Seasons Greetings, Suggested hotels, Things to come,

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This posting is from: Densie
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> Harrah's: (midscale, center Strip)
> Imperial Palace: (lower-priced, center Strip)
> MGM Grand: (moderately upscale, south Strip)
> Paris: (upscale, center Strip)
> Rio: (upper-midscale, off-Strip)

Umm...what's the difference between upper-midscale and moderately
upscale? I'm so cornfused!

We were going to stay at the Strat, but we decided to do Paris instead,
because the food looks good, and so that I can annoy the staff by
speaking French to them, instead of Spanish. It's about $1000 for the
week, certainly not very expensive in today's dollars.

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(This posting was entered by Densie, an external user of MyDLV.)

[annie]

>> MGM Grand: (moderately upscale, south Strip)
>> Rio: (upper-midscale, off-Strip)

> Umm...what's the difference between upper-midscale and moderately
> upscale? I'm so cornfused!

In comparing the two, MGM Grand is definitely nicer than the Rio, although the management (and even the fans) of the Rio might disagree. The Rio is nice, and definitely nicer than Harrah's admitted-midscale properties such as Harrah's and Flamingo, but most definitely a step down from Bellagio, Mandalay, City Center, and others which would be "Upscale" in class.

MGM was most definitely "Upscale with a capital U" when it opened, but that was quite a while ago, and although it's still an elegant place, it's been eclipsed by some of the newer places.

> We were going to stay at the Strat, but we decided to do Paris instead,
> because the food looks good, and so that I can annoy the staff by
> speaking French to them, instead of Spanish. It's about $1000 for the
> week, certainly not very expensive in today's dollars.

The only problem with the Strat is that it's sitting by itself up there in what's otherwise a very dicey area. You know, that area where Ginger bought a toothbrush and drank Galiano [sic] with the winos. Paris is closer to the center of the action and an easy walk to quite a few places.

You'll most definitely need to have your own vehicle if you stay at the Strat. I've found that I enjoy DLV better without a vehicle.

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This posting is from: Michelle
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rio is not very t-friendly

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(This posting was entered by Michelle, an external user of MyDLV.)

[annie]

> rio is not very t-friendly

Uh, why do you say that?

Is there something that we don't know which we should know?

[Densie]

annie wrote :

> You'll most definitely need to have your own vehicle if you stay at the Strat. I've
> found that I enjoy DLV better without a vehicle.

The absolute last thing I am going to want to do on vacation is drive a vehicle! We've had good luck with the monorail on our last few visits, so we probably won't even rent a car this time.

I do kind of miss the "Annie van" though.

[annie]

> The absolute last thing I am going to want to do on vacation is drive a vehicle!

The last time I had a vehicle for DLV it stayed in the garage most of the time, plus on the night we went to the Bahama Breeze I drove, then had far too many adult beverages, and ended up leaving the car there and bumming a ride back.

When I took a taxi to pick it up the next morning, the driver asked me where I was going and I said "Bahama Breeze" and he remarked that they were not open yet. I then explained that I was picking up my car, yadda yadda. He then remarked that he wished more people would do that, because when he was driving the night shift he lost count of the near-accidents due to those who really should not be driving.

Same for Pinkfest. Last time I had a car there it sat unused for most of the time.

> We've had good luck with the monorail on our last few visits, so we probably won't
> even rent a car this time.

What you save on the rental car does cover the price of a Monorail pass plus 1-2 taxi rides per day.

> I do kind of miss the "Annie van" though.

My attorney kinda talked me out of doing that!

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This posting is from: Nikki
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Does anyone have any information on NYNY as far as their acceptance of
us gurls? Any restroom issues?

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(This posting was entered by Nikki, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: Kate Smith
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Hi.

I have stayed at The Rio 5 times, Twice as Katie and never had any problems
with the staff there. However and a big however it is. The place was overrun
with kids the last trip in September 2010, The classsic Carnival Buffet they
used to have was run down and extremely overcrowded and was also overrun with
kids.

I will stay there again as they send me good free offers but my dining will be
done elsewhere. Kids are great but Not in Vegas. So if kids are a roadblock
for you as they are for me when I go on vacation then I would give the Rio a
bye.

Katie.

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(This posting was entered by Kate Smith, an external user of MyDLV.)

[annie]

> Does anyone have any information on NYNY as far as their acceptance of
> us gurls?

In almost all cases, if you dress and act like a lady or gentleman, whichever you prefer, pay your bill, and don't trash the place, you will be a welcome guest of most LV area hotels.

>Any restroom issues?

One of the "best practices" is that if you are staying in a particular hotel, it's always best to use the restroom in your hotel room. There's absolutely no question about it being comfortable, legal, or appropriate.

We've had restroom issues and incidents in almost all of the major hotels throughout our history, but most of those have been a direct result of people not following guidelines and ignoring best practices. Obvious usage, going in groups, loud talking in obvious male voices, standing in the stall, and fraternizing with curious GGs in the ladies room are recent issues which have provoked incidents.

These two documents summarize the topic quite well.

http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/rroom.html
http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/dlvrest.html

Our history has shown that if everyone follows the guidelines, there will be few issues and incidents.

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This posting is from: Rosada Delano
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About the restroom issue, I just want to say that lately I have been using the
men's restroom when in fem attire without any problems. I treat it as a joke
actually, and haven't had any negative results. One time, I was at a
fundraiser and used the men's facilities. A custodian was in there cleaning
the mirrors, and when he saw me he told me the women's restroom was next door.
I joked with him and told him I was really "a guy in dress", and he said to
me. "really, you could have fooled me." To which I told him "Thank You..that
means I must be doing it right" Another time, I came out of the stall and
there was man at the urinal and several men at the sink washing their hands.
They saw me and I jokingly told them, "don't worry fellas, I've seen it all
before!" They laughed and went on with their business. Could I get away with
doing that in LV? - Rosada

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(This posting was entered by Rosada Delano, an external user of MyDLV.)