Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

luci

May

costingbunny wrote: »

Still trying to decide on a hotel for a trip to LV in either Jan or Feb 2011. Virgin have good deals but it seems much cheaper on lowcostusa. Looked on tripadvisor but the Top 10 there is either hihg end or smaller places that do not come up on the holiday offers. Currently looking at between £850-£950 for 6 nights at either Vdara, Belligio or Venitian? Any thoughts?? Cheers

Forget the TA reviews. There are hopeless for Vegas and not a good indicator at all. Are the Staybridge Suites still at No1?

Caesars have a Black Friday offer on some hotels which has to be booked today.

Caesars from $70

http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations/?propCode=CLV&packageCode=ICTGF&ed_rid=1U3JI8-LBXSR-LUWH65-HN58XF-VLMDCF-v1&ed_mid=4180110

PH FROM $50

http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations/?propCode=PHV&packageCode=IMTGF&ed_rid=1U3JI8-LBXSR-LUWH65-HN58XF-IIH03W-v1&ed_mid=4180110

Paris from $40

http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations/?propCode=PLV&packageCode=IPTGF&ed_rid=1U3JI8-LBXSR-LUWH65-HN58XF-B5NTQA-v1&ed_mid=4180110

All good hotels and no resort fees

pm04gn

November / December

Long term lurker here!
Just wanted to thank everyone for all the advice on the las vegas board - made our trip extra special.
Brief trip report
5th Nov - 10th Nov £570 each on united staying at NYNY
Flew United LHR - washington - LAS. Flights OK overall, easy transit at washington didnt have to go too far between gates. Although there was a massive queue at immigration as we landed at the same time as a Lufthansa flight. Long wait at LAS for the bags but finally made it into at 8pm heading for New York New York.
Cabbie was a bit grumpy when I requested no tunnel but duly upheld my request. That first trip up the strip was amazing, there really is nothing like it. Think it was $15 with the tip which seemed fair.

New York New York was a pretty nice hotel, no queues at check in. Had planned to do the $20 tip but decided to just ask nicely and see where it got us. We couldnt do anyworse than the basic we had booked! The chap was really helpful and managed to get us a strip view room looking out at MGM, tropicana and down to mandalay bay. The room was also two sizes up our booking so that was a total success. There was something quite mesmerising about watching the strip switch on at nightfall.
Cabbed it up to CP to hit up the cheesecake factory for dinner. Amazing burgers plus they do sweet potato fries, which is always a bonus. Got cheescake to go and took a slow saunter back to the hotel down the strip. Was a bit too tired to take it all in at this point.

Day one - decided to do the strip by foot, in comfy shoes as recommended. Went all the way up to TI stopping at chipotle for a lunchtime burrito, those things are delicious and pretty cheap for what you get. Stopped on the way to gamble a bit and tour the casinos. Was a lot easier once we understood what on earth was going on with the slot machines. BF won $30 on a very noisy wild west machine at PH, not bad from a $1 starting bet. Biggest win all trip. Highlights were the venetian, bellagio fountains, PH casino and also really liked the tropicana (its the intoxicating coconut smell) Spent the afternoon watching the NFL as BF is a big Ravens fan and there was a game on. Got a quick dinner at Dennys that night, food good for the price and lovely pumpkin pie.
Day two - Spice Market Buffet for brunch. Lovely selection for breakfast, excellent pancakes and hash browns. Saw some of the lunch food coming out, didnt look quite as appetising, think I would have been disappointed had we gone for lunch. Did the other end of the strip getting the tram to Mandalay bay and then walking through all the casinos, gambling a few bucks along the way. Later in the afternoon took the deuce to downtown. Didnt get the express which was a mistake. It took forever and noone seems to understand how buses work. There were people trying to get on at the back doors and all sorts.
Definately a different feel downtown. Played a few cent machines and had a few cheeky $1 margaritas(dirty) then headed over to main street casino. Had dinner in the triple 7 brew pub, the monday night game was on so the atmosphere was great with good deals and giveaways. Which made watching even more football bearable. The beer was given the thumbs up by the fussy boyfriend and the chicken wings were great.
Day three - picked up the car from TI. The most ridiculous bright yellow chevrolet aveo. Booked directly with dollar in the end as they were cheaper than carhire3000. Drove down to Primm and got a few bits at the outlet, worth it if you're looking for cheap hollister. Also gave me a chance to get used to driving on the wrong side as it was my first time.
Managed to find the in and out just off tropicana/dean martin av. Amazing as always. Finally tried everything animal style and I was not disappointed.
Hit the town square shops for old navy and then the las vegas south outlet. Brilliant kitchen shop for you bakers!
Went to see jersey boys in the palazzo. Got tickets the day before from Tix for tonight £55 each and the view was great from the rear orchestra section. The whole production was excellent and the singing was perfect, highly reccomended.
Day four - Had a few stops to make to pick up things for family members so drove around doing walmart etc. I always get strange looks bulk buying nerds for the family. In the evening we did the whole strip by night and stopped to watch the fountains a couple of times. Dinner at the wicked spoon buffet which is worth the money for the freshly roasted prime rib. Lovely gelato as well but they use the tiniest scoop.
Day five - flight at midday so just enough time for a trip to ihop before we dropped the car off. Excellent system at Mccarren rental car centre.
Goof flight back via houston on continental, the layover was looking tight at 46mins but we landed 30mins early so had plenty of time. Lovely plane on the international leg, got 3 seats between us with on demand IFE on widescreens.

Sorry if thats a bit long. All the advice on here really helped me plan and have a great time so hopefully I can pass this on.

Cant wait to go back

G x

tdawber

November / December

My UK ghd's have never worked in the US, but hopeful, i still take them everytime. I need to buy an american pair really but cant find a shop to buy them. Im going for the frizz look!

luci

May

The GHD's IV are dual voltage I believe and would work both in the UK and US.

You should be able to pick up a cheap pair of straighteners at CVS, Walgreens or Walmart.

WestHamDaz

pebblesmax wrote: »

photome, WestHamDaz and Luci, I feel a meet coming on.

We will have to make a plan closer to the time.

At Ellis Island, over a massive plate of ribs and a pint ?? :beer:
!!!!!!.com
Has anyone got anything showing in their !!!!!! accounts in relation to deals/offers? We're gold, on 71,500 points and have 3 offers that cover the xmas period and thats all there has been for the last 3 months.
Over the last year we've had loads of offers in our account for concert tickets, slot tournys, free nights etc etc but now there's virtually nothing available.

Hoping there are some reasonable offers that we can take advantage of for when we're next out there.

pebblesmax

November / December

Good call. We just need to set a date.

pebblesmax

November / December

Sorry, can't help with the !!!!!! situation. I have read on other message boards that some people aren't getting the offers they are used to.

ferf1223

March

WestHamDaz wrote: »

!!!!!!.com
Has anyone got anything showing in their !!!!!! accounts in relation to deals/offers? We're gold, on 71,500 points and have 3 offers that cover the xmas period and thats all there has been for the last 3 months.
Over the last year we've had loads of offers in our account for concert tickets, slot tournys, free nights etc etc but now there's virtually nothing available.

Hoping there are some reasonable offers that we can take advantage of for when we're next out there.

We didn't get much on the old MGM system, but on !!!!!! at least used to each have a free night at MB with $25 slot play...at present we have nothing...a bit disappointing as we were kind of thinking about bolting together 2 1-free night offers and paying for the 3rd as the last 3 nights of our Feb trip. Shame as I really thought they were going more the way of Total Rewards when !!!!!! launched.

gggareth

luci wrote: »

Forget the TA reviews. There are hopeless for Vegas and not a good indicator at all. Are the Staybridge Suites still at No1?

Caesars have a Black Friday offer on some hotels which has to be booked today.

Caesars from $70

http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations/?propCode=CLV&packageCode=ICTGF&ed_rid=1U3JI8-LBXSR-LUWH65-HN58XF-VLMDCF-v1&ed_mid=4180110

PH FROM $50

http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations/?propCode=PHV&packageCode=IMTGF&ed_rid=1U3JI8-LBXSR-LUWH65-HN58XF-IIH03W-v1&ed_mid=4180110

Paris from $40

http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations/?propCode=PLV&packageCode=IPTGF&ed_rid=1U3JI8-LBXSR-LUWH65-HN58XF-B5NTQA-v1&ed_mid=4180110

All good hotels and no resort fees

Thanks, was struggling to decide which one to book for the 11th dec-15th... 45 a night at paris.. good deal.?

gggareth

ferf1223

March

gggareth wrote: »

Thanks, was struggling to decide which one to book for the 11th dec-15th... 45 a night at paris.. good deal.?

gggareth

Yes book it before it's too late - I'm surprised they are still live, thought it was only yesterday.