Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2013

Ady87

Booked a couple of tickets for Penn & Teller. Just check Michael Jackson ONE tickets but looking at $130 each for the worst ones. Hmm!

Does anyone ever have any trouble using all these coupons you can buy?

vegasvisitor

thinlizzyk wrote: »

Anyone stayed at Rio? Your thoughts would be much appreciated. I stayed at Gold Coast back in May seemed to spend most of my time over at Rio. Is the shuttle reliable? Are the rooms nice?

We've stayed at the Rio a couple of times. We have also stayed at the Orleans, but not the Gold Coast (very similar to Orleans).

If you stayed at Gold Coast and kept going to the Rio, I'm going to suppose that The Gold Coast maybe wasn't your type of place if you kept going across to The Rio. Because of that I think the Orleans might not be right for you. It's slightly nicer than the Gold Coast IMHO, but not that much. Rooms at the Rio are nice, they also have a fridge and a sitting area. They are decent rooms. I slightly preferred the Ipanema tower, but it has been a couple of years since we stayed there. The pool is really nice. The buffet is good, and if you want a cheaper buffet or food court the Gold Coast is right across the road.

We found the shuttle to be reliable enough. They go to about 3 different hotels on the strip - Bally's, Harrahs & ??? so you are likely to get a shuttle fairly quickly.

pebblesmax

That's just the opposite for us. We stay at Rio and play/eat at Gold Coast.
Rio rooms are very nice, even the standard ones. Plenty of space, mini fridge and a decent space outside the actual bathroom so you can both get ready without getting under each others feet.
We like the Rio, but aren't staying this trip. Too many other places to check out.

duchy

Having stayed at all three I'm a bit confused as I think saying the Orleans is similar to the Gold Coast is like saying the Rio is similar to the Flamingo .....eg same company but entirely different feel and facilities.

shady99

Hi all.

Limited internet, so quick question...

Where is the best value ATM on the strip ? Last time we came we used to withdraw money from the CVS / Walgreen ATM's on a nationwide flex card, however, following advice from mse, we acquired a Halifax clarity card, but looks like the maximum we can withdraw is around $200. The best value we have found is withdrawing $400 with a $4 charge from 7eleven.

Anywhere allow you to withdraw the maximum card amount (around $780), so as to avoid individual ATM charges.

We had no problems withdrawing this amount from Santa Monica before moving onto Vegas.

Any suggestions ?

Cheers

vegasvisitor

duchy wrote: »

Having stayed at all three I'm a bit confused as I think saying the Orleans is similar to the Gold Coast is like saying the Rio is similar to the Flamingo .....eg same company but entirely different feel and facilities.

Interesting how we all look at things differently. I really do find the Gold Coast and Orleans to have the same feel. I have a bit of preference toward the Orleans, but that's probably because we have chosen to stay there several times because of the rooms being nicer in the past (although Gold Coast has had some upgraded a few years back), and Orleans has a larger pool. In terms of what we do within hotels, I don't compare the Rio and Flamingo at all. I'm not a fan of Flamingo, although we have recently starting gambling there at Margaritaville Casino. Rio I feel has a more vibrant feel to it, and a decent buffet. And nice large rooms. I think it depends what you do within the hotels. The Orleans has the bowling and movies, but we don't use those so.

I think that what you do within a hotel will determine how you view it. One of the things we do is buffets, hence my difference in comparison. We play slots for a bit.

I was also concerned that if thinlizzyk wandered out of the Gold Coast and into the Rio, she might be disappointed at Orleans due to having nowhere to wander into.

silvercar

shady99 wrote: »

Hi all.

Limited internet, so quick question...

Where is the best value ATM on the strip ? Last time we came we used to withdraw money from the CVS / Walgreen ATM's on a nationwide flex card, however, following advice from mse, we acquired a Halifax clarity card, but looks like the maximum we can withdraw is around $200. The best value we have found is withdrawing $400 with a $4 charge from 7eleven.

Anywhere allow you to withdraw the maximum card amount (around $780), so as to avoid individual ATM charges.

We had no problems withdrawing this amount from Santa Monica before moving onto Vegas.

Any suggestions ?

Cheers

We didn't have any problem withdrawing large amounts at the ATM inside the Venetian, near the casino. Different card - so I don't know if the restriction is on the card or the ATM in your case.

duchy

lesley74 wrote: »

Interesting how we all look at things differently. I really do find the Gold Coast and Orleans to have the same feel. I have a bit of preference toward the Orleans, but that's probably because we have chosen to stay there several times because of the rooms being nicer in the past (although Gold Coast has had some upgraded a few years back), and Orleans has a larger pool. In terms of what we do within hotels, I don't compare the Rio and Flamingo at all. I'm not a fan of Flamingo, although we have recently starting gambling there at Margaritaville Casino. Rio I feel has a more vibrant feel to it, and a decent buffet. And nice large rooms. I think it depends what you do within the hotels. The Orleans has the bowling and movies, but we don't use those so. I stayed in one of the early upgraded GC rooms -they were nice enough but not to be compared with the Orleans size wise.

I think that what you do within a hotel will determine how you view it. One of the things we do is buffets, hence my difference in comparison. We play slots for a bit.

I was also concerned that if thinlizzyk wandered out of the Gold Coast and into the Rio, she might be disappointed at Orleans due to having nowhere to wander into.

That's my one issue with the Orleans -that there's no other hotels within wandering distance. I've always said if the Orleans was on the Gold Coast site it'd be perfect Starbucks, Walgrens and a free ATM with walking distance though Gold Coast has bowling too and there's a good cinema (standard and IMAX) in the Palms opposite. Obviously the Orleans has more and better food choices than the GC too.The Palms vibe in the day I really like but it's a bit of a change when the clubbers arrive so I've never wanted to stay there despite some good offers.

Rio has never floated my boat and I'm not sure why-I like their buffet -the casino is OK and the rooms are huge (but feel a bit bare to me)-I've just never felt atmosphere there.

As you say we all have differing opinions.

jonnywells

shady99 wrote: »

Hi all.

Limited internet, so quick question...

Where is the best value ATM on the strip ? Last time we came we used to withdraw money from the CVS / Walgreen ATM's on a nationwide flex card, however, following advice from mse, we acquired a Halifax clarity card, but looks like the maximum we can withdraw is around $200. The best value we have found is withdrawing $400 with a $4 charge from 7eleven.

Anywhere allow you to withdraw the maximum card amount (around $780), so as to avoid individual ATM charges.

We had no problems withdrawing this amount from Santa Monica before moving onto Vegas.

Any suggestions ?

Cheers

Cheapest ATM ive found on the strip is in Casino Royal. It only has a $1 charge and always allowed me to withrdraw the max on my halifax clarity card

Froggitt

rorylando45 wrote: »

This might be of use to people! Norwegian Air are starting a direct service between London Gatwick and LAX from July 2014. They fly twice a week in both directions, on Wednesday and Sunday. At the moment all return fares are coming out at £378.90 which is an utter bargain! Direct flights as well!

http://www.norwegian.com/uk/flight/lowfare/?D_City=LGW&A_City=LAX&D_SelectedDay=06&D_Day=06&D_Month=201407&R_Day=01&R_Month=201407&dFare=199&AgreementCodeFK=-1&CurrencyCode=GBP&rnd=23106

Prices have now virtually doubled And when you add in food and presumably baggage, its not so low cost any more.