Vegas Trip Information for anyone looking to go this year.

[redsimon]

Not stayed here.  That section of the strip is getting a bit of attention, with SLS opening up on the Sahara site and possibly something happening with fontainebleau in due course, things might not be too bad.

But for the here and now, it is really in a shit location and I wouldn't stay there unless I was getting an absolutely amazing deal.

Been looking into this hotel for June, as we are going for WSOP/Grand Series @ Nugget etc. We hire a car. Is the location unsafe? Its cheaper than Jockey Club and enjoyed the "self catering" aspect of my current trip. Being offered direct flights and 20 nights for £2400 ish for two people, seems good?!?

[Simon Galloway]

Yeah thats good. If it's direct flight, it's great. For 20 days, the self catering is defo worth considering, car is defo a must, it's not ghetto, but don't go wandering around at night too much.

Put it this way, when you walk south from there, you are going to be happy to get to Riviera/circus x2.. which says it all. Walking north from there, I just wouldn't do it, and definitely not after dark.

[redsimon]

Yeah thats good. If it's direct flight, it's great. For 20 days, the self catering is defo worth considering, car is defo a must, it's not ghetto, but don't go wandering around at night too much.

Put it this way, when you walk south from there, you are going to be happy to get to Riviera/circus x2.. which says it all. Walking north from there, I just wouldn't do it, and definitely not after dark.

The most walking Ive done this trip is too and from the car parks at various casinos

[Simon Galloway]

Valet ftmfw!  The best deal in town.

[rob_5]

I'm looking at doing London-Vegas-Orlando-London, June 21st-July 12th probably.

I can do the long haul flights easily enough with Virgin, and shouldn't struggle with an internal flight. However, with the two destinations I  might lose out on package deals. Any suggestions from anyone who's done this before?

 - Is booking flights and accomm separately the only way to go?
 - If so, booking flights asap and accommodation around Easter when there are more deals out there the best idea?

I can't be sure if it's the cheapest/best way, but doing everything separately was definitely easiest for me when I needed to stop in Colorado for a week on the way back from Vegas a few years ago.

I got London-Vegas-Denver-London for a ridiculously good price That said, I did have to go one stop on the way out, but it was direct with BA back from Denver.

My most annoying airline experience ever that trip, when we got diverted to Grand Junction and ended up sat around that long that they had to change the cabin crew 

Flights bit is horses for courses, but if you want to do the flights out/back with Virgin then waiting around seems the best way, and hopefully they'll chuck another sale on.

When I was still staying on the strip, I used to spend 10 minutes every week or so looking for anything decent that was going. I used to end up with about 5 rooms booked before each trip, and then would just cancel the ones I didn't want.

Thanks, that's a good idea - hadn't occurred to me to book, then cancel if a better deal came up as booking separately. Simple things

How easy is it to cancel hotels once booked. Want to book hotel now but im going to wait to see if I can get a bargain virgin flight.

Thanks

[Marky147]

I'm beginning to think that Simon and I are getting levelled here

[Simon Galloway]

I'll do this one Marky... I think you went a couple of rounds further than I would with some in the recent past.

If you book a hotel direct, (defo check their cancel policy beforehand but in 99.999% of cases) you can cancel and get refunded in full with 48 hours notice.  So you could book any crazy rates you see and cancel as needed.

Note that if you book on hotwire/3rd party sites, you will at best be charged a cancellation/alteration fee and at worst get no refund at all.

Also note that if you book with a hotel directly, they will only charge you the first nights rate as a deposit.  To be picky, you will lose a small amount if you cancel, as the card that you use (unless you have a USD based card) will refund you a few cents on the dollar away from the price they gave you when you booked.

In short then, if you see a fantastic 3rd party rate and your dates are unlikely to change, you can book it up.  If you are playing the Virgin sale fare game, then book at least one hotel on a good rate (offer codes help)  If subsequently that rate goes down, cancel and rebook.  If it goes up, you are locked in and good rates.

That's the reward for a bit of effort and organisation in Vegas.  You can pay less in premium than someone else does in Economy.  When you get there, you can stay in Aria for less than someone paid for Flamingo.

[rob_5]

I'll do this one Marky... I think you went a couple of rounds further than I would with some in the recent past.

If you book a hotel direct, (defo check their cancel policy beforehand but in 99.999% of cases) you can cancel and get refunded in full with 48 hours notice.  So you could book any crazy rates you see and cancel as needed.

Note that if you book on hotwire/3rd party sites, you will at best be charged a cancellation/alteration fee and at worst get no refund at all.

Also note that if you book with a hotel directly, they will only charge you the first nights rate as a deposit.  To be picky, you will lose a small amount if you cancel, as the card that you use (unless you have a USD based card) will refund you a few cents on the dollar away from the price they gave you when you booked.

In short then, if you see a fantastic 3rd party rate and your dates are unlikely to change, you can book it up.  If you are playing the Virgin sale fare game, then book at least one hotel on a good rate (offer codes help)  If subsequently that rate goes down, cancel and rebook.  If it goes up, you are locked in and good rates.

That's the reward for a bit of effort and organisation in Vegas.  You can pay less in premium than someone else does in Economy.  When you get there, you can stay in Aria for less than someone paid for Flamingo.

Thats great.  Thanks again.

[Marky147]

I'll do this one Marky... I think you went a couple of rounds further than I would with some in the recent past.

If you book a hotel direct, (defo check their cancel policy beforehand but in 99.999% of cases) you can cancel and get refunded in full with 48 hours notice.  So you could book any crazy rates you see and cancel as needed.

Note that if you book on hotwire/3rd party sites, you will at best be charged a cancellation/alteration fee and at worst get no refund at all.

Also note that if you book with a hotel directly, they will only charge you the first nights rate as a deposit.  To be picky, you will lose a small amount if you cancel, as the card that you use (unless you have a USD based card) will refund you a few cents on the dollar away from the price they gave you when you booked.

In short then, if you see a fantastic 3rd party rate and your dates are unlikely to change, you can book it up.  If you are playing the Virgin sale fare game, then book at least one hotel on a good rate (offer codes help)  If subsequently that rate goes down, cancel and rebook.  If it goes up, you are locked in and good rates.

That's the reward for a bit of effort and organisation in Vegas.  You can pay less in premium than someone else does in Economy.  When you get there, you can stay in Aria for less than someone paid for Flamingo.

I would have done it, but was playing a few tourneys and watching the Snooker when I spotted it.

@ Rob - I was only messing about, and was intending to reply once unoccupied

[Woodsey]

Too many damn pages here, can someone link me to a post of a load of restaurant reviews if they know where it is on this thread (might have been Simon Galloway), I have friends asking and I only have a small repertoire of places I go to.

Ty in advance

[Simon Galloway]

Woodsey, just post what sort of thing they are looking for and we can go from there?  Price range/cuisine/location (if important)/etc.  Easier to give a few recommends based on what they like rather than a long list of decent places.

[Woodsey]

Woodsey, just post what sort of thing they are looking for and we can go from there?  Price range/cuisine/location (if important)/etc.  Easier to give a few recommends based on what they like rather than a long list of decent places.

Ok mate ty. Couple of reasonably well off lads that appreciate good food and aren't going to to be worrying about the bill unless it's stupid. I think the food type is less important that the quality. for arguments sake lets say up to $200 per person.

[Marky147]

If the want to do something very niche, I would say go for é @ Jaleo in the Cosmpolitan

http://www.kevineats.com/2011/01/e-by-jose-andres-las-vegas-nv.html

I went here with Cos, the pretty one, Sunny Nagi and a couple others. It cost us about $400, but that was because we had to pay for 2 that didn't turn up, and I think it's about $200pp normally + the wine if you take it.


Steaks

In order of my preference

Cut @ Palazzo
Gordon Ramsay Steak @ Paris
SW @ Wynn



Seafood

Michael Mina @ Bellagio
Bartolotta @ Wynn
Aquaknox @ Palazzo

American Fish @ Aria is supposed to be very good too


French

Picasso @ Bellagio
L'atelier @ MGM
Joel Robuchon @ MGM which is like L'atelier on steroids from what I've read.

[Woodsey]

Cheers Marky, happy to hear other replies also.

[Simon Galloway]

$200 will get you something in just about anywhere, but I will take it as a sign that they aren't too worried about 2:1 deals and specials etc...

Poncy

Joel Robuchon (MGM) always gets a mention, but is actually $$$$$$ and you could easily rack up $1500 for two.
L'Atelier (MGM) is next door and gentler priced, still prolly going to top the budget tho.  Sitting at the bar (rather than a conventional table) you can see the industry of the kitchen first hand.  Prob better here to pick off a la carte rather than degustation menu.  Often fully booked, but you can usually walk in and make something happen.
Guy Savoy (Caesars) also toppy on budget, I've not been there either, but reports are good ~ $250pp without drinks.
é @ Jaleo (Cosmo) Needs planning to get a reservation
Picasso (Bellagio) prolly best value tasting menu in town

Steaks
Stick to 5* hotels and it is difficult to go wrong.
The differences between the top ones are miniscule and often comes down to how reserved/rowdy you want to be and/or how much you care about starters/salads/sides.  All the steak is going to be great.

My favs, in no particular order are:

Carnevino and Cut (Palazzo)
Strip House (PH)
Jean Georges (Aria)
STK (Cosmo)
Botero (Encore)
SW (Wynn)

Doesn't seem worth the effort to go to the Mortons/Ruths Chris chain type places as you usually have to venture off strip to get it, they aren't any cheaper than the 5* hotels and you can have them in any US city.  The cheaper Vegas hotels have some reasonable steakhouses I wouldn't put anyone off on a tighter budget, but for $200 all ^^ those are in range.  Expect $60 for a large steak, $15 for each side/salad/starter and whatevs on booze.

Eat until you shit
OK, I may have been struggling for a title... but 2 places spring to mind.  Forget about buffets.

Fogo De Chao (offstrip) and Texas De Brazil (Town Sq)

Both Brazillian churascuria/Rodizio type places, tasty and borderline healthy salad bar to start with, then lots of skewered meats brought to your table until you tap out.

Chinese/Thai


Chinese can be very expensive in Vegas, for not particularly great food.  Lemongrass (Aria) is reasonable Thai, Chada Thai (off strip) is much better.  PF Changs (PH or off strip) will give you the basic Chinese offerings at a fraction of the price of the 5* hotel alternatives.

Random shout outs

Milos (Cosmo) do a lunch special that is unbelievable value, 3 courses for something like $20.14
Holsteins (Cosmo) is the best burger bar
Jaleo (Cosmo) and Julian Serrano (Aria) for tapas
Mundos (off strip) for Mexican that isn't Tex-Mex
Sage (Aria) for something different, when you can't face another steak.
Fiamma (MGM) for Italian.  Venetian has tons of Italians, nothing wrong there, but they often feel like you are eating in a shopping centre.  For off strip Italian retreats, I like Noras (bustling family business type) and Brio (more plastic, but a welcome refuge from slot machines and good bars nearby for afterwards)
Society Cafe (Encore) for great lunch options
Tableau (Wynn) for posh breakfast

Think that should do it for now   I might do a more budget-conscious version later.