Steve
09-16-2005, 01:52 AM
Trip Report: April 2005
My family of four (two adults and two children, ages 10 and 12) took our annual trip to Las Vegas and beyond during the last ten days of April. We love the canyons and mountains of Utah, but after a week or so of hiking and outdoor fun among the greatest natural wonders of the Southwest, we love to spend a few days among the man-made wonders of Las Vegas.
I will try to do this by category for easy reference:
Logistics: We learned our lesson the hard way last year, and now make it a point never to fly in to Vegas on a Friday night, when we had to wait hours for a rental car. This year, we arrived on a Thursday night, which made all the difference. Flying out on the Saturday night red-eyes is, however, still a challenge, as the airport is always swamped (make sure you allow at least two hours - lines can be huge!!).
Car Rental: We had reserved a Chrysler Pacifica from Thrifty at a very reasonable rate. Picking the car up on a Thursday at 11 PM took no time at all. We generally rent from Thrifty and have had only one negative experience, when the pushy agent at the airport kept trying to up-sell me on everything. The people at the Thrifty office itself are generally very helpful. The Pacifica is a good car for Utah sight-seeing (big, roomy, comfortable and stable), although an SUV with 4-wheel drive is preferable if you want to go off-road in the canyonlands.
Hotel: On our first night (Thursday), we stayed at Texas Station in order to give us a head-start on getting out of town the next morning. We'd booked the "upgraded" room, which was nice and big enough for a roll-away. Our food at the coffee shop was great and we slept well. Wife and I had a few moments in the casino, which I have always liked. Next morning, it was up early for the start of our Utah adventure.
We returned to Vegas the following Wednesday and checked into the Monte Carlo. We'd booked through the Player's Club, which got us good rates, a nice double-queen room and a waiver of the roll-away charge. Check-in took no time at all. Although the bathroom was not huge, it was just fine. Towels were nice and they always provided more when we needed them within minutes.
One of the things we like about Monte Carlo is its design - the room elevators are close to the front desk, valet park, self park and the pool. It makes it really easy to get in and out and you don't have to trek kids through a smokey casino. It's also a classy place without being snobby. During our stay, we used the pool several times, which was fine, and often self-parked, which was not crowded at all during the week. Food at the Cafe was good, except the ramen noodle soup (noodles were all gloppy). We would stay there again in a minute.
Entertainment: We saw three shows on this trip, two at the MGM Grand (one of the reasons we stayed at Monte Carlo) and one downtown.
Ovation! at the Lady Luck: This was an excellent family variety show in all respects. We got our tickets from Tix-4-Tonite, so the price of all four of us was under $100. There are also coupons around where one can get two show tix and two buffets at Lady Luck for under $50, so it is quite a bargain. We enjoyed the show tremendously. The showroom is small, so every seat is good (it's maitre'd seating so a few $ gets a better table). We would highly recommend it; we've seen lesser shows at twice the price.
Tom Jones at MGM: All I can say is - wow! We're big Tom Jones fans, having seen him about five times in the past ten years. He is as good as ever and puts on as solid an 80-minute show as is possible. He sings all his hits, mixed in with new material, all of it powered by a crackerjack band. The night we went, Jon Bon Jovi and his family were in the audience, paying homage to Mr. Jones. We loved it, and my 12 year old son keeps asking me when he can see Tom Jones again.
KA at MGM: This could be the most amazing of all Cirque du Soleil shows ever. We'd booked our tix three months in advance, so we were sitting very close, which makes a difference. However, I have never seen so much skill and imagination crammed into one performance as I witnessed that night. We believe this to be better than O (which we found rather alienating and distant) and Mystere - even better than the one here in Orlando (which is great too). Words really cannot begin to describe what they have accomplished with this show; suffice to say it is expensive but worth every dime.
Gaming:
We focused our gaming at Orleans (where the kids can go to a kids club) and Monte Carlo. We have generally had good luck at Orleans and this time we had even better luck than usual, as my wife hit a progressive jackpot on the Terminator video slot (thank you Arnold). That insured that we'd come home with a profit. I also had some luck on the nickle machines at Orleans (which I believe to be the most liberal in town, except maybe the Palms), esp. on the new "Monty Python & Holy Grail" machines, which may have supplanted Austin Powers as my favorites. I also had some good luck at the video poker and craps tables at Orleans, where one can play for $3. Drink service and funbooks are also great at Orleans.
At Monte Carlo, we focused on dollar slot play, as their lower-denom machines tend to be tight. We ran a fair amount through their machines and managed to hold our own (a few $300 hits kept us alive). We built up a fair number of points, which got us some cash back and a comp at the cafe. So far, it hasn't led to any room offers, but we like playing there,
Dining: We didn't focus too much on dining this trip. We had good sushi at Orleans and took advantage of a free-buffet-for-a-blood-donation promotion there to get a good decent lunch buffet, which ended up costing us $8 for the four of us (I had a 2-4-1 coupon, too!). We had a good but costly meal at Fiamma at MGM Grand, but service was too slow and we had to rush out to our show. We also found a great Jewish bagel-deli restaurant off Paradise Road (I think it was called Bagel World, but I can't remember).
Overall, it was a great trip. However, I urge all Vegas visitors to take a few extra days and head out to the national parks of Utah - Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Grand Staircase, etc. - truly the most amazing of places! Utah and Las Vegas - the best of both worlds!
My family of four (two adults and two children, ages 10 and 12) took our annual trip to Las Vegas and beyond during the last ten days of April. We love the canyons and mountains of Utah, but after a week or so of hiking and outdoor fun among the greatest natural wonders of the Southwest, we love to spend a few days among the man-made wonders of Las Vegas.
I will try to do this by category for easy reference:
Logistics: We learned our lesson the hard way last year, and now make it a point never to fly in to Vegas on a Friday night, when we had to wait hours for a rental car. This year, we arrived on a Thursday night, which made all the difference. Flying out on the Saturday night red-eyes is, however, still a challenge, as the airport is always swamped (make sure you allow at least two hours - lines can be huge!!).
Car Rental: We had reserved a Chrysler Pacifica from Thrifty at a very reasonable rate. Picking the car up on a Thursday at 11 PM took no time at all. We generally rent from Thrifty and have had only one negative experience, when the pushy agent at the airport kept trying to up-sell me on everything. The people at the Thrifty office itself are generally very helpful. The Pacifica is a good car for Utah sight-seeing (big, roomy, comfortable and stable), although an SUV with 4-wheel drive is preferable if you want to go off-road in the canyonlands.
Hotel: On our first night (Thursday), we stayed at Texas Station in order to give us a head-start on getting out of town the next morning. We'd booked the "upgraded" room, which was nice and big enough for a roll-away. Our food at the coffee shop was great and we slept well. Wife and I had a few moments in the casino, which I have always liked. Next morning, it was up early for the start of our Utah adventure.
We returned to Vegas the following Wednesday and checked into the Monte Carlo. We'd booked through the Player's Club, which got us good rates, a nice double-queen room and a waiver of the roll-away charge. Check-in took no time at all. Although the bathroom was not huge, it was just fine. Towels were nice and they always provided more when we needed them within minutes.
One of the things we like about Monte Carlo is its design - the room elevators are close to the front desk, valet park, self park and the pool. It makes it really easy to get in and out and you don't have to trek kids through a smokey casino. It's also a classy place without being snobby. During our stay, we used the pool several times, which was fine, and often self-parked, which was not crowded at all during the week. Food at the Cafe was good, except the ramen noodle soup (noodles were all gloppy). We would stay there again in a minute.
Entertainment: We saw three shows on this trip, two at the MGM Grand (one of the reasons we stayed at Monte Carlo) and one downtown.
Ovation! at the Lady Luck: This was an excellent family variety show in all respects. We got our tickets from Tix-4-Tonite, so the price of all four of us was under $100. There are also coupons around where one can get two show tix and two buffets at Lady Luck for under $50, so it is quite a bargain. We enjoyed the show tremendously. The showroom is small, so every seat is good (it's maitre'd seating so a few $ gets a better table). We would highly recommend it; we've seen lesser shows at twice the price.
Tom Jones at MGM: All I can say is - wow! We're big Tom Jones fans, having seen him about five times in the past ten years. He is as good as ever and puts on as solid an 80-minute show as is possible. He sings all his hits, mixed in with new material, all of it powered by a crackerjack band. The night we went, Jon Bon Jovi and his family were in the audience, paying homage to Mr. Jones. We loved it, and my 12 year old son keeps asking me when he can see Tom Jones again.
KA at MGM: This could be the most amazing of all Cirque du Soleil shows ever. We'd booked our tix three months in advance, so we were sitting very close, which makes a difference. However, I have never seen so much skill and imagination crammed into one performance as I witnessed that night. We believe this to be better than O (which we found rather alienating and distant) and Mystere - even better than the one here in Orlando (which is great too). Words really cannot begin to describe what they have accomplished with this show; suffice to say it is expensive but worth every dime.
Gaming:
We focused our gaming at Orleans (where the kids can go to a kids club) and Monte Carlo. We have generally had good luck at Orleans and this time we had even better luck than usual, as my wife hit a progressive jackpot on the Terminator video slot (thank you Arnold). That insured that we'd come home with a profit. I also had some luck on the nickle machines at Orleans (which I believe to be the most liberal in town, except maybe the Palms), esp. on the new "Monty Python & Holy Grail" machines, which may have supplanted Austin Powers as my favorites. I also had some good luck at the video poker and craps tables at Orleans, where one can play for $3. Drink service and funbooks are also great at Orleans.
At Monte Carlo, we focused on dollar slot play, as their lower-denom machines tend to be tight. We ran a fair amount through their machines and managed to hold our own (a few $300 hits kept us alive). We built up a fair number of points, which got us some cash back and a comp at the cafe. So far, it hasn't led to any room offers, but we like playing there,
Dining: We didn't focus too much on dining this trip. We had good sushi at Orleans and took advantage of a free-buffet-for-a-blood-donation promotion there to get a good decent lunch buffet, which ended up costing us $8 for the four of us (I had a 2-4-1 coupon, too!). We had a good but costly meal at Fiamma at MGM Grand, but service was too slow and we had to rush out to our show. We also found a great Jewish bagel-deli restaurant off Paradise Road (I think it was called Bagel World, but I can't remember).
Overall, it was a great trip. However, I urge all Vegas visitors to take a few extra days and head out to the national parks of Utah - Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Grand Staircase, etc. - truly the most amazing of places! Utah and Las Vegas - the best of both worlds!