Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

photome

August

Jon_01 wrote: »

Anyone give me an opinion of Bally's?

My wife's just got a week off at the start of July and their rates look very good for the start of that month and flights direct on Virgin are coming in at around £600 a head.

It'll be a first trip to LV, just need somewhere to sleep really that's not too loud, the pictures on their site look not too bad, but I guess that they would !!

We would be looking to go for 5 days, is that too long for the $20 trick to work ?? (what about if you try with a fifty !!).

Ferf is your resident expert on Ballys

There isnt anything to dislike about it though (that goes for most hotels on the strip) The rooms are bigger than some and are cheap if booked direct with hotel. The hotel isnt themed like a lot but does have a good location and the casino is joined by a walkway to the Paris casino

Ferf will tell you which are the best rooms and what you might expect for $20/50

wdyw

WestHamDaz wrote: »

A friend of mine's brother is a pilot for Virgin. He has said that recently the Airline have become a nightmare to work for, increasing pilots flying ours dramatically, to, in his own worse 'dangerous levels'.
Where he was doing 3 or4 long haul flights a month he is now scheduled for at least 7. The pilots arent happy with this and believe the increased flying hours is compromising safety.

Typical scaremongering by pilots. For those of you not in the know, the MAXIMUM number of hours crew can fly in a month is 100, though 90 is the typical average. (1000 in a year, so taking into account holidays etc the average per month comes down towards 900). This equates to flying from the UK to Vegas (return), 4 times in a month maximum. If your mate is flying long haul 7 times a month, he has simply changed from a longer route to a shorter route.

bubble113

August

Jon_01 wrote: »

Anyone give me an opinion of Bally's?

My wife's just got a week off at the start of July and their rates look very good for the start of that month and flights direct on Virgin are coming in at around £600 a head.

It'll be a first trip to LV, just need somewhere to sleep really that's not too loud, the pictures on their site look not too bad, but I guess that they would !!

We would be looking to go for 5 days, is that too long for the $20 trick to work ?? (what about if you try with a fifty !!).

Hi

We stayed at Bally's in April. We were booked in South Tower which has the older rooms but on check in did the $20 trick except it was $100 as there were 2 couples staying for a week and 1 couple staying for 2 weeks. We were given rooms in the North Tower which are remodelled rooms.

The rooms are large but bathrooms are on the smaller side. The hotel itself is fine and good position but there are much 'fancier' hotels on the strip. It wasn't my first time to Vegas so knew what to expect from Ballys. If you're not too bothered about staying in a themed hotel then it could suit your needs.

Both Luci and Ferf have stayed there and gave me a few good tips.

Luci didn't like location of pool, its a bit of a trek from South Tower.

Ferfs idea of using the side entrance was great, its quite a long walkway into the casino from front of strip.

ferf1223

March

we haven't stayed at Bally's for a couple of years now (but are booked to stay there in September)...what we like most is the size of the rooms and since we stayed there so many times in a row - we got used to having so much space so some rooms would now disappoint us, even if they may be nicer in general, because of the size.

In general, the south tower has better views and the north tower has newer rooms...I have read of people getting renovated rooms in the south tower though. We only stayed in the south tower once and it was really old and worn and that was quite a few years ago now...we prefer the north tower with the newer rooms, though they are starting to show their age a bit now.

I think the bathrooms are an average size - never thought of them as small, but they don't have a separate shower - just a shower head in the bath.

As bubble said it's not a themed hotel/casino and some think it's boring - and it is compared to some. It doesn't have as much of a Vegasy vibe that many do...but we're OK with this, sometimes it's nice to have a more relaxed home base we think. It's a great location - the best we think, but that's just us.

Except for our first trip (which was one night and happened to be new year's eve) we have always been upgraded to the north tower, though as at least one of us has been platinum for several years - we understand the upgrade may be automatic for us...I do think there's a high success rate with the $20 trick from what I've read here and on frontdesktip.com, etc.

Next trip if we're offered the choice of a suite in the ST or room in the NT we may go for the suite just to try it...but it's a much longer walk to the pool (and through the casino) and it will be pool weather, so that may swing it.

stoneman

October

It's been raining today! Vegas has recorded it's coldest maximum May 18th. daytime temperature of 67 degrees. Temps predicted to rise again by tomorrow though. Ellis Island BBQ last night. Arrived just before 5pm and we were seated by 5:30. Still got half of the dinner in a box. Have to say the ribs are not as nice as they used to be, not as "fall off the bone" tender but might have been an off night. Waiter told me that they steam the ribs for an hour before putting them on the grill. Had a look at Cosmo casino and it looks cool, quite disjointed though with pockets of machines either sides of the central walkway. OH says they do indeed do a very nice Cosmopolitan

ammonite

Sorry to be a pest. Thinking of booking Lion King tickets through Travel ZOo deal, is $86pp for good seats a good price or is it worth waitning until we get to Vegas to buy tickets?

Thanks in advance

StuieUK34

June

Stoneman, your scaring me now!!!!! I wanna be hearing about mega hot sunshine in the hundreds!!!!! I get there on the 3rd June, and fingers crossed, my nuts will be roasting when i get out the airport!
Ellis Island = Karaoke still start just after 9pm/10pm ?
Am looking forward to the Ribs there, so i hope as u say its just an off day!!!

oh, and cant wait to check into my hotel, as George M once said, "Club Tropicana drinks are freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" ! Shamoooooooone!!

gracie10

May

I'm also checking the weather daily and wishing it would hot up!!! We go a week saturday, not long now :j

luci

May

Temps were all over the place when we were there from daytime highs of 93F down to 74F and chillier at night.

Bally's is fine. We were upgraded to a Junior Suite for $25/night the first time we went and the room was HUGE. It also had a great view of the strip and fountains.

Next time we opted for the North Tower and didn't think the room seemed much newer than the South Tower.

Yes the pool is a hike, especially from the ST.

As for using the side door, sorry I never thought to mention it before as it just came naturally to us to use it. If we were heading north we used the door on Flamingo, if we were heading south we went through Paris. The only time we used the front door is if we were heading to the Bellagio.

luci

May

ammonite wrote: »

Sorry to be a pest. Thinking of booking Lion King tickets through Travel ZOo deal, is $86pp for good seats a good price or is it worth waitning until we get to Vegas to buy tickets?

Thanks in advance

The Lion King recently put up their prices so that may be the best you can do. I admit I haven't been keeping an eye on LK prices recently, but the TZ offers are usually pretty good.