The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

ferf1223

March

ruthy14 wrote: »

hello
can anyone tell me if NY NY have fridges in there rooms, there is no mention of them on there website in any of the rooms.
we are in a skyline room and wondered where abouts in the hotel these rooms are located and also is it worth trying the $20 trick here for an upgrade.
thanks

Few standard rooms have fridges - they want you to have to leave your room and go through the casino if you want a cold drink or snack. If you have a medical reason for needing one most hotels will provide one for you if you request it (include the request on your initial booking if you can). Some will charge you for it others won't. Without a medical reason, you can still ask for one and again they may still charge you for it - most I have seen are $5-$10/day. Some people have had luck with tipping housekeeping to get one for free (save the cost of the tip).

Steff

July

Scots_Girl wrote: »

I stayed there twice last year, first time with a strip view & second time other side of the corridor with a mountain view.

I hadn't heard of the $20 trick at the time, so just asked for a high room with a nice view at check in. Worked perfectly the first time - high room with a view of the strip. Second time I was given a room on the 5th floor overlooking the parking garage with the rooftop lights shining in my room - just phoned reception, asked to be moved to a higher floor and was given a higher floor.

With the strip view you see (the back of) the whole of the strip. Depending where your room is, you may also be able to see the Palms, Rio etc. At night you see all of the lights, and in the morning you see the sunrise over the strip.

With the mountain view you see (yes, you guessed!) the mountains. Depending on the cloud cover, in the evening you may see some fantastic sunsets.

Hi Scots_Girl,
Thanks for your reply.
Well - I have provisionally booked direct with The Orleans for my 14 night stay in July for $1,243. Can cancel up to 72 hours without penalty and they also have a price guarantee, so I will check fat wallet, vegas promotions et al closer to the time to see if they can beat it. Last June they had a "25% off all prices" promotion - so I will look out for this again.

I have read practically all the reviews on TripAdvisor to get a feel for the place and short of one or two of them everyone loves it there! (but they dont tend to say what they are comparing it to....)
Have you stayed anywhere else on the strip and how does this compare? Room size is 450 sq ft which is quite good (Rio is 600 sq ft, so not THAT much smaller....).

Just found out that two couples we know going at the same time are staying at the Gold Coast & MGM respectively, so wouldnt want to be too jealous of their accommodation...

Anyone else out there have an opinion - thanks to those who have already shared - I really do appreciate your comments.

Can anyone tell me which card it is thats the best to use whilst over there - ie to pay for the hotel in $$'s on a UK credit card? Ive gone back over old posts, but cant seem to find it - think I recall it being something to do with the Post Office?

Thanks;)

tashawasha

55 days 12 hours 25 mins 10 seconds to blast off
Tasha

Stew68

Steff,

Been using the Post Office card for all spending in the states, over the phone and while there with no problem and more importantly no extra bank charges!!

Steff

July

Stew68 wrote: »

Steff,

Been using the Post Office card for all spending in the states, over the phone and while there with no problem and more importantly no extra bank charges!!

Thanks Stew - excuse my ignorance, but do they apply the daily exchange rate and there is NO CHARGE for the conversion? Thats good isnt it?!
I think you can apply for one via Quidco too, which gives £20 cashback...

Stew68

Steff,

Thats correct, spent way too much in Chicago before Christmas, no extra charges at all and daily exchange rate applied. Made for some really good bargains..... With Quidco as well you'd get an even better deal.

dreammachine

photome wrote: »

I would say that looks OK..If you def want to stay at PH you have £480 to spend on a hotel, the cheapest i can find PH for your 7 nights is about $1200 just over $200 more than you would be getting it for and you are getting transfers.

That's it! I've done it! I've booked my surprise holiday for my 40th birthday to Vegas! yee ha! :j :j (yeah I know, a surprise, but I've booked it! OH tells me the surprise is him paying for it!!!)

After all the trawling for flights and individual hotel deals I decided to book through Opodo! 4 people, direct flights from Manchester staying at Planet Hollywood - total cost £3012 (£753pp)

Hotel offer includes - 2 for 1 Admission to Planet Hollywood Spa by Mandara
- 2 complimentary admissions to Asia Nightlife
- $25 Spice Market Buffet credit
- 10% off lunch at Planet Dailies
- $10 in free slot play, with $20 coin in
- $2 off Absolut Martinis in the Heart Bar


Not sure if this what you regular money savers would pick, but this is my first time to America, never mind Vegas!

Now all I gotta do is see what show & trips I wanna do!

wdyw

Steff wrote: »

Hi Scots_Girl,
I have read practically all the reviews on TripAdvisor to get a feel for the place and short of one or two of them everyone loves it there! (but they dont tend to say what they are comparing it to....)
Have you stayed anywhere else on the strip and how does this compare? Room size is 450 sq ft which is quite good (Rio is 600 sq ft, so not THAT much smaller....).

It looks like we are the complete opposite in every regard Steff. We've never had a bad experience with MyTravel ....and Orleans is one of two places we would never stay again! (if the 2007 thread is still accessible you will fin the full review there). Room were fine, good facilities in terms of the cinmea/bowling/concert venue etc. Pool is in the shade until fairly late in the day. A few things put us off the place.

Checked in on a friday for a concert. Couldn't believe the constant 100m+ queue of "colourful" hispanics waiting to cash their pay checks. Apparently it is one the few "strip" casinos that will readily cash such checks. Clientele nore like downtown rather than other strip casinos.

Food - I thought it was fine but Mrs WDYW was sick as a dog the day after we moved to the Bellagio so she refuses to go there again

Smoke - again with the clientele a lot more smokey than other places

Transport - while th shuttle is there, its just a pain to have to use to get anywhere if you don't want to drive.

However, as you said, most reviews are fine! For a long off-strip stay though might be worthwhile setting up your hotels with a bit of flexibility.

ferf1223

March

Stew68 wrote: »

Steff,

Thats correct, spent way too much in Chicago before Christmas, no extra charges at all and daily exchange rate applied. Made for some really good bargains..... With Quidco as well you'd get an even better deal.

I would second the Post Office card (which I learned about through the 2007 thread and the £20 quidco) for a credit card. Bank exchange rate and no fees - cannot beat that! And much to my surprise they gave me no hassle whatsoever regarding our flights booked on Maxjet...full refund after simply forwarding the email I received from Maxjet. Brilliant. In general their customer service is hit and miss but when it really counted they were fantastic.

As for a card to use for cash withdrawls would suggest the Nationwide Flex Account - same deal as PO - bank rate of exchange and no charges. We use ours exclusively for overseas holidays and have not had a problem in the US or Australia at least.

photome

wdyw wrote: »

It looks like we are the complete opposite in every regard Steff. We've never had a bad experience with MyTravel ....and Orleans is one of two places we would never stay again! (if the 2007 thread is still accessible you will fin the full review there). Room were fine, good facilities in terms of the cinmea/bowling/concert venue etc. Pool is in the shade until fairly late in the day. A few things put us off the place.

Checked in on a friday for a concert. Couldn't believe the constant 100m+ queue of "colourful" hispanics waiting to cash their pay checks. Apparently it is one the few "strip" casinos that will readily cash such checks. Clientele nore like downtown rather than other strip casinos.

Food - I thought it was fine but Mrs WDYW was sick as a dog the day after we moved to the Bellagio so she refuses to go there again

Smoke - again with the clientele a lot more smokey than other places

Transport - while th shuttle is there, its just a pain to have to use to get anywhere if you don't want to drive.

However, as you said, most reviews are fine! For a long off-strip stay though might be worthwhile setting up your hotels with a bit of flexibility.

I have stayed there and checked in on a friday and didnt see any queues.

I thought the pool was great but did only use in afternoon.

Ate in the buffet which I thought was good value.

Cant say I remember the smoke (I dont smoke)

Didnt use the shuttle (had a car)

I have to agree about being off strip, I wouldnt stay there for 14 nights , but I wouldnt stay in any vegas hotel for 14 nights as I like to sample prob 3 hotels in that time and I wouldnt stay there without a car.