Las Vegas

[Jim Van Winkle]

Wow! Some great suggestions on where to stay and what to do, much appreciated.

Hadn't really thought about attending a pool party. How does that work do you pay a flat fee and drink as much as you like? Or pay to get in and pay for your drinks as well?

Also, strips clubs - does anyone have any suggestions? Places to go and places to avoid.

The boxing idea was good. Although we will be there the following weekend.

Has anyone watched Britney Spears in Las Vegas? Is it worth the $$$?

 

[Albion Pearl Jammer]

I would avoid pool parties and nightclub tours unless you have a lot of $$$ to burn as they have a lot of hidden costs. Www.cheapovegas.com will give you some ways to save money. 2+2 forums is a poker/gambling forum that has a great 'Las Vegas lifestyle' section with everything from where to gamble to where to eat.

 

[atomised]

Is the following weekend the first weekend of rock in rio in Vegas with Metallica etc

 

[Garage_Doors]

Has anyone watched Britney Spears in Las Vegas?

Seriously

 

[AlbionPics&SouthCoastTwit]

Has anyone watched Britney Spears in Las Vegas? Is it worth the $$$?

If that is your cup of tea then by all means do it. I've never thought Britney was all that great.

Britney Spears Las Vegas

 

[AlbionPics&SouthCoastTwit]

Here's a whole BrSp show at Planet Hollywood in Vegas on Youtube

Piece of Me Las Vegas Live Britney Spears at Planet Hollywood

 

[dwayne]

I would avoid pool parties and nightclub tours unless you have a lot of $$$ to burn as they have a lot of hidden costs. Www.cheapovegas.com will give you some ways to save money. 2+2 forums is a poker/gambling forum that has a great 'Las Vegas lifestyle' section with everything from where to gamble to where to eat.

Nightclub tours ?!? What's that.

As for pool parties don't really see any hidden costs there. You simply pay the entrance fee (the bigger the DJ the higher the cost) and then you pay for drinks you might get 1 free if you're lucky. Alternatively negotiate a price for a table and maybe some bottles... you will be dealing with masters here though so don't expect to get a bargain!!

Sapphires is the biggest strip club in the world. Like a lot of Vegas it can be a soulless and depressing experience. You are simply a cash machine when you enter a premises like that.

 

[Albion Pearl Jammer]

Nightclub tours take you on a party bus to a selection of clubs over the night and promise VIP treatment and free drinks, they may give you one free drink but obviously everyone wants to be a VIP so the line are longer than the regular lines. Here's something i pulled from another Vegas site.

The Costs of Bottle Service

The cost of a bottle at a Las Vegas nightclub can range from $325 to $600 for a basic one liter bottle of Grey Goose, Jack Daniels, Patron, or other similar alcohol. Lounges and strip clubs prices will be cheaper than nightclubs most of the time.
Keep in mind you have a minimum spend or minimum number of bottles you need to meet based on how many people you have in your group. Also the better location you request like a dance floor table will raise this minimum.
Bottle prices and minimums increase on holidays and weekends. You can find better deals during the week, so keep that in mind. Also the more popular in demand venues will be more expensive and have higher bottle minimums.
Most of the time it is a one bottle minimum for up to 3-4 people. So this means you need to buy one bottle including taxes and tips. Some places require a 2 bottle minimum regardless the amount of people.
Do not think you would just need to spend only $425 for one bottle and that is it, here is also what you need to keep in mind:
1. Auto gratuity of 20% to waitress
2. 8+% sales tax
3. Optional tips ($20-$100 is common) to security and busser
4. Optional tip to host ($50 to $100+ per bottle is common )
So lets do an example of a 2 bottle minimum at $475 a bottle:
(Bottles ($475*2)+Tax($475*2*0.08)+Waitress Tip($475*2*0.20)+Busser/Security/Host Tips($200) )= $1416
For 8 people this would be $177.
Is Bottle Service Worth It

Bottle service is not for everyone and you do not need it to enjoy yourself at nightclub.
It does have its perks and makes sense for different cases.
Let’s first compare what it would cost for 8 guys to enter a top club without bottle service compared to with bottle service.
Without:

-8 guys paying cover at $50 = $400
-1 hour plus wait
-Waiting for drinks
-$12 a drink and 7 drinks per person = $672
-No place to sit
-Total cost $1072+ or $134 per person
With bottle service:

-$177 per person (as calculated above) or $43 more than without bottle service
-No cover, minimal to no wait in the line
-No waiting to get drinks and dedicated waitress
-A place to sit and talk
-Other perks like getting ladies to the table and escort to restroom…
That is just one example to see it actually would not be too much more for bottle service.
If you are by yourself or with one or two other people it probably does not make sense though in terms of price.
Setting Up Bottle Service

It is recommended that you reserve your table through a direct host at the club and not a 3rd party independent host.
Contact the club host about 2 months before your arrival and tell them how many people you have and ask what your options and prices/minimums are.
Confirm they day before and keep in contact with them if any thing changes or you add/subtract people from your group.
- See more at: http://www.vegasunzipped.com/las-vegas-bottle-service-ins-and-outs/#sthash.qpuYg4yu.dpuf

 

[Springal]

We did Vegas for a friends 30th last year. With clubs on a lot of the big / busy ones you will struggle to get a group of single blokes in, so we got a table on 1 night (at the club at the Wynn) which I think we paid $300ea for, and got 2x1l bottles, and then on another night at Xs at the Cosmo we paid $50ea but they essentially attached us to a table of booking of girls to get in and then once settled we left them alone and had a normal night.

We did a pool party at the MGM, was rammed and a good 6-7 hours. Again the queues for normal entry were mad and they were being selective, so glad we booked a day bed. Cost $1000 for the day bed, but essentially we got that as a bar credit, so $1000 on drinks & food for the day. Was so worth doing for the option of shade, getting drinks etc bought to you, and then dancing with a load of porn stars....

Vegas is a great laugh but if you want to go partying you do need to spend a bit else you will spend a lot of time queueing, waiting around etc at the busy places.

Noah @ VIPnVegas sorted us, we got introduced by a UK mate who sorts holidays for footballers etc and couldn't have faulted him. He knew *everyone*...

 

[Seagull on the wing]

As previously stated it depends what you are going for...I really wanted to take in the sights as much as possible...had the first night playing the machines just to say that I had played them (in actual fact came out with $75 profit and never touched them after that).
So mate and I hired a car and went sightseeing...taking in the Grand Canyon, (I was up the top of the Canyon,my son was white water rafting on the Colorado river below,it was snowing at the top) Route 66...(what's left of it.) Sante Fe express ,Death Valley
far more than just salt flats,drive around the corner halfway along the valley and you come to the velvet like golfcourse,the lowest golf course in the world,had a go at the first two holes,courtesy of the greenkeeper.
Dropped off at several casinos on the way back,two that were built like river boats,another that had Bonny and Clydes machine gunned car
with Al Capones car.
Did the Stratosphere rides,well one of them,they were scary.
If you miss your footy fix there is the Brit pub which has UK football on the tele.
Really doesn't matter what hotel you stay in you can walk into any of them to see what they are like, (Did enjoy Ballys,go downstairs and you are in an underground city,you start in Paris (Paris hotel next door, you can go up the Eiffel tower...1/3 of original size) with it's bars,cafes,street entertainers...then it changes to Morrocco,be prepared to walk a bit and remember your way back.
The one tip I would give,albeit a small one, take some lip balm with you,it's surprising how that desert air dries and cracks the lips.
Enjoy your stay,I'd love to go back one day,if health allows me.

 

[Gazwag]

Wasn't expecting this to be my 1st post, not football related....I hope you like the heat saafend, my friends and I went in middle of September and was 35c!

Lee

Outside, other than crossing the road from one side of the strip to the other you can spend 4 days in Vegas without going outside even without gambling

 

[Badger]

Vegas is OK.

Used to like it a lot more when I was younger.

Plus points

- good and plentiful food. Not in the top echelon you will find a lot better in London.
- shows are good if you are into that kind of thing
-Gambling is second to none. Clearly!
-hotels are great value. Wynn and encore are the best. Bellagio is looking a bit tired.
-clubs and pool parties are spectacular. No pool parties in the winter.

Negatives

-full of some of the worst vermin imaginable. Vulgar Americans the worst kind. Entertaining for a bit, irritating after a while.
- you will leave poor. People literally take money out of your pockets. Pure American capitalism at its worst.
-it hasn't really evolved in the last few years ... Same old same old, no progression.
-drinking and being in the dessert sends you slightly mad after a few days.
-unless you pay an obscene amount at the clubs you get treated like dirt. You don't just need a table you need a 'good' table. Otherwise you may as well just stand in the toilet .... Or sorry, the queue for the toilet!!

Enjoy

I've been there twice and I can't argue with this. I had a great time on both occasions but I have no real interest in going back any time soon because of the negatives you mention.

I'm not a fan of clubbing anyway but Vegas is the absolute worst example of it. If I want to sit round a table and drink then I'll go to a bar, what's the point in paying all that money for bottle service just so you can sit down in a club? Then EVERY single club plays the same crappy Hip-hop/RnB music which everyone is supposed to like, there's no variation at all. I left a club one night and went to a "Rock" bar and they were playing the same stuff, apparently they only played rock music during the day, WTF? The only place I found variation was in a piano bar near Freemont Street, which I have to say was brilliant.

Yes, there are the worst kinds of people there. Like most men I'm more than happy to look at attractive women, but in Vegas they are the ones who really KNOW how attractive they are and won't even consider having a conversation with you unless you're the best looking guy in the room* or flashing the cash in a big way.

The positives are great though, I didn't see a show the first time I went and regretted it so I'm glad I did the second time. I'm not really a gambler but you have to give it a go in Vegas, plus you can have a great time watching other people on the tables. You're also a stone's throw from the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, well worth a visit to both.



*obviously this wasn't an issue for me

 

[Seagull by the Sea]

Of the two you asked about; definitely the Belagio but would strongly recommend Caesars.

I go regularly to Vegas and have stayed in most of the decent hotels but Caesars is by far the best 'all rounder' based on quality, location and price.

Whatever you choose you will have a great time in Vegas - enjoy!

 

[nwgull]

Yes, there are the worst kinds of people there. Like most men I'm more than happy to look at attractive women, but in Vegas they are the ones who really KNOW how attractive they are and won't even consider having a conversation with you unless you're the best looking guy in the room* or flashing the cash in a big way.

I wouldn't be so negative about this aspect; my experience of 4 lads' trips to Vegas was that an English accent can get you a long way, especially when you get some banter going round the casino tables.

 

[goldstone68]

So you like Nascar? I never could like that lot.
Its one of those things on my bucket list, the rednecks should be entertaining, at the track and in Vegas which they say is full to the rafters with them

 

[Horsham Gull]

Dont fly from Gatwick

 

[Springal]

I'd disagree on the women front. Unless you call sharing some Marlboro Lights splashing the cash..

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I would avoid pool parties and nightclub tours unless you have a lot of $$$ to burn as they have a lot of hidden costs. Www.cheapovegas.com will give you some ways to save money. 2+2 forums is a poker/gambling forum that has a great 'Las Vegas lifestyle' section with everything from where to gamble to where to eat.

Agree, night club tours are a utter con.

Best getting a pass before you go, we normally get something like the V-card which is $45 and gives you a queue jump as well.

this includes some pool party's as well

 

[dwayne]

Damn this thread .... Made me book Vegas for a few days in early may bank holiday. With the off chance that pacman v mayweather might happen.

 

[Jim Van Winkle]

Ended up booking The Venetian for four nights. Let the go times roll.