Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2015

calash

Anyone done the shows, just been looking online for Penn and Teller and can get 2 tickets for $133, I'm I better waiting until I get there??

vanilla8

Anyone with IHG points may be interested in this deal for stays at Venetian until March - http://www.headforpoints.com/2015/11/23/50-off-las-vegas-hotels-with-ihg-rewards-club-points/

jonesMUFCforever

calash wrote: »

Anyone done the shows, just been looking online for Penn and Teller and can get 2 tickets for $133, I'm I better waiting until I get there??

We saw them in 2013 got tickets on the strip at tix4nite - booths all over the place.
Sorry can't remember how much the tickets cost but IMO well worth seeing.

gamboller

I see a CYBER15 code for Caesars properties but not seeing any great deals on PH or Caesars palace

MpHa

Afternoon folks,

Just returned from my first week in Vegas (November 19th - 26th), thought I would share my experiences as posts like these we're very useful to me in planning my trip! 2 of us were on the trip, me and my OH, deliberately picked for the end of November as the temperatures looked more amenable to a fair skinned ginger (OH, not me!) plus we got a good deal on Expedia (7 nights at the Bellagio + return flights from Manchester for £759pp)

We flew with Virgin and Delta, through Atlanta. On one of my pre-trip posts I was curious about our layover time in Atlanta - around 90 minutes. Some told me it was way too short to make the connection, and some told me it was more than enough - thus decided it was better not to worry about it until there was actually a problem. Nevertheless, we chose seats near to the exit so that we could be at least near the front of the queue for immigration. Transpires this was an inspired move - we were through immigration, bag pick-up, bag drop-off, security and at the new gate in Terminal F in around 30 minutes. By the time we had finished our chat with the customs lady, the entire flight was queued up - so jumping off the plane ASAP seems to be a good plan!

Checked in at the Bellagio with no problems, tried the $20 trick with the check-in attendant but no joy - doesn't hurt to try! We were given a room on the 7th floor, on the rearward 'prong' looking out over towards Rio. Room was really good, plenty of space for 2 and was only ever somewhere to rest our heads.

Jetlag got the better of us on the first day and we we're out and walking by 6am - spent the day wandering around the hotels on the south end of the strip. Visited the shark reef aquarium and monsters of the sea exhibition at Mandalay Bay, both me and OH are really geeky on that sort of stuff so was really interesting to see.

Second day we took the bus to Freemont Street - fairly underwhelming in the light of day and decided to revisit after dark. In honesty during the day it seemed like a proving ground for street artists who weren't quite ready for the strip yet - magicians who's acts weren't polished etc. Spent the rest of the day exploring the north side of the strip! Also saw the Criss Angel show at the Luxor that evening - must say I was a bit disappointed. As someone who watched his MTV show donkeys years ago I've not seen much of him since then - so thought it would be good. Theatre was half-full and the 90 minute show only featured 4/5 real illusions - audience participation was limited and at times cringeworthy (he got a 14 year old lad up on stage who was clearly uncomfortable and was having his aesthetic assistant sit on his knee etc). Wouldn't say it was bad, but it wasn't what I hoped it would be, especially after some of the stuff he did on his show.

The day after we booked with AwsomeAdventures to go and do a 'Desert Adventure' - i.e. we wanted to get off the strip for a little bit. Was a really good day ragging it round the desert in a dune buggy - guide was good pointing out the points of interest on the way out plus detoured to take us through the Valley of Fire on the way back to the hotel.

Next day we mainly just walked and covered the hotels we'd not really been to - was a bit of a rest day in honesty! We also had Penn & Teller tickets for the evening - show was really good and really appreciated the fact that they both stayed behind after the show to have photos with everyone in the lobby - was a nice touch. Definitely worth seeing - I really like the 'honest about dishonesty' style of their show. We also went to see the Bodies exhibition at the Luxor as well - really good and really worth seeing if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Following day I did a Skydive with Vegas Extreme Skydiving. Prior to going out I hadn't intended to do to one - it was a spur of the moment thing to ring and book the day before as a) the prices were dirt cheap compared to back home ($219) and b) there would a much lower chance of the dive being cancelled due to a wispy cloud/rain/wind as always seems to happen in the UK. It was an early pickup - around 7am, but we were back at the hotel for 10:30 so it wasn't a massive portion of the day taken out. The instructor had the right blend of seriousness and humor, and while on first glance the setup might not seem entirely professional, once it was go time it was all on point. We also went to a comedy show at the Sin City Theatre at PH that night - tickets were cheap at the theater was really intimate - was a good laugh so no complaints. We bought all our tickets from the red half price tickets booth on the day - found these to be slightly cheaper than elsewhere and cheaper than online pre-holiday.

On the final day we took a heli tour of the Grand Canyon with Papillion - so got to land at the bottom. We were supposed to be doing the El Dorado Gold Mine tour int he afternoon as part of the package - but the ATV's had broken down so we booked on for the Black Canyon River Raft instead. The heli tour was really good - very professional and informative guide with some breathtaking views (i.e. where the water level of Lake Mead was vs. now). We saw the Hoover Dam from the air but we actually got up close and personal later on in the day as the rafting company had a permit to go in the restricted zone at the bottom of the dam - so we got to see it in all it's concrete glory. Again an informative guide (enough concrete in the Hoover Dam to lay a pavement between the North and South Pole) and the raft trip was ok - was a touch windy so slightly cold but still enjoyed nonetheless. We visited Freemont Street again that night - cosmetically it was much better at night, the ceiling had some really poignant displays on it and it was generally much more vibrant, however I still felt it was a little bit of a facade and once you scratch away at it there isn't a right lot to do down there - once inside any of the outfits down there it all felt a little bit tackier than anything on the strip - but still well worth seeing and doing!

We also got through our fair share of gambling - we felt the Bellagio was one of the better laid out Casinos - and as such put most of our gambling money into there. A few big wins on the slots (and the video Deal of No Deal) however over the course of the week, the house always wins and we probably spent an average of $70 a day in the casino (with some vounchers left over from the previous day etc) - including tips for the drinks. We tended to give $2 a drink (so normally $4 as 2x drink for me and OH) - they always kept coming back to ask us if we needed more so I took that as a blessing that the amount was enough!

With regards to eating out, we tended to stay at the north end of the strip. We didn't have a bad meal (but the best was probably the Cheesecake Factory in Caesars (someone got me a voucher for my birthday - else we probably wouldn't have sought it out) and Chin Chin @ NYNY. Throughout the week we found the portions were excessive to the point we deliberately only eat 2 meals a day rather than 3 - as this was the only way to avoid doggy-bag after doggy-bag!

Overall we both had a really nice time. Vegas was somewhere we've both wanted to go and see and now we can say we've done it. Would I go back? Probably - but only as a long-weekend stopover at the start/end of another trip - I probably wouldn't go back specifically for another week long holiday - I think throughout the course of week we've just about got as much out of it as we possibly could and had a really good time - we saw some amazing things and met some amazing characters so Vegas gets a big thumbs up from me!

Seldom_Seen_Kid

Cheers for the trip report MpHa. I really enjoyed reading it.

bobbyhibs

thanks for the trip report MpHa! like Seldom Seen Kidd above i also enjoy reading them and see if people do things that might be of intrest to us when we go on our 3rd vegas trip !

pebblesmax

Thanks for taking the time to write a report MpHa.

There is a lot more to Las Vegas than you have seen. Just saying.

Vegasbound

The Palms currently has some very good room rates for Cyber Monday and they are also throwing in a free daily breakfast at the buffet. The promotion runs until 4 Dec for travel dates up to 30 June 2016. If you have stayed at the Palms would you recommend it?

pebblesmax

Vegasbound wrote: »

The Palms currently has some very good room rates for Cyber Monday and they are also throwing in a free daily breakfast at the buffet. The promotion runs until 4 Dec for travel dates up to 30 June 2016. If you have stayed at the Palms would you recommend it?

We haven't stayed there before, but have booked a few nights using the offer. A couple of American and Canadian friends stay there regularly and like it.