Sorry ive not had the chance to post the past couple of days. At the football on Wednesday night and last night we were demolishing our old kitchen as a new one is being installed today.
So ive got a bit of spare time just now and will try and catch up.
jwhiting I dont go onto TA, but it does put you off places if people give a place a bad recommendation, but like yourself I really enjoyed the Excalibur breakfast and it was great value for money. I take it you are off to Vegas again soon?

Saturday 12 July - Absolutely stifling hot but the rain is on and off all the time so we wont get any sunbathing done today. I didnt expect Vegas to be a sunbathing holiday anyway because there is so much to see and do so I thought we would be sightseeing and exploring quite a lot.
We heard there was a shopping outlet at Freemont Street so we decided to go along here for a look. I was looking for some black and a light coloured cut of trousers, so we may as well go and have a look. Walked over the MGM for the Monorail. Timetable is fantastic, never wait anymore than 5 minutes for the next Monorail if you have missed one, and nearly always get a seat as well. Got off the Monorail at the Sahara, as advised on the little Monorail leaflet/timetable. Get the lift to ground level and it drops you off at the bus stop. Get a bus along to Freemont Street, journey takes about 10 minutes. Its probably like a shopping factory outlet, dont know how many shops are there in total but probably about 100. To be honest I didnt think it was that great and you could find just as good a factory outlet anywhere in the UK, I guess the prices are a bit cheaper in the States mind you. Had nice cut off trousers for just under $20, only about £10 in the UK, so good value. They had a food court and since we hadnt yet eaten today that was one of our first stops Opted for the chinese buffet, I only had one dish, orange chicken and rice think it cost $5.49. OH picked 2 dishes, also orange chicken and chicken curry and his meal cost $7.49. Enormous portions. We came out the food court and crossed over into an ice cream parlour, think it was called Fudge, please visit, they sell all sorts of cakes and fab ice cream. I had a brilliant fudge and caramel flavour ice cream. Give it a go!!!
Headed back to the hotel late afternoon and visited the casino at NYNY. We dont gamble much, but maybe $10 or $20 dollars at a time. Nice to sit with a diet coke or a lovely glass of cold white wine. Tip the waitress $1 and she passes by frequently to ask if you are ok or require anymore drinks.
OH wanted to try the Rainforest Cafe (Restaurant) for dinner over in the MGM. Beautiful setting and always big queue to get in. We went over about 8.30 and got there just before the queue got too long. Probably waited about 15/20 minutes for a table. Ordered a starter to share - chicken wings, onion rings etc and for the main meal I ordered a roast beef dish with potatoes on top and veg, OH had an enormous burger with all the trimmings. Anyway we werent even half way thru our starter and the main meal arrived . Quickly apologised and took the dinner away. Our 'own' waiter came over to apologise also. Starter was very nice and then the main meal arrived, mine was cold so they obviously hadnt heated it back up again, I called someone over and sent it back to be re-heated. I only found out later that OHs burger was a bit cold as well, but he didnt like to complain My food came back a few moments later, but I didnt really enjoy it, I guess it was a beef casserole but there were masses of carrots in it, could hardly see the beef for the carrots (although underneath there was plenty of beef). The bill came to about $75 dollars but cant say we enjoyed our experience in the Rainforest Cafe.
Headed back over the hotel to the Casino and a wander about, a small glass of wine (!) and then off to bed.
I found I was shattered every night by about 11 or 12 o'clock, I think its all the walking in Vegas, you are constantly exhausted.

Thanks again Gemma.

That was the Premium Outlets that you visited. I have never managed to get that much there and much prefer the Las Vegas Outlets at the south of the strip, which would have been easier for you to get to. Mind you there isn't a huge difference between them except that one is outdoors and the other indoors.

Sorry to hear about the Rainforest Cafe. I've always read good things about it although I've never fancied trying it. Very disappointing.

luci

Funny how we're all different. We prefer the Premium outlets to the LV Outlets. We usually get more things from there. I like the Ralph Lauren outlet and OH likes Timberland and the Reebok and Nike stores.

We also like Boulevard Mall and some of the other stores on Maryland Parkway.

Sunday 13 July - Another boiling hot day in sunny Las Vegas.
Skipped breakfast as not very hungry today. Popped over to the half price ticket booth to try and get tickets for a show tonight.
We quite fancy the American Superstar show at the Stratosphere because we want to dine in the Stratosphere tower afterwards.
I see meal and tickets advertised together (buy at hotel or online) for $51.95 but I imagine that will be dinner before the show as its very cheap. The show starts at 7pm so we want to dine after that and not before. Got tickets for the show at the ticket both for $33 dollars for the two of us. The only problem with booking at the ticket booth is they dont reserve seats for you so you need to go along to the hotel and do that yourself. So its back into the MGM, walk along to the Monorail for the train to the Sahara and then a 5 minute walk over to the Stratosphere. Reserved our seats for tonights show, offered an upgrade for $10 extra to be seated at the front but the seats he offered us looked fine so we didnt bother upgrading. Found our way to the Tower booking desk and reserved a table for dinner at 9pm.
Its about lunch time so we headed back on the Monorail and got off at Ballys/Paris Hotel. Wanted to have a wander and a nosey around. We were going to eat at the buffet in the Paris hotel, but the queues. We went for a ride to the top of the Eifel Tower. What a fabulous view of Vegas and the strip. Took loads of photos of the great views. Trip cost $10 per person, but if you go in the evening the trip up the tower costs $12.50
Wander along the road to Planet Hollywood and decided to have a brunch in here. No eaten yet today and we are starving now!!! Big queue for the Planet Hollywood lunch but we only waited about 15/20 minutes to be seated. Because we are later today its the lunch buffet. Costs $21.99 each thats with unlimited soft drinks, or $24.99 if you want a champagne lunch. This is probably the best buffet we went to in Las Vegas (IMO). What a choice, fantastic! Fabulous seafood, Mexican, American, Chinese, Asian, Italian, just about everything.
After lunch we done some shopping and then had another visit to the Casino in our own hotel.
Back to the room early and no time for an early evening nap because the show at the Stratosphere hotel starts at 7pm. I know Vegas is casual or smart dress, but we made a bit of an effort tonight since we were going to a very nice restaurant. The American Superstars show was good, but I prefered Legends at the Imperial Palace. Tonights show we had Elvis, Rod Stewart (American? ), Michael Jackson and Christine Aguerilla (sp) and an American country singer. After the show the 'stars' came into the lobby for the audience to take pictures of them or with them.
The food at the Stratosphere was exquisite. The views are magnificent. The tower revolves round very slowly and takes 1 hour 20 minutes to go full circle. You can see 4 states from the top of the tower, Nevada, Utah, California and Arizona.

(sorry people but required by kitchen men will finish this post after lunch)

The Rainforest Cafe in the MGM is actually pretty good and along with the San Francisco and Anaheim restaurants are the only three I would ever go back to. The Orlando restaurants are very poor by comparison.

Don't you just hate it when your main meal arrives whilst you are still on starters? This happens far too much for my liking in the USA. Apparently, it has something to do with the ordering process. Americans tend to know what they are going to order as an appetiser before they sit down, so when the server comes over and takes the drinks order and also says "can I get you an appetiser whilst you are looking at the menu" this is the time to order it. By delaying the appetiser order until they take the entree order, it means that both tickets go in at the same time to the kitchen and both are cooked at the same time. Hence the reason why you often find the entree coming out fairly soon after the appetiser.

I was told that story by a server in Bennigans in Orlando because it had happened to us that day and a couple of times previous on the same holiday and I just wanted to get to the bottom of it. Different kitchens probably deal with orders in other ways, but you can sort of see why it happens if this is the case.

Glad you enjoyed the PH buffet. We haven't had Sunday brunch there, but have had breakfast, lunch and dinner and enjoyed it each time. However the last time we were there the waitress wasn't very nice. She didn't offer us refills on drinks nor did she clear the table and only seemed interested in scanning all the tables to pick up the tips.

I have never fancied the American Superstars show for some reason so I'm glad you preferred Legends as that is the one we always go to, probably because it's so handy.

luci

jwhiting to be honest we only ever had a problem in the Rainforest Restaurant. At all other times starters and main meals came at the same time.
Luci at Planet Hollywood we got replacement drinks without even requesting them and the tables were a quick turnaround, cleaned and new customers sitting at them within minutes.
Back to the Statosphere Tower ..... I had a shredded beef starter and OH had a home made soup we both opted for different kind of steaks and I think I had a dessert but cant remember what it was a brulee perhaps. I had one glass of wine and all other drinks were diet coke and water. The bill came to about $180 but food very nice.
After dinner we went up to the next floor, 109, for even more fabulous views. We saw the mad ride that folk can go on and it dangles you over the edge of the building from 109 floors up not for me, I am too much of a scardey cat!!!
After a fabulous meal and then watching people trying to kill themselves from 109 above street level we got a taxi back to NYNY and spent a little time in the Casino before heading for bed.

Hi, excellent report, did you find eating out good prices compared to the UK, and did you go on the helicopter tour? if so which one would you recommend, and did you venture out on the skywalk? Thanks.

Michelle x

Sorry ive not added any more to the report but had new kitchen installed over the weekend and still trying to get organised again. Will definitely complete report this week.

Just got back today from Las Vegas. Flight was on time but I've now been up for 25 hours and I'm exhausted.
Had a great time but it was very very hot. I started writing notes on day 1 until about day 5. I will post when I feel bit more lively.

Sue

Gemma
just catching up with your report now Sounds good - dont tell anyone how much weight you put on

Nice to see you back Sue. Really looking forward to reading your review.

luci

Sorry about the delay in posting, but here goes with the next bit ...

Monday 14 July - Going for a trip to the Grand Canyon today. We have decided to go by bus. When booking we enquired about the small plane but we were advised hardly anyone uses the small aeroplanes now, they cant get so close and the views arent brilliant. I was a bit apprehensive about the helicopter so we opted for the bus. I know its a long, long journey but we knew the coach would be very comfortable.
Got picked up at our hotel at 6.30pm and we were taken along to Planet Hollywood for check in and "breakfast" and we were transferred to another more luxurious bus. The "breakfast" I didnt rate at all, its a biscuit and a juice or tea or coffee and thats it. On route to the Grand Canyon the bus does a short trip to Hoover Dam as well, well worth a visit, spectacular to see, and its massive. There is a comfort stop here and time to take photos and call in at a local shops for nibbles or small gifts.
Our trip also included lunch. This was at a buffet restaurant in Arizona. Very basic again. Edible, but nothing to write home about and the selection at the buffet was minimal. Arrived at Grand Canyon about 2ish. We saw the Canyon from two views at the south rim. There is no word that can adequately describe the Grand Canyon its so totally awesome and overwhelming. We spent about 2 hours in total and then got on the bus and headed back to Las Vegas. There are loads of comfort stops on the way and a toilet on the coach as well. We arrived back at our hotel about 8.30pm.
Very long day and we are shattered. Popped up to the room for a very quick freshen up and then headed down to Broadway Burger Bar in our hotel. Great value as it was buy one get one free! that was for massive cheeseburgers, chips and diet cokes. Had a quick go at the slots in the casino and then headed to bed, its been a very long day with an extremely early start and we are shattered.

Tuesday 15 July - I cant believe this is our last full day in Vegas and there are still so many hotels I havent been inside and wanted to have a look around.
Decided to get a day pass on the bus (Duce) goes up and down the whole of the strip, unlimited travel all day for $5 per person. The buses are jam packed and a short trip can take anything up to 30 minutes thats the only down side, other than that the bus was great with brilliant air conditioning.
Basically today I had a nosey about all the hotels I hadnt been in yet. We visited:

Treasure Island
Caesars Palace
The Bellagio
The Venetian
The Wynn
The Encore

Might be a couple of others but I cant remember offhand. Every hotel was fantastic in its own way and had something fantastic to offer.
I did particularly like The Wynn, its out of this world inside. Had something to eat in the hotel and sat at the waterfall, a beautiful setting and so relaxing.
Today (Tuesday) sorry but I dont remember where we ate during the day, for some reason I havent taken a note of it
For our last night we decided to go along to Caesars Palace or the Bellagio for something to eat. We decided to get the bus along the strip and decide where to go.
After a little bit of shopping, we left our own hotel about 8.30pm and get on the Duce. What a nightmare! Never again! It stopped and started, probably about 50 folk got off and another 50 got on at each bus stop. We eventually got to the Bellagio about 10pm and the main restaurants had stopped serving dinner at 10pm so we had a wander about and decided to get a taxi back along to our own hotel and try the Italian restaurant at NYNY. We had fancied trying this hotel anyway, but thought since it was our last night we would go out.
Had a gorgeous Italian 2 course meal each, glass of wine and water and diet coke and it cost about $70 odd dollars.
Had one more last gamble on the slot machines and then headed up to our room to get ready for our flight home the next lunch time.

Excellent Gemma!

My bugbear with the Deuce is twice having to wait 45 and 50 mins for it to arrive.

It's a pity you took the bus as you could have walked it in about 20 mins.

You haven't mentioned seeing the Bellagio fountains? I do hope you saw them.

Do you think you will go back to Vegas or is that it?

luci

Wednesday 16 July - Got up and packed our cases and showered ready to leave for the airport.
Our flight was 13.40 hours, however the flight was delayed for just over 1 hour.
We hadnt eaten before going to the airport and I wish we had because there was not a lot of choice of eateries after we checked in. A burger king and a pizza hut, which only served tiny small pizzas and nothing else.
Got some nice perfume in duty free. But all the carry on about not letting you have the duty free til you are about to board the aeroplane seems a bit stupid to me
After boarding the flight we had a very drunk Irishman sitting in front of us, god knows why they let him check in, but there you go. He wasnt unpleasant just very loud I thought once we take off he will crash out for 9 hours. But no he didnt, he slept for half an hour then spoke louder and louder for the next 9 hours. Nightmare.
The flight got back to Glasgow more or less on time as the pilot made up the lost time which was great.

Overall we had a great holiday and yes we will return to Las Vegas one day. I think its the kind of place once youve been there and seen it there is absolutely nothing different about it if you go back. I would like to go back to Vegas and do it as a combined trip with LA and San Fransisco. It is amazing tho and somewhere that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.

Thanks for reading, hope I havent bored everyone too much
Sue I am glad you had a good holiday, looking forward to hearing all about it.

Yes Luci we saw the Bellagio Fountain, it is amazing isnt it, spectacular to see. We actually saw it the first time from the top of the Eifel Tower at the Paris Hotel, it was great to look down on. We saw it later on another time passing on the bus
Also the Gondola at The Venetain Hotel is so sweet as well. So picturesque.
We have quite a few photos, I will get round to posting some soon and do a hotel review about NYNY.

Gemma33 wrote:

I think its the kind of place once youve been there and seen it there is absolutely nothing different about it if you go back.

Nothing could be further from the truth Gemma. Every time we go back, even with just 6 months between visits, there is something different. They are forever imploding hotels and building new ones. You can't even say you will see a particular show "next time" as it may be shut down.

luci

I guess there will always be a new hotel here and there and different shows to go to.
I think what I mean is all the other hotels, they are all still there and ive seen all them now so I probably wouldnt go and visit them again.
I did see they are building a massive hotel, 2 along from NYNY and one after the Monte Carlo. Its massive. I wonder when it will be opened and what it will be called.