Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

cloudy_nines

September

Got a right result tonight! We originally booked our flights in April via ebookers for a total cost of £1349, as we are going to San Francisco for 5 days prior to Vegas. Thought at the time it was a good deal but made the mistake of checking flights after to then see them come down

Anyway, got an email from ebookers to state that our airline has changed our homeward bound flights significantly, so much so, they gave us 3 options to either accept the new flight times, return a day earlier or later or have a full refund. I called them and explained I wanted a refund, as the new flight times we unacceptable to us,as the connection is only 60 mins and I was not prepared to take the risk etc.

So they have refunded me the cost and I have now just booked new flights via expedia, saving a total of £450!! And this is with Delta Airlines who we flew with last year and we rate them as we thought they were excellent.

Yay!

Getting even more excited now - fly 5 weeks today. Hotels all booked up, apart from 3 nights 20th Sept. Hotel costs are so high though and have found no deals at all. We were hoping to stay Mirage, but the cost for these 3 nights is over £500. Ouch!

Starting to get itinerary together; we want to do the following excursions/shows;

Penn & Teller
Le Reve
Absinthe
Murder Mystery @ The Fitz
Day trip to LA
Scoot City
Qua Spa - hoping to get the same $99 massage special as last year, fingers crossed!

Anyone been to these recently? I hear absinthe is good, so we have ditched Jersey Boys for Absinthe. And I know LA is a real long day and a bit of a dump, but we have never been there before and unlikely to go again, so why not.

Thanks for reading

Wizbit82

July

Indout96 wrote: »

The best Vegas buffet by far (IOHO) is at "M" resort, about 20 mins outside of Vegas even beer & wine are included in the price. It has its own micro brewery.
Best tip for the buffets are look round everything before you choose

Just got back in from Vegas at lunchtime - will post more later but in reply to the above-we drove out to M Resort one evening a couple of weeks ago, really looking forward to the Buffet (had been on our 'to-do' list since last years trip). Unfortunately, there was a two and a half hour wait, so if you are going plan ahead as we just couldn't justify the wait and ended up having to go back into town :-(

Having done a few 'higher end' buffets this time, IMHO the Wynn is still #1 by far. The prime rib, freshness of salads, desserts and choice are hard to beat. Yes, it does come at a cost, but it's one I'm willing to pay.

Cosmo was a 8/10 (good desserts but nothing was labelled which was annoying and crabs legs were dire).

Aria = don't bother. We did lunch there before we came back yesterday, wish I'd saved the money and used it on a taxi fare to the Wynn instead :-(

Wizbit82

July

nvh wrote: »

sorry guys, i really should know better and its probably a cliche question, but re: shooting gallerys, which one is advised to be 'the best'

any opinions welcome

We like the Gun Store on Tropicana, went last year and returned this year, however on one trip this time there was a 2 hour wait, which we didn't have so ended up going to one just off Strip, which although good, didn't give as much of the full 'experience' that we like at the Gun Store.

BTW - They do a $100 package (3 or could be 4 guns of your choice plus a t-shirt) which is pretty good.

Wizbit82

July

stoneman wrote: »

Virgin Atlantic have been demoted to a 3 star airline. Now in the same exalted company as Easyjet :beer: linky

Have to say I am absolutely not surprised at all having literally just got back off a flight with them.I had never flown VA before but OH had and really enjoyed it last time - sadly this will not be an experience we will be repeating.

Blankets are no longer a given (have to ask, then it's if they have one knocking about), meal was not good quality (gone are the days of Gu puddings) and staff seem really disinterested and false (Waaaaaay more then normal cabin crew).

Choose it due to being direct out of Manc, and although we had good (?) seats (Exit Rows 25) with leg room for both journeys, they crew and facilities just did not live up to my expectations, therefore we are either going to go back to BA (connect in Heathrow or look at a US carrier)

Has anyone got experience of flying from UK with US Airways? We flew international to Mexico from LV with them and they were great on both legs of the journey. Any info appreciated

zackary71

Got my gambling money today for October trip...decided to settle for the $1.60 rate which will do me. Ready now for my Blackjack sessions...Just need to remember the strategy now if I'm going to sit at 3rd base !!

ferf1223

March

cloudy_nines wrote: »

Anyone been to these recently? I hear absinthe is good, so we have ditched Jersey Boys for Absinthe.

Absinthe's last show (unless it is extended - not sure how likely that is this close to the end of the run) is 17th September, I think...would love to see it but we're out of luck unless it's extended.

Wizbit82

July

So guys, just been catching up on posts from last few days and thought I'd share this years food experiences with you (but in a short version - happy for people to message me if they want more info but realise a lot of people wont be interested so will keep it as brief as poss)...

Restaurants/Food places we ate at with our ratings:

In&Out Burger - 9/10, went to 2 different locations, the one off Trop is much quieter than the one by Russell.Also got to go in the merchandise shop at the Russell location, all good :-)

Stripburger - 8/10, first visit after reading so much about it. Had blue cheese burger/mushroom & cheddar burger with garlic fries and onion strings... delicious

Holsteins @ Cosmo - 7/10, burger was pretty good but dry in comparison to Stripburger. Great shakes. Returned another day just for the 'Candyshop' dessert - ridiculous but worth it for the novelty value of liquid nitrogen meringues!!!

Triple 7 Brew Pub (Fremont) - 7/10, micro brewery with traditional american fare. My meal was fairly grim, OH enjoyed his steak sub thing and beer sampler. Good music.

Rainforest Cafe (MGM) - no comment, it was not out of choice that we went here and hence we will not return!!!

Pop's Cheese Steak (Off Strip) -8/10, small establishment off Spring Mountain Road. Nice for a quick lunch of Philly Cheese Steaks

Hot & Juicy Crawfish (Chinatown, Off Strip) - 9/10, so good we went twice!!! After seeing it on Man vs. Food we descided to give it a go. Super tasty, peel-your-own shrimp.Very basic decor and not for the faint-hearted :-) Youtube it for more info

Cut @ Palazzo - 9.5/10, this was a little treat for our last night and we had the kobe sampling plate and 3 courses. Exquisite service, attention to detail and atmosphere is fairly relaxed for a place of its calibre. Yes, it is pricey, and having eaten A LOT of steak our favourite is still the Cowboy Ribeye at Society in Encore next door (far cheaper too). Damn good though.

Memphis Chamionship BBQ - (off strip) 8/10. Huge portions of award-winning BBQ. Service was great and I got a free entree as it was my birthday (pre-registration via website required). Soft drinks come in huge jam jar things and starter itself was enough to feed a small family. Luckily they boxed most of it and it was a yummy breakfast the next day!!!

Cadillac Ranch @ Town Square - 7/10, unexpected trip to Town Square for cheap Hollister & Abercrombie resulted in a late lunch. Had appetisers which were bigger than UK main courses, nice kinda rock/sports bar vibe.

Chandalier bar @ Cosmo - reasonably priced drinks in nice surroundings. Pleasantly surprised.

Best milkshake...still the Dairy Queen for me I have to say, I can't find one that beats their Oreo shake, and trust me, I've tried!!!

Best Ice Cream....Cold Stone Creamery @ Excalibur. My new favourite :-) cannot wait to return here

PM for any more info on food or shopping, seems to be all I've done for the last 3 weeks!!!!

ferf1223

March

Wizbit82 wrote: »

Best Ice Cream....Cold Stone Creamery @ Excalibur. My new favourite :-) cannot wait to return here

Ok, people, can we agree not to mention CSC for the next several weeks, please? I just forget about it and it crops up again and then I crave it for a week and I just forget about it and it crops up again.

Thanks for the food reviews...always a good thing...but we actually like Rainforest Cafe - haven't been in awhile, but for several years it was our traditional first night's dinner...we've never had a bad meal there - though it's not as exciting or inspiring as many places, we do like it.

Wizbit82

July

ferf1223 wrote: »

Ok, people, can we agree not to mention CSC for the next several weeks, please? I just forget about it and it crops up again and then I crave it for a week and I just forget about it and it crops up again.

Thanks for the food reviews...always a good thing...but we actually like Rainforest Cafe - haven't been in awhile, but for several years it was our traditional first night's dinner...we've never had a bad meal there - though it's not as exciting or inspiring as many places, we do like it.

Dont get me wrong, the meal was 'ok', its just not really our scene (we went with friends who were over for our wedding and had a little one). We'd normally steer clear of such family friendly places when we're away, but for what it is and who it's for, then yeah, it's great.

bubble113

August

Wizbit...Did you have a go on the bull in Cadillac Ranch at Town Square? We went this week with a restaurant.com voucher, my son loved the mechanical bull, I wanted a go but one of those things you do when you've had a few and I hadn't!
It was a good evening at Town square it was state national night. The emergency service vehicles, squat team van, csi van etc were there for people to go in and look around, all sorts of activities going on and live band on. Didn't know this was happening so landed lucky it was free and really interesting.