AZ State at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on 12/22?

[Redmen07]

Jack and I also attended the UCLA game out here. The UCLA center killed us. He never moved, just stayed near the basket.

I hope this time we finally crack through the win column.

FYI - That Big Man was Joshua Smith, the Gtown center this season. We shut him down and he fouled out in only 8 min this year at MSG. He transferred from UCLA to Gtown right after that season.

And for those looking for hotels remember the old saying, you get what you pay for. IMO spending a little more and staying at Ceasars, Planet Hollywood, or Mandaly Bay(close to MGM and connect to Excalibur by free monorail) is worth it.

This is very,very true in Vegas. Avoid the Excalibur at all costs...unless you like Motel 6 type of rooms. The Luxor....is a tomb. Seriously dark, dank and has a vague moldy smell. Take a step up to Mandalay, or if a deal is being run, The Delano (formerly The Hotel).
If you want to spend a little more, go with any of the big 4 hotels, The Venetian, The Bellagio,Wynn or Aria. You can't go wrong with any of the above...especially if you can swing a good rate.

haha The first time I went to Vegas I stayed in the Luxor and couldn't get past the smell. To me it smelled like chalk. I would never go back there. Last time I stayed at the Venetian and it was superb. The four you mentioned + the Cosmo are the places to be, but also the priciest. If you don't want to swing those go with a solid mid tier Vegas casino Mandalay Bay, Paris, ect.

 

[austour]

Jack and I also attended the UCLA game out here. The UCLA center killed us. He never moved, just stayed near the basket.

I hope this time we finally crack through the win column.

FYI - That Big Man was Joshua Smith, the Gtown center this season. We shut him down and he fouled out in only 8 min this year at MSG. He transferred from UCLA to Gtown right after that season.

And for those looking for hotels remember the old saying, you get what you pay for. IMO spending a little more and staying at Ceasars, Planet Hollywood, or Mandaly Bay(close to MGM and connect to Excalibur by free monorail) is worth it.

This is very,very true in Vegas. Avoid the Excalibur at all costs...unless you like Motel 6 type of rooms. The Luxor....is a tomb. Seriously dark, dank and has a vague moldy smell. Take a step up to Mandalay, or if a deal is being run, The Delano (formerly The Hotel).
If you want to spend a little more, go with any of the big 4 hotels, The Venetian, The Bellagio,Wynn or Aria. You can't go wrong with any of the above...especially if you can swing a good rate.

I highly recommend the Aria and they have had some good deals at times.

Agree with everyone. YOu can almost always find a good hotel at a good rate in Vegas. As I said, I wouldn't stay at either Luxor or Excal so I can't speak to the room product. But we were discussing cheap. My fave is also Mandalay, stayed at their all suite Delano last month. Very nice room product.

 

[Andrew]

The Mandalay Bay is the cheapest of those mentioned above at about 120 a night with taxes and fees. The Aria is next at 140 a night.

 

[ruehlj]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

 

[ruehlj]

Do not rent a car in Vegas. The MGM is the closest hotel to McCarran IAP. $20 cab fare, with a generous tip.

 

[SI1996]

I need to rent a car just to go try Bachi Burger

 

[beast of the east]

Agree with not renting a car. Vegas traffic is horrendous also. You need to know the back roads and stay off the strip which can be bumper to bumper much of the day. Agree with comments about Excalibur. Honestly, there are a ton of strip hotels that are decent to stay in so if your budget is tight, you don't have to go for Bellagio, Caesar's, Aria, etc. Compared to NYC all Vegas hotels are a good value. I've stayed in most of them, and you honestly don't spend that much time in the room to begin with. Monte Carlo, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Paris, Bally's, are all fine. If you have the money to spend, or are splitting a room with friends, even a more expensive hotel isn't too expensive anyway. Again, remember to add the resort fee. You can also begin watching hotel rates, because based occupancy they run specials throughout the year.

 

[jumbo_peanuts]

Agree with not renting a car. Vegas traffic is horrendous also. You need to know the back roads and stay off the strip which can be bumper to bumper much of the day. Agree with comments about Excalibur. Honestly, there are a ton of strip hotels that are decent to stay in so if your budget is tight, you don't have to go for Bellagio, Caesar's, Aria, etc. Compared to NYC all Vegas hotels are a good value. I've stayed in most of them, and you honestly don't spend that much time in the room to begin with. Monte Carlo, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Paris, Bally's, are all fine. If you have the money to spend, or are splitting a room with friends, even a more expensive hotel isn't too expensive anyway. Again, remember to add the resort fee. You can also begin watching hotel rates, because based occupancy they run specials throughout the year.

I stayed in the Flamingo when I was out there. Reasonably priced and pretty much right in the middle of the strip. Like you said, how much time do you really spend in your room anyways? I went out for a bachelor party, so we were lucky to get 3-4hrs of sleep a night. And by the end of the night, you were usually so tired you didn't really care what the room looked like.

 

[ccnobz]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

 

[jumbo_peanuts]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

My understanding is that it all depends on the location of the venue. If the venue is on a college campus, they are not permitted to sell alcohol per the NCAA. However, if the stadium is not on a college campus, as would be the case with the MGM Grand or MSG, normal stadium practices apply.

 

[beast of the east]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

This should clarify it for you:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...-football-basketball-games-campuses/10276865/

 

[RedSlyFox]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

My understanding is that it all depends on the location of the venue. If the venue is on a college campus, they are not permitted to sell alcohol per the NCAA. However, if the stadium is not on a college campus, as would be the case with the MGM Grand or MSG, normal stadium practices apply.

I'm not sure if this is always true. At the Time Warner Center, in Charlotte, when St. John's played San Diego St. in this year's tournament, the arena wasn't selling beer, which sucked because I had nothing to ease the pain.

 

[SJU61982]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

My understanding is that it all depends on the location of the venue. If the venue is on a college campus, they are not permitted to sell alcohol per the NCAA. However, if the stadium is not on a college campus, as would be the case with the MGM Grand or MSG, normal stadium practices apply.

I'm not sure if this is always true. At the Time Warner Center, in Charlotte, when St. John's played San Diego St. in this year's tournament, the arena wasn't selling beer, which sucked because I had nothing to ease the pain.

NCAA does not allow alcohol sales during the tournament. They are renting out the arenas for those events, so what they say, goes.

I'm in the minority, but I wish more venus operated like the NCAA does wrt alcohol sales at the tournament. But, the owners of these venues tend to get too greedy, and I guess you can't blame them.

 

[ccnobz]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

My understanding is that it all depends on the location of the venue. If the venue is on a college campus, they are not permitted to sell alcohol per the NCAA. However, if the stadium is not on a college campus, as would be the case with the MGM Grand or MSG, normal stadium practices apply.

I was asking Ruehlj because he wrote he attended a game in Vegas at MGM last season.

 

[ruehlj]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

They did at the PAC-12 Tourney. You could even bring drinks in as long as they were in a plastic cup.

 

[jumbo_peanuts]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

My understanding is that it all depends on the location of the venue. If the venue is on a college campus, they are not permitted to sell alcohol per the NCAA. However, if the stadium is not on a college campus, as would be the case with the MGM Grand or MSG, normal stadium practices apply.

I was asking Ruehlj because he wrote he attended a game in Vegas at MGM last season.

Sorry I guess? I was just trying to help you out. If you only wanted his response, perhaps a Private Message would have been more suitable?

 

[ccnobz]

I'm all in. I'll be there. It's a quick, < hour flight from home (Tucson). With the time zone change, the jet lands before it took off (kinda). I went to the PAC-12 Tourney last March. We stayed at the MGM Grand and never left the hotel complex. Nice! Let's have a roll call for a pregame toddy or two. B) The current arena sits 12K or so. They're building a new 20K seat arena across the street at the Monte Carlo Casino. Not sure if that will be ready by Dec 2015.

Do they sell beer in the arena during college games?

They did at the PAC-12 Tourney. You could even bring drinks in as long as they were in a plastic cup.

Nice thanks

 

[Las Vegan]

Re hotels within easy walk or tram ride:
Classiest - Aria or Vdara
Seen better days - Luxor, New York, New York, Excalibur
All things considered, my recommendation would be - Tropicana
Re cab from airport - request driver take Paradise Rd. to hotel

 

[austour]

I would only add that the Mandarin is available that week for just $199. Astounding hotel and I've taken to staying at non casino hotels (Trump too, though it's not nearly as nice). Just a better environment. Vegas crowds are pretty gross but being away from the casino helps that quite a bit.

 

[panther2]

Just checked the Hard Rock Cafe Rooms are $59.00 and daily resort fee is $25.00. I will either stay at the MGM or the Hard Rock. Looking forward to two nights in Vegas.