Las Vegas

Kyle009 · 10 Jun 2015 at 19:44

I'm going for 2 weeks on 31st July. Staying 5 nights at NYNY (in a Maddison Ave. room) and then 9 nights in Venetian hoping they'll let us stay in Palazzo as I stayed in Venezia last time and would like to try a different hotel (even though they're practically the same).

Where is a better burger? Burgr or Holsteins in Cosmopolitan

[TW]Fox · 10 Jun 2015 at 20:03

Kyle009 said:
I'm going for 2 weeks on 31st July. Staying 5 nights at NYNY (in a Maddison Ave. room) and then 9 nights in Venetian hoping they'll let us stay in Palazzo as I stayed in Venezia last time and would like to try a different hotel (even though they're practically the same).

If you want to stay in the Palazzo, book the Palazzo. They are co-owned but separate so I very much doubt they'll move you. Having just looked they appear to be the same price so why not cancel your reservation at Venetian and book Palazzo instead?

One of the great things about Vegas is that the cheap deals are all fully refundable so you can chop and change as prices change. Unless you've conned yourself with a package firm

Clipsey · 10 Jun 2015 at 20:14

Absolutely love Vegas!
Couple of recommendations:
Nine Steakhouse at The Palms (one of best in Vegas) - Pricey
The bar at the top of Mandalay Bay, has a terrace where you can view all of Vegas!
Drai's Nightclub - phenomenal
Brunch at the Paris outside restaurant - great for people watching and taking Vegas in.
Shops at Ceasers Mall
Breakfast @ Venetian
Chandelier bar @ the Cosmopolitan
Michael Jackson show at Mandalay Bay - If you're a fan of his music obviously
Pool Parties!
Strip Clubs

Kyle009 · 10 Jun 2015 at 20:24

[TW]Fox;28156289 said:
If you want to stay in the Palazzo, book the Palazzo. They are co-owned but separate so I very much doubt they'll move you. Having just looked they appear to be the same price so why not cancel your reservation at Venetian and book Palazzo instead?

One of the great things about Vegas is that the cheap deals are all fully refundable so you can chop and change as prices change. Unless you've conned yourself with a package firm

Last time I went they offered me the choice of Palazzo or Venetian or upgrading to Venezia Tower. I took the Tower option for the better room, but to be honest it probably wasn't worth it. The view of the volcano was ok, but after the first time you'd seen it there wasn't a lot different between the standard room apart from it being a bit bigger.

I also only paid £748 for my 9 nights at the Venetian this time (booked it super early) so cancelling it isn't an option as I cannot find a price anywhere close to this when I'm going.

RoboCod · 10 Jun 2015 at 20:44

who are you guys booking through to get so cheap? Or are you booking flights and hotels separately?

[TW]Fox · 10 Jun 2015 at 20:45

RoboCod said:
who are you guys booking through to get so cheap? Or are you booking flights and hotels separately?

I book almost all my hotels through Hotels.com. Flights are separate (Though for me Vegas is just a 2 night stay on a longer 3 week trip).

If you stay in Vegas on a Sunday-Thursday night the hotels are much, much cheaper - the place is geared up for weekends and has massive excess capacity midweek, even more so out of holiday periods. This is what I like about it, I could take or leave the party atmosphere and the Casino stuff but the ability to stay in fabulous hotels for next to nothing is appealing and is why I scheduled a few nights here on my way through to Colorado.

Kyle009 · 10 Jun 2015 at 20:46

RoboCod said:
who are you guys booking through to get so cheap? Or are you booking flights and hotels separately?

I book separately because the rooms in Vegas can be had ridiculously cheaply if you book early enough or catch a good offer.

I've had my rooms booked for about a year though so if you book in advance you can often get bigger discounts.

[TW]Fox · 10 Jun 2015 at 21:10

Kyle009 said:
I book separately because the rooms in Vegas can be had ridiculously cheaply if you book early enough or catch a good offer.

I've had my rooms booked for about a year though so if you book in advance you can often get bigger discounts.

Everyone goes on about booking in advance but in my experience booking long in advance almost NEVER gets you the best deal, be it with flights or hotels. Generally the best deals can be had a few months out.

You'll pay a lot more if you book hugely in advance as they take advantage of the 'I'm booking 3 years early, it must be cheap' crowd and if you leave it to the last minute you gamble - if there is unsold inventory the price comes down. If there isn't much then it goes up.

Typically I tend to get the best hotel deals 1-2 months out. This year with Vegas I booked a refundable rate at the MGM Grand months ago months and months in advance and it's already 20% less now than it was back then..

Django x2 · 10 Jun 2015 at 21:33

Make sure you have plenty of spare $$ on the card you want to pay with when you arrive as they'll pre authorise the crap out of it meaning you're suddenly left with hardly any cash to use on that card, but that's the same in almost all of 'Merica

[TW]Fox · 10 Jun 2015 at 21:35

Django x2 said:
Make sure you have plenty of spare $$ on the card you want to pay with when you arrive as they'll pre authorise the crap out of it meaning you're suddenly left with hardly any cash to use on that card, but that's the same in almost all of 'Merica

Never found this an issue, they are hardly going to pre-auth it for $2500 or something, heck even the car rental firm doesn't go that far

Kyle009 · 11 Jun 2015 at 12:31

[TW]Fox;28156605 said:
You'll pay a lot more if you book hugely in advance as they take advantage of the 'I'm booking 3 years early, it must be cheap' crowd and if you leave it to the last minute you gamble - if there is unsold inventory the price comes down. If there isn't much then it goes up.

Whilst that is true to an extent, in my case it couldn't be more wrong. I booked over a year before I was due to go and got my flight (with Thomas Cook) for £750.

I got my 5 nights at NYNY for £300 and my 9 nights at Venetian for £748. Not being aggressive, but can you find better prices for them hotels now? I'm going 31st July till 14th August.

Davey_Pitch · 11 Jun 2015 at 15:45

Im going to Vegas with the wife for the first time in August. Staying at the MGM Grand, we treated ourselves to a Spa Suite as the price was so cheap. Already got 3 shows booked, and I've talked her into us going to Battlefield so I can shoot some guns. I'm sure I'll have to take her shopping to pay for it, but I can cope with that

Also hiring a car for the week so looking at going out to places like Hoover Dam and some of the national parks that are relatively close by. Really looking forward to it now, just over 2 months to go

Hilly · 11 Jun 2015 at 15:58

Davey_Pitch said:
Im going to Vegas with the wife for the first time in August. Staying at the MGM Grand, we treated ourselves to a Spa Suite as the price was so cheap. Already got 3 shows booked, and I've talked her into us going to Battlefield so I can shoot some guns. I'm sure I'll have to take her shopping to pay for it, but I can cope with that Also hiring a car for the week so looking at going out to places like Hoover Dam and some of the national parks that are relatively close by. Really looking forward to it now, just over 2 months to go

Sounds good dude

There's a few good places to shop; You have in Caesars Palace "The Forum Shops" which is great, tonnes of known brands (Apple, Armani, Michael Kors, Dior, BOSS etc etc) - has a few bars etc too.

Just up from Battlefield you have 'Fashion Show' which has an Apple Shop, forever 21, Gap, Topshop etc; If you walk up from Battlefield walk over the bridge into the Wynn and head to the Parasol down bar - there's some outside seatings, cocktails are great (a bit expensive, but it's worth it) right by a 40ft Waterfall. There's shows there too from Dusk every half hour. All good fun!

If you want to see a show, go see Absinthe. So funny, it's crass, it's full of swearing, it's Cirque meets Rocky Horror... It's good

Davey_Pitch · 11 Jun 2015 at 16:04

hilly said:
Sounds good dude

There's a few good places to shop; You have in Caesars Palace "The Forum Shops" which is great, tonnes of known brands (Apple, Armani, Michael Kors, Dior, BOSS etc etc) - has a few bars etc too.

Just up from Battlefield you have 'Fashion Show' which has an Apple Shop, forever 21, Gap, Topshop etc; If you walk up from Battlefield walk over the bridge into the Wynn and head to the Parasol down bar - there's some outside seatings, cocktails are great (a bit expensive, but it's worth it) right by a 40ft Waterfall. There's shows there too from Dusk every half hour. All good fun!

I think she wants taking to one of the outlet malls there. There's a couple that are in the same chain as the ones in Orlando we've been to, so I think one of them is a winner. I'm certain we'll end up in one of the ones you mentioned as well though!

If you want to see a show, go see Absinthe. So funny, it's crass, it's full of swearing, it's Cirque meets Rocky Horror... It's good

That was the first show we booked

Looks incredible. We've also got Michael Jackson One and Blue Man Group booked, and we're considering Penn and Teller for our last night there. The shows have worked out pretty expensive (we've got seats pretty much at the front of them) but I'm sure they're all worth it.

StevieP · 11 Jun 2015 at 16:41

If you like a nice bit of BBQ food then I'd recommend Rolling Smoke BBQ as the food is spectacular!

Plus, any joint where you can order your sides in One Gallon quantities has to be a win!

[TW]Fox · 11 Jun 2015 at 17:12

Kyle009 said:
Whilst that is true to an extent, in my case it couldn't be more wrong. I booked over a year before I was due to go and got my flight (with Thomas Cook) for £750.

I got my 5 nights at NYNY for £300 and my 9 nights at Venetian for £748. Not being aggressive, but can you find better prices for them hotels now? I'm going 31st July till 14th August.

You are going in only what, 6 weeks, so it's too last minute now. Who knows what the prices were like 3-4 months ago.

I'd have paid over £1000 to book my flights a year in advance, they are sub £500 now.

harenzo · 11 Jun 2015 at 19:35

Xire said:
are pool parties on in october or is out of season?

I went to Encore Beach club at the end of September so I'd imagine they're still on in October. It's still hot :cool:

harenzo · 11 Jun 2015 at 19:42

Xire said:
Thanks for more very useful replies

4 months to go!

I have just had a mate come back (who is rich) and kept telling me how im going to struggle getting in to clubs being 2 guys. This maybe true but how true is this exactly? I live in London and know exactly how awkward getting in big clubs with just dudes can be.

We are also thinking about renting a car for a couple days, any places I should definitely go with access to a car?

Get in contact with promoters for clubs you're interested in via Facebook/Instagram etc and let them know what your plan is ahead of time.

Our group was just 3 guys but we managed to get queue skip for XS and Omnia clubs. Tipped the promoter of course. It worked out a lot cheaper than paying at the door and it was a godsend not to queue on a packed weekend.

Clipsey · 11 Jun 2015 at 19:49

harenzo said:
I went to Encore Beach club at the end of September so I'd imagine they're still on in October. It's still hot

We went in October and still had pool parties going on. Probably not like the height of the summer with "guest" appearances, but still a lot of fun.
Think it was around 80-85 degrees or so

[TW]Fox · 11 Jun 2015 at 20:29

Anyone got any comments on Vdara? How does it compare to Signature?