Review – MGM Grand Buffet, Las Vegas, Nevada

When you stay on the Strip, maybe even when you stay in Vegas, you have to visit a buffet at least once. I think it might be written into law somewhere.

Vegas is the epitome of  indulgence, and food-wise, nothing screams indulgence like an all-you-can-eat.

We picked the buffet in our hotel, mainly because it meant a minimal amount of walking on the Strip in the midday sun. The weekend buffets also included unlimited champagne and mimosas for those old enough to drink (although this isn’t uncommon in Vegas).

It is possible to pay and book in advance but the seating area for the buffet never seemed to be at capacity, so don’t worry if you haven’t. We headed down at about 12.30pm on a Sunday afternoon. There was a really short queue at the desk to pay, and very quickly we were being greeted by the cashier, and then by a staff member who showed us to our table, pointed out a few important things (like where the drinks were) and left us to get settled.

A lot of the buffet food is set out in banks, with different options by country (e.g. Mexican, American, Indian, Italian), as well as a host of starters, desserts and an omlette bar.

Most of the food we ate was really good. Some of it wasn’t that hot though, giving the impression that it had been sat out on the counter for a little while. The food is replaced regularly, so you don’t have to wait too long for your choice to be refreshed. I didn’t see any instances when old food was being added to the new tray that had come out.

You don’t have to worry about taking your empty plate  back with you, it will be cleared off the table quickly (however if you want to take your plate with you and save a little washing up, go for it). Do keep you cutlery on the table though. If you lose it, you can get another set, but you’ll have to ask.

The staff in the buffet are really friendly and really helpful, and the service was first class.

For a buffet that isn’t too expensive and ticks all the boxes, you could do a lot worse than eating here.

Service (out of 10) – 10. Really helpful staff who don’t keep you waiting at any point. Service with a smile

Offer (out of 10) – 8. Sometimes the food was a little colder than it should have been. Good choice of food and drink

Review – The Bellagio Fountains, Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Bellagio Fountains are really an iconic piece of the Las Vegas landscape now. I remember being there when they were testing them in 1998, and they were impressive even then.

Now, when they are in full flow, towers of water nearly 200 feet high dance above Las Vegas Boulevard to a variety of soundtracks.

In a effort to save water and/or costs, the Bellagio cut the number of shows to 2 or 3 night (check the listings), rather than every half hour. This means that the crowds start to arrive quite early before the show in an attempt to get the best view.

Viewing the Fountains is free, although it is possible to pay to watch it from a viewing point on the other side of the pool inside the hotel.

We walked up Las Vegas Boulevard from the hotel knowing that we would only be arriving a few minutes before the Fountains started. This meant that we were towards the back of the crowd.

The kids were able to work their way down to the front, where as we perched towards the back. And then, it happened.

The lights in the fountains went up, the music started playing and the fountains began to dance. The water swayed back and forth, high above our heads, as we stood, enthralled by the performance.

The music crescendo’d to the finale, the water leapt high and then silence and darkness descended onto the pool.

This was a magical experience which we all thoroughly enjoyed. One we would do again without hesitation.

Service (out of 10) – N/A

Offer (out of 10) – 10. Where else are you going to watch fountains like this

Value for money (out of 10) – 10. It’s free. What more do you need.

Southwest Road trip – Day 3, Las Vegas, Nevada

Without the late night disturbance of the night before, we all got a good night’s sleep and woke feeling slightly more human than the day before.

When we started planning the route for our roadtrip, one thing that always had a lot of appeal was a pool day, Vegas-style. When I started to cost it out, it also started to become apparent that it was going to be a lot more expensive than I first thought.

A lot of hotels in Vegas have day beds and cabanas that you can rent. However the costs for even a one-person day bed seem to start around $50. OK, for that, you get a reserved day bed and a parasol, but the more I looked into it, the more I realised that we would be spending upwards of $100 just for two day beds, and also that the kids wouldn’t be able to have reservations.

A little more digging told me that we wouldn’t struggle to find sun beds somewhere around the MGM pool, even at the busiest parts of the day. We might not get a parasol, but given that we would only really be out in the sun for 2/3 hours before heading inside, was this really a problem?

In the end, we decided that we would wing it, go without reservations, and see what happened. As it turned out, on both days that we used the pool, we were able to get 4 sunbeds together with no problems (admittedly there were no parasols, but there ARE plenty of trees). Plenty of other people also seemed to be following the same route.

The pool complex provides towels, so you don’t need to worry about bringing your own from the room. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the Lazy River fills up into the afternoon as people leave Wet Republic.

However, at 10.30am the pool complex is reasonably quiet. We grabbed 4 beds near the pool, with some shade, and settled down poolside. A really relaxing way to start Day 3 of the roadtrip.

After a couple of hours of sunbathing, playing in the pool and generally chilling out, we were beginning to feel hungry. Another must-do in Vegas is a visit to a buffet. There are some really high-end buffets up and down the strip. The food is good, but they can be pricey. The buffet at the MGM Grand is not one of the most rated buffets in Vegas, but it came with two additional benefits for us.

Firstly, it was convenient. Being housed in the same hotel that we were staying in meant that it was a quick air-conditioned walk rather than going out onto the strip.

The other major attraction (for the adults) was that the weekend price includes all-you-can-drink mimosas and champagne. Truth be told, that’s not unusual, but no-one wants to be having a few drinks and than having to walk back down the Strip!

There is a really big choice on the buffet. We were in there for about 90 minutes and all left feeling comfortably full (without feeling like we’d over eaten). When I was in Vegas about 20 years ago, one of the things that struck me was how many people were piling their plates high and then going back 10/15 minutes later to repeat the process. We joke about a “British disease” when we are on package holidays when you see people stuffing their faces 3 times a day, even though they are staying in an all-inclusive. Sadly, Americans still seem to make the British look like amateurs in this department.

There were so many people loading up their plates, and then, to make matters worse, leaving half of it to go and get something new. It’s the one thing with buffets that really saddens me. I know of one restaurant near home that fines people if they repeatedly leave plates full of food. Maybe this needs to be rolled out elsewhere?

Anyway, after a belly full of food and some alcohol, there was only one thing on the agenda. Nap-time!

After a power-nap (well ok, a nana-nap), we were well rested and headed back poolside. Getting back down to the pool in the early evening, we noticed that the vibe around the pool had changed. It was now more relaxed. Maybe this was because people were heading inside themselves to get a little rest before hitting the casinos. Maybe it was also because it was a Sunday, and people were heading home after a weekend in Vegas.

There were more families around the pool now, and although the Lazy River closed at 6pm, people were enjoying the last bit of sun, and making the most of a chance to relax.

We enjoyed a more relaxed pool experience before heading back inside to begin getting ready for our last evening in Vegas.

One of the enduring images you’ll always see is of the Strip at night. We had seen a little of the top end of the Strip heading up to Fremont Street the previous night, but now it was time to get up close and personal with the heart of Las Vegas.

We headed up South Las Vegas Boulevard as the sun set. The heat and humidity on the Strip at night is quite oppressive, especially when you aren’t dressed to sit by the pool. The first stop on our journey along the Strip had to be M&M World. Since seeing it on our trip to Denny’s the previous day, our daughter really wanted to explore. Not that she’s a chocoholic or anything. Four floors of chocolate heaven or chocolate hell, depending on your view. One thing is for sure though; the cost of buying M&Ms in here is far more expensive than even going to the Walgreens on Las Vegas Boulevard. Still, at least here, once you’ve finished them, you’ve always got the bag as a souvenir.

Right next door to M&M World is Coke World (maybe that should be Coke Land, we could get a theme park thing going). As with M&M World, it is dedicated to all things Coca Cola. And of course, as you would expect, it’s a complete magnet for tourists. So, naturally, once we’d finished with M&M World, we headed into Coke World. It’s exactly the same concept. Lots of over-priced Coke related memorabilia.

The one saving grace of both these stores is that the air-conditioning is blasting away, which means that it’s a great place to get out of the Las Vegas heat.

After spending perhaps half an hour looking at the over-priced candy and fizzy drinks, we moved on along the Strip. The high neon walls along the Strip are all lit up at night, advertising the next big thing to land in the City of Sin. We walked along, taking it all in, conscious that tomorrow would be a new view and everything would be different. Familiar names like Gordon Ramsay and Planet Hollywood mixed with new names like Cabo Wabo and Julian Serrano.

As we headed up towards the Bellagio, we crossed sides, so that we were on the right side to see the Fountains. When I was first in Vegas, they were just opening the Bellagio and although I got to see parts of it, I wasn’t able to see a full show. Over the years, we’ve seen bits on the television, but tonight, we were able to watch the show firsthand. It really is impressive, with jets of water being lit from below to a soundtrack.

USEFUL HINT – The shows run every 15 minutes at night during the high season. Time your arrival to get there just as one show ends (it’s about 5/6 minutes) and you’ll get a prime spot to watch from next time. No quarter is given by people trying to get a good view, so go prepared.

We were captivated by the artistry, and weren’t the only people who were disappointed to see it end. Onwards and upwards though (well, onwards up Las Vegas Boulevard). Next stop was the Starbucks at the edge of the Bellagio complex for a much needed sit down and drink.

Rested (well sort of), we headed up the Strip once more, next stop Mirage. The Mirage is another casino with a show out front. There was already a decent size crowd building up but we managed to find ourselves and settled back to watch the volcano.

As seems to be the want in the modern era, more than half the audience stuck their phones up in the air to record the entire performance. Come on guys, are you going to watch the whole thing back ever? Not only are you wasting storage space on something you won’t look, you are blocking the view of those around you. Most important though, live in the moment. Take it in. Enjoy it. Take some photos but revel in the show!

USEFUL HINT – The volcano at the Mirage erupts 3 times a night during the summer, on the hour between 8pm and 10pm. As with the Bellagio fountains, get there in plenty of time to get a good view. Fifteen minutes before isn’t a bad shout.

Given that it was now 10pm, and we were heading out in the morning, we decided to head back down to the hotel. We thought we’d take the monorail. I mean, who doesn’t love a good monorail?

The nearest stop to the Mirage is over the road at Harrah’s so we headed across there. Now, here’s where the problems start. The directions for the monorail take you into the casino but once you’re in there, it’s a bit confused. Every route has you turned around on yourself. In the end, we ended up at the back of the casino walking up an access staircase from a car park.

We did catch the monorail, and got a different view of Las Vegas on the ride back to the hotel. Being at the back of a casino in a car park at night with  no other pedestrians around though, well, that just felt like we were in the middle of a mob movie. All it needed was De Niro or Brando to pull up and make me an offer!

On the flip side, I did discover a the LINQ promenade, which had a more relaxed feel to it than actually being on the Strip (OK, I know it’s sixty feet from the Strip!). If I come back to Vegas again, I’d definitely be heading down to here to check it out.

Anyway, back at the hotel, thoughts turned to tomorrow and heading out. Bags were repacked and we geared up for the roadtrip proper.

Here we go………

Review – Starbucks, The Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada

Halfway through our trapse along Las Vegas Boulevard, we realised how thirsty we were. Sure, the sun had gone down, but it was still humid.

Having stood and watched the Bellagio Fountains, we thought we’d try and grab a quick drink and maybe even a seat before carrying on up to the Mirage.

The Starbucks is tucked back on the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and W Flamingo Road.

It’s part of the Bellagio complex and located at the foot of the escalator that takes you up to the Gucci store.

When we got there, the Fountains hadn’t long finished and there was a queue waiting to be served.

There aren’t many tables to sit at but we fell lucky and entered just as another group was leaving.

The queue was moving fairly steadily and it wasn’t too long before I was served.

It was too hot for hot drinks so we all plumped for cold drinks. The server got a little confused trying to find the cold drinks on the till, but he did manage it in the end.

Since I’d ordered cold drinks, they were ready quite quickly. The staff looked really frazzled by the sheer volume of customers and there wasn’t really any interaction with individuals.

It was all hands on deck in terms of serving so the tables all looked very dirty and were quiet sticky. We avoided putting anything on the table but were glad of the sit down, nevertheless.

We moved on fairly quickly. As a stop, it was necessity rather than choice. At best I’d say this was average.

Service (out of 10) – 6. Average. Really average.

Offer (out of 10) – 9. It sells coffee and other drinks.

Value for money (out of 10) – 5. Slightly expensive for what you get. Paying to be on the Strip

Review Slotzilla Zoomline, Las Vegas, Nevada

Things to do in Las Vegas – casino, pool, walk down the Strip, fountains at the Bellagio. Simple really.

Things to do in Las Vegas with an 18 year old and an 11 year old – well, the above applies, but they can’t do the casino bit, so I started looking for other options.

We’d talked about going up to Fremont Street, and a friend recommended trying out the zipline there. Knowing my kids, it was an immediate good idea.

Booking in advance is recommended on the Slotzilla website (and elsewhere). Ignoring this, I spent time digging around to try and find an offer. Believe me if I tell you that these just don’t seem to exist. The attraction of the Slotzilla is so big that I came across precisely zero coupons.

You can save a little if you ride earlier in the day, but given that we were heading up to Fremont Street to take in the whole experience, I decided I’d rather pay a little more than pay to come back.

You are supposed to arrive at the Booking Office about 10 minutes before your boarding time. We were held up in traffic getting to Fremont Street from the Strip and got to the Booking Office at boarding time.

There was a large queue in front of us, some people buying tickets on the day and some, like us, waiting to check-in. A group in front of us let us cut in (if you’re reading this, thanks guys), and the kids were soon checking in. The staff on the check-in were great, especially since our daughter needed her weight and height checking ahead of riding (you need to be a minimum of 80lbs / 36.2kg / 5 stone 7 to ride the Zoomline).

All checked in, the kids were given wristbands, and at this point, we said goodbye to them. Our daughter had a little nervous look at us before following her big brother up the stairs. We looked at each other, both thinking “This could be an expensive mistake!”

We headed up Fremont Street towards the Golden Nugget, trying to find somewhere to keep an eye on the zipline while we waited.

The Slotzilla website advises that it’s about an hour from boarding time to flying time. Our kids were waiting for about 45 minutes until it was their turn to fly. During this time, they were weighed, strapped into their harnesses and made ready to fly. Again the staff were really pleasant, and our daughter’s nervousness was replaced as the adrenaline kicked in.

All checks done and at the front of the queue, they lay down on mats and were clipped in to the rig. The door dropped down and off they flew heading out over Fremont Street at 35mph. The Viva Vision lightshow was in full effect and they flew along against a back drop of guitars and slot-machines.

We were stood outside the Four Queens casino, and having watched with anticipation for soon recognised the kids flying towards us.

Even from 100 feet away, we could see the looks of pure delight on their faces as they shot past us and headed towards the far end of Fremont Street.

The journey along the Zoomline takes about a minute, and once they got to the far-end, they were un-clipped, stepped out of the harness and were soon on their way out. A little gripe from the kids was that they felt that they were being hurried out as quickly as possible now that they had ridden.

We started walking up towards the far end of Fremont Street to meet them. When we caught up with them, they were still beaming from ear-to-ear. Two very happy (and now hungry) kids.

Money well spent. Next time, it’s our go!

Service (out of 10) – 9. Friendly and pleasant at the business end, the staff at the end of the ride gave the impression that they just wanted you gone.

Offer (out of 10) – 10. There are other ziplines in Vegas, but this is the only one (if you time it right) when you have the Viva Vision lights above you.

 

 

 

Review – McDonald’s, inside Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

We arrived at this McDonald’s after an evening on Fremont Street. It wasn’t our first choice, but was easily accessible after the crowded streets of Fremont Street Rocks.

The offer is the same as any other McDonald’s you’ll go into. At the time we were there, McDonald’s was running the Taste of the World promotion, which offered various things with a global twist.

Being boring and hungry, we stuck with what we knew, i.e. cheeseburgers, Big Macs etc.. Standing in the queue, service seemed a little slow. There was an outstanding order which the customer was getting irate about. The duty manager serving was getting worked up with the team in the back making the food and they, in return, were getting worked up with him. Not a great start!

Anyway, after a 3 or 4 minute wait, it was our turn. We ordered and then waited for our food. I got the impression that even though this McDonald’s is at the end of Fremont Street, they don’t expect to be busy on an evening, and so don’t have any food ready to go, hence the wait. If that’s the case, it would have been a good idea to have some kind of sign up advertising this.

After a longer than normal McDonald’s wait, our food was ready. It was, like a lot of McDonald’s food, really average.

The seating area really needs some TLC. It looks like it is shared with other outlets, but it looked tired and dirty. Empty food wrappers on the tables tells me that it’s not cleaned up very often. Maybe the staff are too busy discussing pressing issues in the kitchen?

I doubt I’ll be eating here again.

Service (out of 10) – 5. Slow, lack of attention to cleaning and I really don’t want to hear the arguments in the kitchen

Offer (out of 10) – 7. It’s a McDonalds. Burgers, fries and drinks. 

Review – Denny’s, Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada

Truth be told, I hadn’t even heard of Denny’s until we started planning the trip. We were watching a programme about the USA, and the presenter visited a Denny’s. Knowing where we were staying and finding out that there was one not too far away, it was an logical place to go for breakfast on our first day in Las Vegas.

We were greeted cheerfully as soon as we walked through the door, and shown to our table by our waitress. She was really friendly, and put up with 4 jet-lagged Brits stumbling through the menu.

Despite being a little over-whelmed by the choice on the menu, we ordered, sat back and took in being on holiday.

The restaurant was packed with people, mostly tourists to Las Vegas (I think). Everyone seemed to be enjoying their meals and there was a steady stream of food coming out from the kitchen.

The restaurant looks exactly as you’d expect an American dinner to look and there was enough space between tables so that we didn’t feel that we were sat with the next table, or so that we could overhear other conversations.

The drinks arrived at the table almost immediately, and we weren’t waiting long before our food came out. It was exactly what 4 weary travellers needed. There was a mixture of sweet and savoury orders, with pancakes, waffles, sausage, bacon, hash brown and much more.

I went for the Choconana Pancake Breakfast, with my egg over easy. It was an mix of cooked breakfast and pancakes (decorated with sliced banana, cream and choclate chips). It was definitely the right call, but also definitely a case of eyes bigger than my belly. Not that other members of the family were complaining as they helped me finish my pancakes.

Elsewhere around the table, the Grand Slam Slugger went down a treat, as did the Birthday Cake Pancake Breakfast.

The server kept our tea and coffee topped up and checked back in with us to make sure that we were happy with our meal.

All in all, a great start to the American experience for us.

Service (out of 10) – 10. Friendly and welcoming from the minute we walked through the door. The staff here were great.

Offer (out of 10) – 10. Nothing fancy, just plain old American cooking, but well made and served quickly. Tea and coffee was kept topped up.

Southwest Road trip – Day 2, Las Vegas, Nevada

After a long day travelling into Vegas, we all slept soundly. There was noise in the corridor from late-night gamblers and party-goers about 5am, but apart from that, it was gone 8am before any of us were awake. Still, that’s one way to get ahead of jet-lag.

The first order of the day was breakfast, and having seen it on a TV show a few weeks earlier, there was only one place we were heading – Denny’s.

Heading through the air-conditioned embrace of the MGM, we were met with the heat of a Nevada Desert mid-morning as we stepped outside. Even the “heatwave” at home before we left didn’t prepare us for a heat already in the high 30’s.

There is a Denny’s about a block up from the MGM heading north on Las Vegas Boulevard. We walked up past the M&M store (as a self-confessed chocaholic, you can imagine Thea’s face) and were soon being greeted and seated in Denny’s.

Denny’s is an American diner style chain with a big menu to choose from. We were seated in the middle of the restaurant which was a great place to people watch from. Saturday morning. There was a real mix of people eating in here. I’d wager that almost everyone was a tourist of some description, mostly American with a smattering of other nationalities. Some were ordering breakfast, some lunch. Coffee was flowing.

George and I went for bigger orders, Sarah and Thea somewhat smaller. Sarah tried American coffee and then switched (very quickly) to Lipton Yellow Label tea. Thea discovered Minute Maid juice and then the food arrived! It’s 20 years since I was last in the States and I had forgotten how big the portions can be.

That said, I was hungry (and so were the rest of the family) and we soon demolished breakfast, with refills of tea and coffee, and were heading back to the hotel.

Although we had planned out a lot of the trip, today was always going to be about relaxing and trying to overcome jetlag. A lazy start to the morning had gone some way to address this, but the obvious cure was to this was to head down to the pool and chill out for a few hours. If you are staying at the MGM Grand, you can use the pool for free. If not, you will need to pay. The MGM Grand boasts a long lazy river, a waterfall, 2 pools and a lot of sunbeds. The umbrellas are at a premium if you don’t book a sunbed though. There are plenty of trees around the pool area providing shade for parts of the day.

I had thought long and hard about booking some sunbeds for the day. There are various packages available, all of which mean that you get an umbrella and several of which mean that you get some degree of food and drink comped.

Useful hint – you can get water for free from the bar areas. The staff don’t like it, and they will expect you to tip. Don’t feel you have to everytime.

We found some sunbeds near the lazy river. The kids were straight into the water, looking cooler than they had all day. It wasn’t long before we joined them. Although the pool area is open, the area around it is built up and so it acts like a sun trap. Great for starting to tan, but if you’re not careful, you’re soon cooking.

Useful hint – unless you really need to, don’t take your phone to the pool. Every one of our phones were very quickly warning us of overheating because of the outside temperature.

We enjoyed a couple of hours around the pool, but after a while, it started to fill up with young Americans coming out of Wet Republic, which is the party pool at the MGM Grand, located not too far from the lazy river. The atmosphere got a lot more frantic, and we decided that it was probably time to head back to the room.

Well, some of us headed back to the room. Some of us pulled shopping duty and walked out to the Walgreen’s for snacks. Nowhere is cheap on the Strip, so be prepared to pay more for things like water and crisps than you would do further out.

Useful hint – If you are staying in the Grand Tower, it’s a good 10 minute walk through the casino to Las Vegas Boulevard. Great for step-counts, but try and plan your shopping trips into your day.

The main purpose of heading back to the room was to cool off and relax before heading up to Fremont Street later in the evening.

The trip to Fremont Street was anything but easy. The Uber app wasn’t playing ball, which meant that despite repeated attempts to book using it, nothing happened. We were booked in to the Zipline at 7.30pm, and needed to be there in advance. With panic setting in, we went out to the front of the hotel and jumped in a taxi.

Useful hint – If you’re heading up to Fremont Street from the Strip, plan to give yourself an hour and then add in another 30 minutes fail safe. Traffic in Las Vegas seems to come from nowhere.

The taxi headed up Las Vegas Freeway and got caught up in traffic. We could see the Zipline in the distance, and the covered area that is Fremont Street. The taxi driver pulled up near the Fremont Hotel on East Ogden Avenue and told us he could get no closer.

Jumping out, we headed quickly over to the booking office. The queue for the Zipline was out of the door, and at one point, it looked like we might miss the booking slot. Thankfully, owing to some really kind people in front of us, we moved fairly rapidly through the line and were soon checking in.

Well, I say we were checking in. This was actually a treat for the kids. They did the Superhero Zipline, flying for 5 blocks 120 feet above Fremont Street.

From checking in, there was a bit of wait before we saw the kids. Everytime we saw people setting off, we strained to see if it was the kids. It was probably about 45 minutes from them checking in to seeing them starting their journey across the top of Fremont Street.

Useful hint – The area around the Four Queens gives you a good view of who is flying on the Zipline. Move further down towards the Golden Nugget to get a good view of the Zoomline.

The Zoomline takes about a minute to ride. You might say “Is it worth it?” but the looks on the kids faces when they came off the ride told me that it was.

We had been stood outside the Four Queens so had to walk along Fremont Street to meet them

Since we were there on a Saturday evening, Fremont Street was hosting “Fremont Street Rocks”. This meant that a busy tourist destination was even busier and trying to keep an eye on what was going on was quite hard.

The music was getting going on 3 different stages up and down Fremont Street which meant the moving around became difficult.

Useful hint – Check out the Fremont Street Experience website for events and an idea of What’s On.

There was a heady mix of rock and pop in the air, but since none of us had heard of any of the acts, thoughts turned to food and being hungry.

Unfortunately, because Fremont Street Rocks was so busy, it made trying to find somewhere to eat a little more difficult.

Sections of Fremont Street were had barricades in place, especially around the main stage, and the volume of people trying to move through the security system meant that we soon discounted a few places to eat (such as Heart Attack Grill).

Walking back along Fremont Street, we could see a few places to eat, mostly inside casinos, and none really caught our attention. In the end, a quick Google search showed that there was a McDonalds inside the Plaza Hotel at the western end of Fremont Street, so we headed up there.

It was a strangely surreal experience. Coming from a country like the UK, where McDonalds makes a big thing of the Taste of America promotion every year, we never really considered that McDonalds in the USA would do a Taste of the World promotion, but there it was. A Spanish style burger, Dutch themed ice-cream, but no British inspired items. Come on guys, have a word!

Sticking pretty much to script (and trying to keep costs down) we order, collected our food and ate. Heading back out of the Plaza, we started walking back along Fremont Street. At this point, we began to realise how many people were out selling either photos or sex.

Strippers were trying to hand me and my 18 year old stepson cards advertising their place of work (it’s an assumption). His eyes were popping out of his head at times as he was confronted with a gaggle of buxom ladies wearing not very much.

Other people were dressed up as cartoon characters, super-heroes and movie characters, all trying to get you to buy a $10 photo opportunity with them.

Useful hint – Keep your family close, especially if you’ve got kids. Before you know it, you can be having to pay for a photo-op that you didn’t really want.

Trying to stick to a vague plan, we hustled over to the bus stop near Binion’s to catch the WAX back down the Strip.

The WAX is one of the express routes operated in Las Vegas and is a good way to move around (and reasonably cheap), if you leave yourself enough time (see the earlier comment!). It looked like we had missed it, because the scheduled time came and went, but a very helpful guy from the RTC (the transit authority) gave us all the information we needed to get back down to the MGM. Knowing that the WAX was running slightly behind schedule, we waited and fairly quickly it was pulling in and we were heading back to the hotel.

The WAX takes about 25 minutes to run down to the MGM Grand. It pulls up on Tropicana Avenue so if you are staying at the bottom end of the Strip, it’s a very quick way to move around.

We headed back into the MGM and back to the room. We’d already told the kids that we were going to see them back to the room and then head out for a drink. A few years ago, this would have resulted in a pantomime performance. Now, all we got was a “whatever”. Progress? So, back down to the casino floor for a break from the kids. We headed to TAP, the Sports Bar in the MGM Grand. We did have plans to head out to another casino and check it out, but it was later than expected, so we just hit the first place we came to.

The bar was advertising Happy Hour drinks as well, with a choice of cocktails and draught beers. However, we didn’t really do our checking and this was only on specific drinks. We ended up paying full price for our drinks, which cut the night short a little.

There wasn’t much atmosphere in TAP, with nearly as many staff in there as customers (it was about 10.30pm by this point), so we called it a night and headed back to our room.

Review – Escape Lounge T2, Manchester Airport

Airport lounge. Indulgence or necessity? Not too many years ago, I would have said indulgence. However, then I went to a regional airport at the start of a family holiday and bought breakfast for 4. About 20 minutes after ordering, nearly £40 lighter, without a seat because the airport was so busy, and with no access to charging points or Wi-Fi, I realised that actually I might be missing a trick.

Don’t get me wrong, airport lounges aren’t cheap, but if you can find a good deal on-line (and there are often deals to be had), and you can get yourself to the airport with time to enjoy the lounge, there isn’t a better way to start your holiday.

Anyway, what about the Escape Lounge at T2?

We cleared security at Manchester quickly and soon through in the departure area. The lounges in T2 are up on the first floor, and are accessed either by lift or by stairs.

There are different lounges within in the same area, but Escape Lounge is well sign-posted.

We presented our voucher and were quickly checked in. We were shown to our table and told where to find food and drink. It is self-service, but there was a good choice of hot and cold food, and of hot and cold drinks (including alcohol). The staff were really pleasant and welcoming.

Wine (including sparkling wine), beer and spirits were available from the bar. Some beers were also stocked in the fridges near the hot drinks machines. There was a good selection of food available. Breakfast (croissants / sausage / bacon / danish pastries) is served until 11am and then lunch is served from 11.30am. There was no problem with any of the my party finding something to eat.

The Wi-Fi password was given at check-in and the Lounge has a good, strong Wi-Fi connection.

There are no announcements made in the lounge. It is down to the individual to keep an eye on the departure board and make sure they give themselves plenty of time to get to the gates (10 minutes).

A couple of small gripes.

Firstly, the tables in the centre of the room don’t have access to charging points. There was a bank of unreserved seating where devices can be plugged in to charge, and some other sockets scattered around the lounge, but when the lounge is busy, I can see this being a sticking point.

Secondly, because of where we were sitting and the size of the table,  used crockery built up really quickly which meant space ran out. The smaller, round tables aren’t really suited for 4 people, but if they are going to be used, surely it would be better to have these cleared more frequently, or give customers somewhere to move the dirty plates to.

All in all, this was one of the better airport lounges I have used.

Service (out of 10) – Nearly faultless. Everything good customer service should be on arrival and at the counter. Just let down by the speed of clearing tables – 9

Offer (out of 10) – Again, nearly faultless. Good selection of food and drink and good Wi-Fi connectivity. Let down by a lack of charging points – 9

 

Review – MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada

Heading to Vegas at the start of a trip, we needed a hotel to stay at. Heading to Vegas at the start of a holiday, we needed a casino. We wanted to be on the Strip, but not too far from the airport so that we arrived fairly quickly.

There were a few different options considered but in the end, we settled on the MGM Grand.

The taxi from the airport swept into the forecourt and we stepped out into our first taste of Vegas. We were immediately greeted by hotel staff and asked if we wanted help with our bags. We politely declined and headed inside to check in.

The entrance lobby at the MGM Grand is enormous. Immediately you are greeted by a golden replica of the MGM lion, Leo, in the middle of a flower bed. The opulence of the reception area lets you know immediately that you are in Vegas (if you’d forgotten).

Even though we arrived at night, there was still a steady stream of people checking in, checking out, or just with general questions. As a queue built up, it was good to see more reception staff come to the desk from the back office area so that no-one seemed to be waiting for more than a few minutes.

Having booked on-line and used the MGM app to check in, we were able to use the Express lane, which very quickly saw us being welcomed to the hotel. We were given a few bottles of water to drink (never underestimate the need for water in Las Vegas!) and given a handy map to guide us around the hotel (yes, it really is that big). We were encouraged to take in the Cirque de Soleil show while we were staying there (from only $69) and told how to reach our rooms. The staff member who served us, was great, if a little over exuberant. Getting off a long haul flight from the UK wasn’t the time to try and up-sell me, but he didn’t know that.

We followed the instructions on the map and were very quickly moving up the lift in the Grand Tower. Staying on the 21st floor, we had a great view of the strip from our room, and arriving at night meant that we really got the full impact.

The room had two Queen size beds (note – American Queen size beds are larger than European / UK ones) which was more than adequate for the four of us. There was a large bathroom, plenty of storage space, a safe and a large screen TV.

To be fair, being in Vegas, we didn’t use the hotel room much apart from sleeping but none of us could complain about the quality of the sleep we got. The air-con is controlled in room as well, so you can vary that to suit your own needs.

The level of service around the hotel from staff was great too, from the welcome we received on arrival to the way we were treated at departure.

We stayed here on a room only basis. There are dining options in the hotel, but none attached to price.

A couple of gripes on my part though. Firstly, some of the staff working in the retail units can be really in your face, especially when they are selling beauty products. There is an awful lot of hard-sell going on which does get on your nerves.

Secondly, sometimes the housekeeping response time was fairly slow. On our last day, we had two minor incidents which needed dealing with. Firstly, the batteries failed on the safe. Despite reporting it, and being told it would be dealt with in 10/15 minutes, it was nearly an hour of sitting around waiting, without any feedback from the hotel. I get that delays happen, but we should have been kept in the loop. Also on our last day, housekeeping missed off our room, so we were left with a pile of wet towels on the floor. Again, a quick call to resolve, but again another hour waiting for any kind of response despite being told someone would be with us in 10/15 minutes. Just little things, but not great customer service.

So, bottom line, would I stay here again. Yes, in a word. I’d like to try other Vegas hotels, but I would come back here.

Service (out of 10) – 8. Should have done better on the little things. However, can’t fault the service apart from that.

Offer (out of 10) – 10. Glitz and glamour. A great hotel to start the holiday with.