Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

photome

August

bubble113 wrote: »

Thanks Ferf, thats what I wanted to say but I sounded all grumpy and aggresive!:mad:.....sorry Photome didn't want it to come accross that way, hope I didn't offend

No Problem and Stuie has returned :T

StuieUK34

June

This is long peeps!

Where do i start!!!
Key Notes: FairFX Card users - $1k daily limit, max $500 a time. CASINO ROYALE charge $1 on there ATM + $2 FairFX
fee. Cheapest i found for withdraws (thanks to who mentiond it on here!)

Thurs, 2nd june, stayed at Stanhill Court hotel (Gatwick), through my cheeky emails, i got us room/parking for 18 days for
£89..... The cheeky mails got us the 'Deluxe Four Poster' room, which in turn was there best rooms, massive, 4 poster bed,
and a jacuzzi for 2 bathtub!! Wooohoooooooo !



Fri 3rd - Got to Gatwick, had bought Groupon vouchers for No1 Traveller lounge... As there was me, my missis and dad, was
quite nice sitting there drinking champagne at 9:30am! and having free drinks and munchies!
VIRGIN Flight - Bunch of morons... i had me and the missis in 61A&C (twin seats), and my dad on 60D, checked us in 24hrs
before too.... Got to Bag drop, my dads seat has been moved to an isle seat 13 rows in front. I asked how this can be
given he is checked in already and the guy was like 'i dont know' , maybe a family with kids took my dads seat ?
So on the plane we get, and low and behold, the seat were my dad should have been sat is occupied by adults, no kids at
all, so my dad got moved for no reason, bit crap given he was checked in and then had to sit 11hrs by himself as such.
I had can of beer, then they said they had run out (were talking 2hrs 11mins after take off they run out), infact, they run
out of everything except cans of pepsi and water... no ice, no baileys, no gin, no vodka, no nothing!
Food wasn't too bad, sausage and mash at first, then later on had this thai veg wrap. Then just before landing, they
offered a choice of 'this sucks' or 'this really sucks' kinda sarnie, so most people on the plane said No to both!!
Virgin really do suck! The plane had the name 'Virginia Plain' on the front, the IFE was proper old (i flew virgin from NY
6 years ago and that had a on demand IFE), this IFE was similar to the crap they had on planes 25 years ago!
Land at Vegas, WOW!!! what a sight to be greeted to! 3 of us got in the cab and off to the TROPICANA we go! My mum and
her mate had already checked in there the night before...
Got to hotel, well impressed, looks all new compared to other white buildings (Re-Furb is top!) , got to check-in, and
although knowing about our free/comped room upgrade, i still acted surprised when they said we got a suite on the 19th
floor! Thank you Nicole!!!! (Guest Relations Manager)
Stopped at my Dads room first as he was in the same tower, looked pretty nice and new and decent size king bed and so
on....
Got to our room, OMG!!!! Proper WOW!!!! was huge, about 4 times the size of my dads room, with a seperate bedroom too which
was huge! Fridge, coffee maker, 2 big plasma tellys, sofa's, fancy chair things, free bottled water, it were amazing!!!
Well happy with the room! Great view looking at the strip (kinda looked at Excal / NYNY and up the strip).
Room was total awesome, and i mean awesome!

Fri night - was knackered anyway, so met my mum and her mate, 5 of us went to Hooters for munchies (ate in the Mad Onion as
Bud Light was only $1.50!). Our 2 friends met us in there too, so was cool to have a crowd! Lasted till 10:45pm, then had
to go sleep!

Sat - 4th - up at Early-o-clock! ie: 7am! went over to MGM to watch the England-Swiss game at 8:30am, dissappointing!
Then sunbathed ALL day! went on this 'OnBoardTours' tour at 8pm from Ballys, took us to Sirens at TI, Bellagio, Mirage,
golden nugget and then the 11pm freemont show.. Freemont street was proper cool! loving that digital show, everyone looking
up at the same time resembled that of a movie where everyone is a zombie! haha!
Come 12am, time to get back for bed as still tired!

Sun 5th - up at good time, ie: 9am! Sunbathed ALL day! Tropicana pool was pretty cool, beds were nice and comfy, and
sure did help diving in the pool when my factor 4 oil was making me cook!!
Sun night, went to BB Kings (Mirage), food was good, entertainment quite cool too, 7 of us there, had the $100 voucher.
Went on a $5 per spin slot machine, put in $140. Didnt realise that hitting MAX BET was betting $25 per spin for the first
2 goes! doh!
Anyway, not 1 win come of that, felt very much ripped off by a bent machine!
Left there at 11 ish, then we went to Ellis Island (i raved about it as of reading it on here) for the Karaoke.....
OMG!!! We were sooooooooo in the wrong place! Am guessing ellis island is good for getting there early? It was a very
locals place, with all eyes on us when we went in.... stayed for 1 drink then we got the hell out of dodge!
My mate said Circus Circus had karaoke on, so taxi'd there, no karaoke on sundays! doh! quick play on the tables, lose,
then taxi back to lose some more in the Tropicana till 2am

Mon - 6th - 3 of us went to the GunStore on East Tropicana in the morning, my missis did the ladies package for $50, fired
the AR-15 assault rifle then 20 rounds with the glock I did 50 rounds on MP5 laser scope, 50rounds with M16 rifle,
then 20 rounds with Colt 1911.... OMG!! How cool was this!!! Can see how easy it is to spend money in there!
Back on strip, went on the NY NY rollar coaster, dam awesome that ride! i filmed it on the iphone going round! love watchin
it back! Then Sunbathed for the rest of the day! Later that night, went to get our marriage license (did it online so
took 4 mins in total to get the stuff when we got there!), then walked around freemont street trying to find a place to eat
as it was gone 10pm... Tony Roma's which is a cracking food place had a queue and served till 10:30pm, so carried on
looking, then last resort, went into 'The Fitz'........ Restuarant open till late, had a 10oz Ribeye with unlimited fresh
salad bar for $8.99!!! and my god did the steak taste nice too! Missis had chicken fajita's, smelt nice, looked nice, and
the extra stuff that come with them took up the table!! and cost under $10 too!! MEGA MEGA impressed with the food!!
Got back to the strip around 12:30am, met our 2 friends at Bill's gamblin saloon. They got KARAOKE in there!!! 4 of
us playing BlackJack with an efficent cocktail waitress made for a good night, spent money but had good fun doing it!


Tue -7th - Judgement Day! Sunbathed till 12! then off she went and i got banished from our suite! Went into Gameworks
with my dad to play on the arcade machines in the afternoon, had to be ready and in lobby for 4pm ready for Limo...
Lost track of time playing in Gameworks, checked time and its like 3:15pm!!! ARGHHHH! flew back to the Trop to my dads
room, was ready and down in lobby by 4:01pm! 4 mins later, my wife to be appears with the other women behind her....
She looked amazing, proper amazing! I had called in a mobile hairdresser for her and my mum (plus makeup for my
mum), worked out like $75 each for the hair doo, and i was told she was pretty good!!
http://www.ferreiramakeupandhair.com/About-Ferreira-M---H.html
HUGE Expedition black limo arrived, took us to the Shalimar chapel, where we had the Gazebo wedding booked. 7 of us there,
and for what we wanted, we got! $325 wedding + donations = $435 total We had 15 mins outside so our friends
could take photos which worked out mega cool!
We got married, then come the part with the photos after which i expected, we had the 24 on CD anyway (1.5mb filesize, so
around 2m pixel?), and she wanted $40 for 1 pic, or $120 for the 4 best pics, my wife wanted 2 of them, and they were nice
so i offered $60 in my cheeky way, she accepted so got 2 nice big high res framed pics! (one of them being with our
friends/family)
Limo took us to our choice of destination, which was the Harley Davidson Rock Cafe.... I forgot to tell them that a
wedding party of 7 would be arriving around 6pm! We got in, everyone in there kinda looked at us in shock! haha, followed
by smiles , got a nice table, waiter was pretty cool, and inside that restuarant, WOW! its proper cool with the bikes
and decor! my mate bought us all champagne, then onto the food orders, mmmm mmmmmmmmm!!! Its all good in here, and
everyone enjoyed the food, ribs were huge and well nice!!!!
On a nice note, the lady that takes photos for people who sit on a Harley with a green screen, came up to us and asked us
to have our photo taken on the bike!! gave her a $2 tip anyway, but she done us a nice photo in there frame too!

Later on the night after getting changed into normal clothes, 5 of us went to Bills again as got a nice atmosphere in there
and played some blackjack! I put $60 on, drew a 9, so i doubled down, now $120 on table, i drew a 3! arghhh! Dealer beats
me, argghhhh!, won some back later, got the drunk feeling going on! i have x2 $100 chips, i put one down, i draw 20!
sweeeeeet! Dealer draws BlackJack, ARGHHHHH!!! not so lucky with the gamblin, so back we go, off to see if i can get lucky
in our room !

Weds 8th - Our mates had moved hotel from Venitian to Mandalay Bay, so went over there to sunbath (most of the day) and
check out there pool, pretty cool, especially the wave machine!!!!, then went for a walk up and down the strip a bit ,
bit of shopping in that Mall opposite Encore....
Through my cheeky emails with Nicole (GUests manager for the Trop), i had secured 5 tickets to see Gladys Knight at the
Trop. Picked up the VIP tickets for 5 of us, got a booth and then the show started... WOW!!!!! for an old bird, she can
still bang out the tunes, her brother was part of the act too, made for a super cool night!!!! amazing performance!!!
Gambled a bit in the Trop after for a while, no big wins or losses, but lost though (lost everyday with gambling!)

Thurs 9th - Me, the wife and my dad got the All day buffet pass at the Excal, had brekkie which was alright to be honest,
shame they didnt do baked beans! then all day we walked the strip going through each hotel, me having a flutter in each,
and naturally losing everytime! went for dinner at 8 at the Excal, wasnt bad food, felt like a Ponderosa buffet
place Then down to car rental to pick our prebooked/paidMustang convert with Dollar and a full tank of fuel (this
cost £41 which aint bad!)
Drove upto the Stratosphere, where i coughed up $99, then up in the express lift, ready to do my SKYJUMP!
awesome i tell u! Up there at night looking out is an amazing sight to see!. 1,2, 3 and off i went! it was ok, but more a
thrill ride for girls! Only fell at 50mph! Hit the floor, rambo rolled a bit, then shouted out how my nuts were hurting
from the tight saftey belt!! hehe
Felt good for making the jump though
Back to the Tropicana, all 3 of us sat on the 'Wheel of fortune' slot machine (the one with big screen, not the crappy
small ones)....
in goes $60, DING DING DING! would appear my luck is in, 90c bets to $2.70 bets, i was winning and losing, had a big win of
9780 credits ($97) which got us a crowd behind!, but great fun, we all cashed out money up, with me about $200 up in the
end! plus i still had $200 in chips in our safe!

Fri - 10th - Checked out, nothing to pay as expected said bye to my dad (mum had left thurs morning)... Jumped in the
Stang and headed out on our planned trip.... Stopped at In-n-Out Burger as i think Stoneman recommends it! nice
basic menu, but my god do there burgers taste good! Very good! Had me the Double-Double cheesburger (which is just 2
burgers, not 4!).
Then onto I-15, and off at Valley of Fire..... paid $10 to drive through, at 1 point, the temp clock reached 106f, so
driving with the roof down sure did give us a tan/burn/wrecked/destroyed/mega hot/worn out feeling! haha!

Went to a view places at Lake Mead as well, then down to Hoover Dam, into Arizona for 2 mins, then back again!
Now.............. Hacienda hotel and Casino right by the Dam..... they do 50c chips with a minimum of $1 bet on the
roulette.... so me and the wife had a bit of play (dont like this minimum $10 for everything on the strip!)....
I lost some chips, i won some chips, i lost some, lost some more, only the 2 of us playing as its like 5pm..... then, i got
a few chips on 33, 34, 32 and 36..... about $4 on 33, $2 on the corner (x8), and $3 on the side (x11)....
Now, number 35 landed on the roulette, and it showed on the screen too, but the lady marked it as 33 and said i won!!!!!!!
no idea how much i won, but was lots of chips! then won $36 landing on 00, then 32 came in, so figured we best cash out as
if they play the tape back and see the croup made a mistake, i might have the heavies on my case! Made about $380!!! We
got in the car quick and i floored it out of there!!!!
Back at the Tropicana so the wife can change in the bathrooms and we pick up the suitcases.... whilst waiting for her, i
put $5 in 'Sex & the city machine', land on Samantha full win, out comes $93.16 !!!, put $3 in Wheel of Fortune, out comes
$26!, then some cartoon style machine, in goes $8, and out comes $64!!!!!!!
We left and as we walked out the front, i said, i cant believe how lucky i feel!, i then look at the floor and theres a
ticket for $27.86 for the Luxor!!! We aint got much time to get the car back to the rental centre as its like 7:30pm, but i
flew into the luxor and got my free win! Woooohooooooooooooo ! dropped car off, then onto our Delta flight down to Orlando
(Redeye).....

Overall, our Vegas trip was amazing and then some.... The Tropicana hotel is a very very very nice hotel and just perfect!
Not too big, and easy to get around, and all nice and new! The suite we had really topped it off, and the free show
tickets too! All that just from a bit of cheekyness and nice emails to the Guests Manager there
Baring in mind, i booked the room through Netflights.com!!
I sure hope we can go back there again next year for a week, as it is truly an amazing place, so much to see and not enough
time to do it!
Didnt eat at half the food places we wanted, Subway got a bit of our business! and the Gameworks food place was good too!
Shocking stuff: Buying a beer in most places was $6 up, hellllllllooooooooo! thats alot! do Americans earn like $45k a
year minimum or somthing? even pepsi and the like was over $3! Vodka & coke in BB Kings was $8!!!!!!!!!!!!!

photome

August

pebblesmax wrote: »

This should be a public link to my pictures of the Kylie concert on facebook. I'll post more as I get them uploaded.

Looks like the same set (I guess it would be) as they showed on Sky the other night from the o2, It keeps getting repeated for anyone that hasnt seen it

photome

August

Stuie great report

It seems like you are hooked like the rest of us now:T

You both look great on your wedding day, congrats :beer:

Bills is one of my fav casinos as well, I also like the vibe in there.

pebblesmax

November / December

photome wrote: »

Looks like the same set (I guess it would be) as they showed on Sky the other night from the o2, It keeps getting repeated for anyone that hasnt seen it

Yes it will be. It was her Aphrodite tour. I didn't realise she was such a gay icon. It was probably because of her backing dancers and videos. As Stoneman said, there weren't many straight men in the place.

StuieUK34

June

Cheers ! and defo hooked on Vegas!! seems like ages ago since we were there, yet was only 20 days i went!

bubble113

August

wdyw wrote: »

If it was you just out for a run, do you know about the organised runs Nike organise? Last time we were over they were weekly at 6:00pm up/down the strip. Everyone catered for from about 1 mile runners upwards.

Thanks for that, I had read about it somewhere but had forgotten about it.

I try and run v early in the morning because of the weather and usually have a beer in my hand by 6!

secretmachines

July

congrats Stuie! and great report, sounds like you had an absolute blast... have made me even hungrier for our trip... only 8 days to go!

any tips for the No1Traveller lounge at Gatwick? got a couple of Groupons for there too... have called them and booked in for the morning of the flight... is it far from the Gate?

bubble113

August

Thanks for the great trip report and taking time to do it, really enjoyed reading it.

Congratulations on the wedding you both looked great!

I too have had fun in Bill's but one too many long islands!

Know its Vegas thread but did you enjoy Orlando?.....Vegas or Orlando?...

Hope you manage to get back next year.:)

MariaC

October

Great trip report Stuie - sounds like you had a great time!

It has got me all hyped up for our Vegas wedding now :j 4months to go!
Everything is pretty much sorted... just where to eat dinner after the wedding left to sort out.

Wedding at 2.30pm at Chapel of the Flowers - ceremony will be broadcast live HERE if anyone fancy's watching (10.30pm UK time I think)

Then we'll be taking our guests on a drive down the strip (in one of those party buses :beer:) and having photos at the usual spots; Vegas sign, fountains, suggestions welcome H2B & I love a good roller coaster - so are planning to get on the NYNY coaster in our wedding outfits!

Then the plan is probably the Level 107 lounge at the Strat for around 5.30pm - in time for happy hour & sunset!

But after that we're not sure..... had planned on just having dinner at Top of the World restaurant but their "group bookings" person sent a rather poorly constructed email with the various options. Still not sure if I have understand it. She was trying to get us to use their private dining room but I think it will lack atmosphere as there will only be 15 of us. She also seemed to insist that we will have to eat from a set menu.

Would love to get somewhere nice but not stupidly expensive with a great atmosphere. Regulars - any suggestions?