Las Vegas 2007 bargain hunt + tips

doodle_bug

Anyone found a decent Indian Restaurant in Vegas?

When I went in 2004 went to what is called the India Oven on the junction of Paradise and Sahara, found it in the yellow pages and it had won some award every year for the last 5 years. Anyway, got a taxi and told him where I wanted to go, he said something like you wanna go to....in a disbelieving tone. When we got there it was like an industrial unit, well, went in, it was very stark( that may have been in contrast to the rest of Vegas though). We sat under a slight alcove and some back greasy matter was precariously dangling over our heads, we ordered and to be fair the starters were ok and popadoms and sauces were good, didn't have pilau rice just sticky boiled rice, the chicken curry sauce was tasty but the chicken was leg type meat with the skin and bones still there and about 6lbs of it(american portion). Couldn't enjoy it and was watching just in case the black slime fell down. Got an Himalayan Blue beer which was really nice and less than $2 for a massive bottle but it wasn't a good experience overall. Looked at the Gaylord in the Rio but it seemed too pricey and the way they describe Indian food makes you feel they don't know what it's really about.

ferf1223

doodle_bug wrote: »

Anyone found a decent Indian Restaurant in Vegas?

We haven't been yet, but keep planning to go here before based on recommendations from others - it's near Hard Rock I believe:

http://www.usmenuguide.com/originindia.htm

Gets really good reviews...and you'll note the 'British restaurateur' bit too.

Restaurant.com has vouchers for them - $10 for a voucher worth $25 off a food purchase of $50 or more...and until 19th August, if you use the code LESSON at checkout you can get the voucher for $5.

So for $5, you would get a voucher for $25 off a meal costing $50 or more (excluding drinks)...and the menu at that link does have prices, so you can get an idea.

alanshave

Right this could turn in to being a tad scrambled and long but here goes nothing.

Just back from Vegas on Sunday, flew with KLM/Northwest Airlines and can recommend them both.

Stayed in the Luxor and I was very impressed with the hotel. Checked in late (10pm) so there were no queues, unfortunately the $20 trick didn't work as the hotel was full but I got my money back and told to come down and ask again tomorrow (nothing lost and would try again if required). Something was wrong with my room though (broken aircon unit) so I got moved to a tower room the next day which I preferred to the pyramid room as the fittings were newer. Buffet/Casino/Imax Cinema in the hotel was all good.

Used the monorail a few times, found that if I went after 12pm the all day passes were $9 and felt that it was easier than bus deuce.

Shows wise I went to see 'The Rock Hard Dirty Hypnosis Show' at Mandalay Bay which was absolutely hilarious if you didn't mind plenty of swearing etc, no nudity though. Also saw Spamalot (monty python) at the Wynn, also hilarious although you could see some of the americans struggling with our british humour! Next up was Steve Wyrick:Real Magic, also very worth seeing and some of his magic is unbelievable, seriously mind boggling. Last but not least The Amazing Jonathan (thanks trets), again an absolute hoot from the very beginning to meeting him outside at the end.

Bought all my show tickets from the Coca-Cola Tickets2Nite stall in the showcase mall beside the MGM Grand, well worth doing and saved me a fortune off the ticket price. Also got a couple of upgrades when exchanging my vouchers for tickets.

Did the usual site seeing such as the bellagio fountains, TI pirate show and Mirage Volcano. Would say that they were all very worth seeing although the volcano is a bit disappointing.

Did the grand canyon/hoover dam/ranch helicopter tour with HeliUSA which was fantastic and I'm very happy I took the day to do it. Seeing the sites in that comfort & from that height was amazing, the ranch turned out to be one of the best parts as well.

Spent an hour in 'Gameworks' the showcase mall, $20 for one hours play on all the video arcade machines. They give you a swipe card and off you go. I enjoyed it as I'm still a big kid and can see it being well worth the visit if you go with kids etc.

Also went to an 'outdoor' fashion outlets mall, think it was called 'Fashion Outlets of Vegas' but was definitely downtown near the freemont street experience. Never seen so many shops in one place filled with such cheap good quality clothes, ended up spending around $700 and was laden with too many bags, in fact I couldn't even finish shopping and had to give up half way round the mall! For example the FCUK shop, I picked up a couple of $30 shirts that I thought were a great deal, only to be told at the checkout that as it was an outlet store there was an extra 50% off the ticket price! Couldn't believe it, but boy did I by more from in there! Lol.

One of the best parts of the holiday was being introduced to an 'Executive Casino Host' by the Luxors players club and having all my room, food and imax tickets comped back to my visa card. This was all based on my blackjack play and they reckoned I had only played 7 hours in a week at an average hand value of $27, personally I don't feel this was OTT and if you play blackjack properly then you shouldn't even lose much overall due to the low house edge. Also found it one of the best ways to meet people. The luxor have now said that next time I want to come back if I am on my own then they will give me a suite and pay for some/all of my flights, or if I am bringing friends then they will kit me out with free rooms etc. Can't argue with that. Felt so different from a UK casino in that they seemed to take an interest in you as an individual and you weren't treated as just some punter wasting his money.

Overall I thought that Vegas would be good, but wow by the time I was back I knew it was even better than that. There is soo much to see and everyone seemed really friendly.

I'll be going back, the only question is how soon............

Froggitt

Just come back from Orlando, and a number of restaurants had "not accepting restaurant.com vouchers" posted.

Anyone tried the $20 trick on a "package deal" eg a Virgin Holidays package......we're going to the Mirage. Also, to get three rooms upgraded together, would you try a $50, $60, or $100? Anyone whos stayed at Mirage know what room type I should be shooting for?

trets77

glad you had a great trip alanshave. :beer: :beer: and also glad you enjoyed The Amazing Johnaton too. he is a very funny guy and a steal at half price !!!

sounds like you got good comps on your play , i,m no expert in this area but the offer of helping you fly back and getting the some of the cost of your stay comp back as well , seems really good.

your right about they know how to look after you in Vegas ( and USA in general from my experiance) . the difference between here and there is indeed a very wide gap IMO. i recently joined the new, Isle of Capri at Coventry citys ground . i was almost made to feel like a criminal when i joined . the security man on the door confronted me at the door to ask " can i help you " in a tone like a nightclub Bouncer talking to a drunk. when i explained i wanted to join he gave my attire ( jeans and a fleece) a desirory look and said " you will need photo ID you know".

things did not improve even inside , food was terrible , drinks overpriced, was not offered a free drink when a sat a slot. the casino is quite well done out but you just notice the crap service even more if you have Vegas to compare it too.

Anyone tried the $20 trick on a "package deal" eg a Virgin Holidays package......we're going to the Mirage. Also, to get three rooms upgraded together, would you try a $50, $60, or $100? Anyone whos stayed at Mirage know what room type I should be shooting for?

should not make a differnce if it's a package booking or not, what will is your length of stay , how full the hotel is and how big a jump your after. The Mirage is one of the more upmarket hotels. i doubt ( but you never know) you would get a suite for $20 but you could try for a tower deluxe , failing that i would ( and hope to ) be happy with a strip view or Volacano view on highish floor for my $20 . let me know how you get on i will be staying there in approx

trets77

Have not heard of 'The Rock Hard Dirty Hypnosis Show' before. sounds about my level though. was it in the half price ticket outlets ??:beer: :beer:

doodle_bug

alanshave wrote: »

The luxor have now said that next time I want to come back if I am on my own then they will give me a suite and pay for some/all of my flights, or if I am bringing friends then they will kit me out with free rooms etc. Can't argue with that. Felt so different from a UK casino in that they seemed to take an interest in you as an individual and you weren't treated as just some punter wasting his money.

Overall I thought that Vegas would be good, but wow by the time I was back I knew it was even better than that. There is soo much to see and everyone seemed really friendly.

I'll be going back, the only question is how soon............

Spot on. Don't know if it's Vegas or the USA but they seem to know how to treat the punters.

Will certainly give Origin India a try.

doodle_bug

Booked with mytravel on 9th sept for 10 nights, price came down to £351 inc meal(I like airline food) had to go for it( the !!!!!!s charged me £15.85 for using my CC), gonna get excited now, can hear digger ling digger ling already buzzing in my ears.

Always stayed at The Orleans before but trets deal at the MGM is tempting and unless Orleans come up with a deal soon then MGM is cheaper.

tingtong

Froggitt wrote: »

Just come back from Orlando, and a number of restaurants had "not accepting restaurant.com vouchers" posted.

Anyone tried the $20 trick on a "package deal" eg a Virgin Holidays package......we're going to the Mirage. Also, to get three rooms upgraded together, would you try a $50, $60, or $100? Anyone whos stayed at Mirage know what room type I should be shooting for?

We did the $20 trick on a Virgin Holiday, at the Four Seasons of all places. At first the girl said there were no upgrades, then when I casually mentioned that we were getting married in a couple of days, she said that she had something for us. She then walked around the desk and discreetly told us that she'd upgraded us to a strip view room, didn't even take the 'tip'. What a bonus !

mookybargirl

Edited - replied to a question before realising there was a new page added