Vegas bound. Any ideas?

Check out Anthony Curtis' "Las Vegas Adviser" website. He has rotating lists of Top 10 values -- e.g., $1 beers at Casino Royale and $11-$15 rooms at the Las Vegas Club.

 

Couldn't really navigate that site without needing to sign up for something. Maybe it was just my computer.

 

Spent two days in Vegas a couple weeks back before heading to SoCal. We took a shuttle from the airport to the Monte Carlo - $7 a person. Spent about 10 minutes at the airport and hit only two other spots before our hotel.

Didn't go to any nightclubs and I didn't gamble at all so I can't comment on the free drinks but on some strolls around different casinos I didn't see as many waitresses as usual working the floor. I did take advantage of the $1 Michelobs at Casino Royale and $1 Millers at - I think - Bill's. THAT'S the Vegas I remember, not this horrifically overpriced ripoff it has become.

Here's a good site for Vegas advice, at least it worked for us:

http://www.cheapovegas.com/

 

Any good sites for buffet coupons?

 

Some places, you need to show an in-action ticket, which is a wholly-legitimate idea.

Other places will give you drink ticket(s), after you bet. Ask. They can only say no.

 

just back from another weekend there.

cab from the airport equals telling the cabbie no freeway. you can use your credit card to pay the fare, but beware the $3 service charge if you do so.

nightclub equals collared shirt and almost always shoes and not sneakers (as with everything in vegas, this is negotiable depending on dollars spent).

not a sports bettor so can't help you with that. but check out the sportsbook at cosmopolitan. it's got the cantor remote in-gaming devices which look really cool although potentially dangerous to your bankroll. and the sports bar on the casino level (book and stage i think its called) will comp any of three dozen beers, or america's best champagne (gruet blanc de blanc) or argyle pinot if you're playing VP.

and for god's sake i implore -- go see 'absinthe' outside caesar's. offensive and cool and vulgar and rude and hysterical and great. there's $20 off coupons all over town.

 

My turn.

Been about 5 years since I covered Vegas as a beat, and I'm now only there about once a year. This time, taking the wife next weekend to see Florence and the Machine @ the Cosmopolitan, but, alas, the hotel's sold out (the concert tickets are freebies). Thinking about cashing in my Marriott points to stay at the Marriott Grand Chateau about a block off the strip on Harmon. Anyone stayed there?

We don't gamble, so we're planning on spending the $200 a night we would have spent on a hotel room on a great meal instead. Probably will hit our favorite haunt -- Michael Mina's -- on Friday, but does anyone have a suggestion for a top-shelf dinner early Saturday?

Anything new (meaning, opened in the last year) that we should check out?

 

i liked rick moonen at mandalay bay, altho it'll be hard to beat michael mina -- his place at the bellagio when it was aqua was the site of many of my favorite meals.

if you havent checked out the naughty circus that is 'absinthe' outside caesars you should give that a try. and i read that downtown has a nice up-and-coming lounge scene

 

Yeah I hear good things about absinthe.

 

I'm making a return to Vegas sometime in the late summer/early fall and I'm already looking at places to stay. I'm taking my girlfriend and I want it to be a cool weekend so I'm looking for a few suggestions as all my previous trips have been dudes only.

First, any suggestions on cool hotels/hotel rooms. I've done the basic rooms at the Monte Carlo and Flamingo but I want something a little more memorable. Likely going to be popping the question while I'm there. I had an awesome suite at the PH Towers 2 years ago (hot tub, projection screen etc.) but they have changed ownership to the Hilton so I'm unsure. Really looking for cool suites or something different that wont cost a ton. Obviously this doesn't have to be the Bellagio, Wynn or Encore.

Also, I'm thinking we are going to need to hit a show and a fancy dinner. I don't know what shows are good/bad or what we would even like. We're not the theatre type really, but its Vegas. Lastly, any good suggestions for restaurants? The only "good" place I know of is the place atop Paris Las Vegas.

Thanks for the help everyone.