Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2010

rorylando45

Hi all,

I am going to Vegas for the first time at the end of May and have a few questions:

We (there are 3 of us: A (me), B and C) want to book 4 nights from May 27th - May 31st. However, I am only gonna be there for the first 3 nights as my flight home is on May 30th. B is gonna be there all 4 nights. And C arrived on the 28th for the final 3 nights. So it'll be like this:

27th: A, B
28th: A, B, C
29th: A, B, C
30th: B, C

I hope that's clear enough! Anyway, first question. With regards to the booking, it asks how many adults we are. For ever hotel I have tried, there is a significant difference in price between 2 adults and 3 adults. Should we select 3 adults to be safe? Or will we be OK to just select 2 adults? I figured since it would only be 2 of us actually checking in, that we would be able to get away with it. Or should we make 3 separate bookings, one for 27th, one for 28th/29th, and one for 30th? But then I thought they might want for us to move room. Or perhaps we can just select 2 adults and then pay a little extra in cash upon arrival for the two middle nights? Or does it depend on the hotel?

Okay secondly, as this is my first trip to Vegas, I wanna have a great time and stay on the strip. I am a student so not loaded, but have saved up a fair amount. The best deal I seem to have found is MGM Grand which gives me a price of $555.62 (roughly equal to 365.78 pounds using the exchange rates Nationwide are currently giving me). I got this price from the Twitter link posted directly above me, and the quote is for 2 adults. Does this seem reasonable?

I've been reading reviews of all the hotels and it seems there's always gonna be people who complain, even if they're in the most luxurious 5* hotel there is. So I only take the reviews with a pinch of salt. But yeah any advice or suggestions? Unfortunately we are going over a weekend which is why the prices skyrocket, but that's the price you gotta pay I guess.

I was considering booking through lastminute.com where I would get 12% back from Quidco but their quote is 481.26 pounds for the same dates, so it would work out to be more expensive.

Anyway, many thanks for any response!

johnnyroper

have you tried the luxor? they seemed to be a decent price when i went and a nice place to stop aswell (in my opinion)

ferf1223

April

zml wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. Can spend in the region of £600-£700 for 4 nights if we have to. All the reviews on trip advisor seem really poor even for the top hotels. We were aiming for a hotel with plenty of pools but now realise that end of October we might be pushing our luck..

For £600-£700 for 4 nights I'm pretty sure you could stay almost anywhere.

As for the TA reviews, rorylando45 is right...you have to read a lot to get a general feel for a property and these hotels have thousands of rooms - so experiences may vary...but generally you can spot those people who just have a bee in their bonnet about something and that makes them view everything as negative. And there are always those who either book a hotel way below the quality level they are used to (so are immediately and continually disappointed) or those who won't be happy with anything short of perfection. It really depends on what you're used to I think. With the exception of one room we thought was too small (Harrah's) and one we just didn't like and was too hot (Rio), we've been perfectly happy everywhere else we've stayed. Sure, we've liked some more than others, but none had any negative impact on our trip at all.

I don't know a lot about kids but I'm guessing that's a fairly difficult age - too young to be into some things and too old to be into others, maybe? One thing to keep in mind is if they like video games, you can get an all-day pass for GameWorks (south strip, near MGM) for 1/2 price at tix4tonight...think it's $17.50 after the discount. Probably worth checking out before buying of course, but it's a thought.

Just be sure you know about the restrictions on kids in Vegas - you probably do, but too many times people aren't informed and then spend their trip getting annoyed at what their kids can't do.

duchy

March

mattwallisuk wrote: »

Personally for your money I would stay at the Palazzo, my personal favorite.

Is the Palazzo child friendly? Never struck me as having much in the way of things for kids.

duchy

March

Rorylando

Make sure B is one of the two named people on the booking and book a room with two beds-tell the hotel at check in you'll want a rollaway for the middle 2 nights ONLY and they'll sort it either on the spot or tell you to go back to reception the next day to do it-either way it won't be an issue. If however you are good enough friends not to need the third bed -well it's up to you but when we've had a similar situation no-one has cared and we've never needed to pay extra. We never hid the third person from the maid but didn't tell reception or ask for a third key either and there was no issue at all. One trip there was 3 or 4 people every night only 2 stayed the same the whole stay-it was like a revolving door

I take TripAdvisor reports in general with a pinch of salt -and Vegas reviews in particular as if someone has lost in the casinos they generally hate EVERYTHING about their stay LOL

easymaths

April

ferf1223 wrote: »

So the hotel comps the resort fee even though you booked through a 3rd party? If so I assume because the 3rd party price doesn't include the resort fee?

Are you looking around for deals for the hotel element, or just going straight to the hotel's website? There are 2 deals that go to the end of the year on smartervegas.com. You know that the price booking direct with the hotel is per room, not per person (sorry if it's a silly question, but it's caught people out before).

Looking for the cheapest deals all round really, I know it's per room, and I can believe people do get caught out defo.

easymaths

April

Froggitt wrote: »

Incorrect. Xmas is cheap.....certainly it is booking direct with hotels. Weve done Xmas past two years......Siggy this year and Venetian last year. Both worked out less than Mirage :eek::eek::eek: which I stayed in in 2007, and.....meh.....its OK but wouldnt rush back there.....especially not at the premium they try to get there. Was before the refurb so maybe the rooms are nicer now.

Starts getting expensive on 30th December.....29th in some hotels.

When I went a couple of xmases ago it was the NYE that was the killer, the problem I have is I just love the feel of the mirage, but I have never understood why it is so expensive! I have an email address of a casino host and he said he would book the rooms for us this time, but he didn't say how much he would take off at the end of the stay? It's quite a bit of a risk, especially when I could it cheaper in a package. Refurb rooms are very nice indeed, so much nicer.

mackemdave

April

stoneman wrote: »

I hope no-one here has been effected by the volcano cloud closing all of the airports, unless you are stuck in Vegas of course;)

I arrived in LA Wed afternoon, at the hotel this morning were a couple who were due to fly back to the UK today(Thursday) .....BA have told the the earliest they will be able to get them back is next Wed as all flights are now fully booked

mackemdave

April

Two companies are fighting to be the first to provide the service(LA to LV train link) – but there’s another plan to provide traditional rail to Las Vegas, and while it would be slower, passengers could be riding it much sooner. The rail line, called Las Vegas Railway Express, could be up and running by mid-2011 and it would run from Union Station to Las Vegas in about 5 1/2 hours. What’s more, Railway Express officials promise lots of fun, Vegas-style entertainment on the train to occupy that time. With traffic it can take up to six hours to drive to Vegas.

Extract from LA Metro site

luci

May

As ferf has said, you need to read between the lines of hotel reviews, especially for Vegas. There are bad reviews for even the best 5* hotels.

Some people have expectations way beyond what they are paying, eg staying at the IP and comparing it to the Four Seasons, not that the writer has ever stayed at the Four Seasons.

We booked the IP the first couple of trips purely for the location and price. To read some of the reviews, you wouldn't have put a dog in there. Like most people, especially Brits, we thought it was fine. No it wasn't luxurious, but we didn't expect it to be, but it was clean and comfortable and served our needs.

One person in a review complained and said a hotel wasn't 5* as no-one held the door open for them!

We have stayed everywhere from the IP and Sahara to the Four Seasons, Palazzo, Encore and Bellagio and haven't had a bad room yet, but we know what to expect for the money we have paid.