Ongoing Las Vegas 'pro-tips' thread - Advice on all things Vegas

[Maccalus]

Renting a Car from the Airport is generally cheaper than from the strip hotels.

[Robotic]

Going to Vegas for the first time, along with 2 girls in early February. I'm not sure which hotel to decide on. MGM, Caesars, or Bellagio. Leaning more towards Bellagio as I've heard good things about the free room upgrade if you grease the check-in clerk. Are people still getting luck doing this?

Some of the hotels give 2 show tickets to one of their attractions. If we decided with Bellagio, and went to "O" Cirque du Soleil, would these 2 free tickets only be available in the nose bleed sections? As theres 3 of us going, we would need an extra ticket where all of us were together. If this feasible?

We would need either 2 rooms that are connected, or 1 room that has 2 bedrooms. Are these easy to get without paying a ridiculous amount? Or is it something that we should wait for when checking in and throwing a $50 (or more) to the check-in clerk?

Most likely won't be going to any clubs, as 1 doesn't drink. Will do a bit of gambling too.

Has anyone visited the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay? Thinking about doing the behind the scenes tour and feeding the sea turtles.

Whats the best method of booking flights/hotel? Together, or separate?
Should we use Expedia.ca, or another source? Theres been a number of sites thrown out there in this forum, but is there a real difference between them?

[Maccalus]

Originally Posted by Robotic

Going to Vegas for the first time, along with 2 girls in early February. I'm not sure which hotel to decide on. MGM, Caesars, or Bellagio. Leaning more towards Bellagio as I've heard good things about the free room upgrade if you grease the check-in clerk. Are people still getting luck doing this?

Bellagio and Caesars will probably have nicer rooms than MGM, but the price will also be higher. Pick the hotel that interests you most as their locations are all good.

I would never rely on a free upgrade, Just use them as a bonus if it happens.

Originally Posted by Robotic

Some of the hotels give 2 show tickets to one of their attractions. If we decided with Bellagio, and went to "O" Cirque du Soleil, would these 2 free tickets only be available in the nose bleed sections? As theres 3 of us going, we would need an extra ticket where all of us were together. If this feasible?

They will most likely be nosebleeds. You can get them moved + add a ticket at the bellagio box office, there may be a fee involved.

Originally Posted by Robotic

We would need either 2 rooms that are connected, or 1 room that has 2 bedrooms. Are these easy to get without paying a ridiculous amount? Or is it something that we should wait for when checking in and throwing a $50 (or more) to the check-in clerk?

You can request adjoining rooms. They may or may not have them available on checkin, depending on how busy it is when you arrive.

Originally Posted by Robotic

Has anyone visited the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay? Thinking about doing the behind the scenes tour and feeding the sea turtles.

The shark reef is fairly cool, but not huge. It is a little overpriced, but there are methods to get free tickets (MyVegas). I know nothing of the behind the scenes tour.

Originally Posted by Robotic

Whats the best method of booking flights/hotel? Together, or separate?
Should we use Expedia.ca, or another source? Theres been a number of sites thrown out there in this forum, but is there a real difference between them?

The cheapest or best depends on the day, sales and mood of website at the time. Just check everywhere and compare prices and book the best deal.

[Robotic]

If we arrive before the 3pm checkin time, is it a hassle to have them hold onto our bags until such time?

[FFR]

Originally Posted by Robotic

If we arrive before the 3pm checkin time, is it a hassle to have them hold onto our bags until such time?

I've never had a problem. They typically expect a small tip when you pick them up. You might be lucky and the room will be ready anyway.

[photon]

Yeah Shark Reef is cool but short, half an hour or so. The Dolphin/Lion thing in Mirage is pretty neat as well.

When booking online remember to account for the room service fee as well, some (most?) hotels have a fee for stuff like Internet, and charge it as a per day fee separate from the room rate. Most online booking places like Expedia do not include that fee, so it'll look cheaper until you have to pay the fee when you get to the hotel.

I recently stayed at Treasure Island, and ended up booking directly with the hotel as it was actually the best rate I could find (hotel only, already had air).

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Robotic

If we arrive before the 3pm checkin time, is it a hassle to have them hold onto our bags until such time?

Not even a little bit, and chances are they will get you in when you arrive or before 3pm.

[Robotic]

Any suggestions on gambling? Keeping in mind I'm not part of the 1% CP, but I'm not afraid to loose a couple hundred per day either.

[Travis Munroe]

^ counting cards is my only tip. In all seriousness, get a players card for when you gamble. Losing even 200 a day will give you some benefits. Might as well get something while losing money.

I hhave been to vegas countless times but never planned a bachelor party. Im thinking pool party, 9 holes of golf, dinner and then bottle service at a club followed by the strip club. It all sounds so typical. Any cp advice appreciated.
Hookers and blow isnt the best idea considering my buddy works in criminal justice lol.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

^ counting cards is my only tip. In all seriousness, get a players card for when you gamble. Losing even 200 a day will give you some benefits. Might as well get something while losing money.

I hhave been to vegas countless times but never planned a bachelor party. Im thinking pool party, 9 holes of golf, dinner and then bottle service at a club followed by the strip club. It all sounds so typical. Any cp advice appreciated.
Hookers and blow isnt the best idea considering my buddy works in criminal justice lol.

I've got the Mlife card and I can successfully say I have NEVER received any points for table games. I'm by no means a big spender, but I will drop between 100-200$ at a table and play for an hour or so.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Robotic

Any suggestions on gambling? Keeping in mind I'm not part of the 1% CP, but I'm not afraid to loose a couple hundred per day either.

Depends on your pacing - if you want, you can certainly slow play at something like Paigow Poker, it is pretty easy to pick up and play by the numbers. You can also spend hours there and not lose your shirt either.

[Robotic]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Depends on your pacing - if you want, you can certainly slow play at something like Paigow Poker, it is pretty easy to pick up and play by the numbers. You can also spend hours there and not lose your shirt either.

I googled this game, and it sounds pretty good. I might just give it a try. Thanks!

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

^ counting cards is my only tip. In all seriousness, get a players card for when you gamble. Losing even 200 a day will give you some benefits. Might as well get something while losing money.

I hhave been to vegas countless times but never planned a bachelor party. Im thinking pool party, 9 holes of golf, dinner and then bottle service at a club followed by the strip club. It all sounds so typical. Any cp advice appreciated.
Hookers and blow isnt the best idea considering my buddy works in criminal justice lol.

N9NE Steakhouse (in the Palms) is amazing. One of the best meals I've had in my life (make sure to get the surf and turf).

If you want to hit a gentleman's club, the Spearmint Rhino will send a limo (more of a party limo/bus) for free to pick you guys up and take you there and give you free cover. I would actually get bottle service there as it's a lot cheaper and actually funner than the clubs.

[Maccalus]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

I've got the Mlife card and I can successfully say I have NEVER received any points for table games. I'm by no means a big spender, but I will drop between 100-200$ at a table and play for an hour or so.

To recieve Mlife points for table games there is a minimum bet that is higher than the table minimums before they will rate you. It varies from casino to casino and ranges from a minimum of $15 to $25. After that, the amount you earn depends on the length you play and how much the pit boss likes you.

Anyway, you are unlikely to get much of anything dropping $100-200 at a table.

[Wormius]

I have to go to LV for a couple of days (work-related) before Spring break begins in March.

My plan is to have my wife and 2 kids fly down as soon as I am done with my work-related stuff. So, the question is, how many days of fun family activities are there in the area? I was thinking the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam would be pretty cool to see, maybe thats 2 days?

I don't really want to waste the opportunity of being in Las Vegas if there are some truly remarkable things to check out and do, but what I would really like to do is once we have exhausted what Las Vegas has to offer a family, is to fly out to DC until the end of Spring break and visit the various sites and museums around there.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I was thinking the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam would be pretty cool to see, maybe thats 2 days?

IMO Grand Canyon really isn't as close as people make it out to be. That alone is either 2 days, or one really, really, long day.

[bizrns]

I just did the drive from lv to the grand canyon and back over the last few days. Drive is about 5 hrs so really wouldn't recommend doing it in a day. We spend two nights at the Thunderbird lodge. It was fairly pricy for the room, but of course you are 50 yards from the rim. For me with two little kids I think 1.5 days in the grand canyon was enough. It was cold too.

Hoover dam is about 30 miles from lv, so an easy day trip.

[photon]

Yeah we did Hoover Dam in a nice day trip, but decided not to do the Grand Canyon because of the distance and the temperature. Would rather go when we can spend some time.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Depends on your pacing - if you want, you can certainly slow play at something like Paigow Poker, it is pretty easy to pick up and play by the numbers. You can also spend hours there and not lose your shirt either.

+1 for paigow. I usually play higher amounts per hand but often end up 100-200 up or down playing for hours. The key is to not be afraid to leave a table if it's cold. I find with paigow if a table is empty there is usually a good reason why.

Paigow is an easy game to learn and the dealers are exceptionally helpful most of the time

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

I've got the Mlife card and I can successfully say I have NEVER received any points for table games. I'm by no means a big spender, but I will drop between 100-200$ at a table and play for an hour or so.

As so many on CP, I have had rooms covered, free meals, resort fees etc covered.
Its not so much about dropping $200 at a table as it is how long you can make that $200 last. If you play $25-$50 blackjack hands and sit there for hours with $200 then you are going to rack up the points. If you walk up and drop $200 on one hand, well you leave with very few points.
Friends and I used to pool a bunch of money and do one roulette spin until we realized how stupid and few points that would generate vs spending a hour doing $100 spins.

Thanks for the suggestion on the Palms.. I will look into it. As for bottle service at the stripclub vs nightclub, a bunch of the guys are single and would probably prefer to have a chance at meeting women not on the job.