Las Vegas 2007 bargain hunt + tips

alanshave

trets77 wrote: »

Have not heard of 'The Rock Hard Dirty Hypnosis Show' before. sounds about my level though. was it in the half price ticket outlets ??:beer: :beer:

Sure was, you can pick the tickets up for $25 - $30. Chap is called Michael Johnson and it's quite an intimate theatre, given that you recommended the amazing johnanthan to me then I reckon you would enjoy this one.

ferf1223

alanshave wrote: »

One of the best parts of the holiday was being introduced to an 'Executive Casino Host' by the Luxors players club and having all my room, food and imax tickets comped back to my visa card. This was all based on my blackjack play and they reckoned I had only played 7 hours in a week at an average hand value of $27...The luxor have now said that next time I want to come back if I am on my own then they will give me a suite and pay for some/all of my flights, or if I am bringing friends then they will kit me out with free rooms etc.

Sounds like you had a great trip! Thanks very much for posting about it - really great to read.

But I wanted to check...did you mean an average of 7 hours a day at an average hand of $27 rather than 7 hours in the week? (or is there an extra digit missing from the number?)

'cause from my understanding of blackjack comps if you only played 7 hours at an average of $27/hand and assuming 60 hands an hour you would have earned about $90 in comps (or so as it varies, but this is using a general formula)...and even if that's a day, it seems like they are offering you quite a lot! so either the Luxor reeeeeally likes you or I've misunderstood something somewhere. But regardless, congrats for the good treatment. My husband has always said that he's worried about the planned supercasino(s) here - he's convinced they won't do it right as in Vegas they seem to treat you well to make sure you want to return (even if you lost)...whereas in the UK, it does seem a bit more geared toward taking your cash without much incentive to come back.

Hannah2

Hi

First of all I would like to say huge thanks to everyone for their tips/reports, they are a huge help as a first timer and although I havent posted much lately I do keep upto date with all goings on!

I am due to go to Las Vegas, whilst on a trip to San Francisco, at the end of September (27th-30th), I am unfortunately going over a weekend so that my friend can come with me but this has bumped prices up hugely.

I have ummed and ahhhed over hotels for so long I have gone dizzy with it all as all the deals that have been around so far either finish just before I go, or they dont cover the weekends. arghhhh.

Anyway, I finally booked the first night (I will be on my own) with the recent MGM offer (Trets posted) and joined the players club online first, I hope this will be ok. This was for the grand price of $65 !!!! I am going to see KA that night so thought it would be convenient.

I then wanted to stay for the next two nights in one of the central strip hotels but prices were mostly sky high for a "nice" room. However, I plumped for a Tower Deluxe room at the TI for $608 for the two nights.

My dilema is that I have just found an offer for the Flamingo with their poolside package (taken from Fat Wallet) for a Go Deluxe room which is available over the weekend for $362........ nearly half the price.

I knew this would happen once I booked one hotel, other offers would come up.:rolleyes:

So, my question is, does anyone have an opinion on TI versus Flamingo Go rooms? I know it depends on how important the saving of the money is but I just wondered what people felt about these hotels.

Thanks, and sorry for the long post. :T

duchy

That's $300 extra to spend in Vegas......How much time do you plan staying in your hotel room ? We find we are mainly there to sleep and are out and about the rest of the time so I guess the question is-Is it worth an extra $150 a night to you to stay at Treasure Island rather than the Flamingo. It wouldn't be to me. TripAdvisor reviews for both hotels are pretty specific (if very subjective) but ultimately if it was my choice I'd keep the money for spending on doing stuff rather than a nicer room -a room is just a room when all is said and done and the difference isn't huge between the two IMO.

jennysomerville

Hi....new to all this, but veteran of Vegas and had a couple of tips. Firstly, if at all possible, book hotel once already in the U.S...many local/state papers do money off coupons. Secondly, we have always stayed in the Gold Coast, which is slightly off the strip but has a great shuttle bus which drops you on the strip outside the Barbary Coast and takes just minutes! It has always been cheaper, but is a great hotel, great pool, restaurants etc and slightly more "hotel-y" than the big ones. We tried the Strat last trip but didn't enjoy it as much for the money! HTH,
Jenny

Steff

jennysomerville wrote: »

Hi....new to all this, but veteran of Vegas and had a couple of tips. Firstly, if at all possible, book hotel once already in the U.S...many local/state papers do money off coupons. Secondly, we have always stayed in the Gold Coast, which is slightly off the strip but has a great shuttle bus which drops you on the strip outside the Barbary Coast and takes just minutes! It has always been cheaper, but is a great hotel, great pool, restaurants etc and slightly more "hotel-y" than the big ones. We tried the Strat last trip but didn't enjoy it as much for the money! HTH,
Jenny

Hi Jenny - I will second that about the Gold Coast. I recently stayed at the Rio which is literally over the road from the Gold Coast. We went over there many times due to ridiculously cheap bar and steak dinners for $9.95 for two courses (not a la carte, but very nice!). Also for any craps players amoung you - their minimum at the craps table is ONLY $5 and they pay very good odds - all in all (even if you are not staying there) its a great evening/night/early morning out!! Granted - its not flash with loads of gimmicks, but if you want a decent place to go for not a lot of dosh - then the Gold Coast does it for me! I cant comment on the shuttle from there (we used the Rio ones) but it really isnt very far at all to the Strip.

duchy

The Gold Coast is owned by the same company as the Orleans. Overall I prefer the Orleans but both offer great value for money and try that bit harder because they are off strip (with free shuttle to the Strip). I'd stay at either over the Strat everytime which to my mind is more remote despite been "on Strip".

ferf1223

duchy wrote: »

That's $300 extra to spend in Vegas......How much time do you plan staying in your hotel room ? We find we are mainly there to sleep and are out and about the rest of the time so I guess the question is-Is it worth an extra $150 a night to you to stay at Treasure Island rather than the Flamingo. It wouldn't be to me. TripAdvisor reviews for both hotels are pretty specific (if very subjective) but ultimately if it was my choice I'd keep the money for spending on doing stuff rather than a nicer room -a room is just a room when all is said and done and the difference isn't huge between the two IMO.

I agree and if the pool is at all important to you, Flamingo's is one of the best in town. And the GO rooms were recently renovated...though they're a bit flashy for my taste from the photos I have seen, they've got some nice amenities. And I think that's a pretty good price for the GO room - on Harrah's Hot Deals that room would be $480 plus tax so $362 seems like a bargain.

ferf1223

jennysomerville wrote: »

Hi....new to all this, but veteran of Vegas and had a couple of tips. Firstly, if at all possible, book hotel once already in the U.S...many local/state papers do money off coupons. Secondly, we have always stayed in the Gold Coast, which is slightly off the strip but has a great shuttle bus which drops you on the strip outside the Barbary Coast and takes just minutes! It has always been cheaper, but is a great hotel, great pool, restaurants etc and slightly more "hotel-y" than the big ones. We tried the Strat last trip but didn't enjoy it as much for the money! HTH,
Jenny

I also think that Gold Coast is a good bargain option...though we haven't stayed at the hotel, the casino and restaurants are very nice and it's close enough to the strip to not seem too far out of the action.

I can't support the book when you get to the US thing though...while I'm sure that it works sometimes, have heard horror stories of people having to stay at far off strip, bargain motels when waiting to get there to book a hotel because the rates the hotels wanted for walk-ins were sky high - or there was no availability. With average occupancy rates of 90%+ and weekends at 95%+, it would be a scary thing to me to wait until we got there. There are loads of deals to be had online...I personally wouldn't risk booking until I got there...so many things could go wrong with that. others may be more adventurous, though.

jennysomerville

Hi,
Nice to know people have discovered the Gold Coast!! As far as waiting till you're in the states to book, I appreciate that might be a bit hairy, and we have only done this when we were there as part of a longer road trip, and knew we were going to get to Vegas but were flexible about when etc.
Jenny