LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Las vegas Megahhhhhhhh thread.
Originally Posted by PokerWoody
Reply With QuoteFood:
I can't be too much help here even though eating out is one of my favourite hobbies.
Daniel Boulud at the Wynn
Quite expensive- $50 and up for a steak but I will never forget the steak I had here, the best I've EVER had. There is a big waterfall on one side of the restaurant and a mini-show runs every 30 or 60 minutes. The bar there was also fantastic, it was quite private but the cocktails were out of this world (expensive too). The barman really enjoyed what he did and therefore you had drinks to suit.
Mix at Mandalay bay
I don't remember this place too well as I was jetlagged to hell, to prove that there was an earthquake at the beginning of our meal and I didn't notice, even the glass balls hanging from the ceiling were rocking about all over the place and I couldn't figure out what was going on.
The setting was fantastic though and the food was very good, I hope DaMatrix can help as he ate with me here. I remember this place being semi-expensive but I did not pay for the bill so do not remember.
Paradise garden buffet at the Flamingo
They do buffet all day here, I think breakfast finished at midday. We went here most days and if you look around you should find 2-for-1 vouchers for this place, you should be given some if you stay at a harrah's hotel (Harrah's are a chain of hotels in vegas, flamingo being one of them). The food was up to standard for a buffet but you could probably find cheaper if you looked hard enough, I seem to remember the breakfast buffet being about $15 here but drinks are free and you get to look at all the cool fish in the pond outside of the restaurant.
If you ever fancy some fast food then across the road from the Wynn near Treasure Island there is a shopping mall with a floor dedicated to fast food. It's redic cheap and quite tasty but I only ate there once when hungover. The servings are BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG. Ask for a promo sized soft drink at mbarro's.
Flights:
It used to be just Virgin that flew from Gatwick but fortunately BA fly from Heathrow too. BA > Virgin. Book as EARLY as possible, typically about 2 months before the flight the prices increase daily and quite drastically too. Fly direct only as going non-direct will only save you about £100 and flying direct saves about 4-5 hours. You will be horribly jet-lagged either way and adding extra time to the flight will make you feel a lot worse.
Shows:
I saw cirque de soleil with DaMatrix when I first went. This is the best show I've seen in Vegas (seen 4 now) but it is also the most expensive, I think tickets were in the region of $100. Don't EVER pay the full price at any shows, 2-for-1 stores are situated all over Vegas so make sure you use them.
Blue man group was very average, if you must see it then do. I was expecting it to be a lot better with all the hype it's gotten but there you go. I won't spoil it too much but it was VERY RANDOM. About $60 a ticket.
Defending the caveman is pretty good for the price, I think tickets were about $20. It's a show for couples though, going with a group of lads would feel very strange indeed.
Hotels:
From my experience all hotels are good in vegas they just offer different things.
Mandalay bay
DaMatrix won a free trip to vegas so this room was paid for, I wouldn't have stayed in a deluxe suite room otherwise. Gigantic room with a bath you could swim in. Tv in the bathroom, living room etc. Very nice but probably very expensive $200 a night? and Mandalay bay is in the worst location on the strip as it is right at the bottom.
Mirage
Has a cool volcano show every hour, room was ideal/nice and the casino is pretty nice too. I think rooms were at $90 a night.
Caesars Palace
This place is huge. I got lost trying to find my room when I first got there (took 45 minutes to find it), I can't describe the size but it's something like a large village/small town. Got a slightly upgraded room from the uber basic. Room was large and had a jacuzzi bath tub. I stayed here over July 4th so it was more expensive but I would assume this room would cost around $140 a night otherwise. The swimming facilities were fantastic, lots of places to sunbathe and many big pools to choose from with a cool roman theme to them. They also had a private area for people over 21 but I didn't get the chance to go there.
Encore at the Wynn
If you want balla you go to the Encore/Wynn. The basic rooms were given 5-star/3 diamond just to give you an idea. The room was laid out really cool with the most amazing view of the strip ever. Room was $150 a night but a bit more during weekends. It's really posh there and I almost felt out of place, I think older people generally stay there as the location isn't fantastic (20 minute walk to the center of the strip). Swimming facilities were ok, I think they had two pools but they weren't huge by any means.
When finding a hotel, location is crucial, get anywhere that is on the strip and near flamingo/mirage/Caesars/Bellagio.
Days out/experiences:
Grand canyon
Pictures don't do this place any justice so I won't put one up. Was okay to go once, I won't go again but it's pretty jaw dropping trying to work out the pure scale of the place. You can probably do this for $80 a head, people will try to sell you this on the strip non-stop.
Indoor skydiving
This is located round the back of the Encore.
I'm too much of a pussy to do the real thing so I did this instead. Don't go in the height of the summer when it's a billion degrees because the wind tunnel is just air sucked from outside so you have 120mph winds blowing onto you whilst wearing a big suit with air pockets. Not great. Still, the experience was great and was a weird feeling for sure. I forget the price but it was less than $100 for two.
Bars:
Margaritaville
My favourite place on the whole strip is Margaritaville. Gigantic drinks, bloody strong. Atmosphere is fantastic here but it might be a bit on the pricey side if getting hammered isn't your thing. I'm not going to tell you much about this place so just go, it's next door to flamingos and directly opposite Caesars palace. Heres an example of the scale of drinks there:
I don't seem to remember many other bars, not a surprise really as I was always getting hammered.
Poker rooms:
Bellagio
The bigger games run here if you are interested. I played quite a bit of 10/20nl there on my first trip but it was just a table full of regulars the whole time. A few tourists and fish came a long but they never lasted long. If you want big games then they are here, but I found it quite tough and unless you play the bigger games then apparently the staff can be quite rude. I'd say avoid this place.
As a general rule, the smaller the casino, the softer the games. Hard rock cafe and hooters and the softest 1/2 games I'd ever seen, I could beat them by playing every hand whilst hammered off my face (which I did).
Other nonsense
If you can't cope with extreme heat then avoid the end of June/July/August. It felt like someone was blowing a hairdryer in my face when I stepped off the plane. Always carry a bottle of water round with you, often people are selling it on the street for $1. Take some kind of lip balm because the air is very very dry, there are often weather warnings during summer when the wind picks up and the humidity drops below 5%. It dries anything that is exposed pretty instantly.
I'll add more when I remember, I didn't include any info about clubs yet as I could never remember leaving them.
