Las Vegas (3 Viewers)

CCFC88 · Mar 7, 2016

Has anyone been? We are going on a california trip and ending up in LV for 4 nights, Sat-Wed.

Torn on hotels however, a part of me wants to splash out and get a really nice place and do it in style, another part is asking wether it is worth paying twice as much for Bellagio/Mandarin Oriental/Venetian etc.

I have had a thought that as we are driving in from death valley on the Saturday we probably wont get into Vegas till 7-8 on the Saturday night, and with rooms being more expensive Fri/Sat, to get something cheaper on the Saturday night and move to a nicer place for Sun, Mon, Tue night, plus I would imagine there is a higher chance of getting an upgrade checking in on a Sunday as to a Saturday, I have been told upgrades are commonplace but not too sure really.

Also any advice on things to do/see whilst there would be appreciated!

Going with the other half by the way, if I was with the lads it would be a no brainer, £50 a night as we wouldnt be spending much time in the hotel room.

Thanks in advance!

GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee · Mar 7, 2016

Hi mate,

Went in November with my other half, you will have an absolute blast that's for sure.

We stayed in the MGM Signature which was a really, really nice hotel for not a lot. It is set back slightly off the strip but you walk through the MGM Grand for about 5 mins and you end up on the strip. Not sure how much you know about where hotels are. One end is Mandalay Bay which is mightily impressive and in terms of the 'new strip' the other end is Stratosphere. There is the old strip which is a further mile or two on from that with the Golden Nugget etc but unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't make it down that far. In between you've got Hooters, MGM Grand/Signature, New York New York, Paris, Monte Carlo, Aria, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Cosmopoliton, Flamingo, Luxor, Treasure Island, Encore, Wynn, Venetian & Trump. (Sorry im blabbing a bit but giving as much info as i can on locations haha). I would recommend any hotel not named there (i may have missed one or two) and checking location is between stratosphere and mandalay bay. You'll end up popping in and out of hotels casinos/shopping malls and checking them all for yourself so from my experience if I went back and wanted to spend more cash it would be on the Ventian, Wynn or Mandalay Bay. But in all honesty, all the casinos are pretty much identical and you can go into any as you like so it doesn't really matter. If you buy through a third party eg LastMinute or Booking.com etc what they won't tell you there is a Resort Fee on every hotel I think that is an extra $30 a night which we tried to wrangle out of but failed.
In terms of things to do, if you can afford it I couldn't recommend the Helicopter trip to Grand Canyon enough. Probably the best thing I've ever done. It is expensive but if the cash is there its worth every penny. We did ours through http://www.papillon.com/ and our pilot couldn't have been any better. Check out the Bellagio fountains and the Volcano down at the Mirage (another lovely hotel i forgot to mention) which is pretty impressive. I would say you will have an absolute blast and 4 nights is pretty much perfect to do/see everything without feeling like you've overstayed. There's a restaurant in Ceaser's Palace called the Cheesecake Factory which does amazing steaks (and cheesecakes) for really decent prices as well! The New York New York coaster is a great laugh if you like rides and i think stratosphere is meant to be good although we deemed it too pricey to warrant going up and of course, gamble away! Oh yeah, you may already know this but you can buy booze by the can (they are massive) from shops and walk into casinos with, so you dont have to pay $8 a drink at the bar. it seems totally wrong and i was apprehensive about doing it until i saw pretty much everyone else doing it. So save yourself about $6 a drink and just buy from a shop and walk around with them! Jealous that you managed to drive through Death Valley. We were trying to drive from San Francisco to Vegas but the highway through Yosemite was closed so had to book last minute flights.

Hope this helps. Enjoy it, you'll have an absolute blast.

Malaka · Mar 8, 2016

Vegas rocks. I also stayed at The MGM and liked it, but wish I was more central on the strip as it was a taxi everywhere. There is a great show called 'O' can remember if it was at The Bellagio or Ceaser's. Honestly, expensive but awesome
You will have a great time

CCFC88 · Mar 8, 2016

Thanks both!

Thanks for all the detail GMLN, we booked the Bellagio (joined their mlife reward card system free of charge and saved $172 on the booking) from the Sun-Wed and we are going to stay in the cheaper Treasure Island on the Saturday night. Thanks for the information on the hotels, there is only so much you can tell from Google maps but I think with TI and Bellagio we should be pretty central for the duration.

Yes, we will be doing a hellicopter ride, somebody else had mentioned a company named Sundance where you leave early afternoon and then fly back at sunset so when you get back the strip is all lit up which sounds increddible! I went on my first helicopter ride early this year over the Great Barrier Reef and as you say, I think that was the best experience of my life, if I ever win the euromillions Ill be trading in my Pugeot 206 for a helicopter!

Thanks for the tip about the cans of beer, not exactly how I picture the casino floor, everyone walking round drinking tins of bud, but good to know!

Yes, after 2 nights in Yosemite/Death Valley I think the bright lights and sounds of LV will be a shoc to the system!

Our whole trip involves Flying into Vancouver>Seattle>Fly to San Diego>Drive up route one to San Fran>2 nights in Yosemite>Drive into Vegas through DV.

I have just been looking at shows Malaka, we will definitely go to one of the Cirque du Soleil shows, people seem to rate O and Love (beattles show) as the best.

Let the saving begin!

LastGarrison · Mar 8, 2016

Got back last Monday.

Still recovering.

Sky_Blue_Daz · Mar 8, 2016

Have you seen that zip wire thing? That looks the dogs danglers

GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee · Mar 9, 2016

Malaka said:
Vegas rocks. I also stayed at The MGM and liked it, but wish I was more central on the strip as it was a taxi everywhere. There is a great show called 'O' can remember if it was at The Bellagio or Ceaser's. Honestly, expensive but awesome
You will have a great time

Really? No offence intended but if you are perfectly able and have any level of fitness above couch potato you can wander the strip with complete ease. Like we said we slowly wandered down the strip as far as the Stratosphere in like an hour.

GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee · Mar 9, 2016

Sky_Blue_Daz said:
Have you seen that zip wire thing? That looks the dogs danglers

The one thing I was annoyed I didn't do as it was in the Old Strip! Looks amazing though!

Also CCFC your helicopter trip sounds incredible!

Si80 · Mar 9, 2016

Stayed at the MGM for my 30th. Great hotel, don't be put off by location too much on the main strip as theirs a monorail that links the hotels and is hop on hop off and a decent price. http://www.lvmonorail.com/route-map/

I second the Cheesecake Factory shout, we ate there twice because the steak was so good.

Enjoy it, I really want to visit when we are over in the US in September driving from San Fran to LA but the wife says no :facepalm:

Malaka · Mar 9, 2016

GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee said:
Really? No offence intended but if you are perfectly able and have any level of fitness above couch potato you can wander the strip with complete ease. Like we said we slowly wandered down the strip as far as the Stratosphere in like an hour.

It was July and too hot to walk anywhere and at night Mrs Malaka was wearing heels

Terry Gibson's perm · Mar 9, 2016

Malaka said:
It was July and too hot to walk anywhere and at night Mrs Malaka was wearing heels

I hope it was just Mrs Malaka wearing the heels

Terry Gibson's perm · Mar 9, 2016

Not been to Las Vegas was going to go for my 40th but we had a surprise baby which took all the funds, I have been to San Fran and Seattle which are both fabulous cities, my wife says when we win the lottery we are buying a place in San Fran but I would prefer one in Seattle.

Malaka · Mar 9, 2016

Terry Gibson's perm said:
I hope it was just Mrs Malaka wearing the heels

of course it was

GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee · Mar 9, 2016

Malaka said:
It was July and too hot to walk anywhere and at night Mrs Malaka was wearing heels

Apologies I forgot about heat haha, it was low 20s when I was there so wasn't a problem

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

LastGarrison · Mar 9, 2016

Highly recommend Freemont Street, it is a must, a cracking night out and also a lot cheaper than the strip if money is an issue.

Vegas is Vegas, loads of drinking, gambling and any other vice you have can be had there (although they aren't cheap ) but if that isn't your thing then the hotels themselves are ridiculous and plenty of shops and shows and great restaurants to be had as well and that is before you look at trips to the Grand Canyon, firing guns etc.

I've been there twice now, both times with the lads and I've got to admit I'm not in a hurry to go back for a third time but it is a definite must if you have never been before!

Sky_Blue_Daz · Mar 9, 2016

Love to go there, it's definitely on the bucket list

LastGarrison · Mar 9, 2016

Average of about $11 a beer on the strip though!!!

All the "free drinks" when you're gambling is great if you are happy to wait about 40 minutes for a beer each time and in that time you've probably done 3 times that in the machines/at the black jack table!

Although the more you tip the quicker you they come round. I sat and played poker in the MGM for about 5 hours and whilst everyone was giving the waitress a dollar I was giving her 2 or 3 which meant I never had to ask and every time she came round she had a bottle of Heineken for me! Which was nice.

Earlsdon_Skyblue1 · Mar 14, 2016

Terry Gibson's perm said:
Not been to Las Vegas was going to go for my 40th but we had a surprise baby which took all the funds, I have been to San Fran and Seattle which are both fabulous cities, my wife says when we win the lottery we are buying a place in San Fran but I would prefer one in Seattle.

I like both those cities, but what do you think to Portland (Oregon)?

I was lucky enough to visit a couple of years back when I was trecking up the Pacific coast and I thought it was something else. Very pretty and unspoilt, I actually preferred it to Seattle.

If you haven't been yet, I'd throughly recommend spending some time there if you buy a place in that part of the world.

Terry Gibson's perm · Mar 15, 2016

Earlsdon_Skyblue1 said:
I like both those cities, but what do you think to Portland (Oregon)?

I was lucky enough to visit a couple of years back when I was trecking up the Pacific coast and I thought it was something else. Very pretty and unspoilt, I actually preferred it to Seattle.

If you haven't been yet, I'd throughly recommend spending some time there if you buy a place in that part of the world.

Not it been to Portland as we went the other way to either Vancouver which I hated the first time I went but loved the second time or Vancouver Island, had a night in Chicago but thought it was awful. Also spent a couple of weeks in Edmonton and went to Calgary while there as it was just down the road:claping hands:about minus 20 every day as we went for Xmas and although snow everywhere not a flake on Xmas day and very weird to see the construction workers building on the day.

If I had my time again I would have worked harder at school and then got a job at Boeing as I can't think of anywhere I would rather work and the money is great.

doubt we will go again as most of our travelling was done before our children so hoping for the lottery win.

robbieray · Mar 15, 2016

Been to the Vegas slots in Ingoldmells awesome

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