Suzanne, my motivation is to stretch our Travel budget as far as I possibly can, in order to be on t

It's been a busy month! Immediately after returning from our younger daughter's wedding this last weekend, we turned reviews of imperial hotel in london around and headed to Las Vegas to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary. Our goal was to celebrate our anniversary and have a blast doing so, but also to stay on budget . . . a difficult task in this city of excess.
It started with a promotion I spotted on Travel Zoo a few months back offering an overnight stay at Bally's plus a nightly buffet dinner for two at either Paris , Planet Hollywood or Rio , all for just $56 a night. I bought a two night stay for $112 total, and began quickly planning out the rest of the trip. Neither Mike or I care to gamble - we view Las Vegas primarily as an easy-to-drive-to destination where we can enjoy top notch shows and fabulous dining. Neither of which come cheap by the way. The days of cheap shows and even cheaper buffets are long gone, at least on The Strip.
Hotel reservations secured, I zeroed in on which shows we wanted to see. The budget allowed for one blow out show, which we had already decided would be Viva Elvis by Cirque du Soleil, plus one or two more shows that were considerably reviews of imperial hotel in london less expensive. I turned to my trusty discount sites, TravelZoo and GoldStar , and quickly found 50% discounted tickets to The BeatleShow at Planet Hollywood. Perfect! We had buffet privileges at Planet Hollywood because of our TravelZoo voucher, which would make for a perfect dining/entertainment combo.
Now to try and score discounted Viva Elvis tickets . . . there was nothing on either the official Viva Elvis site, GoldStar or TravelZoo, so I did a general search next, using "Discount reviews of imperial hotel in london Offers for Viva Elvis in Las Vegas" as my search phrase. Success! Displayed were numerous reviews of imperial hotel in london sites offering a 25% discount per ticket. I selected a website that appeared credible and purchased discounted, mid-range $90 per person tickets that placed us in Row 8, stage right. And yes, $90 was only mid-range, even after the 25% discount!
On the morning of our trip, I packed reviews of imperial hotel in london a bag with granola bars, bananas, apples, bread, peanut butter, jelly, cookies and pretzels, and filled a small portable ice cooler with water and soda, to cover us for breakfasts and lunches during our trip. Buying all three meals out becomes reviews of imperial hotel in london quickly cost prohibitive, not to mention calorie prohibitive. We prefer to eat simply for two of our three daily meals, and splurge on just one. I also brought a bottle of wine to enjoy in our hotel room, allowing us to bypass the ridiculously overpriced reviews of imperial hotel in london restaurant and bar wine offerings. To give you an idea of how steep the markup reviews of imperial hotel in london is, I brought a lovely J. Lohr 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon that set us back $30, but I have personally seen this same bottle offered at $105 in more than one restaurant.
We enjoyed a pre-anniversary toast in our room (our actually reviews of imperial hotel in london 30th wedding anniversary was the next day) before heading out to explore both Bally's and Paris, since the two hotels are connected. We walked through the Paris shopping arcade, enjoying window gazing at the high end boutiques, and shared a frozen hurricane at Fat Tuesdays, before heading reviews of imperial hotel in london over to Planet Hollywood reviews of imperial hotel in london to see The BeatleShow reviews of imperial hotel in london and have dinner at the hotel's Spice Market buffet. Both were wonderful, and a bargain to boot. The show tickets reviews of imperial hotel in london were purchased at half price for $35 each, and the buffet was part of our hotel deal, in essence reviews of imperial hotel in london free.
On day two, our actual anniversary, we started off the day by walking over to the MGM Grand to do the CSI Experience. I knew it was an interactive event that involved trying to solve a crime CSI style, and I liked that I'd bought the tickets reviews of imperial hotel in london at a 25% discount, but other than that I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, it turned out it was a lot of fun! We were given a file folder and a set of visual clues, and then had to use our own powers of observation to determine who did it, in CSI style of course.
After coming out of the exhibit, we walked over to Wolfgang Puck's Bar Grill, still within the MGM Grand, to enjoy a must-try appetizer I'd read about while putting together this trip - Truffled Potato Chips with Bleu Cheese. When they brought out the plate below, we about passed out from the wonderful aroma. What can I say other than that they were deliciously decadent . . . and that we ate the plate clean.
reviews of imperial hotel in london We walked a portion of The Strip next, to try and burn off at least a few of the calories we'd just ingested, before heading back to our hotel to change into swim suits and while away the remainder of the afternoon at the pool.
We headed reviews of imperial hotel in london back up to our room afterward for much needed naps, then got ready for our fancy-schmancy anniversary celebration evening - our free dinner at Paris' Le Village buffet, followed by Viva Elvis at The Aria hotel, about a 30 minute walk from Paris. Given I'm not a night owl by nature, I was counting on the walk to refresh and revive me before we arrived at the show and took our seats, which it did. And what a show it was! A rockin', rousing 90 minutes of music, dance, acrobatics and special effects which knocked both our socks off. Honestly, how did we exist before Cirque du Soleil came along and raised the bar so on live entertainment?
We stopped on the way back to our hotel to enjoy the 11:30 PM water fountain show at The Bellagio, before pouring ourselves into bed, completely exhausted, but totally satisfied with our big day, and with the trip overall.
Take away the pricey 30th Anniversary celebration to go see Viva Elvis, substituting a less expensive and discounted show like, say The Australian Bee Gees at the Excalibur for $25 a ticket, and the cost drops significantly to somewhere around $375. Which, for an action packed two night stay in Las Vegas, is not a bad deal at all, and proof that with a little pre-planning, Las Vegas can still qualify as a bargain destination.
You guys do the most incredible job of living large while spending small. Two days in Las Vegas feels like four days anywhere else so I bet you arrived home pleasantly tired. Maybe one of your posts should be nothing more than a list of all the discount sites you use and trust. Reply Delete Replies Early Retiree Tamara June 29, 2012 9:26 AM
I agree with your two days in Las Vegas feels like four comment. I don t think we could have survived a third day - this city both gives out and takes in an excess of energy! I m no expert on discount sites, currently using just a hand full, but I will absolutely continue to share my findings as I discover more! Delete Reply Suzanne and Malcolm June 29, 2012 10:34 AM
Tamara, reviews of imperial hotel in london You packed a lot of excitement into a little budget. Those truffle chips look amazing. I ve had truffle fries but never with the blue cheese dressing. Next time I ll ask for a side car. Happy Anniversary. Reply Delete Replies Early Retiree Tamara June 29, 2012 6:50 PM
Suzanne, my motivation is to stretch our Travel budget as far as I possibly can, in order to be on the road as much as we possibly can. Fully 50% of the time if at all possible, which it looks like we ll actually achieve in 2013. Delete Reply Madeline Hill,Astrologer,Tarot Counselor June 30, 2012 6:53 AM
Fantastic post! We live in Phoenix and Las Vegas is an easy get away for us,sometimes.I will be much more diligent about looking for bargains after reading our post on all the deals you found.SPICE buffet and PARIS buffet are my FAVORITE places to eat in Vegas! Happy Anniversary! Reply Delete Replies Early Retiree Tamara reviews of imperial hotel in london June 30, 2012 8:07 AM
Las Vegas has become an annual trip for us of sorts. We d much rather go there for two nights in order to get our fill of big production, live entertainment and fine dining vs. heading into Los Angeles. Once we re in Vegas, our feet take us everywhere we wish to go, which I enjoy, vs. the stress of dealing with traffic and parking (plus parking fees!) in the L.A. area. Sign up for every discount deal site you can find and then keep your eyes peeled reviews of imperial hotel in london for great offers. They do come along! :-) Delete Reply dbethoney June 30, 2012 12:32 PM
Hmm, which part of my write up makes it appear we deprived ourselves? The fabulous shows we went to? The lovely hotel we stayed at? The lovely buffets we dined at? The pool we enjoyed? reviews of imperial hotel in london Or is it just the paltry price tag you are taking offense at? Either way, I m certainly not taking offense, and absolutely agree you have the right to work for as long as you wish to support whatever retirement lifestyle you wish to enjoy. Delete Reply dbethoney June 30, 2012 1:27 PM
Just don t know many people that consider pb j fine dining Sounds like y all shoulda stayed home, rented a movie and saved yourself some money. Just my opinion. Reply Delete Replies Early Retiree Tamara June 30, 2012 1:53 PM
Bahahahhahha. That s funny. I think being able to retire early...and then being able to remain retired...all while enjoying what life has to offer at less then full price? Fabulous. Tamara...keep blogging for those of us who would LOVE to be able to retire...but aren t there yet. I m keeping all this information for MY future use. And lots of people aren t going to get that sometimes food is just fuel, nothing more. Keep being active, reviews of imperial hotel in london keep posting, and keep being...well, cheap! I for one love to read all about it. Reply Delete Replies Early Retiree Tamara July 1, 2012 7:14 AM
I retired at 48 in April of 2011, and my spouse retired in May of 2012 at the age of 56. Our plan is to spend half our time traveling around the world by RV, plane boat, and the other half living big at home. Join us as we discover who we are without our job titles!