Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

Triker

March

Trip report Vegas 16th to 31st March.

Started off our journey after booking our free seats online at the online BA checkin 24 hours before the flight, got 2 together 4j 4k in Club class BA direct to Vegas, managed to get these\ seats as I paid for world traveller plus in the BA sale last year then upgraded using MFU to club class….so glad I did. Bit of an earlier 50th birthday pressie for hubby.
Anyway Terminal 5 great, lounges great, free food, wine, beer spirits, sandwiches, curries, soup…just great.

Stayed overnight at Holiday Inn, Holiday extras deal, night and 15 days parking…sorted. Got taxi to airport £15.00 plus £5 tip.
Had an free elemis spa treatment, facial and massage , gorgeous, loved this, so relaxing.
Had seen a hypnotherapist re my fear of flying, definately significantly relaxed, only had 2/3 incidents of feeling wobbly but managed to breathe and talk my way through them. Made for a much less stressful journey.
BA CLUB CLASs, AMAZING, triple wow, I had champagne cocktails (BELLINI)…staff came round loads, never without refreshment, laid back beds , managed to get some sleep as did hubby. Just great having room on a long flight, club kitchen also great.
Arrived, remind me to get Dollar Express next time, long wait, but got there in the end, got a red car, make unknown at mo, managed to drive up the strip, not too busy and found Carriage House.
Again thank you Luci for your recommendation.

Easy check in, room smells a bit smoky but aircon, windows open and I’ll get some plug in fragrances from Walmart later will sort this.
Lovely to have room, full kitchen, coffee pot, great location.
Drop bags and headed out, oh and got internet sorted so was able to communicate with kids at home finally this morning when hubby sorted through it.

Walked like zombies up strip, saw City Centre and Cosmo from across road, wow, they sure get on with building stuff here, none of that was done over a year ago.

Ended up in Bill’s Gambling Hall, got 2 $1 margarita’s and hubby had miller lite, (2) $7 dollars in total, can’t complain. Hubby had great luck on WOZ Ruby Slippers, won $110 dollars from a 60 cent bet, I won $15 on Quick Hits on a 30 cent bet, going low this time round and attempting to separate winnings from spends.
Finally headed back at midnight, up 24 hours at this point, got water from 7/11.
Woke at 6.30 which isn’t so bad.
Unpacked a bit, sorted money, off for breakfast and then work out what to do today, jetlagged.

Thursday
Woke up about 5.30 ish, got up and made coffee, after getting ourselves properly connected to the internet (thanks hubby) we then set out for Ellis Island for breakfast. I had French toast and bacon, hubby had ham and eggs, we forget the camera (I take pics of my food) but they were delicious.Played some slots but not much luck at EI although I did sign up for another players card and got $10 free play to use after 24 hours so that’s good.

Headed off from there and drove to South Point, on my list of to do’s this trip. Parked up and went in, signed up for players card. Hubby went off to play $5 black jack and I played slots…had some luck on Sex and the City got a bonus and a chocolate box and $30 up and then some consistent steady small wins on the triple double 5x slots.
Managed to rack up 500 points without really trying. Messed up a little by playing the WOZ slots, not too kind and high bet options…ah well was fun for a few hours. Good vibe in there lots of locals, had 75 cents hotdogs, they have a Steak and Shake but I didn’t visit as I wasn’t hungry. I like South Point and may drop in again.
Dropped hubby back to Carriage House, love having all this room, he went for a nap as he was really tired. I went to Walmart via Vons first, the lovely cashier gave me a discount card even though I’m UK as you get a significant discount with a Vons card.

Headed top Walmart bought coffee, orange juice, beer, popcorn, milk, sandwich and some chips and dips, spent about $80 in total.
Headed back and met hubby who felt better after his nap. I was tired by now so decided to stayed in, about 8.30ish, we got our phones sorted and he went off to see Tropicana, one of his favs from last time, and I went to sleep after layering myself with lotion as I was drying out fast, including my feet which were hurting even though I hadn’t actually walked very far.

Have to say, love our car, red dodge, and our sat nav, the freedom to just get in and drive anywhere is great .
I’m happy not drinking, suits me fine, I just love to drive and explore, makes being here so much more exciting.
Friday, I awoke at 6am, hubby hungover in bed so gave him some water and painkillers.

Went to Peppermill for breakfast, I had the fruit yogurt granola, very nice and Hubby had ham, eggs 3, toast and fruit….plus coffee, came to $35 in total, general consensus, whilst its nice here it’s not better and considerably more expensive than Ellis Island.
Then to CVS for some essentials, needed toothpaste and found an aisle with travel size and 99cent prices so got some razors, toothpaste, painkillers, sinus medication and contact lens stuff.
Then back to CH, loving the fact you can walk from the car to your room in less than 5 mins…cannot emphasise enough how much I rate this….and the space, just fantastic.
Anyway then headed out to the M resort, wow and triple wow we love this place.Just amazingly high end but with locals…love it.
Signed up for players card and got $5 free play on any machine, also hubby got some coasters as a souvenir.

Spent many hours here, basically great slots hubby loved the $5 blackjack tables, bottom line I won $320 on Ruby Slippers and he won $410 on Blackjack, I also accrued over 1000 points already in play, never reached that much before, amazing.

I went for the seafood buffet, hubby stayed with his new buddies at the table, seafood buffet was $29.99 $32 something with tax. This includes free wine and beer but I had soft drinks raspberry sodas as I’m driving and trying to recover from a chest and sinus infection.
I had crab legs, oysters, clams, prawns, butter sauce, spicy sauce, chicken wing, mahi mahi, sweet potato with marshmallow, tabuleh salad, all sorts.

Then dessert station, mmmm, I had peanut butter ice-cream, a pitastichio shot, a canoli and a coconut meringue. Just gorgeous. Tipped the server $5.

Headed back after many happy hours of playing at M resort played WOZ Wizard machine and won $83 hubby won $26 from a $20 bet each…in bed on fri night by 11…all good.
My chest/sinus infection kind of got the better of me at this point so I’ll continue the TR with a few notes which I made thereafter…it’ll be short and sweet.

Casinos.

Eastside Cannery – weird atmosphere when we went, no laughter, whooping or anything so we headed off shortly after. We got free slot play as promo for signing up for players card, I got $5, hubby got $10.

Green Valley Ranch, received free T shirts and slot play $10 each, I liked it, Hubby didn’t so we didn’t stay long but returned another day. No wind here.

Sams Town, loved it, old fav, great atmosphere, steady wins and breaking even, discovered the new Alice in Wonderland game here and had to be prised away from it, came away up on gambling, as did hubby.

M Resort, can’t say enough good things about this place, will make a plan to stay there so we can make a proper day/night of it next time, loved it though we had one particular day where everything was not kind (slots and table games wise).

Ellis Island I love EI, did very well a number of times on Coyote Moon slot.

Silverton and Bass Pro Shop, stumbled in almost by accident, realised that others had posted about it. Liked it here, a lot, returned another day, had good wins, was given a free buffet pass on players card signup which we never got round to using.

Cosmopolitan- young crowd, I really liked it, music but DJ and live bands blasting out, great for people watching. Hubby not so keen, had a few Cosmo cocktails, de-li-cious. Slots I found to be quite tight but cocktail service the best I’ve ever had and all staff extremely friendly and welcoming.

Gold Coast, mmm ok, neither do well or not so well here, just steady really.

Venetian – had a ton of fun playing Bright Diamonds, the one with the squealing penguins, great fun, broke even in the end. Cocktail service rubbish.

Orleans – mmm again ok, never seem to win anything at the Orleans despite me trying very hard, hubby had no luck on the tables either.

Main Street Station, yup ok, broke even when we were there, meaning I lost and hubby won.

El Cortez – had to try it, first time we’d been, very old school feeling, had all sorts of characters in there. Did very well on Planet Moolah, had a whole page of wilds, loved it there but found their air conditioned scent a little too overpowering. Will go again I think.

Flamingo- didn’t like, won’t be heading there again in a hurry.

Ditto Harrahs, really didn’t like it here, looks really shabby, found slots very tight for me.

Sahara- liked it here, went before it shut, got 2 sovenier t shirts from points through play, racked them up very quickly. $20 lasted a long time here, sad its going to go but hope they salvage something from the building and site.

Wynn, ok, no wins, no cocktail waitresses, didn’t stay too long.

Red Rock, great time here, introduced hubby to the delights of WOZ and Glinda, staff lovely, we kept on winning. I really like Red Rock and will return there again.

Sun Coast, for old times sake, we loved it the last time, great casino, long drive out though but worth a trip.

Stratosphere for old times sake too, first place we’d ever stayed at in Vegas… very busy, non existent cocktail service, didn’t stay long.

Palace Station, great place, won loads found slots to be very loose, liked it a lot, will return.

Tropicana, wow the refurb is great, very bright but I have to say the smell (tropical toilet cleanerish) is really overpowering…

Luxor, too busy, tons of kids everywhere, was a bit of a shock really, won’t be going there again in a hurry, just too packed and chaotic.

Mandalay Bay…nothing much to report, funny vibe, didn’t stay long.
Ceasers found slots tight here, though didn’t stay too long as pressed for time.

Hooters, popped in on last day, tired looking but have a bank of Star wars machines so we wasted some time and dollars on here, quite loose.

Laughlin
Visited the Golden Nugget, Harrahs but the Aquarius was the best and I consistently won here. Will definitely return.

Food

Due to being really poorly with chest infection my plans for really going to town with eating out went to pot a bit, which was a shame. Subsequently I have, yet again, returned with all my restaurant.com vouchers unspent and intact…haha.

Where we did eat ….

M resort buffet as reported earlier, brilliant and I’m sure significantly better than I could actually taste, will return there again I reckon.

Johnny Rockets, freshly cooked burger and fries in Flamingo, nice and hit the spot.

Du Pars formerly Bay City Diner hubby had steak dinner, I had a Tri tip sandwich (rib strips)…huge, could manage half of it.

Ellis Island for loads, including the Steak special, breakfasts, fried chicken, meat lover skillet special, all really nice and the best was the barbeque and it was delicious and of course too much so had it the next day and I think some the day after.

Egg Works for breakfast, delicious food, huge portions, love the atmosphere here. It’s a drive out though.

Peppermill, as reported earlier, fine place, great atmosphere, excellent waitress service always a Vegas must do.

Ping Pang Pong in Gold Coast, sadly didn’t like at all, felt the noodles were tasteless and claggy, very disappointed, its won awards though so something must be good. Service was very poor too.

Cheesecake Factory at Green Valley Ranch, loved this place, played it safe with a burger, meal so huge we still couldn’t fit in any cheesecake….arghhhhh.

In and Out burger, had burger and animal fries, sadly too ill to taste and went back to hotel and threw up…

Grand Lux in Venetian, had the long awaited for Asian Nachos, service very slow, first seated at a dirty table then moved and left for ages. When food eventually arrived it was cold and I sent it back (something I don’t usually do but I was shocked at the service and experience).
When the new order arrived, well I didn’t like them, too overpowering with the sauce, it was everywhere…I was gutted. Anyway when we came to pay the bill the manager came over and apologised for our experience and removed the nachos from the bill which I thought was excellent service. Not sure I’d go there again.

Joes crab shack at Laughlin, not brilliant to be honest, not fresh.

Slots
I have new favourites; still up there but knocked off the top spot is WOZ (any), loved Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek, Star Wars, Sex and The City (but expensive to play) Bright Diamonds and Planet Moolah.

Top tips.

I know with BA you can log into your account and select your seats 24 hours before flight for no charge, not sure with other airlines.

Take lip balm and moisturiser, you’ll need it.

Comfortable shoes goes without saying.

I took English pounds over and changed it for $1.60 at the Casino cage in Wynn (a tip I’d read somewhere, thanks whoever gave that tip). Better rate than the UK. Shop around though as I was offered $1.35 at Sams Town so left it.

Hubby had charged his Fairfx card up plus we had charge cards and credit cards too.

For us a car is essential and makes the holiday. If you hire one I seriously recommend you join their fast track clubs saves a lot of time.

Best bits

Trying out so many casinos off strip, just great to get in the car and go wherever we wanted.

Carriage House, the space, the room, the kitchen, everything, will definitely stay again. Staff were wonderful.

CVS for saving the holiday by having the medication I needed to take. I had underestimated how ill I was so would say of the 14 days we were there, I was well for about 5, love you CVS.

Searchlight gas station on the way to Laughlin, the tale involved, me, hubby, the car and my overestimating how much petrol we actually had in it!

Put it this way driving at 25 mph, going slower and slower, with no air con on, the fuel guage reading EMPTY, in the desert trying to save what little fuel we had was….erm…an experience. Definitely the best win of the holiday was seeing the petrol station at Searchlight and we got to it before the car ran out, hooray.

Sur La Table, kitchen equipment shop had a 70% sale on, yeahhhhh. Yup I stood queuing for 4 hours but by bargainous haul was worth it. So lugged back gorgeous china and a pan set.

Our list of ‘must do’s’ was nearly completed, we even got to the Vegas sign. Need a new list for next time.

Side note and a bit sad, there are a significant number of beggars in Vegas, downtown, on the strip and at the end of every freeway exit/entrance. I found this very sad really and we always gave something.

ferf1223

March

Triker wrote: »

Headed off from there and drove to South Point....they have a Steak and Shake

Thank you for the report, Triker - I have been looking forward to it and you didn't disappoint. Sorry you did not like our beloved Asian Nachos (now I really want some!)...but I had NO IDEA there was a Steak 'n Shake in Vegas! OMG...favorite from my hometown - didn't realise that they had expanded outside the Midwest...next trip we're actually going home first, then onto Vegas so will probably already have had my fix at home...but any subsequent trips that do not include a stop home first - this is most excellent news for me!

I also adored the Alice in Wonderland slot - really a new favorite of mine...looking forward to visiting them again in September.

Froggitt

We went to the one in Orlando. Called it Shake and Vac!!!

Triker

March

Sadly I didn't get to try the Steak and Shake or indeed Five Guys...**sob** although I did note that the Steak and Shake had a queue which looked rather long and that was midday.

photome

August

ferf1223 wrote: »

Thank you for the report, Triker - I have been looking forward to it and you didn't disappoint. Sorry you did not like our beloved Asian Nachos (now I really want some!)...but I had NO IDEA there was a Steak 'n Shake in Vegas! OMG...favorite from my hometown - didn't realise that they had expanded outside the Midwest...next trip we're actually going home first, then onto Vegas so will probably already have had my fix at home...but any subsequent trips that do not include a stop home first - this is most excellent news for me!

I also adored the Alice in Wonderland slot - really a new favorite of mine...looking forward to visiting them again in September.

Whats a steak and shake, have been to south point but only eaten at the buffet

photome

August

Triker I am with you about a car, we always venture to the off strip hotels, mainly for the buffets though. Silverton is one of our favs

Triker

March

http://www.southpointcasino.com/dining/steak-n-shake.php

I've just been on the website and am drooling.

jadamcp

Triker - great trip report.

Went to Peppermill for breakfast, I had the fruit yogurt granola, very nice and Hubby had ham, eggs 3, toast and fruit….plus coffee, came to $35 in total, general consensus, whilst its nice here it’s not better and considerably more expensive than Ellis Island.

We didn't really rate Peppermill, as you say certainly not better than EI. We did love the Fireside Lounge though. :beer:

Maybe next year for 2 weeks in LV, we were there in March (5th - 12th) and previously it has been either 7 or 8 nights. Off to Benidorm for a week on Tuesday and back to Orlando for a week in July - sadly no holidays left after that.

Loved your reports of all the other off strip casinos too - we don't really gamble but would love to visit them.

.........Roll on 2012

ferf1223

March

photome wrote: »

Whats a steak and shake, have been to south point but only eaten at the buffet

It's a burger chain. Their burgers and shakes are awesome (we think - like anything, it has its detractors)...their fries are not awesome (we go with onion rings).

Hubby reckons he would choose Steak 'n Shake over In and Out...I'm not sure where I would come down - it would be mighty close.

http://www.steaknshake.com/menu/the-original-steakburger/

The burgers are quite thin - this upsets some people...but as far as I know they use fresh beef and sort of smush it flat on the grill rather than using pre-formed patties.

I'm so hungry.

luci

May

Thanks for the report Triker and glad you liked the Carriage House.

We have stayed there several times and always been happy with the room and the tons of space they give you. I was under the impression that you either got a full bathroom and kitchenette or full kitchen and just a shower. However this time we had both the full kitchen and full bathroom in a one bedroom suite.