Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2012

dontone

MaggieBaking wrote: »

Hi, I'm slowly making my way through this thread and picking up some good tips, although I've not got to the end yet... But I thought I'd skip ahead and ask a few starter questions!!

1- we're hoping to book through Virgin for the Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio Fountain View. I AM SO EXCITED!!!

It's our 10 year anniversary/2 year wedding anniversary in November, I understand this is low season and that it'll be a bit cold. I guess during this time the best shows might not be on. But other than that - what will the weather be like? Will I still enjoy a terrace or will it be too windy/rainy?

I also realised the period we want to go has the US Thanksgiving in the middle of it. I'm quite happy but will this give us any problems with it being a holiday? Will things be too busy, or closed? Or expensive?

Virgin Holidays has a free hire car with the trip which is wow! But now I wonder what extra costs might be involved with a hire car?? Will we have to pay parking everywhere? Will we want to drive to the Grand Canyon? Will it be too much to get off our flight and drive to the hotel? I have already seen advice on buying a US satnav off ebay which I think's a great idea We don't need the car so I'm just wondering whether we should not opt for one.

Grand Canyon - how much of a day does a trip take? What's the cost of a simple coach excursion and how would we book it? Is a helicopter excursion worth it? PLEASE SAY YES! And tell my husband to book it for a surprise

Tipping - can someone point to a good resource for tipping in Vegas? I keep reading little snippets about tipping which are alien to me and I just wonder if there's a list aside from the standard taxi/waitress etc?

I keep reading so much to do!! And now I think if I keep adding on to my "Must" list I'll need to go for 2 months not 1 week!!

People will come on with more advice than me but -

We have been to Vegas in november. It rained a lot, but when it was sunny, it was still very pleasant. and it was fun seeing all these big posh Hotel/Casino's that had leaking roofs.
We ALWAYS get a car, pick it up from the airport (on the free bus) and drive to the hotel. I don't recall ever having to pay for parking, the hotels are free unless you want a valet, where you'll have to tip. the car means, trips to Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, and all those great malls. We never bothered with a sat nav, a pocket map works just as well
Tipping - we always give $2 - $5, depending on the service. and we don't go anywhere posh to eat anyway, apart from the Wynn buffet
We did the helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon, totally amazing, and it was a breakfast/brunch thing. You only get about an hour or so, as the indian owners aren't too keen on visitors apparently.

HTH

Froggitt

We never saw any rain in November or December (three trips in those months). Nor rain. No need for coats in November (usually tops weather), but did wear leather jacket in December.

credit_crunch

I too have been in early November & it didn't rain once. It does get cool in the evenings, so long sleeves are a must! But we wore shorts & t shirts during the day. From memory I think it was low 20s during the day for us.

pebblesmax

VALUE FOR MONEY

We have had rain in November too. One time it was torrential for about 24 hours, then just stopped. The IP parking entrance was flooded that time. Other times it has just drizzled.The roads are horrible to drive on when it has been raining, and some of the locals aren't very good at driving in rain.

dontone

pebblesmax wrote: »

The roads are horrible to drive on when it has been raining, and some of the locals aren't very good at driving in rain.

This is true, we have also been in October and Vegas happened to have the worst downpour in 10 years the night we arrived. It was very cool watching the lightening go across the sky and not down IYSWIM. turned out some of the roads had actually broke up and disintergrated going towards Valley of Fire and Red Rock canyon.
BTW some of the locals aren't very good driving when it's bone dry, let alone wet :rotfl:

ferf1223

VALUE FOR MONEY

we have been in late October/November several times...a few times we had some rain, but mostly the weather was very pleasant for us - though we do not like hot.

Agree that watching some of the storms was really cool - and that driving in the rain in Vegas is a bit dicey...so is walking as some of the pavements become really slick when wet if you are wearing certain kinds of shoes.

DeeLasVegas

Hey I'm a local and I'm very good at driving in the wet or dry!!! lol :rotfl:

But with regards to the weather it is generally very pleasant for visitors (freezing for the locals!). Evenings are can be chilly but the days are normally very nice. We do sit out in the evenings but with a heater blazing (I know I've become a wimp).

glenbois

quickie question: assuming I have a good debit card for cash withdrawals, is it better to wait and get cash out via a hole in the wall when I get to the states or should I order some before we leave? I have $50 in notes already.

am05

HOTELS

ferf1223 wrote: »

The penthouse suite appears to be a 5 step upgrade from a standard room....which would be exceptionally unlikely for no additional charge.

I thought Bellagio was overrated, but some people love it...but I never got near a penthouse suite (did have a fountain view room)...I'm not sure that any hotel room would be worth $4k+ for a week to us, tbh...unless that room came with complimentary Mulberry bags or something.

Thanks for your help, perhaps I will book it before......its for our honeymoon you see so dont mind paying the extra ££££. Just wanted to gage whether people think it is worth it?

ferf1223

VALUE FOR MONEY

just booked the Hilton at LGW (the one connected to the south terminal) for the night before our October flight and were really surprised to see it seems a lot less expensive than we remember...still almost £80, but to be able to walk from the hotel to departures (and to use twilight check-in with Virgin the night before the flight) is sooo worth it to us...may be part of The Great Getaway offer, not sure...but that offer ends 23rd July I think - so anyone contemplating may want to have a look.

We haven't stayed there in several years, so maybe rates are a lot less than we remember but we were really surprised.