Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2018
Comments
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We have done both day and evening. I liked both. Can you work it so you are there for sunset? That would be great, I think. We did the bar car during the day and the normal one at night.Has anyone done the 'High Roller' Wheel. It wasn't there last time we went but we will be doing it this time.
Is it better to do it in the day or night? Hubby wants to do it at night to see the strip lit up. Personally I would prefer to do it during the day as perhaps you would notice more without the distraction of the lights.
We will probably end up doing both but would be interested to know the opinion of someone who has already done it.
Check out Travelzoo, Groupon and Expedia for deals.0 -
Parking charges.
They may be light at the end of the tunnel.
Wynn have just rolled back to free parking if you are a guest or if you spend $50
Let’s hope others follow
Wynn never used to charge for parking , well not 3 months ago anyway.
Venetian/Pallazo have free parking and free Valet so puch comes to shove park there and walk over the bridge.The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.0 -
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Wynn never used to charge for parking , well not 3 months ago anyway.
Venetian/Pallazo have free parking and free Valet so puch comes to shove park there and walk over the bridge.
Wynn charged for parking in March this year when we stayed there, I have feeling it was introduced around that time
edit, Wynn started charging in Aug last year0 -
Even the North Outlet mall charges for parking !!!! $5 !0
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Stuie did you do a trip report in the end?0
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I managed to book that free upgrade to Pearl, booked a mattress run for Excalibur whilst staying at Vdara in Sept. The free parking and buffet line pass should come in handy. Somone mentioned this in the MyVegas FB thread0
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Trip report coming soon ! (this week!)
Still mad at myself for writing 3 days worth (I go long!!) and accidently hit a button which went back on a webpage losing all I wrote! grrrrrrrrrr !!
Photos are uploaded though ready !
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Trip Report:
Plan: 3 people (2 adults + 1 teen) Vegas, cheap, DUB-LAS
Thursday 24th May:
Were at Bristol Airport, heard the announcement to say were boarding, so we goto the Gate ready to get on the plane and say bye bye to the horrid rain........
So were at the gate, along with other passengers, and we all look out the window........ :dance:
Yes, that's right, Ryanair now have invisible planes!!!
Eventually, it turns up, and off we go....
Now heres the best bit, we paid £26 each for our flight to DUB inc 20KG luggage (no idea how so cheap!), and the leg room in a standard seat = Amazing!!!!!!!! I was well happy, given I am 6ft!
It may look like my knees are touching the seat, but they aren't.. I have room! Got to Prem Inn, all good!
Friday 25th May: (Monte Carlo Hotel - Comp)
Fly with BA to LHR, all good, transfers to Term 3 easy enough too, all good
Anyway, we board the 'BA' flight to LAS, and as you guys said a while back, we would be on an old 747 plane, with bad heating....
OMG :eek: Could this plane suck anymore ? I had us in the economy cabin as soon as you walk onto the plane, but the heat when we sat down just felt uncomfortable, and right upto about 30 minutes into the flight, it just stayed horrid warm
There were no 'air blowers' above you either, I am guessing those hadn't been invented when this plane was built! Plane has a late 80's/early 90's feel to it.
My knees were in the seat in front, and the IFE, OMG!!!! Small, rubbish, and the choice = wasn't worth switching on !
The photo says it all!
We land in Vegas around 7:15pm, and were through the checkpoint by 8:30pm and into Baggage....
Were waiting, waiting, waiting, and yup, I'M still waiting...... Off we goto Baggage services, and before I even said anything, the guy knew who I was, and said they left your bag in London !
!!!!!! ! :mad:
The guy says - It should be here on Saturday, it will be delivered to your hotel by 5pm.
We leave the building to get the bus to the rental centre, cos everyone has gone already, no buses for another 15 mins ! Grrrrrrrrrrr !! We eventually got to the rental centre by 9:3pm....
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..........
We have a mid-size car with Hertz booked for 4 days, and we have 5* Gold with hertz. Despite being naffed off that my bag is missing, and i'll be in the same pants for ages, I put on a brave face when we got to the garage (ie: smile to staff, as it helps!).
Looked at the row of cars/suv's we could choose in 5* & Gold, and in all fairness, choice wasn't bad, mainly fullsize and standard suv's along with smaller cars, but nothing meaty.....
I went to chat with a Hertz guy about cars, and we struck up a good conversation about cars, as, it turns out, he likes Skylines, and I happen to own an R34, so showed him the photos of my car, we talk a little, I say I like power, followed by I like to shake hands, and in goes a $20 handshake, and he puts me in this.......
Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack!!!! its the 6.4L V8 Hemi SRT powered engine, 485bhp with 475ftp Torque!! The startup noise of the engine was enough to make me forget about my lost suitcase!!!! I was in Heaven!
I jumped in, and started to drive towards the exit, but I could see the guy flag me down...
I stopped, and he said to me " Aren't you forgetting your wife ?" haha !! Oops!! She didn't see the funny side to it!
Out of the rental centre, onto the 1st straight as you head towards the strip, and I floor it, ROOAAAARRRRR ! Oh that sound!!!!!!! , shame I didn't notice the cop in his car on the other side of the road! doh!!! Luckily, he didn't come after me!
Got to Monte Carlo (Park MGM) at 10pm, they got these kiosk machines for check-in, but I went to the desk and flashed the mlife gold card (was a slight queue on machines)..
We got a 3nt comp in the Nightingale Suite, 21st floor......
Its the old Spa/Monaco suite, just revamped and looks nice and new.. best part about it, is its right by the elevator!
Me and wifey attempt a quick gamble and drink, but by 11:30pm, we needed sleep !
Sat 26th May:
Wake up, drive out in the beast to 'Jack in the Box' for breakfast, job done and back to hotel for some pool time.
The photos of the Park MGM pool area make you think its small, but in all fairness, size seemed OK, although there was a lot of Mexicans with kids on the weekend, rather than the poser's that the hotel wants (not whilst they are still building will they get that!).... Out comes the Factor 4 tanning oil, and its time to roast!
You know that moment, when you do something, and wish you hadn't ??? Well, I was lying on my stomach, and decided to alter the sun lounger whilst still lying down..... my fingers are on the top of the lounger as I attempt to adjust it........
My fingers are then squashed between the metal as I messed up my adjustment! :doh: :eek:
I yelped in pain, cos that hurt!!!!!! I still have the bruise's under 2 of my nails even today !!! Fingers went numb for about 20 mins ! I laugh about it now mind, wife thought it was funny! charming !
Went for a walk on the strip for a bit to kill some time and remind ourselves just how expensive the M&M & Coke-a-Cola shop was, and then got back to the hotel for 5:30pm....
Low & behold, NO SUITCASE!!! I called baggage peeps, and the guy says "your case is here, it might be delivered by midnight, or tomorrow or sometime in the week" ! I'm like !!!!!! ! you kidding me ?!! Guy on phone didn't care!!!!!
Back into the Dodge, and off to the airport we go, got there for 6:15pm, and theres my blue case, just left OUTSIDE the baggage office which means anyone could have walked off with it!
Useless fools ! Got back, hit Walmart to get goodies, then back to get changed to go out!
So off we goto 'Tom Urbans' at NYNY, as we got $350 in Resort Credit to spend......
I like my spicy stuff, so I said to the waiter if the spice can be increased on my food, he comes back to me to say it can, so happy days!
We had nice burgers, drinks, etc, but I had 6 'Hybrid' Ghost Pepper chicken wings. Hybrid cos the chef said he mixed an extract with the sauce they use......
Now............. recall my trip report from 2013, when I had some stuff called Atomic Sauce from 'Slice of Vegas' which they stopped doing in 2014 due to 2 peeps needing hospital treatment, and I said it felt like I chewed a Sea Urchin!
So I bite into 1 wing, :eek: OMG! I'm almost convulsing!!! The heat hits my mouth with the same force of 1000 wasp stings!! My god is that hot!!!! Still, I munched away, and got through all 6 wings (ok, 90% of them ! )
For the 3 of us, bill was about $156.
2 hours later, my stomach feels like a Volcano, my !!! feels like I sat on hot poker stick, and I ended up sticking my head down the toilet to puke my guts up !!!!! Oh maaaaaaan, talk about feeling rough ! haha !! I hurt everywhere, my throat burned cos of the stuff coming back up, didn't know if to laugh or cry !! both ends are active !! hehe ! 
Went back down to the casino as its about 11:45 now, and played on the tables for a bit with the wifey....
She likes 3card Poker (I do too), and BlackJack....
She scoots around 12:15am and I decide to play a little longer...
On the note of monies: I took out with $4000 in cash, which was my kitty money + spending/shopping money + gambling money.... So plan was to give myself $300 a day gambling cash..... But as usual, that plan goes out the window, and I'm in the casino with $1k !
Anyway, I am doing OK on the tables, but losing rather that winning..... Probably wasted about $400, so decided to play some slots.... I like to do Max bet on the slots, whether that be the $5, $6 or $8.80 slot machines.....
In goes $100 on the Fu Nan machine at $8.80 a spin, and 2 mins later, in goes another $100 !
Then comes this:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr3at6ezGOA
So out comes $1639 (I had passport on me, and cos of staying in Park MGM, they did the IRS setup for me, so I could get the whole amount there and then !)
I then went onto the 'Flying Horse' slot machine which I like at $2.50 a spin, and boom, SUPEEEEEEEEER SWEET!!! & Sweeet Zone!
By the time it finished, it paid out around $500 !
I then went onto the Willy Wonka machine, in goes $100, out comes $780 !!
Then a Buffalo, and a few others....
Had about $4k in cash ! went to the Blackjack tables and blew $1500 in about 10 minutes! doh! pushing 2am now, so best I goto bed! Still nice to be up on the wins!
Sunday 27th May:
Off to the Pool for some sunshine, but wifey goes to Starbucks to get coffee, so I figure a quick $100 in a slots wont hurt.....
Not a bad payout at 10am whilst she is in the queue!
The wins from prev night and the morning made me forget about my smashed up finger nails and volcanic !!! !!! that I have!!!
Got some sunshine throughout the day, and then we hit the outlet malls for a few hours later in the day given its Memorial wkend, and I got vouchers for this and that!
Sunday night, we went to Bellagio Buffet...
It was around 8pm ish when we got there, queue was massive! Walked straight up the Mlife line much to the dislike of peeps in the normal queue , and billed the cost to our room which was $162 in total for 3 (weekend rates ?)
Wasn't impressed to be honest, probably cos we are simple eaters and this was fancy stuff, especially on the seafood side of things.... not much choice for meat/chicken stuff.....
Back to Park MGM for some more gambling, no idea what I won on, but I won monies before going to bed!
Monday 28th May: (MGM Grand - Book + myVegas)
Up early, breakfast @ Jack in Box, then back to pool for some sunshine, followed by outlet mall again for more shopping.
My problem with mall shopping is, I buy stuff from Ralph Lauren shop, and the shirts / T-shirts, etc stay in the bag.... I then go to the same shop at different mall, and forget what I bought, and end up buying the same item 2 or 3 times ! doh ! :doh:
Got to MGM Grand around 1pm to check-in, huuuuuuuuuuuge queue! Went past It and into the 'StayWell' lounge....
Now what I had done here, was book a
""""1 Bedroom Tower Suite' for 1 night direct with hotel, on the pre-tense I would hope to get it refunded as a backend comp, followed by using a myvegas 2nt reward in the wifes name, to combine the room, etc etc"""
So at check-in, I slipped the guy a $50 tip to make it so we stayed in the 1bed tower suite. He was like no problem, just said to come down in the morning so I can re-do the room key
Room was pretty cool, bathroom has access from bedroom and living room, and living room is pretty large with the sofa bed coming out of the very large sofa!! Good room !
1st night bill waived as you read for tomorrow....
On this day though after checking out our awesome room, we also decided to go down to Primm, mainly just so I can enjoy driving the Dodge!! so off we go, and drop wife & step-daughter at the mall, and I said I fancy a quick play in the Primm Valley Casino.....
So off I go, casino has an 'out-of-town' feel to it, with local'ish people in there!
Anyway, played on Blackjack tables, but dealer moved about as quick as a dead fly, so couldn't stay long as I would have aged too quickly!!
Found myself a flying Horse machine, so in goes $100, max bet of $2.50 , and literally, done about 5 or 6 spins and BOOM !!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwdJw3Spqzc&t=12s
Super Sweet and Multi Sweet zones, it spat out $700 in winnings!!!!!!!! I cashed out and went to the mall to buy the same clothes I bought earlier and the day before!
Back to the hotel, quick change of clothes, and then we went off to Cashman fields to watch the "las Vegas 51's" play Baseball.
Got there before 7pm, so had the opening ceremony which was cool! $1 hotdogs, mmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm ! only had the 1 a we had dinner plans after!
I sat us in bleachers just behind 1st Base, nice and quieter!
Now, we stayed here till about 9pm ish, and then set about going to get dinner... It was the last night with the Dodge, and we fancied doing something different!
So drove down to Tropicana Avenue on route back to the MGM Grand, stopped at Domino's pizza, grabbed 2 yummy pizza's, and then headed for the MGM Grand carpark.......
We drove to the top floor (open deck), naturally it was empty, so we parked up, put pizza's & drinks on the bonnet, and just admired the great view whilst stuffing our faces!!! :drool:
Magical to be honest! We had paid $13 each to watch the baseball, and spent $25 on dinner at Domino's, and had a view that was simply amazing!!
Parked up on the lower floors, and then into the casino for some beers and gambling........
Slots = Juicy wins for me, so all smiles for me again !!
When I gamble, I hit the machines with $100 each time, and if I get a big win, I cash out and get cash cash, so I only ever put cash into a machine, never the print out win slips....
Same applies for playing on tables, when I walk away from a table, I goto cashiers and get cash... Cash looks better to a Pit Boss than casino chips do.......
Tuesday 29th May:
Woke up, emptied my pockets onto the bed......(winnings from last night = $3.5k)
Figured it would be good to count my monies before we hit the pool, see how I am doing......
Turns out I have $8459 !, so gave the wife & kid some cash ($$$, not $ ! )
Went down to the StayWell lounge to get the room key sorted so we could stay in the same room under the myVegas booking, all sorted!
Went and saw a host, had play checked, and total bill returned to my credit card, along with picking up a new host to use in the MGM Grand.....
Time to hit the pools!
Caught some nice rays throughout the day, followed by a Subway lunch (subway is better over there than here!)...
7pm, its time to say Good Bye to my Dodge
, I soooooooooooo didn't want to give this car back! But off she goes, and were into our next one, top spec 'Ford Expedition'...
Ok, I paid for this which is a bit daft of me, but I guess in 1 hand, I am glad I did.....
Rental was done via AutoEurope for 1 week Full size SUV with Alamo (7 seater SUV). Choice is always going to be Ford Explorer, Tahoe or Yukon, as they class Expedition top spec, Yukon XL & Suburban as 'Prem SUV'.....
We paid £262 for 1 week, which is a really good rate, but it mean't not doing any backhanders, which takes the fun out of things!!
Anyway, this beast!! super lux on the inside, steps that fold away on the outside to get into the truck, etc.... Just a real nice truck !!!
Off to dinner now, and its 'Hooters' were going to...
We got the Groupon vouchers (same as last year) for Hooters in Henderson, and despite knowing they the worst for service, its worth going to save a few quid!
Lets just say, we WONT be going back there. There was about 12 customers in total in the whole place, and several staff.....
It still took nearly 10 mins for the drinks to come out, and 25 mins for the wings!, to which they were horrible!! Dried, salty, yuk! Will stick with paying a premium next time and eat at Hooters on Tropicana Av.......
Back to casino for some gambling, and I think this is the start of the gambling slope, of watching my monies dwindle!
Wednesday 30th May:
Didn't do much today.... we went to Battlefield Vegas as I bought the Groupon voucher for the 3 gun shooting (worked out to be $66 after the discounts I had with groupon), done some bartering with the boss to get more ammo at a reduced rate!, and then off to North Outlet again for shopping, so I can buy the same clothes again !
Dinner time, my favourite time of the evening !
Were off to Famous Daves BBQ on Blue Diamond, MMMMMMMMMMMMMM mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!
As usual, the Ribs = the bee's knees! Nuff said!
We left there and headed over to the RIO, as I got us tickets with TravelZoo to see "Penn & Teller".....
Good show, well worked, well worked with the audience too! very much enjoyed this show, and would recommend it!
Back to the MGM grand to lose some money and drink a few beers!
I recorded a nice $1000 payout on the FU DAO LE slot machine which was $8.80 a spin , but that was short lived as I blew it all on the tables + monies I took out with me! Went to bed with about $3 in my pocket! Think my spend for the night was over $10k ! (win, lose, win lose, I probably lost $3k of my own money)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYyN9x7KXKI
Thursday 31st May: (Luxor 5 Night Comp)
Checked out of MGM Grand, couldn't get the resort fee waived as they looked at wifes play rather than mine. I used $42 of my Express Comps to cover 1 night of Resort Fee and we paid for the other.
Made use of the Valet parking too as its free with Mlife Gold....
Now, got a 5nt comp through a new Host at the Luxor, to include Resort Credit and Freeplay & the 1 Bedroom Lux Suite....
However, being greedy, I wanted the 2bedroom suite or at least the 1bed Premier deluxe Suite....
Only option was to upgrade to either:
2bed Penthouse Suite or 1bed Premier deluxe Suite....
Cost for either was real high !
However, I had slipped a $100 note inbetween my Mlife card & credit card which she didn't see.....
Short story is, she worked some magic to move us into the Prem Suite !
This room was spot on !!! 1200sq ft! 3 separate A/C controls for each zone, a bathroom for the step-daughter, and a walk-around bathroom for us! Our bathroom had a separate makeup area, along with the normal twin sink area....
This was a real nice layout, long, big, rockstar living !!! (2nd best Suite ever! Thinking back to 2 years ago when we stayed in the wrap-around terrace suite on the 50th floor in the Cosmo)
Out to sunbath for a bit, but if I recall, think there was some cloud issues on that day, so didn't spend too long outside!
Looked round some more shops I think, then went for dinner in 'Slice of Vegas' as resort credit was about $400 !
Also, Luxor had this daily slot tournament on between 12 and 5pm, so we hit it around 4:53pm, and spent 5 mins button bashing!
Anyway, I won, I got the highest points for the day !!
I won $200 on Freeplay
On the evening, we went to see Jabbawockeez over at the MGM Grand (tickets purchased through Travzelzoo). Although we saw them at the Luxor a few years back, was great to see them again !
Shame u couldn't take photos as such... As half way into the show, 2 of them get interactive with the audience, and guess who they pulled out of the crowd! :wall:
These dancers are small, and I am like a 6ft bear ! so they found it funny to make me do things that everyone found funny! Up on the stage I go, doing dance things, shaking my !!!, etc etc... I had fun, lots of laughs (lucky for me, you cant see nothing as the lights blind out the audience!), so it was all good!!!!
After show, back to Lux to lose monies!!
Friday 1st June:
Sun is shining, its time to go catch some rays, so hit up the VIP pool and got us a cabanna for the day (as much as I barter on price, its pointless as hotel picks up the tab anyway!).....
Was nice and quiet around 11am, but got pretty busy by around 2pm
Played on slot tournament again towards end of day, but didn't get a look in..... Cant remember what we did in the evening, probably shops again !
Saturday 2nd June:
Same again, some pool time (no cabanna), went for a drive round Red Rock........
Then to shops again in North Outlet!
Played in the slot tourney, came 2nd and won $100 voucher to use in Public House in Luxor....
So dinner that nite, came to $98 !! In all fairness, the food there was pretty dam good, the fries alone ticked all the boxes!!!
I remember going for a drive in traffic late that nite too! and losing more money!
Don't remember much else!
Sunday 3rd June:
Same again, shops, sunbathing, mini walk, and did a loop on the NYNY coaster!
Had Luxor Buffet dinner for tea (used myVegas and billed the 1 charge to room, which I think was $28)
We enjoyed this buffet, good mix of normal foods, good tasty stuff, so would defo eat here again !!
Our pals came to Vegas on the Sunday, so they joined us for an hour on the night in the casino, all good fun !
Monday 4th June:
Shops (again !!!), sunshine, and then dinner at Famous Daves BBQ again !! yum , yum ! Took our pals there, so safe to say, 5 happy faces!!!
They stayed with us in the lux to do some gambling (they were in Bellagio), so given it was my last night, and I was down to my last $1.2k in monies, figured I would go out with a blast and blow it all !!!
In a nutshell, I had great fun, lost all of it, and with my last $100, won back upto $1k, then on the tables, win some, lose some, etc etc..... Think we was in casino for about 5hrs, my pals left at 4am, as I went to bed at 3:30am!!
I had $580 left, out of that $8459 I had several days earlier....
I had spent over $1.5k on clothes and stuff I don't need, along with some food stuffs, fuel, ammo, etc.... Money well spent!!
We had all gone upto Old town that night to watch the overhead show (5 of us), I have burnt tired eyeballs as u see in the pic!
Flight home with BA on the 777 to LGW sucked like the plane on the way out....
On the note of gambling, I started at base points with Mlife Gold, and although would have loved to have reached Platinum, didn't think it would be possible unless I spent a shed load of $$$ and put in some good hours..........
I checked my account on the morning of checkout, and I had made Platinum !!! The night before, I was 25k tier credits short, but based on my handplay on the tables + slots, yeah, I got the Plat!!
No bill at check-out either, even though we went over the $400 resort credit by a lot.0
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