Just returned from our first ever Vegas trip. We booked our vacation through Southwest and had a room booked at the MGM Grand in the Emerald Tower. Upon check-in we were offered an upgrade to the Grand Tower for an additional $35/night. I hadn't heard very good things about the Emerald Tower so we took the upgrade rate. I was very pleased with the room overall. For our meals we ate at both the Bellagio and Paris buffets for breakfast. I personally loved the Paris buffet over the Bellagio. I felt Paris offered more of the breakfast items I like to eat (crepes made to order, french toast with powered sugar, chicken sausage are just some of the few). My boyfriend loves waffles for breakfast and Paris offered a waffle station. I also really enjoyed the scenery at Paris - resembled an outdoor village. First night we were there we ate at RumJungle in Mandalay Bay. Ordered the FirePit based on other posts. Was definitely worth the money, although I was a so full after they delivered the 4th meat. Service was good. The next night we ate dinner at Prime steakhouse at Bellagio and was not impressed at all. I ordered the salmon and it was extremely dry. I wanted to complain but I never saw our waiter he took our order. The meal was delivered by runners and another runner delivered the bill and immediately disappeared. Horrible service! I wanted to order the steak, but I couldn't look at more meat after eating at the Rumjungle the night before. Dinner bill came to $480 (including 20% tip) for 5 people. No wine was ordered, just a couple of beers. I personally didn't want to leave such a large tip, but my boyfriend is a big tipper no matter what. Didn't get to see any shows because we didn't plan well enough. Rode the roller coaster at New York New York and it was the bumpiest coaster I've ever been on and extremely slow. Shouldn't have expected any better I guess. Played video poker most of the trip at a steady pace and received excellent service at MGM and Luxor. Finally made a trip down to Fremont street and gambled a little at the older casinos. Hit a royal flush at Fitzgeralds and won $1200! Oh, and visited Palms and was a little disappointed. Very small casino and seemed to be geared for the younger crowd. I'm in my late 20's and it was even a little young for me. But overall I absolutely LOVED Vegas and can't wait to go back. My advice for any other first-timers would be to pack comfortable shoes as you will definitely do some walking! Even if you don't leave your hotel! Thanks to everyone for all the great posts...it really helped me make some decisions for the trip!

Did you try Emerils fish house at MGM? Planning trip in July and we are trying to decide on dinner so we can reserve.Any comments on Aqua at Bellagio.

Unfortunately my boyfriend was a little jaded about Bellagio after the Prime dinner, and the fact that we weren't impressed with their buffet - I know, he's weird like that. So we didn't get to see any other restaurants at Bellagio. Emeril's Fish House looked so cute, had a very New Orleans feel to it, in my opinion. Unfortunately, we didn't eat there though.

We stayed at the MGM last year and planned to eat at Emeril's.... that was until we saw it (and the curiously limited menu). jill28 writes that it has a New Orleans feel. Okay, but to me it felt too staged... almost like being in Disneyland (what am I thinking? LV is pretty much Disneyland gor adults).

Six of us ate at Emeril's in Nov. 2003. It was good but not great. I recall that two of our party had the same fish dish and both thought it was really quite tasty BUT it was just "warm" not "hot" which I thought was kind of poor. They didn't send it back though because they said the flavour made up for the luke warm temp.

We had an Oregon pinot gris which was very good and went to order another and were told that we had had the last one. Not good.

An apple dessert sticks in my mind and I think that went over really well.

beachbum is right, it did look a little staged. but I still thought it looked cute. After the disaster at Prime, I'm worried about eating at any hotel restaurant.

In my trip report, I failed to mention that we didn't get our dinner for 45 minutes after we ordered it and never saw our waiter even once while we were there.

Emeril's Fish House at MGM Grand seems stagy and faked, like a faux New Orleans...? In Vegas? When the restaurant owner and namesake is a carpetbagger from Fall River, Massachusetts? I can't believe it!!

I still plan to visit his new place in South Beach when I go there (he WAS undeniably great when we was head chef at Commander's Palace), but it sounds like some of his outposts are missing their mark (the comments on Tchoup Chop in Orlando go all over the map)....

Interesting to read this post, as I just returned from Vegas as well and also at at Prime.

Overall, we very much enjoyed the experience - our steaks were superb (filet mignon and new york strip) - and I'm basically not a steak person! We both enjoyed our appetizers very much as well (soft shell crab tempura for me and butternut squash soup for my mom). Shared the "pavlova" mango/meringue concoction for dessert - outstanding.

Now the service... it was definitely VERY spotty especially until the main courses (finally) came and a new waiter showed up, but after all, this is a huge steak house restaurant and I wasn't expecting super service. Great people watching and great steak - that was enough for me!

However, if you're expecting white-glove treatment (which their advertising does imply), you're certainly in for a disappointment... as would be the case most anywhere in Vegas if you're not a very high roller I imagine.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Andre - it is not really true that you shouldn't expect excellent service unless you're a high roller. I've eaten at many restaurants in Vegas that had superb service (3950, Nero's and Delmonico come to mind). I think you'd have every reason to expect that a restaurant that bills itself as fine dining and has prices to match should provide very good service also.

You're right, Tom - I probably worded my message a little too strongly.

What I meant to say is that I was not expecting a huge restaurant like Prime to offer the kind of super attentive service only a small gourmet restaurant with a single seating can provide.

However, the service could certainly have been much better and had the other elements of the meal (food and atmosphere) not shone, I wouldn't have enjoyed my evening either. BTW, forgot to mention the side of sweet potatoes which was out of this world - creamed spinach was just so-so however.

Hope this helps,
Andre

I was warned that Prime's prices are high, but I guess in my mind I was expecting these prices to reflect their service as well as their quality of food. The mashed potates were really great. My boyfriend was very disappointed in dessert - $12 chocolate cake was the size of a mini tart. I've been told that Vegas boasts some of the greatest restaurants in the world...is that a stretch?? I live in Columbus, OH and we have some fabulous restaurants here. I felt like Prime didn't come close to our local steakhouses.

Restaurant quality basically boils down to 4 things: food quality, service, decor/atmosphere and value/price.
Any single dining experience can turn out poorly at any restaurant.
Over the past 5-8 years the value factor has fallen in LV, no question, as prices have soared (but the restaurants simply charge 'what the market will bear', so people are still bidding up the prices by voting with their credit cards).

But value aside, there are more quality dining establishments in LV at this point than in 10 Columbuses. Vegas is a super high turnover city when it comes to service personnel (including waiters).
But the decor/atmosphere and food quality at Vegas' top 20 restaurants is in another leage entirely from places like Columbus.

I am SO sorry that your experience was so unhappy. I am guilty of recommending Prime and just about everything about the Bellagio here, as we have been there so many times and have not had one bad experience.
We had dinner at Prime in November and it was one of the highlights of a week of restaurants ( all very expensive-but that is LV) and the service was perfect.
We have eaten in Emerils at the MGM, three times. The first was great, the second was bad, the third was giving them one last chance and was worse.
We have never eaten in a Buffet but I have heard that aside from the Bellagio, the Rio has one of the best in town..so next trip, if you like that sort of thing, go to the Rio!
I am glad you liked Vegas, to some it can be a real shock, especially sticker shock, but we think it is fun too!
Can't wait to read your Second Timer report

Well, even with the experience at Bellagio, I can't wait to go back! In fact, I know this might sound weird but I really loved the buffets. Maybe on our next trip we'll do nothing but buffets!

Thanks again to everyone for your insight.

The Rio HAD one of the best in town....about 5 years ago. That's all changed. Perhaps partly due to the takeover by Harrah's?

Is there a reason you can explain why the old maxim about hotel food should not apply here, Jill?

I am amazed and a bit dismayed at the negative experiences at Prime. I have been to Prime three times--most recently last October--and it has never failed to disappoint. Could it be that the quality is deteriorating though? I am concerned because I am sending my parents to Vegas in three weeks for their anniversary, and I have been rhapsodizing about my experiences at Prime to them. If the quality has deteriorated in recent months, I'm going to be embarrassed!

Mattydael - I assume you don't really mean that it never failed to disappoint.

Er, whoops. I mean it has never disappointed! Guess I should double-check my posts before pressing the send button!

Topping just to advise that Emeril's (and Coyote Cafe) in the MGM is no more. Surprising how quickly restaurants turn over in that place.