We were in Las Vegas last weekend for the Celine Dion concert. Stayed at the Monte Carlo because rates were more reasonable than our favorite, Bellagio. We felt reasonably satisfied with the hotel: the bed was comfortable (Spring Air pillowtop mattress), room was clean, bathroom slightly larger than average, marble floors. Other than that, it was nothing special. The pool area was crowded, beach chairs crowded together and hard to come by during certain times. Pool bar drinks were expensive and chintzy. The buffet was certainly not up to par with what we have been used to (read: Bellagio). A big plus was when we got to the hotel at 8:30am from the airport we were able to check into our room immediately, which in essence gave us a whole day we would have wasted otherwise.

We wanted to go to some kind of show on Friday night and opted for Society of Seven at the Alladin. What a nice surprise! A really talented group of Hawaiian guys with lots of music, jokes and impersonations. They get a group of guys on the stage to teach them how to impersonate Elvis. Lots of laughs! And only $35 per person. I'm always amazed at how long it takes to walk anywhere in Vegas. Alladin on the map looks like it is right across the street. It took us 10 minutes to get through the casino just out to the street, then another 10-15 minutes to the Alladin and more walking to the venue. I had blisters on top of my blisters! Next time, I will definitely rent a car and drive from hotel to hotel. After the show we walked over to Paris and took the elevator up to the top of the Eiffel Tower to see the lights. Very nice, especially at night. We got a table right in front of the outdoor cafe at Mon Ami Gabi and had great food and view of the Bellagio fountains for the next couple of hours.

Day two: Breakfast at Bellagio. Now that's more like it! We really enjoyed the Andy Warhol exhibit. Lisa Minelli is the narrator and she is the perfect person for the job. Lots of "insider" insights and anecdotes. Spent the rest of the day at the pool, playing slots and relaxing. Day three: Started the day at the Sunday Champagne Sterling Brunch at Bally's. A hefty $50 per person, but LET ME TELL YOU, worth every cent! Never have, never will see anything like it anywhere else. Not only did they have a made to order sushi bar, but sturgeon caviar and blinis with all the toppings. I could go on and on about the food, but don't have room. Suffice to say I got more than my money's worth.

I was excited to get back to the hotel after brunch because I had planned a surprise luxury car rental for my husband. He loves the BMW Mini Cooper and I managed to find one to rent from RAV at the airport. My heart dropped when there was a message waiting at the hotel from RAV. It seems the guy who had the Mini liked it so well, he wasn't going to return it until later in the day. They offered me another car instead. I said OK as long as we could get the Mini later in the day. They gave us a Prowler convertible (for the same price, even though the Prowler rents for three times as much.) Shoulda seen the look on hubby's face! We took the car for a spin to Hoover Dam and got stares and thumbs up everywhere we went. Later that afternoon, I got to surprise hubby again with the Mini. (He actually preferred the Mini to the Prowler.)

Drove the Mini later that night to the Celine Dion concert at Caesar's. He's always been a Celine fan, not so much me. But I am definitely a fan now. What a fantastic show. Before that, "O" rated as the best show I had ever seen. Something about the surreal quality of the staging, choreography, and music all combine to move something deep inside of me and I had tears streaming for most of the 1-1/2 hours. She has the stamina of Superwoman! We followed that by a lovely late evening dinner at Bertolini's in Caesar's. Loved that Italian cream soda and white pizza crust bread with virgin olive oil for dipping. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Some last musings: Everything is farther than you think in Vegas. Renting a car is the only way to go, I think. If you do your homework and get a good rental rate, by the time you pay for cab fare, you have already paid for the cost of the car. This is doubly true if it is extremely hot and you have to walk everywhere. Next, so much food, so little time. If we ate at a buffet, we generally weren't hungry the whole rest of the day. There were so many places we wanted to try, but didn't have room. There was one place I want to go to next time for sure: Todai on Harmon Street (just east of the Harley Davidson Cafe). A sushi buffet to die for (can you tell I'm a sushi fan?) The things I HATE about Vegas are those horrible porn vendors with their leaflets. Another reason not to have to walk, going past them. They make my skin crawl. If anybody wants to see photos of the trip and the cars go to: http://community.webshots.com/user/maggiwun
You can click on the photos to make them bigger. I'm not a Vegas expert, but I'd also be happy to answer any questions. Just e-mail me at [email protected] or post them below.
Ciao!

Sorry for all the grammatical errors, I was typing this a mile a minute, the barbeque's hot and dinner's waiting! And it's Liza with a "Z"!

Great report, Maggi. Thanks.
Sounds like all your planning paid off.
I don't hear many people complain about those aggravating street vendors, but it seems they have learned how to shove those obnoxious leaflets as close to pedestrians as possible without actually touching them. I've often thought to myself (after the 50th vendor within 3 blocks flicks those things at me) that if even one of them touches me I'd have a hard time avoiding the compulsion to turn around and smack them. Still hasn't happened.
I don't know why the city can't do something about that problem.
It's completely out of control.

Glad to hear you like Celine. I'm going because my wife wants to. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it much, but your message gives me hope.

Know what you mean, after seeing the TV preview on her opening night, I didn't think it looked so great either. But TV could never do justice to the actual experience. The huge stage with video and special effects were awesome. Even though we were sitting in the nosebleed section we had a great view of everything.

Hi Maggi. Glad to hear you had a great trip. You recommend getting a car. So is traffic as bad as they say? Are they putting anything up across from Circus where the old El Rancho used to be? Oh, how about the rooms at Monte Carlo? Some people say they're not soundproof and you can hear everything. Is that true? Any other comments about your trip are welcome.

Hi Maggi,
We are going to Vegas in June...Do you really think by the time you pay for the rental car and pay parking fees and gratuities, it is really a savings over cab fare? Have never rented a car in Vegas before just because of all of the traffic.
Thanks for a great trip report.

Maggi-

I agree 100% on the car thing. I always rent in Vegas. As for Bally's Sterling, how long was the wait? They don't take reservations do they? What day of the week did you go on?

-Thanks

For iceeu2: there are no parking fees in Las Vegas, if you choose to valet it's $1.00 (but takes forever to get your car back), and it's definitely cheaper than a cab if you get a good rental rate (not hard to get cars for <$25 at most times of year if you reserve well in advance).

Ms Mags, Welcome back.
Your report, plus the TV series "Lucky" and the Maloof Bros. actually makes me want to go back to LV!

The Mini!
All I kept hearing in my head is the Austin Powers theme while you guys were driving down the strip.
Kal

Rachelle: Traffic can be heavy at times, especially at night, but still faster than walking anyhow. Sorry, we didn't get over to the Circus area. Our room was just fine, not as fancy as Bellagio, but better than Motel 6. I too had read that some had issues with noise, but we did not. We slept quite well.
Ice: Our average cab fare, with tip, was $7-10. Valet parking at the hotels is free, we usually tip $2-3.

Loki: I believe the Sterling Champagne Brunch is only on Sundays (at least that is when we were there.) I made reservations the day before. They seemed full up at 10am, but by 11:30 there were some open tables.

Hi Kal: There's a flick coming up called "The Italian Job" that will make the Mini very popular indeed. Hubby Georg wants to buy one now, but is stuck in a lease for another 1-1/2 years. I read in USA Today that the car is so safe the filmmakers had to disable all the safety features to make it do the stunts for the film.

Maggi,
I read your previous thread about the Mini with great interest, as I've been seeing more & more of them on the road. Personally, I would never drive one. I think that they are too small to compete with all the SUV's that are out there. Do you have any idea what would happen if you were in a Mini involved in an accident with an SUV, especially one of those very large ones? I'd be curious to know.

Leona wouldn't the mini just go right under the SUV?

I'm married to a "Mini Italian Job"!

Leona, I expressed the same concern to my husband. I do know it is equipped with six airbags and exceptional frame stability. However, if you are truly interested in the safety issue, you might want to read this:
http://www.bmwworld.com/models/mini/safety.htm