Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2014

lizzielie

At long last have I gotten around to doing our trip report! Our dates were the 28th May to the 10th June, so a bit longer than we would normally go, at least without a sidetrip or two... This time around, it was all about Vegas! And strangely, not enough time to do it all...

Rather than go day by day, below is a breakdown of hotels, meals, rewards and shows:


Hotels:

Ambitiously we went for 4 different hotels during our 13 nights in Vegas, I cannot say how nice it was to finally unpack at our last hotel, so unless you don’t mind living out of a suitcase, then don’t do it!


Cosmopolitan: We booked a special offer of $150 a night for a 1 bedroom suite overlooking the Bellagio fountains. What can I say.. The room was amazing, but the view, just wow!!! We were on the 37th floor, and I don’t think it could have been any better. Just loved it, and the 2 nights just flew by. Love the location and would love to go back. It was my birthday during our stay, but this was quietly ignored, nor did we make any real mention of it at check in. Guessing this happens a lot in Vegas. Early check in fee was waived which was a nice treat considering we arrived around 11 am after a long journey as we flew Gibraltar - London - NYC - Vegas with an overnight in NYC.

Palms Place: One place I do not want to go back to. We had continous issues with internet (worked about 2 hours during our 2 night stay), although most of the time it was easily solved by reception, on one occasion I was told I had to speak to Cox (the provider) for further help, even though the issue was with Palms (proven when the front desk resolved it the following morning). Resort fee waived for one night though due to this. On this topic, the fee is the same as a strip property, but you can only connect one device. Stingy! Studio room was ok, but no chairs so you can sit outside to enjoy your balcony. Not quite able to put my finger on why it felt a little dated, maybe it was the bathroom that left us feeling like that? We had a very good offer from Travelzoo, so all in all it was worth what we paid, but would not have paid full price.
There is a walkway to Palms, a bit of a walk mind, but at least inside and out of the sun:) I actually really like the Palms and their food court, so may just try Palms itself as I hear their rooms are very nice.

One good thing was that the early check in fee was waived here too, nice!

MGM Grand: We had booked a Stay Well room for 3 nights, and boy was this a welcome change after Palms Place! It started well before checking in with a lovely email to welcome us and making sure we knew what to expect and making sure they could ensure our stay was as good as it could be. Stay Well has their own check in area, in a lounge where you really find peace and tranquility. Sandy, our lovely front desk person could not have been friendlier, and when she found out I was Norwegian, she waived the early check in fee, as her mom was Norwegian too! She also made sure we got a room close to the lift. Amazing woman! The room is standard size, clean and maybe a bit on the colder side. Adjusting the temperature got us a bit of a heat blast! No major issue, as we don't tend to spend a lot of time in the room. The whole concept may be a bit gimmicky, but we sure loved it. Although could not quite get the hang of the mood lighting, I loved the shower and the C-Vitamin blast Would love to go back, especially when really suffering from jet lag. We also got our resort fee waived (again by Sandy, as we had another chat on our 2nd day when my key card stopping working), which was a nice surprise!

Aria: What can I say, apart from this is my favourite hotel! Love the beds, love the location and now is a must place for me to stay (hubby has no say on this one!). With 3 different bookings (various offers, which included 2 buffets and a $200 resort credit) it was never going to be an easy check in. However, Aria staff are generally amazing, and this was no exception, although it took some time, our bookings were linked, so no need to check out or in. We were also upgraded to City View room for the entire stay and an early check in thrown in for good measure. Our receptionist did earn his tip (we did not have it in hand or ready)! I would love to have their bed shipped, but alas, import costs would be too great, so settled for two pillows, and trust me, it nearly feels like being at the Aria!


Shows:


We may have gone a bit overboard with how many shows we saw, somehow we thought by seeing most of the ones on our wishlist, we could let Vegas be Vegas for a while. But as we all know, Sin City begs you to come back, again and again…

All Shook Up: I won tickets through Gold Star, so we decided this would be great for our first night as it is quite early in the day. When picking up the tickets, we opted for the VIP upgrade ($10 pp), meaning we had guaranteed seating, rather than first come, first served and front seats. We shouldn’t have bothered I think. It is a small theatre, and there is no bad seat in the house. Elvis himself is great and had a great sense of humour. And of course, he sounds and looks like the King himself (or close at least).

Backstreet Boys: The boys can still dance, and sure rocked the place. Even hubby who was a bit apprehensive had a little dance and a singalong.


Matt Goss: I remember Bros and was a huge fan (showing my age now I think with BB and Bros!!), so was looking forward to this, especially as I know he is now doing a more Michael Buble type of show. And it certainly did not disappoint! It is a small showroom, but it is packed, so be prepared for some friendly conversation with who you share a table with. Ours introduced themselves by tipping hubby's beer all over us! No major issue and at least broke the ice:) Matt Goss has a great voice, and as this was one of the first shows since his mother died, it was also very emotional. Highly recommend it if you are going before the end of the year, as rumour has it, his residency is coming to an end


Boyz II Men: A huge surprise, and first off, the show starts promptly, and there is no begging for extra songs at the end. A refreshing change for sure. The remaining three still can very much sing and dance, and naturally born entertainers. Even if you aren’t a fan, it is well worth going, especially if you like Motown music.


Zarkana: I enjoyed the show, but hubby did not. Think this is either a case of you love it or hate it. No real story line, nor any huge wow factor as other cirque shows. Our tickets were from MyVegas, and we were pulled to the side at the time of entry and given a nice upgrade.


Jersey Boys: My 2nd time of seeing this show, and I was positively surprised to see a few changes since last time. Still as good as I remembered, and well worth the money. We got a special offer giving us a free upgrade to premium seating, so only 8 rows away from the stage. One of my favourite shows in Vegas.


Diva’s: A last minute addition thanks to free tickets from one of the coupons found at the Neon Museum. No fees either! Again we were upgraded, so had a nice table not too far away from the stage. It is a show with crude humour, so be warned! We really enjoyed it, and definitely something a bit different


Le Reve: This was the one I looked forward to, especially as I loved O. Same as with Jersey Boys, we had free upgrade, so we were in row 3, what can I say apart from these were awesome seats! The show was even better than expected, loved the setting, the performance and want to see it again! One nice surprise was the price of drinks and snacks, not overpriced as many other places. Being at the Wynn, I would have thought it would be a lot more. If you want to see one show, this is THE ONE!


Museums:

We visited the Neon Museum at night, it is an hour tour and you need to book in advance. We did the Mob Museum combo giving a bit of a discount. Loved the tour, our guide was very knowledgeable and you get to see a lot of the old Vegas signs. Some can be seen outside of the boneyard too. The Mob Museum is massive! We ended up spending 3 hours there and the wealth of info is at times a bit overwhelming. Make sure to bring a bottle of water or two before entering!


MyVegas Rewards:

Sugar Factory: love the popcorn, it is even scrumptious a few days on, and love the candy! We went to the MGM location, and the staff are just awesome, even making up fresh popcorn for us.


Wolfgang Puck: Had the buy one get one free entre for MGM, and although the reward says it is valid until 10PM, we were told it could be used at any time. The restaurant is open 24 hours. Nice food, but did feel a bit like you are just a number and they want to turn over the covers quite quickly.


Monorail: used the BoGo for 1 day and also the single ticket - staying at MGM this was great value, and super easy to redeem.


Aria breakfast/ lunch buffet: Used for the pre M&G meet up with one of the FB fan groups. Nice food and great service! It has certainly improved since our last visit in November. The buffet is worth it for the desserts alone! We also did dinner as it was complimentary with one of the nights we booked, and as well really good!


Bellagio Dinner Buffet: Our last visit a year ago wasn’t too great, and the food was not impressive. However this was a very different experience, and can for sure now see what all the fuss is about.


Mandalay Bay Buffet: Our second visit, and although nice with free bubbly and wine, the food is on the cold side and service not so good. All I can say is, glad we did not pay!


Picnic by the Pool: A last minute addition, and turned out to be pretty awesome. You get entry into the Monte Carlo pool, although not big it is a nice area. We had 6 cans of Corona and the flatbread (pizza), great value for your LP’s.


$50 credit at Monte Carlo x2: Used for Brands as done once before. This was my birthday dinner, and first off, our waiter Brian was awesome! He also served us last time as well and definitely made the meal even more enjoyable. The food and the wine, simply outstanding! And of course, getting a glass of bubbly to end it off helped


Rice & Co: Second time of using this $50 credit (minimum spend $100), and again the food was superb! A bit of a wait to get a table, so we had a cocktail before. Great service and fab food! One of my favourites in Vegas


Food:


Sugar Factory, Paris Hotel: Wow, just wow! We used TR credits for our meal. We had a watermelon based cocktail, it is huge, it is poured at the tables and you see smoke coming out! Delish! We both had a burger each ($16) with a side of onion rings ($5), and my word, the portions are massive! Thus to my big regret, no room for a dessert - Got to go back!


Spice Market Buffet: A huge disappointment! Coldish food, poor selection and service at its worst! Thankfully we had a voucher for 25% off and used TR credits thus not paying full price, but will definitely not go back. It is also the first time we did not leave a tip.


Mirage Buffet: This was initially a MyVegas reward, but due to an issue with my account (showing as I had 2 accounts due to a Viva win long time ago), Mlife could not redeem it, thus it was refunded. Instead we got two buffets comped (may have helped we had Gold cards) even though we had not played a single cent as this was on our first day in Vegas. It is a nice buffet, and I love the drink station!


ChinChin at NYNY: Love this Chinese restaurant, well worth a visit (along with PandaExpress), with friendly staff and the food is awesome!


MGM Grand Buffet: This was included with our MGM hotel booking and one of our favourite buffets, and still is as good as we remembered. Nice selection without being overwhelming, and the food is warm!


Misc:

We also met with another Vegas group at the D, and I finally got to see the Fremont Street Experience (4th time lucky!). Being in the owner’s box, it sure was the perfect spot, and Zowie Bowie on the stage was awesome! I have never been a huge fan of Fremont area, but this was our first time of spending a bit more time down town. Our next trip will for sure include a bit more time here, having my eyes on a walking trip which includes the container park which we didn't manage to fit in this time around.



Phew, that ended up a lot longer than expected! We also did a bit of shopping (not as much as normal, and seeing what we did, I am not surprised!) and a bit of gambling. As always, it was very much up and down, with no huge wins. We did make it to Platinum though with Mlife, which we did not expect, and mainly all from charging everything to our rooms. Thanks for reading!

vegasvisitor

photome wrote: »

Scoot city is on groupon "again".

There was a reason I havent booked before but cant remember what it is. It maybe that someone said I cant wear a hat, or am i imagining that.

No way could I be out in the sun for a few hours without one.

Can anyone confirm or am I making it up

EDIT
its ok I have found the t and c


hats only allowed when not moving, so its out then

I can remember the hat story so you're not imagining it. That said, I assume it's because it could fly off. Would they stop you wearing a pull on hat, like a beanie for example rather than a baseball cap? Shame you'd miss out on something you otherwise like the sound of.

vanilla8

nice trip report lizzielie,reading these always make me want to go back ASAP!

lizzielie

vanilla8 wrote: »

nice trip report lizzielie,reading these always make me want to go back ASAP!

Thank you vanilla, love reading trip reports myself! Makes me think, I haven't done and I want to.... Ashamed to say we're off to Orlando and a cruise in 2 weeks, but both hubby and I are looking forward to Vegas this Christmas more.... But as we have hired a car in Orlando, I am using it as a test as to how I find driving in the US, so maybe next trip we can hire a car for the day.

pebblesmax

Thanks for the TR. Lizzielie.

If you can drive in Spain, then Las Vegas will be easy peasy. The traffic around where we have our apartment in Spain is much more stressful than the worst that Vegas has thrown at us. Even the SO drives there sometimes, and he hates to drive anywhere.

StuieUK34

Lizzie, did you goto the Friday or Saturday night show for BSB ???
We were there on the Sat night, and oh yes, what a show!!!! great night

nvh

Was going through some old stuff last night (trying to find something specific to one of our past visits to Vegas) and stumbled upon a video of a thunderstorm we witnessed whilst on the balcony at Ghost Bar, Palms in September 2011. There's a few screen captures from the video below with less than half a second between the first capture and the last one

Sorry, tenuous connection to Vegas I know

ferf1223

nvh those are awesome! I love them. Thank you for posting.

lizzielie - thanks for the trip report, really enjoyed it! I agree that too many moves can be a bit blah but one is nice we think..we have Ceasars and Cosmo booked and are toying with a one-nighter at Golden Nugget since we have been saying for YEARS we would like to try one night downtown...but we wouldn't check out of our main hotel, just take an overnight bag...but after too many moves last trip I think we're both a bit skittish about even that.

Brats64

Just having a quick look on Myvegas rewards,after reading on here about the changes in terms.We are a little under the 90 days until we go,so think we may redeem some now before more rewards require hotel stays.
Anyway,don't know if it's been mentioned on here already,but when did the MGM buffet reward on Myvegas stop doing the Brunch option ?
In May we redeemed the MGM brunch,at that time you could visit anytime between about 7-4pm for breakfast or lunch.....we went about midday and enjoyed the free champagne with the brunch.But I see it's now just a breakfast option with a 7-10am time....with no champagne:eek:
The champers only kicks in at 10.30am as lunch.Obviously too many enjoying the free food and drink.I suppose we could always do the dinner buffet for 2 at a cost of 91000 LPs...to make sure we get the drinks added:T

nvh

Brats64 wrote: »

But I see it's now just a breakfast option with a 7-10am time....with no champagne:eek:

The champers only kicks in at 10.30am as lunch.

couldn't you just get away with turning up for breakfast at 9:55am, and eating really slowly?

talking of brunch, has anyone done the Overlook Grill Bubbles'n'Brunch (@ Cosmo) - seen some reviews but would welcome any other opinions