Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2016

zsazsa11

Lovetotravel wrote: »

Nice! Which buffet was this? I'll give it a try myself! lol

It was the Paris buffet, via a Groupon lunch deal where you got a bottle of wine, we had been out the night before so wasnt keen on drinking even more wine. Not seen that groupon for ages. I liked the buffet, but there was quite a wait of around an hour to get in even at 3pm in the afternoon.

Mich81

Where do people recommend booking for a flight & hotel deal?


We're looking to do a Multi City break next June (ideally starting around the 10th June) for 10/11 nights with 3/4 nights New York then 7 nights Vegas (or vice versa) and wanting to get married in Las Vegas.


BA are throwing up some decent price options, which I can't get close to by booking everything seperately - I assume they locked down some prices with the hotels before the pound dropped against the dollar. Whereas normally I'd expect it to be cheaper doing everything independently.


We also can't make a decision on a hotel in Vegas. Ideally we'd be mid strip, but with a decent view while we're going for a special occasion - any recommendations on room types which we might not have considered which give a good view?


Thanks in advance!

vegasvisitor

Mich81 wrote: »

Where do people recommend booking for a flight & hotel deal?


We're looking to do a Multi City break next June (ideally starting around the 10th June) for 10/11 nights with 3/4 nights New York then 7 nights Vegas (or vice versa) and wanting to get married in Las Vegas.


BA are throwing up some decent price options, which I can't get close to by booking everything seperately - I assume they locked down some prices with the hotels before the pound dropped against the dollar. Whereas normally I'd expect it to be cheaper doing everything independently.


We also can't make a decision on a hotel in Vegas. Ideally we'd be mid strip, but with a decent view while we're going for a special occasion - any recommendations on room types which we might not have considered which give a good view?


Thanks in advance!

You could try calling BA, to see if they can tailor make your package over the phone. I don't know that many places will do such a complex trip over the internet.

One I have used for quite specific things in Neflights. Their site allows you to do a multi-city flight, then you can add a hotel after selecting the flights, and you can do that for part of the trip (but I think only at the first destination, as that will be what comes up when you add hotel).

In my example I booked an open jaw Glasgow-Ho Chi Minh City, returning from Bangkok. I added the hotel in HCMC, and got a 'package' price. I booked my Bangkok Hotel separately, and then went on the Nokair site and booked the one way from HCMC to Bangkok. I couldn't book with Nokair combined with Emirates on Netflights, Nokair and Emirates aren't bookable together and Emirates didin't run the route. You will probably get all of your flights to come up on Netflights, as you're likely to be able to route via Newark with United, but start with a multi-stop so that you can get the few nights top in Newark.

Hope that makes sense. Remember to go through Quidco or similar for some cashback if you do it too.

ali-t

Came back a couple of days ago from 6 nights in Vegas and wow! It was my first time there so we spent most of the trip oohing and aaahing at everything. The heat was phenomenal and too hot to spend much time outdoors and only a half day at a time at the pool. Temperatures were as high as 110 and on the day we arrived the temperature sign near out hotel showed 100 degrees at 9pm at night. On reflection I wouldn't go back at that time of year as it is just too hot for me without any sea breeze.


We stayed at the Encore and it was amazing. We had a suite which was lovely and as part of the package had resort fees waived and breakfast included. The Wynn/Encore breakfast buffet is $25 a head and I don't think I would have paid that but it was amazing. Anything you would wish for from mac cheese and corn beef hash for brekkie to handmade chocolates and ice cream all the way through to omelettes, pancakes, a huge range of fish and loads of other stuff. We made great use of it every morning so didn't really eat much else. I would definitely go back to that hotel as everything is catered for and the surroundings are amazing.


One of the highlights of our trip was a session at the gun garage that I bought on groupon which saves nearly 50% on the usual cost price. We were able to fire machine guns, hand guns, .50 monster guns and what an experience. I am not particularly into guns but this was amazing. It was an indoor range which I wasn't sure about (others involve going out to the desert shooting) but given the heat I was glad it was in an air conditioned building.


Britney was another highlight for me. We were in the golden circle standing section and she was so close we could almost touch her. I am not much of a Britney fan but the show was spectacular and it didn't matter that she was lip synching rather than singing. I had never hear her speak before and weirdly she has a very high pitched voice like Micky Mouse - bizarre!


There was so many highlights it is hard to know what to recommend. I can't remember who it was on here who recommended the cheesecake factory but OMG the cheesecakes are divine. Don't go if you are not hungry as the portions are huge and its quite wasteful as it is nearly impossible to clear your plate. I ordered chicken littles which sounded like chicken goujons with mash and corn but I ended up with around 15 mini fillets in batter with mash and corn which I was barely able to make a dent in and I have a huge appetite. Thankfully they box up the cheesecakes if you can't finish them. Cheesecake in bed in the Encore the next morning was very decadent!


We also went to the UFC and what a disappointment. There was no atmosphere at all in the O2 arena and although the seating is good as it is quite steep so everyone can see the show was poor. We spent over £1K on tickets and my partner had been to one in the UK that he said was amazing but this was the big let down of the trip.


We also went the pawn stars pawn shop and that was a bit of a let down too. Our taxi driver told us that they are in the shop but don't come out unless they have put on their twitter feed that they will be there as it causes a bit of a circus. I would say not to waste time going there unless you know the stars will be there as basically it is just a pawn shop with lots of souvenir t shirts/mugs etc.


I really enjoyed Siegfried and Roy's secret garden. There aren't many animals so don't go expecting a zoo but it was amazing to see the white lions and tigers. I don't really like seeing animals in captivity but these were breathtaking. We also saw Siegfried there and he was posing for pics with visitors.


We spent quite a bit of time moseying through the various hotels and shopping centres which were spectacular. I would definitely recommend going to the Venetian to experience Italy indoors. It is quite bizarre being in a shopping centre mid afternoon and the sky above you indoors is dusk but move round the corner and it is daylight again. It has to be seen to be believed.


We didn't do much shopping as the exchange rate was so poor and lots of things I have bought on previous trips to the states (make up, clothing etc) wasn't really any cheaper than in the UK so I didn't bother. I found the travelling to be awful and we had a 2 base holiday so had to endure 6 flights over 2.5 weeks which I will never do again. Our flights changed quite a bit between booking the holiday and leaving but on the way out we ended up going Edinburgh to Chicago and then onto Vegas but it was pretty much 24 hours of travel from leaving the house to getting to Vegas and that was horrible. If I go back to Vegas I would definitely pay more for a direct flight as I was wiped out for the first day.


An amazing trip with lots of things we would not usually do at home - loved it all.

graham73

Just caught up on your trip reports StuieUK34, what a great time!

Thanks for taking the time to make that reply, the suite we have looks good enough for us unless I'm offered the Diamond for $20 perhaps

bobbyhibs

hi

mitch81-
we have done a double city break 2 out of the 3 times we have done vegas and it was new york-vegas and then vegas-new york this year!
we were pretty much the same time as you, (early june though) but for around 14days/13nights and we used mykindatravel and i would def recommend them !

ali t a fellow burgh guy i assume( from edinburgh here also!)
First off thanks for the trip report , i always like to read those and be nosey.!

I like you find getting flights to vegas difficult and did glasgow,vegas direct the first year we went.
On our recent trips we have included new york(we got flights direct from edinburgh) which we felt broke up the plane travelling a bit.this year we did vegas first. though on the way going to vegas we had a 5hours layover at newark as we did new york on the way back) never again!:mad:
Just going through inmiragration and then the waiting about and people taking there time on the plane, never again!
Just think a lil better planning on our part is needed

vanilla8

So i emailed a host at Luxor and got them to add an mlife freeplay and resort credit offer to my room booking that was made through my work.
First solo trip to vegas, going to be a different experience!

ali-t

I am near Dundee and the travel was a killer. There are now flights from dundee to Amsterdam so although it would be more expensive it should be possible to do a quick hop to Amsterdam and direct to vegas. Im going to look into that option for next time.

bobbyhibs wrote: »

hi

mitch81-
we have done a double city break 2 out of the 3 times we have done vegas and it was new york-vegas and then vegas-new york this year!
we were pretty much the same time as you, (early june though) but for around 14days/13nights and we used mykindatravel and i would def recommend them !

ali t a fellow burgh guy i assume( from edinburgh here also!)
First off thanks for the trip report , i always like to read those and be nosey.!

I like you find getting flights to vegas difficult and did glasgow,vegas direct the first year we went.
On our recent trips we have included new york(we got flights direct from edinburgh) which we felt broke up the plane travelling a bit.this year we did vegas first. though on the way going to vegas we had a 5hours layover at newark as we did new york on the way back) never again!:mad:
Just going through inmiragration and then the waiting about and people taking there time on the plane, never again!
Just think a lil better planning on our part is needed

bobbyhibs

ali-t wrote: »

I am near Dundee and the travel was a killer. There are now flights from dundee to Amsterdam so although it would be more expensive it should be possible to do a quick hop to Amsterdam and direct to vegas. Im going to look into that option for next time.

hi
and a bit hi to you then!
and i guess going to amsterdam would be an option,
kind regard!!

ali-t

bobbyhibs wrote: »

hi
and a bit hi to you then!
and i guess going to amsterdam would be an option,
kind regard!!

It will be a while before we could afford to go back but the travelling takes the shine off things for me so alternatives definitely need to be found. I found chicago to be very badly organised and lots of people with connecting flights panicking while the airport staff seemed very laidback and slow with their approach. If you have any inspiration about a less painful way to do things please let me know.