The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

nvh

May

bitgiggy wrote: »

I had also looked at the possibilty of just hiring a car for the day for our trip to Vegas. We are staying in Hollywood and wondered how easy it would be to get to our hotel from LAX, and to other attractions such as Universal Studios. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has stayed in LA and whether you think a car is a necessity for two days!

if you're doing Universal Studios (and assuming you're there for the day), you won't need a car for that day... Hollywood is one stop away from Universal City on the underground, and costs a dollar there and a dollar back (or something like that) so you could save a fortune by doing that.

Hollywood entrance to underground is next / near to the crappy hollywood wax museum (do not waste your money on that!)

Universal City entrance to underground is at the bottom of the steep bank that leads up to Universal City

edit: just seen Stews post saying pretty much the same thing - lol - doh!

nvh

May

Just wondering, has anyone done Bryce Canyon / Zion Canyon? which is better? any recommendations or tips?

we're thinking of doing two nights @ Zion (staying in a Xanterra Cabin), but driving over for a day @ Bryce

ferf1223

March

Aidenr wrote: »

Not sure about Lance Burton, but have herd that Chris Angel is amazing
I know alot of people that have seen the show, and could not stop going on about it.
really sorry cant remember where he is playing. might be on tix4tonight tho

A

Criss Angel's show in Vegas (at Luxor, called Believe) has not opened yet, even the previews have been pushed back to the end of September - so not sure how people will have seen the show (unless they mean the TV show, Mindfreak?) Believe is a Cirque collaboration and is unlikely to show up at the 1/2 price ticket booths for a very, very long time.

ferf1223

March

trets77 wrote: »

avoid the Trashy castle buffet , Sahara buffet and Circus circus buffet, i would also be wary of the Tropicanna buffet

Would add Flamingo to that list - though I haven't eaten there, have rarely read a good review...and I think it will always be 'the Norwalk virus' buffet to me.

We did like the Wynn buffet quite a lot but I do think that Spice Market at Aladdin is the one that seems to get the most consistent high marks. Though a friend of mine didn't like it because there wasn't enough 'American' food...the other friend we were with loved trying things he'd never had before (like the various tandoori dishes, and lamb...he'd never had lamb before, ever).

wdyw

nvh wrote: »

Just wondering, has anyone done Bryce Canyon / Zion Canyon? which is better? any recommendations or tips?

we're thinking of doing two nights @ Zion (staying in a Xanterra Cabin), but driving over for a day @ Bryce

Bryce Canyon is just behind Yosemite in my favourite "West" coast must sees. Accommodation in/near Bryce is fairly expensive and average at best. We have always stayed at the place across from Ruby's but I recently saw a few people recommending stopping in Hurricane and driving to it - this iws what we will do next time we go there. Got to be prepared to do a few walks or get on a horse to make the most of the place. Excellent free guided night walks (if near full moon) and star gazing (if new moon) by the rangers and locals. Zion didn't do anything for me but lots of people enthuse over it.

nvh

May

Nice one - cheers wdyw - i'll look into that option a bit more - i forgot to add that we're going in April and I get the feeling due to it's height, Bryce may be a bit cold

However staying there at the weekend works out cheaper than the strip and as it's the middle of our holiday will also give us a good time for a break

We've stayed at GC (south) before and been fine for food etc - I assume the options are similar?

My missus would love to ride a horse but i'm too scared - i assume the paths are too rough for their to be a 'cycle hire' option?

Incidently, yosemite was option #3 as it looked fantastic as we drove through on the way to San Fran (via. a one-nighter @ Death Valley which was also brilliant) - i'm not sure i can be bothered to drive that far again though

bitgiggy

nvh wrote: »

if you're doing Universal Studios (and assuming you're there for the day), you won't need a car for that day... Hollywood is one stop away from Universal City on the underground, and costs a dollar there and a dollar back (or something like that) so you could save a fortune by doing that.

Hollywood entrance to underground is next / near to the crappy hollywood wax museum (do not waste your money on that!)

Universal City entrance to underground is at the bottom of the steep bank that leads up to Universal City

edit: just seen Stews post saying pretty much the same thing - lol - doh!

Thanks for all your advice.

All I've been doing tonight is researching the car situation! It seems our best option in terms of company is Dollar who don't charge a one way rental fee between LA/Las Vegas. Only problem here is the only location they have other than the airport is at a hotel that doesn't allow one way rentals. In order to just hire the car for the day we would need to go all the way back to the airport and it just doesnt seem worth it to me.

I really didn't think it would be difficult to hire a car in LA, and it isn't, the problem comes is when you want to return it to a different state then they charge $150+

Might just have to hire the car for the 4 days, would make things a lot easier I think!

wdyw

nvh wrote: »

Nice one - cheers wdyw - i'll look into that option a bit more - i forgot to add that we're going in April and I get the feeling due to it's height, Bryce may be a bit cold

However staying there at the weekend works out cheaper than the strip and as it's the middle of our holiday will also give us a good time for a break

We've stayed at GC (south) before and been fine for food etc - I assume the options are similar?

My missus would love to ride a horse but i'm too scared - i assume the paths are too rough for their to be a 'cycle hire' option?

Incidently, yosemite was option #3 as it looked fantastic as we drove through on the way to San Fran (via. a one-nighter @ Death Valley which was also brilliant) - i'm not sure i can be bothered to drive that far again though

never been to Bryce any month apart from August - would love to see the place with snow still on the ground .... April may be a month too late. Don't remember any significant bike riding apart from along the main roads in Bryce. The horses are tame and pony trekking would be a better description. they do all the work and you get to see the scenery!

THe accommodation is motel standard ..and to be honest, lower motel quality compared to the other places we use at tourist spots

Mesquite and St George are both decent cheap places to stop at on the way up to Zion/Bryce. We would normally stop at one of them and then "do" Zion from early the next morning arriving late evening at Bryce. Probably need to spend longer in Zion ..but the trekking we've done there just doesn't grab me. The first time we did that region we came up from Gc to Page to Bryce and then onto Zion and I think anything after the first two had a lot to live up to.

As for Yosemite, it is a fair trek and April prob means the pass is closed ...wich isn't a problem as Sequoia NP is a great place to visit on the way to/from Yosemite.

Just had a look at my old email.... BRYCE VIEW LODGE is where we have always stayed and in 04 it cost $63 a night midweek which was cheaper than Rubys across the road.

nvh

May

nice one, thanks again... out of interest, have you ever stayed here (bit more expensive admittedly but we've always been pleased with Xanterra stuff):
http://www.brycecanyonlodge.com
if not, have you by any chance seen it and if so, is it in a good location?

and did you have to book the horsey / pony things in advance?

our original plan was...
leave Vegas friday morning, travel up to Valley Of Fire for most of the day, move onto Zion for the overnighter, then go and visit Bryce the next day (sat'dee) and come back for an overnight @ Zion, do Zion on Sunday and then head back to Vegas...

we may however choose to do Valley of Fire, then do Friday / Satdee nights @ Bryce and call in Zion on the way back on Sunday

wdyw

nvh wrote: »

nice one, thanks again... out of interest, have you ever stayed here (bit more expensive admittedly but we've always been pleased with Xanterra stuff):
http://www.brycecanyonlodge.com
if not, have you by any chance seen it and if so, is it in a good location?

and did you have to book the horsey / pony things in advance?

our original plan was...
leave Vegas friday morning, travel up to Valley Of Fire for most of the day, move onto Zion for the overnighter, then go and visit Bryce the next day (sat'dee) and come back for an overnight @ Zion, do Zion on Sunday and then head back to Vegas...

we may however choose to do Valley of Fire, then do Friday / Satdee nights @ Bryce and call in Zion on the way back on Sunday

Never stayed there, but all the activities I mentioned earlier are available through Bryce Canyon Lodge. The place looked fine and certainly more upmarket than where we stayed. No views of the canyon from the place, but well located. We booked the horse riding the day before we did it and had to book first thing in the morning for the moonlit walk which fills up really quickly when available.