First Vegas Trip Suggestions

[Chompy]

Aye, fair point marky. Even then I'd go with Bally's. Everything will be finished by December, so next April will be fine.

Paris buffet is gone never to return, but Cosmo is only a five-minute walk. If the missus has gone full circle on Paris I'd just about favour it over Bally's.

[Marky147]

Aye, fair point marky. Even then I'd go with Bally's. Everything will be finished by December, so next April will be fine.

Paris buffet is gone never to return, but Cosmo is only a five-minute walk. If the missus has gone full circle on Paris I'd just about favour it over Bally's.

I'd only ever stay at Ballys solo, never with a better half, and I like the place.

I've actually got a week booked there if I go out in December, and will likely throw a week in next summer, too.

[Marky147]

I stay at Nomad a fair bit, which is part of Park MGM and I really like it. Great location, really good food options, and a Starbucks as you walk out of the elevators.

Stayed at Paris in December, and I really liked it, albeit it's a bit expensive for what it was, and they're still undecided as to what restaurants are coming back etc.

Rooms are nice, and you can usually grease for a FV/Eiffel tower upgrade, or pay $25 a night to get one. Harder via a 3rd party, but not impossible, and I've managed it at Cosmo when I used to book their through HolidayUSA.

Given all you've said, I'd go with Paris, and you've got the Benefit of being able to get to the 'Horsehoe' poker room without even going outside. That as wel as being across the road from Bellagio & Aria.

[Doobs]

The walk from Vdara to Aria is like 5 minutes max?   Don't think it is longer than Wynn to Encore.  I didn't really like Vdara, but definite upside was not having to walk through the casino.   

Would go for Paris over ballys, air was proper smoky in Ballys, and Paris definitely felt nicer.  Never stayed in either.

[StuartHopkin]

Good news! I think Paris is probably best based on everything you had said, apart from your wife not wanting to go there!

Good pool
Good casino
Walk through to Ballys for poker
Not that your limited to onsite food, but Mon Ami and Hex are both good, and you can take the Mrs up the Eiffel Tower for tea if you do some wins.

Sure Marky will confirm that on VMB there are many well seasoned Vegas travellers and you don't hear many bad reports about Paris other than it being part of the CET group.

[Marky147]

Good news! I think Paris is probably best based on everything you had said, apart from your wife not wanting to go there!

Good pool
Good casino
Walk through to Ballys for poker
Not that your limited to onsite food, but Mon Ami and Hex are both good, and you can take the Mrs up the Eiffel Tower for tea if you do some wins.

Sure Marky will confirm that on VMB there are many well seasoned Vegas travellers and you don't hear many bad reports about Paris other than it being part of the CET group.

Only reason I discounted Paris at the start was Mrs M hating it

I would stay there again no problem, and thought it was a really nice resort.

Food options weren't great, but they were struggling with getting everything reopened last year, and I think that's steadily getting back to 100% now.

Def pretty well liked next door, as Stu says.

[StuartHopkin]

Good news! I think Paris is probably best based on everything you had said, apart from your wife not wanting to go there!

Good pool
Good casino
Walk through to Ballys for poker
Not that your limited to onsite food, but Mon Ami and Hex are both good, and you can take the Mrs up the Eiffel Tower for tea if you do some wins.

Sure Marky will confirm that on VMB there are many well seasoned Vegas travellers and you don't hear many bad reports about Paris other than it being part of the CET group.

Only reason I discounted Paris at the start was Mrs M hating it

I would stay there again no problem, and thought it was a really nice resort.

Food options weren't great, but they were struggling with getting everything reopened last year, and I think that's steadily getting back to 100% now.

Def pretty well liked next door, as Stu says.

Martha's smashed baked spuds are incred allegedly....

[Marky147]

Good news! I think Paris is probably best based on everything you had said, apart from your wife not wanting to go there!

Good pool
Good casino
Walk through to Ballys for poker
Not that your limited to onsite food, but Mon Ami and Hex are both good, and you can take the Mrs up the Eiffel Tower for tea if you do some wins.

Sure Marky will confirm that on VMB there are many well seasoned Vegas travellers and you don't hear many bad reports about Paris other than it being part of the CET group.

Only reason I discounted Paris at the start was Mrs M hating it

I would stay there again no problem, and thought it was a really nice resort.

Food options weren't great, but they were struggling with getting everything reopened last year, and I think that's steadily getting back to 100% now.

Def pretty well liked next door, as Stu says.

Martha's smashed baked spuds are incred allegedly....

Looks as expensive as GR Steak, so I'll give that one a miss

[AdamM]

Thanks all, really appreciate the input.

The only hurdle now is our friends are very put off by the terrible Trip Advisor reviews for Paris. Wonder why they’re SOOOO bad, when not only your advice, but a lot of honest pros/cons YouTube videos say generally pretty good things.

The friends are more keen on Park MGM, which was our most recent fall back choice if Paris sells out before we book in a couple of weeks. We don’t have to stay in the same place though. Looking 90% Paris, 9% Park, 1% Venetian/Ceasers.

Didn’t make day 2 of Goliath on my first bullet, taking another shot Day 1E.

Had a lovely catch-up with Maria “Chili” Demetriou though, and a bit of live “whatever happened to…” Maria made day 2 with 250k.

[Marky147]

Park is good, too. Paris is a little more quirky a resort, with the themes etc. What were the bad reviews about Paris?

If it was late last year, and early this year I'd understand, as I  think most of the hotel was shut or operating real skeleton hours, and likewise Ballys

I stay at Nomad most trips, which is a hotel within Park MGM and I love it. Plenty of food options, and you have Eataly connected to the casino, with tonnes of options.

You also have the added bonus of Park being non-smoking, if that's a box to tick. Not that smoke is a problem in most resorts anyway.

You can walk out of the Nomad doors and cross the street to NYNY and the T-Mobile bars/restaraunts, or through an indoor walkway to Aria.

[4KSuited]

Just read a lot of really bad reviews for Paris on TripAdvisor. Even discounting for petty peeves, the complaints are justified and I’d steer clear until I read about significant improvements

[AdamM]

I read through the first few pages. Most seemed to be about check in, parking, pool capacity (August, half pool closed), some niggles about rooms, and some about noisy neighbors or thefts from rooms (surely very isolated experiences).

Not sure.

Didn't make day 2 of Goliath, so decision time

[Marky147]

In fairness, there were plenty of spotty reviews. However, I don't take mine from Trip Advisor, and if there is anything wildly wrong with a property, it will be all over VMB, and quickly!

None of that would put me off staying there again, but understandable it can be offputting. All that said, I would pick Park over Paris, anyway. It doesn't have the 'theme', but is a better resort, for me.

[tonytats]

I hope you bought dollars a while ago as the rates gone terrible 😢

[AdamM]

No I haven't sorted anything like that yet, but it does lead onto my next topic, cash/bankroll.

As I said, trip will be a broad mixture of poker, other gambling (not fussed myself, but the friends will want to hit some blackjack and slots), sight seeing, drinking, a show, etc.

In terms of poker money, am I best to take cash, e-wallet, blend? As mentioned, likely buyins will be on the low end for Cash, $1-$3 most likely. If there's a single good tournament somewhere around the $1000 mark, I'll carve out a day in the calendar.

Also, that tax form I see mentioned, do I need to do that in advance, or if I bink a $1k Seniors tournament for 5 figures, can I do it at the time?