I’m staying at Aria. If anyone wants to get some caviar + champagne at happy hour at Bellagio on the night in between, let me know!
Dude/Lady this is the PJ forum. The night in between most of us will be at Mickie Dees and the M&M store.
PJ: 2013: London (ON); Buffalo; 2014: Cincinnati; 2016: Sunrise, Miami, Toronto 1-2, Wrigley 2; 2018: London (UK) 1, Milan, Padova, Sea 2, Wrigley 1-2, Fenway 1-2; 2021: SHN, Ohana, Ohana Encore 1-2; 2022: LA 1-2, Phx, Oak 1-2, Fresno, Copenhagen, Hyde Park 1-2; Quebec, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto; MSG, Camden, Nashville, Louisville, St. Louis, OKC; 2023: St. Paul 1-2, Chicago 1-2; Fort Worth 2; Austin 1-2; 2024: Vancouver 1-2, LV 1-2, LA 1-2, Napa, Barcelona 1-2
EV Solo: 2017 Louisville and Franklin, 2018 Ohana, 2019 Innings Fest, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dublin and Ohana; 2021 Ohana Friday (from beach) and Saturday; 2022 Earthlings Newark; 2023 Innings Fest and Benoraya 1-2.
Gutted: London 2 2018, Sacramento 2022, Noblesville 2023
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Made that mistake the first time I went to Vegas in my early 20s. What a dump. Staying at The Linq for these shows. Nice location middle of the strip
When was that? Circus Circus was remodeled in about 2011. It's still not a high-end hotel by Strip standards, but it's aiming more at families, and it was perfectly fine after the remodel (I stayed there once when I had an event there). If you first stayed there before the remodel, I totally understand your take on it.
Don't stay at the Circus Circus, unless you're desperate. Keep some self dignity.
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Parking at the bellagio and mirage were $20 a piece a day. What killed me was I couldn’t get a coffee maker in my room at either place. I spent a week there and my Starbucks bill for three of us was over $150. $9 coffees, insane.
Had the “pleasure” of going to LV a ton for work over the years.
I’ve stayed at a lot of strip hotels. Fav high end is Waldorf. (No casino and I don’t gamble). It’s quiet. Next would be Wynn or Cosmo. Lots of action there. Resorts World on north end is good too. Great dining options.
Four star recs would be Venetian or Park MGM. Park MGM is non smoking, which makes it stand out. Bavette’s Steak is outstanding as well. But pricey.
Cheaper would be Treasure Island or The Mirage. They are ok.
I had to go on one days notice about a month ago. We would up at HGI in Henderson. It was great. $120 a night as there was a major convention in town and all the strip hotels were $500-600 each. If you don’t mind a 20 min ride, there are options out east.
Seattle 8-8-18 Chicago 8-18-18 Chicago 8-20-18 St. Louis 4-4-20 Denver 4-9-20 Denver 9-22-22 Noblesville 9-10-23 Vancouver 5-6-24 Seattle 5-30-24
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Parking at the bellagio and mirage were $20 a piece a day. What killed me was I couldn’t get a coffee maker in my room at either place. I spent a week there and my Starbucks bill for three of us was over $150. $9 coffees, insane.
Yeah, not to mention the Starbucks line is sometimes 30 minutes in the morning. And I don't even like Starbucks.
I lived in Spring Valley for many years. The Orleans is actually really nice and a short ride to the arena. Great brewpub and other stuff inside. McMullen's across the street is a legit awesome Irish bar that has great music every night. I mostly just avoid the street as much as possible.
I forgot to mention Vdara. That's going to be a High Mid Tier but you can get it for an average of $260 (Wed-Sun). It doesn't have a casino (which is a plus for me) and it's 10 minutes from MGM Garden. It's right behind Aria and The Cosmopolitan and is an MGM property.
I went in December to see U2. We had a similar situation, where every hotel was high priced due to an Amazon convention.
We stayed at Sahara, and I'd definitely go back there again. Room and casino was clean and very nice. The casino wasn't very busy, so always easy to play. Got grandfathered on $10 craps each night, before they'd raise it to $15. Only downside was hard to find any cocktail waitresses.
Convenience: it's on the monorail, so easy to make your way up and down the strip. I think the unlimited pass was under $25/day.
Southpoint is a nice hotel but it's far from the Strip. Not especially convenient
6/26/98 & 6/27/98 - Alpine Valley, 10/9/00 - Allstate Arena - Rosemont, IL 6/18/2003 - United Center, 5/16/2006 - United Center, 5/17/2006 - United Center (7th row center, caught Eddie's pick), 6/29/2006 - Summerfest with Tom Petty, 8/24/2009 - United Center, 7/19/2013 - Wrigley Field, 10/3/2014 - St Louis, 10/17/2014 - Moline (GA), 10/20/2014 - Milwaukee, 5/14/2015 - Pete Townshend/EV, 8/20/16 & 8/22/16 Wrigley Field Part 2&3, 8/18/18 & 8/20/18 Wrigley Parts 4 & 5, 9/18/2022 - St Louis
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Yeah. I went first weekend in Feb. for the U2 show on 2/3. Huge difference from the last time I was out there (2000, before my son was born, Since then vacations have been family friendly which I'll never understand the idea of bringing kids to Vegas but we saw plenty who did).
Previously both times I went to Vegas, rented a car. Parked for free at the hotel we stayed at and would drive to other properties and either self park for free or valet for free with a few dollars tip for the valet. Also gave us option to do other off strip things including the Hoover Dam tour one day. This time because of the parking costs we cabbed to and from the airport and used monorail a couple times when traveling any distance form our hotel (walked the closer distances, would have walked more but it was cool and rainy). Had checked for the hell of it a week before the trip, could have rented a car for $117 and change for the entire trip (Friday noon arrival to Monday morning departure). Had parking been free still like in the old days that would have been a no brainer. Food and beverage prices have become insane as well, glad I don't drink anymore.
It's definitely a very different business model than it was 20 years ago.
Made that mistake the first time I went to Vegas in my early 20s. What a dump. Staying at The Linq for these shows. Nice location middle of the strip
When was that? Circus Circus was remodeled in about 2011. It's still not a high-end hotel by Strip standards, but it's aiming more at families, and it was perfectly fine after the remodel (I stayed there once when I had an event there). If you first stayed there before the remodel, I totally understand your take on it.
Don't stay at the Circus Circus, unless you're desperate. Keep some self dignity.
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Yeah. I went first weekend in Feb. for the U2 show on 2/3. Huge difference from the last time I was out there (2000, before my son was born, Since then vacations have been family friendly which I'll never understand the idea of bringing kids to Vegas but we saw plenty who did).
Previously both times I went to Vegas, rented a car. Parked for free at the hotel we stayed at and would drive to other properties and either self park for free or valet for free with a few dollars tip for the valet. Also gave us option to do other off strip things including the Hoover Dam tour one day. This time because of the parking costs we cabbed to and from the airport and used monorail a couple times when traveling any distance form our hotel (walked the closer distances, would have walked more but it was cool and rainy). Had checked for the hell of it a week before the trip, could have rented a car for $117 and change for the entire trip (Friday noon arrival to Monday morning departure). Had parking been free still like in the old days that would have been a no brainer. Food and beverage prices have become insane as well, glad I don't drink anymore.
It's definitely a very different business model than it was 20 years ago.
There's still plenty of free parking to be had. I drive up from L.A. two or three times a year and I have yet to pay to park my car. Having said that, one of the free lots (at Tropicana) may very well be gone by May.
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Yeah. I went first weekend in Feb. for the U2 show on 2/3. Huge difference from the last time I was out there (2000, before my son was born, Since then vacations have been family friendly which I'll never understand the idea of bringing kids to Vegas but we saw plenty who did).
Previously both times I went to Vegas, rented a car. Parked for free at the hotel we stayed at and would drive to other properties and either self park for free or valet for free with a few dollars tip for the valet. Also gave us option to do other off strip things including the Hoover Dam tour one day. This time because of the parking costs we cabbed to and from the airport and used monorail a couple times when traveling any distance form our hotel (walked the closer distances, would have walked more but it was cool and rainy). Had checked for the hell of it a week before the trip, could have rented a car for $117 and change for the entire trip (Friday noon arrival to Monday morning departure). Had parking been free still like in the old days that would have been a no brainer. Food and beverage prices have become insane as well, glad I don't drink anymore.
It's definitely a very different business model than it was 20 years ago.
It used to be that the hotels would offer cheap meals as an enticement to come stay/gamble with them.
Just got back from Vegas. First time in about 15 years. What an absolute rip off of a city. I’d rather spend my money in NYC. Hard to believe that your money will go farther in NYC, but it’s true.
I first went to Vegas in 1995 and lived there for 15 years (until recently). It seems like the strip has now been optimized by MBAs to extract as much money as possible while you keep telling yourself you are having fun. IMHO, the end came when they started charging for parking.
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Yeah. I went first weekend in Feb. for the U2 show on 2/3. Huge difference from the last time I was out there (2000, before my son was born, Since then vacations have been family friendly which I'll never understand the idea of bringing kids to Vegas but we saw plenty who did).
Previously both times I went to Vegas, rented a car. Parked for free at the hotel we stayed at and would drive to other properties and either self park for free or valet for free with a few dollars tip for the valet. Also gave us option to do other off strip things including the Hoover Dam tour one day. This time because of the parking costs we cabbed to and from the airport and used monorail a couple times when traveling any distance form our hotel (walked the closer distances, would have walked more but it was cool and rainy). Had checked for the hell of it a week before the trip, could have rented a car for $117 and change for the entire trip (Friday noon arrival to Monday morning departure). Had parking been free still like in the old days that would have been a no brainer. Food and beverage prices have become insane as well, glad I don't drink anymore.
It's definitely a very different business model than it was 20 years ago.
It used to be that the hotels would offer cheap meals as an enticement to come stay/gamble with them.
Gone are those days on the strip.
Back in 1995 when I was a broke ass student, we stayed center strip at the now gone Holiday Inn for $30/night including buffet coupons. Split 3 ways, it was heaven.
The Circus Circus buffet was $2.99. I always thought it would have been good comedy for someone like Bill Gates to just give them carte blanche and allow any homeless person into the buffet on his tab.
Comments
Gutted: London 2 2018, Sacramento 2022, Noblesville 2023
And this is coming from someone who loves the city.
Merch is another story. Goes all the way to the craps tables
Chicago 8-18-18
Chicago 8-20-18
St. Louis 4-4-20
Denver 4-9-20
Denver 9-22-22
Noblesville 9-10-23
Vancouver 5-6-24
Seattle 5-30-24
EV
Chicago 2-9-22
Tempe 2-26-23
I lived in Spring Valley for many years. The Orleans is actually really nice and a short ride to the arena. Great brewpub and other stuff inside. McMullen's across the street is a legit awesome Irish bar that has great music every night. I mostly just avoid the street as much as possible.
We stayed at Sahara, and I'd definitely go back there again. Room and casino was clean and very nice. The casino wasn't very busy, so always easy to play. Got grandfathered on $10 craps each night, before they'd raise it to $15. Only downside was hard to find any cocktail waitresses.
Convenience: it's on the monorail, so easy to make your way up and down the strip. I think the unlimited pass was under $25/day.
5/17/2006 - United Center (7th row center, caught Eddie's pick), 6/29/2006 - Summerfest with Tom Petty,
8/24/2009 - United Center, 7/19/2013 - Wrigley Field, 10/3/2014 - St Louis, 10/17/2014 - Moline (GA), 10/20/2014 - Milwaukee,
5/14/2015 - Pete Townshend/EV, 8/20/16 & 8/22/16 Wrigley Field Part 2&3, 8/18/18 & 8/20/18 Wrigley Parts 4 & 5, 9/18/2022 - St Louis
Previously both times I went to Vegas, rented a car. Parked for free at the hotel we stayed at and would drive to other properties and either self park for free or valet for free with a few dollars tip for the valet. Also gave us option to do other off strip things including the Hoover Dam tour one day. This time because of the parking costs we cabbed to and from the airport and used monorail a couple times when traveling any distance form our hotel (walked the closer distances, would have walked more but it was cool and rainy). Had checked for the hell of it a week before the trip, could have rented a car for $117 and change for the entire trip (Friday noon arrival to Monday morning departure). Had parking been free still like in the old days that would have been a no brainer.
Food and beverage prices have become insane as well, glad I don't drink anymore.
It's definitely a very different business model than it was 20 years ago.
Gone are those days on the strip.
The Circus Circus buffet was $2.99. I always thought it would have been good comedy for someone like Bill Gates to just give them carte blanche and allow any homeless person into the buffet on his tab.