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We''re Going to Vegas, baby!

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Okay. This is John''s first time in Vegas. The first, and only time I went, years ago, we stayed at the Flamingo and the location was great, although the places was run down. If they''ve rennovated, I''ll take a look. I would like to stay someplace central. But John is a bit fussy about rooms. He needs to feel comfortable with the accomodations if he''s going to relax, so it''s a balance.

The Palms I tried to look up, but couldn''t for some reason. Can you link me to their actual webiste please? I don''t like to book from places like travelocity or anything like that (orbitz, hotwire... none of ''em).


Hmm. The hunt for accomodations continues.
 
Date: 10/25/2007 7:34:47 PM
Author: Gypsy
Okay. This is John's first time in Vegas. The first, and only time I went, years ago, we stayed at the Flamingo and the location was great, although the places was run down. If they've rennovated, I'll take a look. I would like to stay someplace central. But John is a bit fussy about rooms. He needs to feel comfortable with the accomodations if he's going to relax, so it's a balance.

The Palms I tried to look up, but couldn't for some reason. Can you link me to their actual webiste please? I don't like to book from places like travelocity or anything like that (orbitz, hotwire... none of 'em).


Hmm. The hunt for accomodations continues.
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Palm's website is weird I check it a lot. For some reason I have to try it twice each time. http://www.palms.com/rooms_1.php Have you checked travelzoo.com to see if there are any pkgs that may peak your interest? BTW Paris has virtual room tours check those out too (If you havent already)
 
Gypsy, there are some really good deals going on during the time you will be there. I did a quick search and TI (Treasure Island) right across from the Venitian, Flamingo( right across from Ceasars) Go rooms and MGM (right across from NY NY) are quite reasonable; you have to go directly to the casino webpage to find them. Hope that helps.
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Hi Vegas! Thanks for the link. I''ll check out the Palms too. I like the location better than the other two.

No I haven''t checked out the packages travelzoo, I will for research though! Thanks for the reference. I generally like to book accomodations and such through the actual hotels because I''ve found the staff are nicer about fixing problems and accomodating special requests, if necessary, if you don''t book through a third-party website. Prices are usually similar enough on the hotel websites to do this, and if they aren''t I can usually call the hotel and say... hey Orbitz has this price, will you match it? And they will, without all the third party restrictions Orbitz and so forth will place on you.

I like to location of Paris, and still haven''t cancelled the reservation, though I keep meaning to. But the quality of the beds is really important. If John''s back lock up, and there''s a good risk of that after a long drive, the whole vacation is well... kaputz.
 
Date: 10/25/2007 7:53:32 PM
Author: Skippy123
Gypsy, there are some really good deals going on during the time you will be there. I did a quick search and TI (Treasure Island) right across from the Venitian, Flamingo( right across from Ceasars) Go rooms and MGM (right across from NY NY) are quite reasonable; you have to go directly to the casino webpage to find them. Hope that helps.
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The MGM is a front runner for me. I will check out the other two as well, as I haven''t had a chance yet. Thanks Skippy!
 
I dont know if smoking anywhere in public is still done in Vegas but two years ago when we were there the only thing that saved me was that we stayed at an all suite hotel at the end of the strip (opposite end from Paris Paris, etc., near that very tall tower with the rollercoaster on top) and it was great. HUGE suite with full kitchen. Nice grounds. And best of all, it wasn''t a casino, just a hotel. I prefer to stay in hotel-only properties simply because, well, I dont like the casino vibe and all that smoking.
 
Palms and Hilton are too far IMHO. Honestly I don''t remember Paris''s beds being bad
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I''m kind of picky too. I wish I had pics of the flamingo room to show you (he sent them on his camera phone). It looked SOOOO cool. Super modern. Also a good location. FIL LOVES MGM. I have never stayed them. Kind of far down but doable.

As of April when I last went smoking was in full force.
 
My friend''s mom stayed at MGM and they really liked it a lot. I know the corridors can be mega long so try and get a room where you don''t have to take a taxi from the elevator to your door.
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I am also glad to hear the Hilton Flamingo looks better on the inside than the outside. I stayed there once years ago but don''t remember it. But strolling in the Flamingo last week on the ground floor, the place had a decidedly down in the dumps look to it.
 
Date: 10/25/2007 8:47:23 PM
Author: Beacon
My friend''s mom stayed at MGM and they really liked it a lot. I know the corridors can be mega long so try and get a room where you don''t have to take a taxi from the elevator to your door.
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I am also glad to hear the Hilton Flamingo looks better on the inside than the outside. I stayed there once years ago but don''t remember it. But strolling in the Flamingo last week on the ground floor, the place had a decidedly down in the dumps look to it.
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Beacon I guess only half the rooms are renovated though. DH got lucky! I don''t mind staying in one of the less popular hotels b/c their casinos aren''t as busy.
 
Smoking is not allowed in restaurants or bars that serve food. You can smoke everywhere else. They will never totally make Las Vegas smoke free, unfortunately.
 
DH and I stayed at Paris last March, and the rooms and beds were fine. That trip advisor site can have a lot of awful reviews sometimes
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. Its reasonably priced and my friends just came back from NY NY and they said same thing
 
Bally''s is also really central and the rooms are some of the largest on the strip. They are usually considerably less expensive than The Paris (less kitsch factor) - yet the casinos are connected - you can walk to the Paris without going outside.

The Palms is great if you just want to check in and never leave. The Rio is across the street and has a free shuttle that goes to Paris, Bally''s and Harrah''s.
 
Gypsy, I guess it would be more helpful to know what you''d like to do/see?

Here''s why I say so. If the room is a huge factor for you (really want it to be nice), I''d opt for the Venetian or Wynn''s. Venetian is directly across from TI and the Mirage. Rich and I stayed at the Venetian on our honeymoon and it was comfy and wonderful (although they did upgrade up to a suite). Wynn''s is brand new, and I hear it''s lovely too.

The "centralness" of the location on the strip is more important if you don''t have wheels. When we were without a rental car, then I preferred to be near the center of the strip (which is Bally''s, Paris, Bellagio, Caesar''s, MGM). This was the best point of access if you were doing a lot of walking. From that central location, you can easily catch the monorail, and there is an independent tram that runs between Mandalay/Luxor/Excaliber.

BUT, you are going to have your car, and that means that anywhere on the strip is really ok because you can drive between them all. Tons of free parking at all the majors, and if you don''t feel like doing it yourself, valet is only a few $$. That means that staying at either Mandalay (on south end) or toward Venetian/Wynns (on the north end) would be totally doable....and probably preferred since you want the room to be more than a place to crash.

Things do to:

South end: Mandalay has an aquarium, and it also has a pretty nice outdoor pool/water current setup. It''s not too far from Bellagio, so you''d be close to fairly good food and the water fountains, too. "O" plays at the Bellagio, and "Ka" plays at the MGM Grand (both Cirque du Soleil productions). There is also the rollercoaster at NY, NY.

North end: Madame Tussaud''s wax museum is at the Venetian. Directly across the street is the Mirage, which offers an outdoor natural dolphin habitat, Zieg/Roy''s secret garden (tigers), and the volcano out front. "Love" (beatles production by Cirque) plays at the Mirage, too. You''re really close to Wynn''s here, too. Monorail runs from all of these to the far north end.....accessible to the Stratosphere (rollercoaster ride) and the Sahara (another rollercoaster).

If you find more of your desired activites one end, there''s your answer.

Also, are you a "foodie"? If so, I will say that Rich and I were completely unimpressed with the food at the Flamingo Hilton on our honeymoon. We went for the champagne brunch on Sunday.....eggs seemed to be powdered, sausage seemed low-grade, just wasn''t good in general. Much below what I expected. We were delighted with the meals we had at eateries in the Bellagio and the Mirage.

Here''s a general layout, North to south (not all inclusive, but rough idea)

Stratosphere/Sahara/Circus Circus (most northern end)
Wynn''s/TI/Venetian/Mirage/Harrah''s (lower north end)
Bellagio/Bally''s/Paris/Aladdin/MGM/NYNY (upper south end)
Luxor/Excalibur/Mandalay Bay (most southern end)
 
Been to Vegas about 5 yrs ago. We stayed at Bally''s & found it comfortable. Not sure what it''s is like today. LOL It''s a sister hotel to the Paris (right beside it). What we did like especially is that the hotel seemed to be centrally located. My brother has stayed at the Venetian & said it was gorgeous. I envy you, have a great time! And make sure you go try on some bling bling. LOL

Judy
:-)
 
Have fun in Vegas! I like it quite a bit, and my parents go many times a year! In fact, they are there right now.

We always stay at Caeser''s...it is nice, but a bit old school.

Couple things that are totally worth doing, in my opinion:

The forum shops at Caesers. Amazing stores. AMAZING.

Oh, and the Stage Deli is there. Great Sandwiches and Matzo Ball soup - and relatively inexpensive. I''d definitely hit those two places.

And, for what it is worth, the best place for cheap gambling is The Imperial Palace. It is on the strip and it is nice because they have five dollar blackjack even on evening and weekends. And they are quick with the free drinks! hehee!
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Fly Girl has never been to Las Vegas. But I just recalled that I flew by three summers ago on a trip from Salt Lake City into the LA area. I think it would be a blast to go out to the airport and take a local flight by small airplane. As you can see, the city is dwarfed by the awesome desert and mountains around it. You can just make out the tall buildings slightly to the left of center in this picture. The city is the greenish mass to the right.

Vegas.jpg
 
Gypsy, why dont you take Curio Potter with you?!? She wants to get married NOW too. You guys can have a double wedding in VEGAS, BABY! Come on, you know you want to....!
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LMAO. A double wedding in Vegas with Elvis. That would be a sight wouldn''t it?

Ok. I''m thinking about springing for the MGM apartments, mentioned before as they are my first choice and only cost a little more (about 120 more for 3 nights) than Paris. But, it''s more likely to be Mandalay Bay (as Aljd mentioned free parking at other casinos, which I didn''t know about, and we will have our car), cause Vegas is expensive and 120 bucks is enough of a savings, if its an easy fix, to warrant the inconvenience. Plus, I like the indoor/ outdoor pool. Indoor pool sounds really nice in November.

The Transsiberian Orchestra is playing at Mandalay Bay for their winter show, so I think we''re going to go to that. John suggested one of the Circe shows, so we might do that too.

We are definitely foodies, so we will avoid the Flamingo buffet, and look into your suggestions on here (I love the Deli suggestion, we''d love that), plus see what Zagat has to say.

I agree that tripadvisor has a lot of bad reviews written by miserable people who will never be happy with anything. But the last few terrible vacation/lodging experiences we''ve had were when we ignored the repeated complaints about the same thing on there... only to discover that we had the same complaint. So, while I take it with a grain of salt, I do also read them and consider things when I hear the same thing complained about more than a few times. The bed and bedding thing came up 7 times in the Paris reviews I read. So... that was a bit much for me.
 
Gypsy, sounds like you are set. I STILL think you should go see "Love" SOOOO good (and we go to a lot of shows!) You are going to have a blast. I can''t wait to go back to Vegas. DH goes there 2-3 a year. I try to go once.
 
Do you like old school restaurants Gypsy? If so, I highly recommend the Peppermill Fireside Lounge. It's so bizarre but the food is good and they've got one of those dubious menus with about a million choices and I always wonder how they can possibly have ALL that in their kitchen at any given time but they do and it's pretty good. We had breakfast there and it was really good. And a visually entertaining place. There's also a "firepit lounge" that goes 24/7, natch (Vegas, baby!), and it's quite the kitchy place. Check it out!

A very entertaining review is here:
http://www.vegas.com/nightlife/bars/peppermill.html
 
Date: 10/26/2007 8:21:50 PM
Author: Gypsy
LMAO. A double wedding in Vegas with Elvis. That would be a sight wouldn''t it?

Ok. I''m thinking about springing for the MGM apartments, mentioned before as they are my first choice and only cost a little more (about 120 more for 3 nights) than Paris. But, it''s more likely to be Mandalay Bay (as Aljd mentioned free parking at other casinos, which I didn''t know about, and we will have our car), cause Vegas is expensive and 120 bucks is enough of a savings, if its an easy fix, to warrant the inconvenience. Plus, I like the indoor/ outdoor pool. Indoor pool sounds really nice in November.

The Transsiberian Orchestra is playing at Mandalay Bay for their winter show, so I think we''re going to go to that. John suggested one of the Circe shows, so we might do that too.

We are definitely foodies, so we will avoid the Flamingo buffet, and look into your suggestions on here (I love the Deli suggestion, we''d love that), plus see what Zagat has to say.

I agree that tripadvisor has a lot of bad reviews written by miserable people who will never be happy with anything. But the last few terrible vacation/lodging experiences we''ve had were when we ignored the repeated complaints about the same thing on there... only to discover that we had the same complaint. So, while I take it with a grain of salt, I do also read them and consider things when I hear the same thing complained about more than a few times. The bed and bedding thing came up 7 times in the Paris reviews I read. So... that was a bit much for me.
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I second the Stage Deli in Caesars, yum! The best breakfast buffet is at the Paris but get there early as the line can get long and the Bellagio is my favorite for any meal Olives, yum! There buffet for dinner is the best in Vegas. There are soooo many good places.
 
OK. So John and I talked about the accomodations, and he really liked the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino since we will be driving and have our car, and we''re not big drinkers. So we''ll be staying there... and when we logged on, we found a list of some nice promotions they had, so we booked one that allows for a free upgrade to a suite if availabilty allows plus our third night free. It was a nice surprise. We got had the option of a strip view room (in case there is no upgrade available) so we did that too. Overall we''re pretty happy.

TransSiberian Orchestra concert is on the Sunday we''re driving up, so we''re not booking that, as I can''t guarantee we''ll be up there in time for a check in and the concert and everything. So, I''m looking in to the other entertainment suggestions on here... I''m looking at "LOVE" now. Thanks for all your suggestions, and if anything else comes to mind, all your help is greatly appreciated.
 
Date: 10/27/2007 12:24:02 AM
Author: Gypsy
OK. So John and I talked about the accomodations, and he really liked the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino since we will be driving and have our car, and we''re not big drinkers. So we''ll be staying there... and when we logged on, we found a list of some nice promotions they had, so we booked one that allows for a free upgrade to a suite if availabilty allows plus our third night free. It was a nice surprise. We got had the option of a strip view room (in case there is no upgrade available) so we did that too. Overall we''re pretty happy.

TransSiberian Orchestra concert is on the Sunday we''re driving up, so we''re not booking that, as I can''t guarantee we''ll be up there in time for a check in and the concert and everything. So, I''m looking in to the other entertainment suggestions on here... I''m looking at ''LOVE'' now. Thanks for all your suggestions, and if anything else comes to mind, all your help is greatly appreciated.
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Oops. Misinformation. We''re books at Mandalay... but at THEHotel, not the Hotel and Casino. It had nicer reviews, and the rooms seemed really lovely. : )
 
I second LOVE Gypsy. It was utterly awesome and the music and the performers was spine tingling. IMO don''t bother to get the expensive seats close to the stage though. We had the second cheapest seats and we thought they were great because you could see the whole stage.
 
Date: 10/27/2007 8:41:37 PM
Author: katebar
I second LOVE Gypsy. It was utterly awesome and the music and the performers was spine tingling. IMO don''t bother to get the expensive seats close to the stage though. We had the second cheapest seats and we thought they were great because you could see the whole stage.
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Wasn''t it amazing? DH has already seen it twice and wants to see it again! If I remember correctly the theater is not that huge so there is really no BAD seats.

Layla, you are going to have SOOOOOOOOOO much fun! I hope you have your ring to show off by then.
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Hooray for you, Layla! I''m so excited you are going to get away for a few days!

Vegas is one of my favorite places! I really need to go back one day soon!

Mandalay Bay is a gorgeous hotel, but it is the furthest down on the strip towards the airport, so just keep that in mind. I personally prefer hotels that are more centrally located, but if you just plan to veg out and do stuff mainly at your hotel, I think Mandalay Bay is very resort-like. They even have their own stinkin'' beach...it''s just amazing!

There are amazing places to eat all around, but my favorites also include the Stage Deli in Caesars...be sure to watch the animated figures show and the huge aquarium at the end of the shops.

My all-time favorite dinner was at the restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere. I think it''s called "Top of the World" or something like that...the whole thing spins around (very, very slowly, so you would barely notice it!) and you get a view of all of Vegas in all of it''s nightlife glory. It was one of the most incredible dinners of my life...definitely the most memorable.

We didn''t go there much the last few times, but you may enjoy the Fashion Show Mall...there are some absolutely incredible stores in there you don''t normally see. Ceasars, Bellagio, Paris and the Venetian all have beautiful shops inside them, as well.

I hope you have a blast, and you deserve to have a fun-filled, relaxing time!
 
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