Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

luci

May

I usually book high end or popular restaurants 1-2 months out. We had reservations this time at Alize at the top of the Palms, Envy on Paradise and Casa di Amore. Every meal was exceptional.

luci

May

Left the hotel at 6.16pm on Friday night Vegas time.

We were asked if we wanted to go on standby with an offer of $800 cash or a $1200 voucher, hotel and food for the night. We declined as we had to get back for work. Not sure how many actually got the deal, but we spoke to 2 women who had done it for the previous 2 nights.

Check in at McCarran T2 was a disgrace. We had checked in online and joined the Bag Drop queue. Only 6 people in front of us, but it took half an hour to get to the desk. There were 3 people on Bag Drop, but 2 were faffing about doing nothing. Even the woman organising the queue couldn't understand it. The queue for those that hadn't checked in moved a lot quicker.

BA flight pushed back 15 mins late, taxied for 15 mins then there was an announcement that we would have to go back as there were bags onboard that shouldn't have been. Taxied the 15 mins back then another announcement that we would have to refuel to make up for the fuel used during taxiing.

I fell asleep at that point, but apparently we took off about 10.30pm, 1.5 hours late.

We were going to be very tight to catch our connection to Aberdeen even if we had been on time so knew we had missed it.

The food was a bit better than last time coming back with BA - sweetcorn salad, chicken curry or vegetarian lasagne and an Eli's cheesecake.

No idea about drinks service as I slept all the way apart from the main meal. Half woke for the breakfast, but didn't touch it. A yogurt drink, muffin and a Polo mint.

Landed 1h 45m late at 4.20pm instead of 2.35pm. The next flight was at 8.20pm and we finally got home at 11.30pm.

ferf1223

March

welcome back Luci - sounds like quite a bit of a hassle on the return, never nice...but at least you got a bit of sleep. Hope you'll write a trip report once you are settled back in and recovered from jetlag.

luci

May

We had a great trip.

Some of the highlights were the Scoot City tour which was great fun and we have some cracking photos of Red Rock Canyon. At Alize we had the 5 course tasting menu which was expensive, but very good. It turned into 8 courses as there was an appetiser courtesy of the chef, a sorbet "to cleans the palate" and an extra dessert.

We had a great night at Casa di Amore. Doug, the lounge singer who is on during the week, was leaving after 7 years and all his family and friends were there. They had noted that it was my birthday and our server, Kathleen, made sure everyone knew.

Envy the Steakhouse was exceptionally good and the steak was one of the best we've had. As I mentioned earlier, it was a $162 4 course meal for $79 with a Travelzoo offer.

We went to Texas de Brazil which was a good experience and great for carnivores as the meat just kept coming. Not worth it for me as I struggle with a 8oz steak, but mine was free as it was during my birthday month. Expensive at $47 each so take a good appetite.

MGM buffet was excellent for breakfast and brunch, but no champagne which didn't bother us as I don't like the stuff. Harrah's buffet had a good breakfast and we struck it lucky the one night we went for dinner as it was Mother's Day and they had a lot of extras on such as mussels, duck, etc.

Harley Davidson Cafe was excellent, much better than the time we took steaks and we got 2 32oz souvenir glasses with our drinks.

Breakfast at Margaritaville was very good on the roof top terrace overlooking the strip.

luci

May

Thanks ferf. Not a trip report this time, just a few highlights.

The delay actually worked in our favour as we were a lot less stressed when we got to LHR knowing we didn't have to hare through the terminal to try and make the connection as we did last time. BA gave us a £10 voucher each so we just relaxed and got something to eat.

We gambled a LOT less this trip than normal, but enjoyed it just as much. Subsequently we went through a lot less in cash, but spent a lot more on the credit card so about the same overall.

No problems using the Clarity card for both purchases and cash and paid next to no interest.

Our bags weighed 23 & 24.6kgs, but we weren't charged for the one that was over. Thank goodness BA doesn't have a weight restriction on hand baggage as one of them was 13kgs!

jonnywells

Angelite wrote: »

Jump on the SDX bus to get to the Vegas sign. Really easy!

Im off in 2 weeks and this time want a picture at the vegas sign......which stop do you have to get off for the sign then?

luci

May

Only went to 3 shows this time.

Legends in Concert was probably the best we have ever seen it, and we've seen it 6 or 7 times. It was Liberace, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. The finale had been changed and Elvis did a different set. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Booked it on a Travelzoo show/dinner offer and got the best seats in the house, front row in the centre next to the stage.

The Australian Bee Gees at the Excalibur were very good and they encouraged the audience to get up and dance to some of the songs in a little dance floor at the front. The tickets were a steal at $22 each and we had front row seats. Another TZ offer and for some reason I wasn't charged the $7.50 booking fee.

Vegas! The Show at the Saxe Theatre in the Miracle Mile was very good. It's sort of a musical of Vegas through the ages from Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland to the Rat Pack, Tom Jones and Elvis. Only complaint is that they didn't open the doors until 5 mins before the show was due to start, even though some people had been queuing for over half an hour. The show started late and we had to leave 5-10 mins before the end as we had dinner reservations at PF Chang's.

luci

May

jonnywells wrote: »

Im off in 2 weeks and this time want a picture at the vegas sign......which stop do you have to get off for the sign then?

The SDX only makes limited stops so I would suggest getting off at Mandalay Bay and walking south.

luci

May

Temps were all over the place, from a high of 93F to about 74F during the day. However there was only one night I was wishing I had put on something with long sleeves.

It was also very windy a couple of days with gusts up to 60mph.

It rained last Tuesday and it was really heavy with thunder. We were shopping at the time and by the time we came out of the shop it had stopped so didn't affect us, apart from the ground being very slippery.

It was spitting rain on Friday afternoon, but didn't come to anything.

luci

May

The Cosmopolitan is a beautiful hotel wherever you are. The pool area is gorgeous with thick, blue mattresses on the beds and there are pool tables and table tennis tables. One of the pools is tiered so you never feel the place is crowded. The only reason I was at the pool area was when we were waiting to get into our room.

We had a Premium View Terrace Studio and it is the nicest room we've been in, and that includes the Encore and Four Seasons. The corner sofa in the lounge could sit 6 people. We counted that there was seating for 15 people between the room and the balcony. There is a dishwasher, but the only dishes were 2 mugs. There is a coffee maker, but you have to pay for the coffee which is in the mini bar. However there was a freezer section you could use.