shire350Z Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Looking at going for new years eve and just wondered what your guys thoughts were on where's best to stay, what shows youv seen and thoughts on them and any another tips really as we've never been before, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Depends on your budget! I stayed in Vdara the last time I was there and it was ace - all rooms have kitchen and lounge. Cosmopolitan is also a really nice hotel. Shows - any of the cirque shows are worth a watch. Mistere is particularly good. If you've not seen the Lion King then I recommend that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave J Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I went around 3 years ago and stayed in the Bellagio, fantastic place and Simon Cowell was stopping there at the time If i were going to party i'd probably stay at Caesars Palace as that was a little bit madder I'm definately going back there as soon as i've finished building my new house!! I agree with Lexx on the Cirque shows, we went to see 'O', quality!! Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesterfield Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Have been several times James. Probably about 6 or 7 now, cant remember. Including New Years Eve Get yourself round to ours for a beer and a catch up and Ill tell you all you want to know . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shire350Z Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Was going to call you tomorrow Chris just thought id put it out there, we need to catch up soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threefiftyz Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 went in 2010 for a stag do, stayed at the Encore....amazing place, by far the best hotel I've ever stayed at! Didn't do any shows! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shire350Z Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Budget wise not really put a limit on it with without being silly but travel agent was talking around £1300 for flights and to stay in a 5 star deluxe i.e cosmopolitan, mandarin oriental, aria, bellagio, vdara, wynn, caesars etc etc Thinking about going to L.A or San fransico while were over there to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choptop Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Keep away from Salt Lake City. Trust me, it really is not worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRH 350Z Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Stayed in MGM Signature a few years back... very nice, reasonable price... I think in general you get a lot for your money with hotel rooms. I've also stayed in the Platinum Hotel which is not on the strip; stayed there because it was cheap but the room was almost as big and well equipped as my house!! As above: anything Cirque is good - or try the Blue Man Group; made me chuckle. I think there is a canyon nearby which is worth exploring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris AME Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Iv been a couple of time to sema show, monte Carlo is a good hotel, as is Luxor stopped in both of those, belaggio and Cesar's palace are good but were out of my budget nightlife is great, I went to see lion king and would definitely recommend it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollyranchers Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 it will be one of the best holidays you have had , fact awesome place , you cant fail to have a good time you need a hol to recover when you get back tho !!! trust me ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I've been a few times, its amazing how much its changed and grown since my first visit in 1981. So where have I stayed, well a few times at the now demolished "Glass Pool Motel", made famous in a Robert Plant video and several times at a huge (and cheap ) casino in between Boulder City and Hoover Dam about 15 miles from Vegas. Last time, 2007, I was on a tight budget but wanted to stay in Vegas itself so I booked online to stay in The Stratosfear, not a bad hotel but in the seedier part of town , something I found out when I booked in . TBH, I've never stayed more than 3 days as its just too hot in summer but should be very pleasant in January. Plenty to see outside of Vegas, Hoover Dam, The spectacular Valley of Fire State Park and Death Valley isn't too far away either. Don't like L.A, found it to be quite a frightening place and a bit of a dump too but if you do decide to go there then the drive along the coast to San Fransisco is spectacular. http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/sou ... /index.htm Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I got married in Vegas The place is the most surreal place you will ever go. Once you've been to Vegas, all other american cities seem soooo tame in comparison. Heres a very quick vid of us in the helicopter over the strip: Can't wait to go back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narcotix Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I went in November last year for a week! Had the best time ever even though it wasn't the peak season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I stayed in THE Hotel in 2006 (next to the Mandalay Bay) it was differant as its a kids free place (thats to say NO kids BTW) if thats your thing? The shows are usually great, but I quite enjoyed the shooting ranges! T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimm Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Been to Vegas twice and loved it more the second time. Stayed in Ballys, very good on price and in the middle of the strip. Hoover dam is good, and get a helicopter ride to the grand canyon as it will be faster than driving and the views are spectacular. Do visit old Vegas to, just to say you been there. Went on a time share thing, wasted about 4 hours in the morning but got free tickets to see Lance Burton(amazing) and $120 to play in any casino which we managed to convert back into cash, happy days. I drove from the Welcome to Vegas sign to the stratosphere and that was 4 miles long, lots to do. Have a good time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesterfield Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Over the trips we have stopped at the Hilton a few times, Tropicana, Luxor, Excalibur, and the Bellagio. Luxor - quirky, half the room unuseable due to slope of the massive window (we stopped in the pyramid), if you dont like heights, you wont like the corridors to your room as they form part of the pyramid. It also forms a huge chimney for all the smoke from the casino floor - not a good thing. Daft length queues at restaurants, and its a fair old trek from your room to the next hotel. Tropicana, recently had a refurb, and was/is a great hotel to stay in, dont expect spectacular surroundings, but location and value are great. Foot bridge to the MGM and then over to the excalibur or New York or next door but one to Planet Hollywood - good food at the Tropicana too, and no stupid queues for buffets etc. Hilton - nice rooms, quiet casino, sligtly off the strip, but it is connected by the monorail to several other hotels (but watch the ticket prices on this can be expensive at $7 a trip - but factor one trip a day in per person and look at the price saved on the hotel and it may be worth it. Good food too, and not silly busy either. Excalubur - half decent rooms, rammed with kids, very smokey casino, and its a massive long walk to the next casino or the short monorail between that and the luxor/mandalay bay. Id give it a miss tbh. Bellagio - very plush casino, but the "minimum" on the minimum stakes table lets you know you are in a pricey place. Rooms can be very good value for money, but dont expect a cheap night at any of the restaurants within this hotel. Never visited the buffet as the queues for this were large. again a good walk to the next hotel, but if you go out the front they have about half a mile of moving walkways, so you can just stand on them and admire the lake/fountains while you are "transported" to the front of the property and then its across the road to Planet Hollywood. Best deal on food is the "Buffet of Buffets" - you pay for a 24 hour access to 7 hotels buffets. Time it right and you can get breakfast, lunch, Dinner and breakfast the next day - which is good value. It also means you can just pop into any of these hotels buffets during the day for a snack or drink if you like. Ceasars buffet is one of those included in the above, but its pathetic. I was amazed at how small the place was for a buffet at Ceasars Palace. Litte choice and if you want anything veggie, then just forget it. Best by far is plannet hollwood buffet, which has everything from English to Chinese, Mexican, European - you name it. Though their take on "Fish & Chips" was interesting, as what we call Crisps, the Americans call Chips. So they serve what we would call "Fish & Crisps". Buffet at Aria is also good, but you pay well for it As for shows, there are numerous "tix 4 tnight" boxes located around the strip. They sell very good price tickets for shows, and we used them several times. Much cheaper than the box office. However you buy a voucher etc at these places, then you have to exchange this for tickets at the actual box office at least 2 hours (I think) before the show. As you would have had to go to the box office to buy the tickets anyway, its not really a great hardship - but you need to remember to go and get the actual tickets. You can often save 30-50% on ticket prices from these tix 4 tnight places, and if you keep your ticket stub, if you go back to them the next day for tickets to another show, you get fasttracked though their queues. We visited 3 shows in 3 nights using tickets from them and it saved us a fortune. As above, any Cirque du Soleil shows will be good, but can reccomend "O" at the Bellagio - fantastic water based show. "KA" at the MGM is incredibly dramatic, and quite long. "Le Reve" at the Wynn is also very good again partially water based. If its laughs and humour more than serious arts, then the blue man group os a good show - weve been to that twice now, and its still funny and very entertaining even when you know whats coming. We have also seen Coperfield as he was there for a week. So worth checking out who is "in town" whenever you go as they have various artists and shows on each week at various resorts. You may drop lucky and get the chance to see a rare performer. For new year, the strip is closed to traffic, and they stop serving glass bottled drinks the night before - you can then take your drinks off the premises on New Years Eve. When they make the switch to plastic bottles, they usually also switch to offering only two types of beer. When we were there it was Bud light or Coors light. If you wanted anything else you are out of luck. They normally have a lot of this to shift, so New Years Day will probably be the same for drinks - though some bars will start getting back to normal earlier than others during that day/night. They have fireworks off the top of several hotels, if you can get a spot with your back to the Bellagio or Ceasers, then you will be able to see a pretty good show. Shopping - There is more than enough to keep the wife happy. If the miles (litterally) of shops inside the hotels themselves is not enough, then there are retail outlets which offer much better prices than in the hotels just a short taxi ride to the north or the south, and to the south there is also a large shopping village (just past Mandalay Bay). There is the fashion show mall next to Treasure Island which is probably half the size of meadowhall too. You wont go short of shopping opportunities thats for certain. Take some very comfortable shoes. You will be doing LOTS of walking. Down the strip and back again could be up to 7 miles alone, and thats without walking round the hotels at all - which are just massive. You could walk 10 miles a day without even realising it, until you get a blister, then you will know about it. Sensible shoes and comfortable ones for walking during the day are essential. If the wife wants to wear heels to a show, then Id advise putting some comfortable ones in the handbag too for the walk back to the hotel or even to the taxi rank as they can be quite some distance from the theatres. Free cash machines are like rockinghorse droppings. Pay on card where possible. The machines will all charge you a fixed fee for taking cash out, so if you have to, take it out in decent sized chunks to ensure the percentage you pay on the transaction is kept to a minimum. Cant think of anything else just now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I wont write much as its all being said above, I went for Sema 2010 and loved it! Hoping to go back for Sema 2012. I stayed at the Excalibur, cheap, cheerful and the room was actually pretty good, it was at one end of the strip, next to the MGM grand, close to the monorail (station is in the MGM) Night life is good, all depends how much £££ you have to spend, either meals and shows or party hard in the clubs. Top of the World restaurant in at the top of the Stratosphere is expensive but worth a visit. I get excited just thinking about going back haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Chesterfield's post is great, but just to add my 2 cents: I would highly recommend staying at the newer end of the strip as the hotels further down can come across as much more dingy and dated with everything from size of rooms to carpets and overall decor as well as the halls, etc. By newer I mean the end with Aria & Cosmo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ric Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I went to the SEMA show in 2008, and did things a little bit differently. Because of the location of the convention centre, off the strip behind the Wynn hotel, we opted to stay at a little motel type place (still with a pool/restraurant/bar though). It was within walking distance of the convention centre, but also within 5-10 minutes walk of the strip. Not only did we save an absolute fortune in hotel costs, but because it was a little out of the way it was easy to pick up cheap supplies for the week of food/drink (each room had a kitchen too). Plus, we found we spent hardly any time in the room at all anyway, so worked out well for us. Not for everyone, but might be worth considering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shire350Z Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 Thanks for all your info and views guys, got a good deal to stay at the mandaley bay which I know is down one end off the strip but it does look a cracking hotel anyone stayed there? thinking about going on to San fransisco to while were not to far away, Zoe fancies LA to but not to sure about there heard mixed reviews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 thinking about going on to San fransisco to while were not to far away, Zoe fancies LA to but not to sure about there heard mixed reviews Just remember that the most direct routes from Vegas to SF over the Sierra Nevada will be closed at that time of year, and even if they are open, chains are a legal requirement. You'll probably need to head west to Bakersfield then go North up U.S Highway 5, lovely drive though Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shire350Z Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 We'll prob fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollyranchers Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 mandalay bay has an awesome pool and wave machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Never stayed in the Mandalay, but seen the Lion King there, and it seemed like a nice, clean, well presented hotel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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