s third) so we decided that this would be a laid back relaxing holiday which I think we achieved!

Firstly, our taxi driver decided to long haul us. My OH said, fake innocently "Oh, it seems to be taking a much longer time to get to the hotel. Did we go the tunnel way?" to which the taxi driver got all defensive "Who told you about the tunnel? Whoever it is is talking s***. They don't know. This is the best way". My OH didn't bite, and just said "well obviously you know best, but we thought you weren't supposed to take us this way. We thought it was against the law or something". The driver then lectured us for the entire journey about how we shouldn't listen to other people and what the hell do we know about driving in Vegas etc etc. It amused us more than anything and we didn't argue with him, we just let him rant on. But as we pulled up to the Cosmo (the meter at almost $30), he said "If you're going to make a big deal of it, I'll only charge you $20." To which we replied "OK then!"

We stayed at the Cosmopolitan, booked through lowcostusa. The rooms and the hotel are fantastic. We had a premium view Terrace One Bedroom with a view of the Bellagio fountains and everything about the room was impeccable. Unfortunately, when we got there on Thursday night, they didn’t actually have our room and we were bumped down to a City View room for the night. We asked to speak to the manager as the check in guy was just useless, and she eventually apologised an offered us $100 food credit. There were some pretty peed off people at check in on Thursday as all they had were City View rooms.

We didn’t have any problems with the 2nd room – I do recommend checking your folio on the TV daily as we had a rogue spa charge appear (I called down to reception to get it removed). The wi-fi was a bit temperamental, but we found it worked better in the living room than in the bedroom. It didn’t work on the balcony at all, but we weren’t so bothered about that. The Co Bigelow products were gorgeous, but room service didn’t replace them (again, we weren’t bothered enough to ask housekeeping for extra).

I loved the art throughout the hotel, and we also had a go at the Art-o-Mat to get some cool pieces of art for $5 - http://www.artomat.org/

We ate at three places within the Cosmo – Va Benne cafe for breakfast one day, Holsteins for burgers and milkshakes and the Henry for a beautiful caesar salad and chicken hot pot (plus a Martini and a Cosmopolitan). My OH and I both had a Black Cow milkshake from Holsteins – coke float with cherry vodka and chocolate covered pop rocks – and we’re now determined to make it at home.

We also ate at Stripburger with an r.com voucher (YUMMY!) and Cheesecake Factory (MORE YUM!). We stopped off for lunch at the Pizza Place at the Wynn, and whilst I still love the location, I can’t believe how expensive it is now. I tried a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity 3 which was far too overpriced. I don’t get why people rave about it.

The best thing we have ever done in Vegas is the Neon Museum Tour. We took a cab down to the 9.30 Saturday morning tour (although we know now it’s within walking distance of Fremont Street as we walked back) and we were there for about an hour and a half, checking in at the main office and then being guided through the boneyard. So entertaining, and we got some great photos from it.

We also went to the Atomic Testing Museum. It’s easy to get to (take the 202 bus from the stop between Bally’s and Bill’s for about a mile) and was kinda interesting. It’s not really my sort of thing, but my OH enjoyed it. There were lots of kids there.

We didn’t do much shopping this time, but we did get the SDX bus to Town Square, a mile or so south of Mandalay Bay. LOVED Town Square. Not crowded, peaceful, spacious. We spent a good few hours walking around and my OH managed to get some trainers, I got some MAC make-up, and spent a small fortune in Abercrombie for my cousin. We also went to the Whole Foods supermarket to get snacky food for our room too. Whole Foods is bloody brilliant.

We also wandered around Crystals at City Center and it was dead. In fact, the whole of City Center was dead. It was very beautiful, but there was just no atmosphere. We thought we’d spend the afternoon wandering round, but we couldn’t find enough to do!

We mainly used the Deuce and the SDX bus to get places if we were feeling lazy. The SDX is great – not crowded and really quick. It’s well worth the $7 daily ticket.

As for gambling, we only play slots and only a small amount, but I think we ended up breaking even. I think we played about 5 different Wizard of Oz machines, Star Wars Droid Hunt (which was terrible for us!) and American Idol. I love the Wizard of Oz machines and am sad that I didn’t record the music for my phone.

We saw Peep Show as I managed to find a discount voucher so we didn’t mind paying $60 per ticket, but it was awful. I think we both wished we’d gone to Absinthe instead. We only really saw Peep Show for Holly Madison, and bless her, she’s lovely but cannot sing (thank goodness it was only one song!) or act. I won’t spoil the show for anyone who does want to see it still, but I will just say that some of the audience members were ridiculously gullible. And the couple beside me appeared to break-up halfway through the show which was a little awkward! It’s a nice theatre, and the songs in the show were modern enough. I would not recommend it though.

The photos from my trip are all on my Flickr account (as well as all my old photos too) if anyone wants to take a nosey - http://www.flickr.com/photos/angel_ite/collections/72157626660540748/

And thank you to everyone on this thread who has helped and offered advice over the past few years. I think this will be my last trip to Vegas for a long while – my Vegas trips kind of defined my late 20’s, so I think I should find someplace new for my 30’s and maybe revisit it again in 10 years time for my 40th birthday. (Or I could decide I miss it so much I want to go again next year!)

stoneman

October

luci wrote: »

No problem getting drinks playing 1c slots. We had great service yesterday at the Cosmopolitan when the Cosmpolitans and paralyzers were coming thick and fast and they were strong drinks too.

OK, what's a paralyzer?!

ceh209

May

Quick question which might appear a little odd...

It turns out I'm going to need internet access (from a proper computer, not wifi on my phone) about 4pm this coming thursday whilst in vegas, for an hour or so. I'm staying at MGM grand. where could anyone recommend? cost not really an issue for this one, it has to be done.

Angelite

ceh209 wrote: »

Quick question which might appear a little odd...

It turns out I'm going to need internet access (from a proper computer, not wifi on my phone) about 4pm this coming thursday whilst in vegas, for an hour or so. I'm staying at MGM grand. where could anyone recommend? cost not really an issue for this one, it has to be done.

Go over to the Cosmo - they've got free wifi throughout the whole hotel!

ceh209

May

Go over to the Cosmo - they've got free wifi throughout the whole hotel!

I really don't want to be taking my laptop with me though, unless I've missed the point?

Oh and the computer must have internet explorer, rather than firefox, if anyone knows that much detail! (website won't work on firefox)

Angelite

Oh, in which case, you might be better off going to one of the business centres? MGM should have one - I think most hotels do. When I stayed at New York New York a few years ago, I think I paid about $10 for 10 minutes, but I would imagine that will have increased.