Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

Spursman180

March

Ah well, happy new year all and I've got fed up as interesting as it is trying to vicariously do Vegas through you all. I've booked my flights and hire car. VA into San Francisco on the 2nd of March and back from LA on the 18th. Using miles and money the flight is £377.54. Car hire with Argus £303.56 for 16 days.

Accommodation not all booked yet but what I've looked at is:- 2 nights in Harveys, Stateline ( a Harrahs affiliate) comped through total rewards, 2 nights Reno Harrahs, 1 night comped $134.40, Vegas 5 nights in South Point $313.60 inc tax, 2 night Buffalo Bills in Primm $78.84, 2 nights Harrahs Laughlin comped, and finally 3 nights at the Crowne Plaza Commerce in LA £180 (inc £130 Expedia discount using my Nectar points).

For a grand total of just about £1,200.

Points of interest on the way Folsom, Carson city and Virginia city ( a bit of a Bonanza fan as a kid), Yosemite NP, Malls in both LV & Primm, when heading to Laughlin the stretch between Niton and Searchlight skirts the top edge of the Mohjave NP, plenty of Josua trees and cactii for photo ops. Laughlin Harrahs has own beach on Colorado river. The river taxis are cool, connect to all the riverside casinos. Have toyed with taking some fishing gear as you can stand on the boat dock and see lots of carp in the water, fishing license is not expensive BUT for those of us that fish, you cannot catch and release carp as they are treated like vermin and have to be disposed of! From there an easy and panoramic drive through the mountains to Kingman Az. Museum type stuff and from there start heading south either on the I40 picking up bits of route 66 heritage route on the way.

Commerce for 3 nights playing poker at both the Commerce and the Bike, The Commerce is huge with about 200 tables, plus california versions of other table games. A bit dissapointed with the Bike after watching it on Live at the Bike but it was a box ticked. I haven't looked at the horses yet and see what racing is on in the area, did the Breeders cup in Santa Anita Nov 09, amazing the 4th biggest meeting of the year there after the triple crown and $10 to park and $10 entry charge, try doing that at Royal Ascot or the Derby.

I've done San Fran, Alcatraz, Lake Havasu on previous trips and enjoyed them all, this time a bit of a different agenda but with Casinos at it's heart.

Happy days,

mookybargirl

March

Hotel dilemma of the day......

I have booked Venetian for our first 5 nights, although hoping to better the price as the dates get closer. Found a Bellagio offer today working out at $55 cheaper per night. I prefer the Venetian over Bellagio (I've previously stayed in both), but it's quite a discount. I'll probably stay at Ballys for our other 5 nights, so staying at Bellagio would tie us into the same part of the strip for the whole time, but it's not exactly a bad location to be stuck there the whole time. Both are refundable so no issues in being tied in on either, any advice?

duchy

May

I'd stay where I liked best personally as there's nothing to choose with location between the two-and hopefully V will come up with an offer later........Of course as they are both refundable-you could book both and decide at your leisure

duchy

May

Spursman-As a matter of interest what made you choose SouthPoint over a hotel closer to the action ?

Spursman180

March

mookybargirl wrote: »

Hotel dilemma of the day......

I have booked Venetian for our first 5 nights, although hoping to better the price as the dates get closer. Found a Bellagio offer today working out at $55 cheaper per night. I prefer the Venetian over Bellagio (I've previously stayed in both), but it's quite a discount. I'll probably stay at Ballys for our other 5 nights, so staying at Bellagio would tie us into the same part of the strip for the whole time, but it's not exactly a bad location to be stuck there the whole time. Both are refundable so no issues in being tied in on either, any advice?

I make you right in prefering the Venetian over the Bellagio. Friends have reported that the Bellagio lack something in service if you are not in one of the better grade rooms.

Unfortunately both hotels charge resort fees, the Bellagio $20 and the Venetian $17.

I know the Cosmo in city centre doesn't but I don't know if it's room rate will match up financially?

Ballys is a Harrahs/Caesers hotel so no resort fee.

What about Caesers itself again no resort fee.

I take it you gamble a bit, do you have a Total rewards card? always try a booking using the online res site caesers.com the old name Harrahs.com still works.

You might find that you could cut a bit of a deal if you speak with the phone res, say you want to book dates in caesers and then 5 nights in Ballys and see if they offer a better rate in caesers to stay put? worth a try. Also booking direct will allow you to spend any value accrued on your rewards card when it comes to paying the bill. Always worth a try

Good luck.

chellshoc

January / February

would love to go to grand canyon if funds permit, also will see a show not sure any recommendations? just really looking forward to seeing as much as we can not into gambling probably just play some slots no idea how to play blackjack etc...

duchy

May

Froggitt wrote: »

No dress code in Vegas.....jeans, t-shirts etc all fine.......maybe not speedos and flip flops though.

OP is going in January !! :eek: That's the colour they'd be in speedos and flip-flops

samphe

May

Im about to take the plunge and book my Vegas trip. There is a2% charge for paying by credit card. I dont have to pay by credit card as i have the funds available, but i wondered if there is any advantage to doing this for the cover i would get from the credit card company? Bearing in mind 2% is approx £50.00 i'm not sure its worth it.

If the travel company were to go bust, is this something that holiday insurance would cover anyway. The travel company is ABTA bonded.

Any suggestions welcome!

Spursman180

March

duchy wrote: »

Spursman-As a matter of interest what made you choose SouthPoint over a hotel closer to the action ?

I've played in the South point quite a few times and it's the cocktail waitresses!!! No seriously it's the cocktail waitresses....Doh.

Seriously (proper) It is on Las Vegas Boulevard a few miles south of the Mirage. I always hire a car so it is ideally located for what I want to do. The Outlet centre is a short drive as is Frys electronics (serious boys toys and gadgets)

A few miles further south is the Mresort ooh! my favourite place in Vegas. I pretty much refuse to gamble on the strip itself as the casinos stiff you on the odds they pay out on the table games and machines. Both South point and the M have what is described as full pay machines.

It is easy to hit the I15 to go downtown my second favourite place is the Golden Nugget, although they are tightening up on blackjack. If I want to go to the Rio/ Orleans/ Gold coast/ Strat etc again an easy run avoiding the strip itself.

Obviously a car is a must as it is beyond the range of the Deuce and taxi fares will seriously add up so a hire car works out cheaper.

Other points are that it has a massive sports book and a close by deli where you order things one dish at a time, order a sandwich or hot dog and a slice of cake and your screwed, decent security who whilst they don't mess about are at least able to interact with you using words other than Freeze MoFo etc.

Oh yeah did I mention the cocktail waitresses?

duchy

May

chellshoc wrote: »

would love to go to grand canyon if funds permit, also will see a show not sure any recommendations? just really looking forward to seeing as much as we can not into gambling probably just play some slots no idea how to play blackjack etc...

Loads of people only play slots -good way to get "free" drinks too.

Lots of shows to choose from -Jersey Boys always gets lots of recomendations and if you like the Beatles and Cirque type shows Love is good. Donny and Marie will be back then too (moved the show to NYC for Christmas- My friend Terri is still recovering from Donny landing on top of her when he tripped ). I wouldn't personally do the Broadway style shows like Les Miz or Lion King as Vegas shows are shorter and most are cut versions. If you like Motown Human Nature is really good.