Trip review -1st time in Vegas - smash!

We just got back from a business/pleasure trip from Vegas and it was awesome! Here%26#39;s a review of our trip.

Airport - took a cab to MGM (someone on tripadvisor said to tell the cab to take Tropicana bld to MGM but when I told the cab driver this he chuckled and said it was the only way he knew how to get there apart from cutting across the runway - we all laughed and I blushed too!) and the driver was great - $10.50 plus tip

MGM - lobby smelled beautiful, so grand...no line ups. We couldn%26#39;t get a view of the strip because there were none left but it didn%26#39;t really matter since we hardly stayed in our room. We were given the choice of a smoking King size bungalow suite (there were no more non-smoking rooms) or a non-smoking queen suite - we chose the King...Our room was not far from the elevators- big plus - but did smell of strong deodarants trying to camouflage the smoky smell which disipated over the course of the next four days. The bed was so wonderful - like a gigantic marshmallow with fluffy yet firm feather-down oversized pillows fit for a king and queen!

Penn and Teller show was a riot! A bit short for the price of tickets but nonetheless very entertaining. I got an autograph from Teller and my picture taken with him - he%26#39;s sooooo tall and huge but such a sweet teddy bear! Taxi from MGM to Rio all of $9!

Over the course of out trip we ate at:

Spice Market Buffet (formerly Aladdin) and it was delicious.

MGM breakfast buffet - yummy

Golden Nugget Buffet on Fremont street - great price, good food but not as good as Spice Market

Had a prime rib steak for $14.99 at Bill%26#39;s (right across from Bally%26#39;s) and the food was excellent - large salad entree, choice of potatoe (I had the baked) and nice size portion of steak.

A trattoria-style restaurant at the Venetian but I don%26#39;t recall the name

because the bottle of wine and slight heat exhaustion made me a little tipsy. The food was tasy but pricey, service was not authentically Italain as we had hoped (we had a good laugh at the pronunciation of our Californian waiter when he said fritelle di prosciuto as ';free-telly dee pro-suit-oo) but all in all the experience was incredible

$5 deuce pass use was well worth it but it was a very long bus ride at 5:30 pm to get to Fremont street.

Freemont street appears to have a lot more shady looking people there (watch them pick pockets - saw one guy get arrested for that!)

The casinos there had drinks flowing faster than MGM casino.

By far my favorite spot to gamble on them tantalizing penny slots was Harrah%26#39;s where waitress Maggie kept brining us yummy drinks. We always tipped our barmaids $1 - $1.50 a drink though we some people not tipping at all.

Rode the NYNY rollercoaster and screamed the whole ride through. fun.

The nightclub scene seems truly geared towards the younger crowd (seeing the lack of clothes and stilletto heels some of girlies were wearing)... I%26#39;m sorry but I refuse to pay big buck$ just to get in to Studio 54 while waiting in line so just to say we went somewhere we got a drink at Tabu one evening - the crowd had a lot of single young and old desperados so we made a quick exit.

The pools were great in the am for a quick dip but afternoons seemed like a sea of Spring Break drunken youngsters.

Some highlights:

Mandaly Bay aquarium

NyNy

The Venetian was absolutely my favorite!

The weather - dry heat no humidity - that%26#39;s my kind of town!

my bed at MGM King Bungalow suite

The Strip - the people - the penny slots

Stratosphere tower view

That%26#39;s a rap - Have fun to those of you newbies soon to head out!

Trip review -1st time in Vegas - smash!

Glad you enjoyed yourself - thanks for writing the TR - when%26#39;s your next trip?

Trip review -1st time in Vegas - smash!

Great TR- Thanks for taking the time to post!

S;-)

Sounds like you had a blast,reading ur trip review makes me even more excited and eager to go, and I have another 4 month wait,yuk

Great review ... 5 months to go for me!

Very nice report, and glad you moved around and enjoyed yourselves! Laughed at the good sense of humor the cabbie displayed!

I, too, loved the newer beds at MGM. The pillows on our bed were large and firm, with 2 more softer pillows tucked away in the closet. I used the soft one on top of the firm one and slept like a baby!

Thank you for taking time to do this TR!

Oh yeah one boo boo we made was filling in the easy check-out form and then going to the Players Club to see if we had earned any comps and then found out we had to do the reverse! Ooops! We%26#39;ll have to hang on to the card.

PS I found several Players cards in the machines and turned them in to the barmaids figuring how could I possibly benefit from the cards when there%26#39;s only points listed and no remaining credits (I%26#39;m soo honest, eh?)... Would there have been a way to cash in on those juicy points? or rather, how could I cash in on those points when the cards are registered to those specific people? Gives new meaning to sinning in sin city to have those evil thoughts.

Just having someone%26#39;s player%26#39;s club card won%26#39;t help. They won%26#39;t even look at that card without seeing an accompanying photo i.d. as well. You can rack up points on their behalf, but there%26#39;s no way to personally benefit.

Thanks for the trip report. We%26#39;ll be seeing Penn %26amp; Teller in July so it was nice to see a positive review of the show.

:-)

Slix

I%26#39;ve booked a bungalow king suite at MGM for the end of July - I am so excited I can%26#39;t wait! Did the suite have a refrigerator?

I agree with the MGM breakfast buffet. Might just be the best in town.