Thanks Luci. Will be amazing when the whole project is completed.
Its some cost as well

thanks for the report- I hope that kitchen is finished

Just about Fiona just a bit of decorating and tiling and thats us.

Hi, thankyou to everyone who gave me advise before my Vegas trip, it came in very useful.

Well here goes.

Set off on Sunday Aug 3rd from Leeds for our flight from Manchester. There had been a fatal accident on the M62 so junctions 19 and 20 were both shut. We had a diversion via Oldham and seemed to be going around in circles. I was just starting to panic when we managed to get back on track.
We booked in about an hour and a half before the flight but didn't manage to get seats together (me and mum).
The flight took off on time at 1pm and I was pleasantly surprised by the service, given that we had booked a standard flight, the air hostesses were really nice and attentive. Watched a couple of movies, had little sleep and we seemed to be there in no time.
Got through immigration in about 20 minutes but my mum had a bad experience as she hadn't filled her form in correctly and the guy on the desk was very very nasty with her which was bang out of order given that she's a pensioner. He really humiliated her.
Met up with my S.I.L.'s son and his mate who were on the same flight so shared a taxi with them to the Excalibur. It was about $15.
I thought that I'd try the $20 trick at the check in desk and it worked a treat. I just said " I don't suppose you have any complementary up grades do you?" I was asked "Would you like a nice room in tower 2 overlooking the strip and near the lifts, also what floor would you like?" We ended up getting room 22729 overlooking the rollercoaster at New York New York on floor 27. It was a lovely room with 2 double beds and a nice wide screen t.v.

I have to finish the tea now so i'll be back soon.

Sue

Great start Sue. Looking forward to the rest of it. Congratulations on the $20 trick!

Who did you fly with?

luci

Tea finished

We flew with Thomas Cook Luci, I think that the flights were just over £500 each.

We decided to stay up to get used to the time difference so didn't go for a sleep but met up with my brother and his fiancee who live in Benidorm. (The bride and groom to be) her sister, niece and friend from Canada and her son and his friend from England. We got a taxi to the Olive Garden restaurant which had a nice ambiance, the meal was superb. We had warm garlic rolls and huge dishes of salad to start and I ordered chicken and beef kebabs for main course which came with accompaniments, none of us had any room for puddings in fact they gave us doggy bags to take back with us.
We got back to the hotel around 11pm by which time I was flagging, I had a few dollars on the slots although I didn't have a clue how to play I won a bit then lost. I had a glass of wine and a nice fruity icy cocktail with cream on and tipped the waitress a dollar a time then went to bed about midnight having been up for 24 hours.
Back soon.
Sue

Great Sue Looking forward to the next part.

Monday, day 2.
Woke up about 7am,went to the Roundtable buffet for breakfast about 9am.
Think it was $9.99. There was plenty of choice but I felt as though it was bit like a canteen. Everything was very spread out and the tea and coffee area was very messy.

Had a look around Luxor and the Mandalay then had a walk on the strip to the M&M shop which was amazing, 3 floors full of stuff.

Walked down to the Hawaiian market and had a drink in the little bar there where I felt as though we were ripped off. Paid $12 for 2 bottles of corona but didn't get a receipt, won't be going there again.

Headed back to the hotel about 2pm, it was really hot, bought a bottle of bacardi and had a couple of bacardi and cokes in the room whilst watching the rollercoaster at New York New York out of the window.

Went to Little Johns cafe bar in the hotel for a snack that turned out to be enormous.I chose one of the special meals for $5.49, I had a chicken burrito and a coke but couldn't finish it.

Had a walk down to Bellagios and thought that the fountains were brill!
Went to the Flamingo and looked around the gardens, there were turtles, flamingos and lots of fish and birds e.t.c. Sat on a bench and enjoyed a peaceful drink.

Went to bed around 11pm, wedding tomorrow so wanted an early night.

Gemma, we went to Vegas almost by mistake in 2000. Since then we have been another 10 times with another trip booked in November (A whole month this time.) Every time there is something new to see and they have remodelled on or other of the hotels. We have seen 3 implosions so far.

The City Centre project is due to open in 2010 I believe. To be honest, it is the one I'm least excited about. When we go next time Encore at Wynn should be open.

Thanks very much for your report. We do spend more time off strip than you did, there is a whole other world outside of the strip. We didn't actually bother to go to the Grand Canyon until our 9th visit.

Thanks again Sue, really enjoying it.

luci

Sue.

Loving your report so far. Sounds like you had a good time.

PS I'm in Benidorm just now. Congrats to the newlyweds.

Yes enjoying this too.

Kath x

Tuesday Aug 5th.
Woke up about 8am, decided to try New York New York for breakfast but there was a lot of building work going on so it was really noisy.
Walked down the strip and ended up at the bar that I said I wouldn't go to again, the one in the Hawaiian market. Had bacon and egg with toast and coffee with free refills. Can't remember how much it was but seemed reasonable and the waitress was really nice.
Had a look around the miracle mile shopping centre and was in awe of the fake roof that looks like the sky. It even rains at certain times of the day, I've never seen anything like that before.
Got back to the hotel for 1pm as I was having my hair and makeup done in my S.I.L's room by "beautiful brides to be".
Really pleased with the makeover and hair, we booked it before we went,they were recommended by the wedding planner. It cost $125 and I gave them a $10 tip.
We had pre wedding drinks in the room, the limo was coming at 4.30pm for the wedding at 6pm on Lake Mead.

Back soon
Sue

I've just been reading in the newspaper that Peaches Geldoff was married at "The Little White Chapel" in Vegas last Tuesday, the same day as my brother and sister-in-law.

Sue

Great report Sue, i am busy reading this at 0300am at work

I keep getting great tips for when we go:)

Michelle x

We got picked up from the hotel by Limo at 4.30pm for the wedding at Lake Mead.
It took just short of an hour to get there, when we got out of the car, the heat just hit you, it really was like sticking your head in the oven when cooking yorkshire puddings.

We were escorted on to the boat which was a kind of Mississippi paddle boat for a private ceremony on the top deck.It was lovely, so romantic, the bride looked so beautiful.

After the wedding, other people boarded for the cruise and we had a meal on the lower deck which turned out to be really nice even though I had read mixed reports on the Internet prior to going.
I had salad, soup, steak and all the trimmings and new york cheesecake for afters.
We passed hoover damn and the commentary was very informative, apparently bolder city was built for the workers who built hoover damn and there were many lives lost, the first and last person to die were father and son, how very sad.

I can't remember what time we returned to the hotel but had a couple of drinks at the bar in the Excalibur and retired to bed.

Wednesday 6th Aug.
Woke up fairly early and decided to try the breakfast buffet at the Tropicano . When we got there at was about 10.45am but breakfast is only until 11am then they start with lunch so we kind of overlapped but were only charged the breakfast price which was $9.99 + tax of course, I haven't mentioned that before but most things have 7% added to them.
I preferred this buffet to the Excalibur one, it was waitress service for tea, coffee, orange juice e.t.c, much more civilised.
There was a good choice, bit of breakfast and a full lunch selection. What I really liked was the omelette station, you chose what you want, they had prawns, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn e.t.c. you put them in a dish and pass them to the chef and he cooks it to order, then adds the cheese and tom just before it's done if you want them. They also had a good choice of puddings and mum was pleased because she's diabetic and they had a number of sugar free ones too.Oh and they had an ice-cream machine too, I like them.
We decided to try the deuce bus, you pay $5 and the pass lasts you 24 hours. We went on the advise of my S.I.L. to Freemont street which is the older side of town. I was very excited to pass the Little White Chapel but didn't manage to get a photo as the bus was travelling to quickly, it took about an hour to get there.
We looked around the shops and called in to one of the casinos for a beer. Mum really liked a North American Indian shop and spent about an hour in there whist I looked around some tat shops.
We got off at the Venetian hotel on the way back and enjoyed seeing the gondolas.
Popped in for a drink to the Casino Royal, wow drinks were mega cheap in there, my kind of bar. A bottle of Michelob was only €1 and frozen margarita the same. We were kept amused by a barman called Mark who is the fastest server I have ever seem in my entire life, he served 9 drinks in less than 30 seconds, he got lots of tips. He was really nice, he said on our 3rd drink that there was no charge, they were on him which was really nice of him.
Had a look around the shops at Caesars Place, went in to Tifanny's and chose the ring that i'm gonna buy when I win the lottery. .
Got back to the hotel late afternoon and went for a rest.

Back soon
Sue

Ooo the wedding sounded wonderful.

Really good reading this report!
Kath x

Aww thankyou, I hope I'm not boring you all, I'm not used to writing detailed reports but was told prior to my trip that I had to.

Sue

Sue, its brillinat, you are doing great