Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

jammerr

March

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Would you consider splitting your stay in 2 i.e. 3 nights in one hotel then 3 in another? I only ask because bookit.com has an offer on at the Palms coming out at only $49/night for the first 3 nights of your stay, including 2 buffet breakfasts, but then the price shoots up for the last 3 nights. They also have an upgrade to a junior suite available at $69/night including free entry to the Playboy Club and Moon, but again only good prices for the first 3 nights.

That's a bit of a bargain if you don't mind being in that location as it's a nice hotel, BUT I think you'd have to pay in advance and I don't know if you could cancel so not sure if it'd work for you or not. The same deal isn't available if you go direct to the Palms website but it might be worth searching around to see if you can find a code somewhere.

You could also think about staying downtown if you were splitting your stay in two, which would maybe give you more for your money. The Golden Nugget for example comes out at $427 for the last 3 nights of your stay without any offer codes or anything...so if you combined it with the Palms deal you'd be looking at under $600 for the whole stay and in a couple of pretty nice hotels. Might be able to get an even better rate for the GN with a bit of searching.

Just a thought, but personally if going as a couple I'd rather do that than stay at the IP - great location but that's about it! I might be a bit biased as we enjoyed our time downtown more than our time on the strip, but maybe something to look into.

Hi Vickki, This is great thankyou. I've been told, stay on the strip, especially if its your first time. I've just reserved the Tropicana for £465 for 6night.

I like the look of the Palms and Golden Nugget but I see one is 'off strip' and the other is 'downtown'. V tempted will look into it now and discuss with my GF.

Vikki_74

duchy wrote: »

(I want to stay in the suite with its own bowling lane at the Pams btw)

That is extremely cool, and a bargain at only $7500/night - the HH Sky Villa is $40k :rotfl:

duchy

May

I think there's something to be said for staying on Strip -but for me I didn't feel I lost anything by not doing so my first few trips.

I quite like leaving the Strip and returning to the sanity of a slightly quieter hotel going "home". We used to stay at the Orleans which has a fab casino so is never quiet but is a step down from Strip insanity .

I stay on Strip now as I can get good hotels comped but honestly staying off Strip wouldn't be a deal breaker . If I had to choose between say the IP on Strip or the Rio off Strip-the Rio would win for example (actually had that choice last year when I needed to add an extra night at the begining of my stay-Rio won and I didn't regret it)

duchy

May

Vikki_74 wrote: »

That is extremely cool, and a bargain at only $7500/night - the HH Sky Villa is $40k :rotfl:

Definite bargain .......:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

jammerr

March

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Personally I'd definately give the Palms a go, but I think that's partly because I was totally obsessed with Girls of the Playboy Mansion and they always used to go and party there with Hef! I want to stay in the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa really but it's just slightly out of budget :rotfl:

Looks like a fun place though even taking Playboy bunnies out of the equation, and apparently all their junior suites have a strip view which is pretty cool

You swung me. Booked three nights at The Plams in a Junior Suite to kick off our Vegas trip :T

Thanks MSE/Vikki!

duchy

May

Make sure you sign up for the Palms casino player card-I got some great gifts from them with new player bonus offers.

When my friend signed up (on a March trip) they offered her free entry into a slots tournament the next day -so been a good friend she asked if I could do it too. I came 5th and walked away with $350 despite not having a clue what I was doing as I'd never played in one before. Not bad for a freebie I wasn't even originally entitled to.

Vikki_74

Think you've made a good choice there - hope you enjoy it. Just FYI the Palms also has good reports of responding well to the $20 trick, so as you're staying midweek there it might be worth giving that a try and seeing what you get.

http://www.frontdesktip.com/las-vegas/palms/

What are you thinking for your last 3 nights? Are you going to keep the booking at the Tropicana? If you let me know how much their rates are for those pricey weekend nights I'll have a look around for you some more if you like - can you tell I'm off work today and bored?!

jammerr

March

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Think you've made a good choice there - hope you enjoy it. Just FYI the Palms also has good reports of responding well to the $20 trick, so as you're staying midweek there it might be worth giving that a try and seeing what you get.


What are you thinking for your last 3 nights? Are you going to keep the booking at the Tropicana? If you let me know how much their rates are for those pricey weekend nights I'll have a look around for you some more if you like - can you tell I'm off work today and bored?!

Well thanks for the great suggestion and yes I will be trying the $20 trick! doesnt hurt to try thats for sure.

If you don't mind looking, as I am at work!! Best rate I can find is $447 (direct) and £277 with Expedia. (not inc $10 resort fee per day)

This is for 18th - 21st.

Thanks :hello:

Vikki_74

jammerr wrote: »

Well thanks for the great suggestion and yes I will be trying the $20 trick! doesnt hurt to try thats for sure.

If you don't mind looking, as I am at work!! Best rate I can find is $447 (direct) and £277 with Expedia. (not inc $10 resort fee per day)

This is for 18th - 21st.

Thanks :hello:

I've had a look round and can't find a better rate for the Tropicana, but have a couple of other possible options for you.

Assuming you want to stay on the strip, booking.com has the Polo Towers for only $274.45 in a studio or $328.50 in a one bed suite, both of which can be cancelled if you find something better later. These prices are apparently excluding 12% tax so would be $307.38 & $367.92 respectively but will still be your cheapest option for a decent quality place to stay (i.e. a step up from IP and the like). The location I think is pretty good - up the strip a bit from MGM and kind of opposite City Centre, plus you're getting a suite with a balcony for your money. It isn't mentioned much (if ever) on here but gets good reviews elsewhere - I actually mentioned to the other half when we were in Vegas that having seen the location this is definately somewhere I would consider staying.

If you prefer the idea of the "proper" casino-hotel for the full vegas experience, then apart from the budget options like IP, Circus Circus, the Stratosphere etc your best bet for comparatively decent rates on the strip looks like TI as I think you have already mentioned. Comes up at $537.50 or $567.84 with some extras thrown in depending on what deal you go for (see http://www.treasureisland.com/special_offers/?kbid=1008&sub=O1248N) but you'd have resort fees on top of those prices which would bump up the cost. Not knowing what the refurbed rooms at the Trop are like, I don't know if it's worth an extra $100 or so to stay at TI - my guess would be yes but I really don't know for sure - will depend on your budget and whether you'd rather spend more on a hotel room or save the cash for gambling/eating/fun stuff.

If you decided to go for the downtown option instead, Golden Nugget is probably the nicest hotel there and would be $427 as previously mentioned (although not sure if this is +tax though, their website is a bit crap!). There are a lot of other hotels which would be much cheaper but I wouldn't like to vouch for the quality - you'd need someone on here who has stayed up that way to advise you properly. El Cortez, the Fremont and Golden Gate are all on Fremont Street so in a good location for the Fremont Street Experience etc and are coming up with really cheap rates, but they are older properties and I wouldn't necessarily recommend you stay there without having done so myself!

As I've said before, we loved it up at Fremont Street, just thought the whole atmosphere was very fun, much more 'old vegas' than the strip, plus drinking, eating and gambling tend to be cheaper. It's not for everyone though and whilst I would highly recommend at least visiting one evening, whether it's somewhere you'd like to stay is really down to you. I absolutely would, but am sure not everyone feels the same.

Your alternative is to keep the Tropicana booking if you're happy with staying there generally (one word of warning...it's likely to be a bit of a come down in terms of quality after the Palms unless the refurb is REALLY amazing!!) and just keep checking smartervegas etc to see if any other deals come up in the next few weeks - there's not much at the moment given your dates but you never know.

If you want to have a search for yourself later, I find this website really good as it checks the hotels' own websites as well as third parties like booking.com, expedia etc: http://www.sidestep.com/

thinlizzyk

I finally booked something. Didnt go with the Gold Coast in the end. Went with Tropicana. I just want to wade in on the Trop discussions. I stayed there a few months ago. Its been completely renovated. Which I applaud them for. Instead of tearing the whole thing down and starting again, they've really spruced the place up. The rooms are pretty big and IMO they could definately charge more for them. A similar price to say the NYNY and Luxor. Its an airy casino.....you dont feel hemmed in like you do in alot of the older places. Theres only a few dining options at the moment but apparently they're putting a food court in. The pool was always kinda nice but the new landscaping is very pretty. Believe me its NOTHING like it was about 4 years ago. I would suggest you all check it out when you're back in Vegas if only for a walk through to see the white marble fixings they have. I believe the sports book is open again now as well. For a hotel on the strip its pretty quiet and laid back. Back in the day I used to stay at the Sahara often until it was sold in 2007 and it took a huge nose dive. They couldnt pay me to stay there now. But I get a similar vibe in the Trop now that I got in Sahara.I think it's because its an independently owned place as opposed to being part of the Harrahs/MGM groups.

Thank you all for the advice and help you gave me a few weeks ago. Much appreciated.