The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

photome

brummiekid wrote: »

I went to Vegas last November and had a great time. So good in fact, I just had to book again this year! We have planned a bit of a road trip and hopefully it should all work out okay. Flights booked from Heathrow to San Diego and car booked for collection from the airport. We will drive on day one (29th Sept) to Las Vegas so my wife can see Barry Manilow at the Hilton on the 1st October. After a further couple of nights we will drive back to san Diego ready for the Miramar US Navy Airshow on the Saturday. Sea World on the Sunday. Return flight on the Monday. Airline ticket cost £280 and Manilow was $170 via Seetickets. Just need to book hotels etc now!
Not looking forward to a 6 hour stop in Detroit but at that price, sacrifices have to be made!
Cracking thread by the way - very useful last year and proving the same this year also:D

PS. Used Quidco to get savings on flights & car (Lastminute.com) and parking at Heathrow (Purple Parking)

Just a word of warning..do you realise how far it is from SD to Vegas..we drove it last year via the outskirts of LA (I think that is the best way) and it took us the best part of a day (I think we were held up with roadworks for a while though). It is not a drive I would want to do on my first day with jetlag.

ferf1223

March

photome wrote: »

Just a word of warning..do you realise how far it is from SD to Vegas..we drove it last year via the outskirts of LA (I think that is the best way) and it took us the best part of a day (I think we were held up with roadworks for a while though). It is not a drive I would want to do on my first day with jetlag.

I was thinking the same...we drove from SD to Vegas after spending several days in LA first (I know, we didn't plan the route as well as we should have) and it took us ages and ages to get to Vegas due to traffic and road works...and we didn't leave at a high-traffic time of day...we thought it would take us 6 hours and I think it took us well over 8.

ferf1223

March

gordylad wrote: »

Hi Just booked for my wife and I and 2 friends to go to Vegas next April. Any thoughts on where we should stay and any other tips?

Thanks

I think Penny's suggestion is good - have a look at the first few pages for some ideas...it will be difficult for us to suggest places without knowing what sort of things are important to you...if you're looking for cheap and cheerful, or posh and elegant...what sort of amenities you're hoping for, things you like to do, your age group, etc. There's such a wide variety of options that hotel choice is really relative.

duchy

It may be worth considering flying San Diego to Vegas as it's so cheap. $48 one way with Southwest on the 30th evening (or even book a hotel in San Diego and fly next morning). Pick the car up when you get to Vegas instead. Plenty of carhire companies do one way hire rates (and some don't charge extra for it-ie we have a one way with Hertz picking up in Vegas dropping in Salt Lake for no extra charge this year)
You're on holiday and that drive is going to be a killer ! It'd probably be an investment to fly

PAUL7331

ferf1223 wrote: »

I don't know how much it would be to call from your hotel room, but it will be quite a lot per minute. Stop at CVS or Walgreens on the Strip and buy a calling card...much better value. Some hotels sell them from vending machines but the rates are terrible...though if you only want to make a few quick calls they might be an option as you can sometimes find lower value cards in the machines. The ones we have bought at CVS/Walgreens have been good for a year (I think)...the last one we bought from a hotel vending machine (Excalibur, years ago) was good for 90 days.

Ok thanks, but how much did it cost you for the card purchased from CVS?

And roughly how many minutes calling to a uk landline did you get for your money?

ferf1223

March

PAUL7331 wrote: »

Ok thanks, but how much did it cost you for the card purchased from CVS?

And roughly how many minutes calling to a uk landline did you get for your money?

From memory it was something like $20 for 200 minutes for the card we purchased, but they have higher and lower denomination cards. I think Luci mentioned in her trip report that she purchased one at a hotel vending machine for $5 and it was 12 minutes worth...so if that would be enough time for you to make the calls you need to make and you wouldn't have any use for more time then that might be the better option for you.

PAUL7331

ferf1223 wrote: »

From memory it was something like $20 for 200 minutes for the card we purchased, but they have higher and lower denomination cards. I think Luci mentioned in her trip report that she purchased one at a hotel vending machine for $5 and it was 12 minutes worth...so if that would be enough time for you to make the calls you need to make and you wouldn't have any use for more time then that might be the better option for you.

I think I'll go with the $20 for 200 minutes to a UK landline, I think thats a cracking price! I certainly will need to use that amount to keep the girlfriend sweet when Im away for 4nights :rolleyes: .

So I purchase these from a place called CVS on the strip right?

ferf1223

March

PAUL7331 wrote: »

I think I'll go with the $20 for 200 minutes to a UK landline, I think thats a cracking price! I certainly will need to use that amount to keep the girlfriend sweet when Im away for 4nights :rolleyes: .

So I purchase these from a place called CVS on the strip right?

CVS and Walgreens are sort of like Boots - they're almost across from each other toward the south end of the strip (sorry, I can't remember if there any any up north but it seems like there's one not far from Riviera)...any convenience store/petrol station, etc. will have them too...it's just the ones sold by the hotels that you want to avoid if you're going to be doing a lot of calling.

I can't guarantee the price/minute cost as it's been awhile, but I'm pretty sure that $20 for 200 minutes is what we got last time we used one.

stamford

I've scanned through this thread and there really is a vast amount of info. Can anyone cut through the chaff for me and give me some suggestions for a proposed visit arriving 22 May leaving 25 May ie a 3 night stay adding it on to a business trip to California

a) Good deal on a mid price hotel on or near The Strip 3 nights single room
b) Any suggestions for excursions on the 23 & 24 fri & sat - Grand Canyon ?
c) Other mse type tips

Many thanks

Froggitt

Mid price strip is hotels like Mirage, TI, PH, Luxor, Caesars, NYNY, Paris. Look on fatwallet for deals.

GC can be anything from a 3 hour overfly, to a full day including landing and lunch.

Try and take in a show e.g. Cirque. Go and visit the amazing hotels eg the gondolas at Venetian, fountains at Bellagio. Take your pick of the buffets. And play the casinos.......