Mirage 2-bedroom Tower
Suite ($469 per night) – A
We used a tower suite at The Mirage for an in-suite party
following our dinner at The Wynn, the suites contain one big open
lounge/kitchen/dining space unlike others of the same size, which is perfect
for a party, and they are very reasonably priced. Check-in process was straight
forward (I got in line at 2.30pm) and service was great, I requested a suite
that was decorated in red and orange as opposed to the blue and green ones so
it would fit with our wedding décor, as well as a strip view, and the room we
were given automatically had both of these. We splashed out on a two bedroom
suite so that on the morning of the wedding we were able to get ready
separately and not see each other until the ceremony, I thought we might also
need the extra space but apart from maybe needing the extra bathroom the second
bedroom was hardly used. The room worked perfect for our party of 28, we moved
the dining table into a corner to create something of a dance area (although
the lightshade that hangs low over the dining table somewhat scuppered this as
we kept banging our heads!). We connected our laptop to the sound system and
played music through there, and whilst we had planned to play a slideshow of
photos of us during the party we could not get the TV to switch to the right
output. The room has a mini bar and an empty fridge which didn’t hold very
much, I think we managed to get 4 bottles of champagne, one bottle of coke and
two bottles of juice in there. All the cans of beer had to go in the bath which
we put a load of ice in on the morning of the wedding. We tried our best to
hide the fact that we were having a party in there, including not setting up
any decorations, moving the table or filling the bath with ice until after
housekeeping had visited (although we did ask them to visit whilst we were at
breakfast so we knew they’d be finished by the time we got back). Not sure how
much of an issue it would have been if it had been more obvious that we were
having a party there but we just didn’t want to draw attention to it. The day
after our wedding we downgraded to a normal king room and they had said in
advance that we wouldn’t have to check out until they had a room ready for us,
they had plenty available at 11am so we moved straight away in order to get to
our cabana and start chilling out!
Champagne
Afternoon Tea @ Tea Lounge Mandarin Oriental ($54 per person) – A+
I went here the day before the wedding with my ladies (a
low-key bachelorette party if you will, but we didn’t want to label it as
that!). The email communication with Megan from dining reservations at Mandarin
Oriental was great, she replied very quickly each time. There were 11 of us so
we had a $50 per person minimum spend but as we all wanted the Champagne
Afternoon Tea that wasn’t a problem. Two of my guests were under 21 and one
couldn’t drink due to taking antibiotics so they only had a $35 minimum and the
non-alcoholic afternoon tea is $36 so that worked fine too. The tea lounge is a
small open-plan space with very pretty décor and great views over the strip
(towards Paris). As we were such a big group we weren’t able to sit near the
windows but we didn’t mind that, with the floor to ceiling glass you have a
great view no matter where you’re sitting. The food was PHENOMENAL – as with a
lot of haute cuisine you only get teeny portions of everything but it is so
rich that you struggle to finish it all. You get a plate of the chef’s take on
the traditional sandwich selection of an afternoon tea, two scones (we had them
with two jellies/jams – pineapple and blueberry), and a plate of desserts. You
get a whole humongous pot of your choice of tea, and of course your glass of
Champagne. There was nothing I didn’t enjoy it was all amazing. The service was
lovely, they catered for my coeliac and vegan guests brilliantly and all of my guests
loved their food and tea. They happily boxed up the food we didn’t eat and also
brought out a red velvet cupcake for me as the bride-to-be. I’m so glad I did this, it was the perfect
relaxing afternoon I needed after the chaos of our first two days in Vegas
getting everything sorted for the wedding, and a great opportunity for my
friends and family to get to know each other without the need for a meet and
greet prior to the wedding. The men also got together at the same time, but
went shooting instead …
Battlefield Vegas
($99 per person for basic package) – A+
Hubby used this company for his pre-wedding event with his
mates, he says they were ‘very nice cool people who made it fun’! His best man
booked them in the day before and they were picked up (in a hummer) from the
Mirage and dropped back there afterwards. They were all able to select
different shooting packages, which was handy as some didn’t want to spend too
much money and others wanted to go all out! As the stag/bachelor my hubby got
to shoot a grenade launcher as a free added extra, and they all got to keep
their target sheets as souvenirs.
Mirage Cabana ($325
to use from 10am until 6pm for 8 people) A+
We reserved a cabana at The Mirage pool for a day of
relaxation after our wedding. I phoned six weeks before to be added to the waiting
list (as requested when I first enquired) and was told I would be contact 48-24
hours before the date to let me know whether or not I’d got one. After not
hearing anything by 10am the day before I visited concierge and was told I had
got one and I’d be called on the morning of my reservation to confirm. Sure
enough, we had a phone call at 9am on the day to verify everything. The cabanas
are in a great location, close enough to the pool but far enough away to have a
bit of privacy and ours had plenty of sun. They are well stocked, we had lots
of water, soda, fruit and snacks. The service was fantastic and we were
regularly checked on to see if we needed anything, when I requested an iPod
dock (to charge my phone) our assistant came back with a Bluetooth one but when
I explained what I wanted it for she said she thought they had some old ones
somewhere and went off searching for one for me, it took her a while but she
returned with it with a smile – very pleased! My step-brother wanted a hot
chocolate which they don’t normally have on the menu but they were happy to run
over to the coffee shop to get one, and as the icing on the cake he said it was
the best hot chocolate he’d ever had! At the back of the menu the cabana
information notes that your fee covers use of the cabana for 8 people, and that
it costs $50 per person extra, up to a maximum of 10. I wasn’t aware of this
when I booked, we had different people visiting us there all day, at one point
we had 11 people there (although 5 were out on the sun beds across from the
cabanas) but there didn’t seem to be a problem with this and we were not
charged any extra. I thought the money for the cabana would be taken from my
account at the time of securing the reservation (they had taken my card details
when I was placed on the waiting list), but we were simply presented with a
bill at the end of the day, along with the charges for the food and drink we
had ordered. It’s not cheap but I’m very pleased we did it, just wish it hadn’t
been as cloudy as it was.
That’s all I think, we also stayed at the Aria, ate
breakfast in the Cravings buffet at Mirage and the Excalibur buffet, and had
dinner at Mix in THEhotel and El Segundo Sol in Fashion Show Mall, so if anyone
wants reviews on those let me know!
UK based bride, getting married in Vegas on 14th April 2014!