Las Vegas Advisor.com

[sushitex]

When I clicked the link for the "Top Ten Values" in Las Vegas, I also discovered LasVegasAdvisor. com. They are advertising a Pocketful of Values Coupon book, which comes only with the annual membership of $50.00.

Has anyone here purchased the Pocketful of Values book, and was it worth the money?

By the way, my husband and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary by going to Las Vegas in May. We've exchanged (through RCI) into a 1-bedroom unit at Hilton Grand Vacations Club on the Las Vegas Strip. We own Fairshare Plus points (now Wyndhman, of course) and I've never been to Las Vegas or at a Hilton timeshare resort before. Hubby has been to Las Vegas once before, while presenting at a conference in Sept. 2005 (he stayed at the Mirage.)

Anyway, any general advice for a Las Vegas-newbie will also be most welcome. Thanks!

Annette in Texas

 

[AwayWeGo]

P.O.V.

Has anyone here purchased the Pocketful of Values book, and was it worth the money?

Buying the P.O.V. also gets you a year's membership at LasVegasAdvisor.com, which may or may not be worth something. Before our next-to-most-recent Las Vegas vacation (2004), we joined up just to get hold of the P.O.V.

As that vacation recedes deeper into the past, I remember fewer of the details. From what's left of what I can recall, however, I believe we used a P.O.V. rental car discount coupon (got a great deal on a Chevy Cavalier that badly needed its brake rotors machined flat) -- plus a P.O.V. coupon good for a $10 deal on Steak Dinner & A Movie For Two. The steak dinner was good but non-fancy at a restaurant inside the El Cortez downtown -- had to join their players club 1st, but that was quick & easy & free. The movie was at the Neonopolis, also downtown -- hardly anybody there when we took in the movie (which we enjoyed) that was part of the deal.

Before you spring for the 2007 P.O.V., you can check out what's in it & decide if that's worth it for you. Click here.

Above all, have fun.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Karen G]

Anyway, any general advice for a Las Vegas-newbie will also be most welcome.

An activity that I enjoyed on our recent trip was taking the Deuce Bus up and down the Strip. It stops right outside the HGVC Strip location as well as anywhere else on the Strip you might want to go. It's a hop-on hop-off arrangement where you can buy a 24-hour pass for $5.

Since this is your first visit to LV, it might be fun for you to ride the whole Strip just to become familiar with where everything is located. You'll also get a good idea of the distance between hotels, which can be deceptive. At first glance, it seems like everything is close together, but it's really a long walk between many locations. If you can get the front seat on the upper deck, you'll get a great view of everything. Go early in the day before the traffic gets too heavy.

 

[Fern Modena]

I've been a subscriber to LVA for many years. The POV is a good deal if you have an auto and will be spending time off-strip. Most of the shows they offer can be had just as cheap elsewhere these days, but its easier using theirs than chasing around. Besides, the Scintas is a really good show, and not always discounted. There are a lot of restaurant coupons. I always use the one for Capri, an nice Italian Restaurant in Sunset Station. I also use the one for the 2 for 1 for Main Street Station's buffet, when I'm visiting with folks who are staying downtown. I always use the Silverton. They have a good mid-range buffet, as does the Orleans. Gold Coast is smaller, but good for breakfast (get there late and you can stay for lunch, too). The Palms coupon is a 50% comp on a number of restaurants, etc.

Fern

 

[AwayWeGo]

Scintas.

Besides, the Scintas is a really good show, and not always discounted.

We missed seeing The Scintas at the Rio when we were there in 2004, so we made a point of taking in their show next time we were in town, 2006. By then The Scintas had left the Rio & gone over to the Sahara.

What would have been a really nice show was just about ruined by seriously excessive sound levels on the amplification system -- not just a little too loud but way up at the pain threshold. We had perfect center seats midway between front & back -- & had to move way off to the side in an attempt to get away from the point-blank, direct-hit sonic overload. Even over there it was uncomfortably loud -- pretty much ruined the performance for The Chief Of Staff & badly damaged it for me. (And, shucks, I play concert band music year in & year out, so I have no problem with loud .) After we got home, I looked up The Scintas on the Internet, & sent'm an E-Mail describing how our experience of their otherwise outstanding show was ruined by the audio crew -- got a polite response, but have no way of knowing whether anything changed. So it goes.

On that 2004 vacation, we took in another Sahara show that would have been twice as good if it had been half as loud. It doesn't have to be that way. If they'd send the Sahara auditorium sound crews over to Branson MO, maybe the Las Vegas folks could learn a thing or 2 there about producing good, loud, full, high-quality sound levels without going over anybody's confort limit.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Topeka Tom]

Same deal last year at Mama Mia! No staff in the theater during the performance. Possibly because of OSHA. We were mid-rear balcony. If we had been any closer, we would have had to move.

I am talented enough to make music sound loud. I would be at best mediocre at making it sound good. No brag, just fact!

 

[sushitex]

Thanks for the advice, etc.

Thanks for replying. It's going to be roughly 4 months before we go to Las Vegas, but I'm already doing "research" in anticipation.

Annette in Texas

 

[Cathy in Boston]

We just got our POV booklet for 2007 and it is much improved over recent years. If you have any interest in reading about what's going on in Vegas, then you will really enjoy the LVA newsletter, and the POV will probably save you some $$$ when you're in town.

 

[Duluthian]

The POV is a good deal. We have used it for 3 years now on our trips and it has saved us a lot of money. The 2 for 1 buffet and dinners turns out to be a good deal.