"Buffet of Buffets" Pass : Offered at all Caesar's Entertainment properties with buffets (Harrah's, Rio, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Caesar's Palace and Paris). It is $45 + tax with your Rewards card, or $50 if you don't use the Rewards card. You can buy it at any of the listed. It entitles you to 24 hours of unlimited access to all the listed buffets available. It is a lot of food for 24 hours and can be overwhelming, so I recommend that you indulge only if you are up to it.
You can check the details here: https://www.caesars.com/las-vegas/buffet-of-buffets
Best Case Scenario: To make the most of the “Buffet of Buffets” pass, try to get a late dinner, then get up in the morning and have a light breakfast followed by lunch and then get an earlier dinner. You must try Rio, Planet Hollywood which have good buffet layouts. Imperial Palace, Flamingo did not seem too great. Paris is good fun but not so kid friendly for dinner. Caesar's buffet is good.
Other Buffet Coupons: You can write to the Las Vegas Tourist Information Board to request coupons. Some catalogs have coupons in hotel rooms as well. You can also just walk into a casino and ask if there are any discounts available on buffet prices. If you are a gamer, there are almost always buffet options if you win. Sometimes, there are presentations you can watch in exchange for free meals, and almost all of the time, there are Las Vegas buffet coupons to be handed out. Depends on how much time you are willing to spend.
Holiday Surge: During busy holiday weekends, many buffets turn up their prices. The buffets have some special menu items for holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving or Easter, but expect to pay extra for them. Also prices are higher on Super Bowl weekend, 4th of July, during March Madness, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc. So plan accordingly.
Go an hour before: Costs vary depending upon which meal of the day is being served at a buffet. Dinner costs more than lunch or breakfast. If you time it right and arrive just before the lunch menu is served you could pay the breakfast price and enjoy the lunch menu. The same goes for paying the lunch price, but getting the dinner meal. This doesn’t work at all buffets. Some of them actually close for an hour or two between meals.
There is Meal Ticket that includes multiple dining options at the low price of $44 per day, and comes with maps, list of restaurants and directions. Or you can buy LVA membership for $50 a year for more coupons on buffets, casinos and shows: http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/whyjoin-mrbdetails.cfm
Also check out Groupon for local deals or here for more coupons and free stuff: http://www.travelvegas.com/coupons/
http://www.lasvegas-how-to.com/free-stuff.php
Rest of the stay details coming in the next post. Stay tuned!
Continuing from the previous post, I will now share my experiences on the things I did and the places I visited in Vegas.
I wanted to stay on the Strip (at least for the 3 days I was in Vegas). We selected Mandalay Bay, which is almost at one end of the strip, but I found the location to be ideal as they have a tram service that connects the resort to its sister properties, Excalibur and Luxor. The resort itself is magnanimous and often, I would find myself struggling to navigate to my room location. But this is one hotel that has a food court option, so I did balance between spending on glamorous food and cheaper cafe options.
Also, my room was in the main tower on 23rd floor and I could pretty much see the strip from there. I could also see the Mandalay beach from my room, which is an 11 acres (4.5 ha) pool area with three heated pools, a wave pool with connecting pool for small children, and a lazy river that features a small waterfall. It was the perfect location I could have asked for.
The casino is casino of 135,000 square feet (12,500 m2) and is adjacent to the beach, so people are seen in beachwear at the slot machines and inside the casino. They also have a saltwater aquarium, the Shark Reef Aquarium, which contains the third largest tank in North America and contains numerous other exhibits, including two tunnel-shaped, walk-through aquarium. A shopping mall called Mandalay Place is also located between Mandalay Bay and Luxor.
Mandalay Bay has a number of shows on premise, do check out the calendar of events, in case you are interested.
Beach Concerts: http://www.mandalaybay.com/entertainment/beach-concert-series/
House of Blues: http://www.mandalaybay.com/entertainment/house-of-blues/
LIGHT nightclub: http://www.mandalaybay.com/thelightvegas/
Cirque du Soleil shows (Michael Jackson ONE): http://www.mandalaybay.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-ONE/
Love
TipToes!
I had already made my lists of things I wanted to do in the 3 days in Vegas. I wish I could plan a longer trip (I always want to)! So on this trip, I was trying to be as frugal as possible because it was a longer trip and I didn’t want to gamble away all my money in Vegas (I am unlucky at gambling anyway) and also, I wanted to focus on spending money at awesome experiences. Let me try and cover my activities under headings so I don’t miss out on any details.
Mandalay Bay has over 24 restaurants, the best one I discovered was the Burger Bar, which has a range of gourmet burgers and awesome beer list to choose from that are hard to find. Although it was at least a 20-30 minute wait for our food to finally come out, but is worth a visit if you are not starving. They do not take reservations, however you can call 30 minutes before you go and have your name put on the list so when you arrive you only have about a 5 minute wait. Try their adult milkshakes and they are never disappointing. You can get a make your own burger the way you like it for about $15-$17 but it is worth every cent. You may compare it to Gordon Ramsay's Burger joint, but I find Burger Bar to be the clear winner. Again, very pricey and we paid almost $65 for our burgers and drinks, but well worth the experience.
You can find the top buffet options for Vegas here:
http://www.vegas.com/traveltips/top-10-buffets/
http://www.lasvegas-how-to.com/top-10-las-vegas-buffets.php
http://www.10best.com/destinations/nevada/las-vegas/restaurants/buffet/
Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s Palace is one of the best and most popular buffet options so we decided to go there for lunch. We went early around 12, so the waiting was around 20 minutes. It is priced at around $50 per person and is divided into different stations - Asian, Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Meats, Seafood, and Desserts. You can spend $22 more for unlimited alcoholic libations, but we opted for Green Apple iced teas which were so good that we had to order them again despite the amount of food we had. The food spread was awesome with pre-split crab legs, jumbo shrimp, fresh squeezed juices, noodle soups, a carving station with 9 meats, and the endless dessert section. Our favorite was the Dim Sum and Asian section, the duck and dim sums were heavenly. Also, the lamb chops were seared well and tender, with a juicy aftertaste and the street tacos were good too. The desserts were small enough that we didn’t feel guilty about piling them on in our plates. Mini cupcakes, bread pudding, creme brûlée, crepes made to order and a lavish spread of ice creams with toppings. It is customary to tip the server at a buffet who brings you drinks and clears your plates. In case you don’t have cash, you can add your tip to your credit card when you pay at the register up front. You can dress casual for any of the buffets you visit.
Note: You can get a players card or a VIP pass to bypass the line. If you’re at a hotel, get the property’s player’s card. If a player’s card isn’t available you might be able to just buy a line pass (around $20).
On our last day in Vegas, we decided to have brunch at the Wicked Spoon in Wynn. While we stood in the long line to wait, the floral décor of the place brought a smile to my face. Beautiful garden setting in the center with lavish floral arrangements and high glass ceiling that showered natural light. I could have paid just for sitting there and sipping tea! When our turn came, I requested to be seated in the central floral arena, which meant waiting a few extra minutes, but I didn’t mind at all. It was priced at around $39 per person for brunch. Made to order omelets, breakfast sausages and bacon all sizzling hot. Fresh pancakes with syrups and toppings, French toast and freshly baked breads and cakes, make your own breakfast burritos, and breakfast pizza. A carving station served tender slices of a variety of meats, a Chinese station with plenty of Asian favorites; an Indian station with curries, a seafood station with piles of crab legs and shrimp, the spread was almost endless. The dessert area was also great with baked goods and hand-scooped ice creams, bread pudding, and more. Although the spread was vast and the ambiance was heavenly, we found the food taste not as impressive as Bacchanal.