Quote :

"Anybody ever take the drive out to the Grand Canyon from LV? Thinking about surprising the wife with a trip out to the Glass Walkway thing. Think its like 2.5 hours out there. Any thoughts if it is teh shit or just shit?"

Think it's more like 4 hours.

6/14/2014 2:20:46 PM

the Grand Canyon is the most awe-inspiring thing I've ever seen and I'd reccomend that everyone should see it at least once during their lifetime

6/14/2014 2:33:12 PM

Lunch my first day at Infocomm Academy and sit next to another NCSU guy who lives here and works for the Mob Museum. Small world.

6/14/2014 3:47:21 PM

awk, if you guys are planning on doing at least one 'nice/expensive 'dinner while in town, I would recommend the steakhouse at circus circus. The casino is a shithole but the restaurant is very awesome.

Most steakhouses there have a la carte pricing but not at cc... you get a ridiculous bread basket, sides and salad/soup with your entree there. Ambiance is very old school and the food is amazing. Prices are slightly less expensive than most places in the strip, but like I said you also get more than just a slab of meat. The menu with prices should be online if you wanna check it out.

If you decide to go check it out you will be tempted to turn around and leave while walking to the actual restaurant due to the rest of the property, but press on and you will be rewarded haha.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to check to see if you can find a discount online somewhere. I doubt it, but always worth looking into.

Tripadvisor reviews:
[link]http:// http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g45963-d422632-Reviews-The_Steakhouse-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html[/link]




[Edited on June 14, 2014 at 3:51 PM. Reason : link]

6/14/2014 3:48:54 PM

heading down for a week this weds for EDC week

6/14/2014 4:35:25 PM

Question, the people trying to rope you into time share showing, we got hit like 4 times yesterday afternoon in 2 hours at Flamingo. Anyway to politely tell them to fuck off?

6/14/2014 6:54:14 PM

Hard to deal with them, being a polite southerner. I just try to avoid eye contact and keep moving

6/14/2014 8:10:59 PM

^^tell them you are leaving in a few hours

6/15/2014 12:03:28 AM

got back friday night. took down some good pots at the poker room at mirage.
did the hoover dam and red rock canyon. didnt make the longer trip to grand canyon. saving that for next trip.
we had a blast. had some good meals. saw a cirque show. brought home some hooker cards for souvenirs!
cant wait to go back in 9-10months

6/15/2014 1:26:08 AM

^So Red Rock was worth it? I was thinking about doing that one later in the week.

Last night we just walked around on the Strip and had dinner at Serendipity 3, but with class all weekend from 8-5 I am already fucking tired when I get back to the room.

I have to say one of the most awesome things is watching the sunrise over Vegas from the Strip side of the Flamingo about halfway up the building (15th floor). I have done it both mornings now and it is beautiful watching the mountains light up under the first sunlight while the city still twinkles with all of its own lights.

After class today I don't know what the plan is. Apparently the High Roller has a dads ride free thing today, so we might do that this evening. Through the MyVegas app I have a BOGO on tickets to Love, Ka, and the Shark Reef Aquarium, so we still have to find time to hit all of those as well.

6/15/2014 8:51:54 AM

In 2 weeks I'm going to vegas for 10 days....pumped

[Edited on June 15, 2014 at 12:59 PM. Reason : Albeit ive been there like 20-30 times, but it still never gets old]

6/15/2014 12:58:28 PM

when I was in Vegas we took a helicopter to the Grand Canyon and landed in the bottom and had lunch, it was pretty badass. It was 115 F in the shade, though

6/15/2014 6:17:49 PM

How was serendipity? I'm in town for infocomm too, have just walked around.

I tried the $20 thing and I think i got ripped off too...

6/15/2014 7:24:28 PM

red rock was i think $7 to enter the park. they have a visitor center with some neat exhibits. and a 13 mile road to drive around with about 20 spots to stop and park. hiking options too but it is way too hot esp during the day. we went midday but everyone says that early morning or late evening is the best time to go. it is only about 20min from strip so it is a fun thing to do to get away from the craziness for a few hours.
it isnt going to be as spectacular as the grand canyon but it is def worth a visit

6/15/2014 11:24:13 PM

I did the $20 thing last year (at the Aria) and we definitely got upgraded

6/16/2014 1:46:34 AM

$20 trick can only get you so far. Checking in on a weekday during the middle of the summer? UPGRADE. Checking in on a crazy Friday/Saturday night when a huge convention/event is going on? Not much.

6/16/2014 3:17:05 AM

Quote :

"I did the $20 thing last year (at the Aria) and we definitely got upgraded"

6/16/2014 9:16:03 AM

^^maybe that's when you step yo game up with a hundy

6/16/2014 3:11:49 PM

I have friends who live in Vegas that have worked the desk in some of the nice resorts and they've all told me the same thing. If rooms are sold out, no amount of money is really going to do anything. An employee isn't going to risk their job and screw someone else out of a room for $100 or whatever. That's why a lot of times they'll just hand the $20 or $50 back since they can't do anything about it. None of my friends have ever kept the bill and not done anything to comp/upgrade though, but maybe some people do. As a general rule though, yes the $20 trick works.

6/16/2014 3:24:21 PM

finally popping my Vegas cherry. just booked flight Jan 30 - Feb 2. now to decide where to stay and what to do. only thing lined up so far is golfing TPC Vegas on Feb 1 and seeing Santana at House of Blues on Jan 31

11/2/2014 12:51:47 PM

Going for the first time early December for a week. That's probably too long so what's fun to do outside of vegas? Planning to do Hoover dam and maybe make a day trip to the Grand Canyon

Also shows seem expensive as hell, any worth going to or good ways to get discounts? Love to see some crazy cirque de soleil show but don't know if I want to pay $100 for it.

[Edited on November 4, 2014 at 12:02 PM. Reason : ]

11/4/2014 11:59:04 AM

March Madness 2015 is happening for me. Wooo

^ If you don't care when you see the show and can hold out til the last minute, there are several places on the strip that sell tickets on the same day as events for like half price:

http://www.tix4tonight.com/half-price-vegas-show-tickets.html

The locations I have seen keep a monitor up with the current price they offer for their show tickets.

11/4/2014 12:09:12 PM

Vegas in December/January gets cold as fuck at night, so bring a heavy jacket.

11/4/2014 12:15:54 PM

So for a really tiny/skeezy strip club in Vegas, Talk of the Town is pretty sweet.

$20 cover, $10(!) lap dances, full nude, very loose (pretty much zero) restriction on hand placement/touching during a lap dance.

No booze though, but that's just one less thing to waste money on.

12/9/2014 3:26:39 AM

Just got back from my week last night. Awesome time but I jeez I'm tired. Based on where I was staying, visited most of the "mid strip" casinos. NY NY, MGM, Aria, Cosmopolitan, Planet Hollywood, Ceasar's Pallace, Paris, Monte Garlo, Bellagio, and a few more around that area. Didn't go to the ones way south like Luxor or Mandelay Bay, or the ones way north like Stratosphere or Circus Circus. Of the strip casinos I liked Cosmopolitan best.

The best casinos to gamble in IMO though are the ones on Freemont. I especially liked 4 queens, but that was probably because I won at blackjack there . they had $10 min bets plus 3:2 payouts on blackjack, which was the best I found on the low stakes games.

IMO best value in town is the lunch buffet at Studio B in the M casino. It's several miles down south on Las Vegas Blvd, basically a huge black building standing by itself in the middle of the desert, so you'd probably need a rental car to get there easily. It's not the quality of the Bacchanal at Caesar's Palace or anything, but the lunch buffet is $16 bucks with beer and wine included.

High roller observation wheel has some good views, but it's a ripoff at $25. If you add the $5 open bar upgrade it's less of a ripoff though. Free drinks for the 30 or so minute ride. There's one bartender for about 14 passengers but still I had no problem getting several drinks during the ride.

Craps is easily the most fun game if you have a full table full of interesting characters, plus the game you can play longest without losing all your money. Shame I didn't really try it until my last couple of days there. If I was going to do-over my gambling I would spend more money on craps, a little less on blackjack, and none on slots.

It was in the 60s pretty much the whole time even in december, except when we were at higher elevations like Grand Canyon (which is like 7100 feet) and red rock. Only problem is sunset at 4:30 or so means less opportunity to do outdoor/nature stuff than most of the year.

grand canyon totally worth the 4 hour drive if you've never been. Like others have said, it's awe inspiring. When you go by car to the south rim you can't even see it until you get about 50 feet from it walking up from the visitors center, and my breath seriously caught in my throat when I first saw it. If you're driving and you don't want to drive 8 hours in a day the Tusayan hotels aren't bad, but all the food in town is overpriced and crappy.

Hoover dam is really cool, but skip the scale model presentation in the old gift shop. 15 minute "show" that's about 13 minutes too long. If you eat breakfast in Boulder, the Coffee Cup Cafe is good, specifically the chile verde omelet. Red rock canyon definitely worth the trip, and it's only about 30 minutes outside of town.

It only rained once during the week, which was good because when it rains EVERY OUTDOOR ESCALATOR SHUTS DOWN FOR THE REST OF THE DAY AND HALF OF THE NEXT DAY. That sucked.

Watched 2 shows, Jersey Boys in the Paris and Vegas! The Show in Planet Hollywood. Both musicals but I enjoyed both of them. Recommend to anyone who doesn't mind musicals full of old music.

12/14/2014 11:59:28 AM

Circus Circus is disgusting. Be glad you didn't go there

12/14/2014 1:53:23 PM

How is it disgusting?
I wouldn't eat there (as there are much nicer places)...but the hotel room I stayed at last year, was pretty darn nice.

I had the whole week comped, so I might be tainted.

12/15/2014 2:56:04 PM

what's the best place on the strip to watch the BCS title game tomorrow?

1/10/2016 5:37:42 PM

There will be minimums everywhere and most places are prob booked up.

I like the classic venues like the Mirage sportsbook

1/10/2016 11:33:10 PM

So I'm going to be in Henderson next week for a work conference. I'll have time go to Las Vegas proper Tuesday afternoon/evening and possibly Wednesday night. The interwebs has overwhelming information and recommendations.

I don't have a huge desire to gamble so that's not a huge priority. Since I have such little time to spend in the city, what are quintessential things to do in Vegas and the best places to eat?

9/16/2016 7:52:28 PM

Lotus of Siam is good Thai food. Pompelmouse is good if you like French.

Honestly, wandering around the strip with a drink in your hand is pretty cool if you've never done it. Henderson isn't all that close to the strip, so take an Uber if you plan on getting tanked.

9/16/2016 9:13:00 PM