Las Vegas 2007 bargain hunt + tips

blondie21

ferf1223 wrote: »

March is generally a really busy month for Vegas - so just be careful...check hotel prices to make sure that you aren't considering a particularly expensive period. There's NCAA final four (basketball), NASCAR, spring break, etc all that hits that month. If it were me, I would check some hotel websites that give you a calendar showing a whole month or a few months at a time...that way you can see how rates compare week to week - gives you a good idea when the especially busy times are as hotels will be more expensive. We're going over Easter 2008 despite warnings that it may be really busy...we are hoping for the best.

ferf1223 wrote: »

But you should have plenty of time to review your options for March...if you see something you are happy with price wise, you can book it and keep looking around in case something better comes along - then cancel the original booking...so long as you book direct with the hotel (in most cases, a few exeptions so read the fine print before booking).

As for weather, depends on what you consider to be good...average highs are upper teens/lower 20s, but it still gets quite cool in the evenings - lows in single digits.

As for what there is to do during the day, there are loads and loads of things to do (including shopping, of course ) There are lots of free things to do, plenty of shows, sites to see - Vegas is one of those places where I don't think anyone could really be at a loss for something to do. Just wandering around the different hotel/casino properties and taking in the over-the-top decor is amazing.

Here are some links to give you some ideas:

http://www.bigempire.com/vegas/freetosee.html

http://www.slotadvisor.com/things-to-do-in-las-vegas.html

(this one may be outdated - they still list the dragon in the moat at Excalibur which hasn't been there for years).

http://las-vegas-hotels.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g45963-Activities-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html

I would suggest getting a guidebook and reading through it or doing some web research - there are loads of things to do, but just as anything else, different people enjoy different things, so hard to say what someone else would enjoy.

There is a direct flight from Belfast in March and the 12 march is showing £490 and The 19 th March £828 F/O so i am a bit restricted as its th only month there are flights from bfs.

ferf1223

blondie21 wrote: »

There is a direct flight from Belfast in March and the 12 march is showing £490 and The 19 th March £828 F/O so i am a bit restricted as its th only month there are flights from bfs.

If that's the case, then check hotel rates for that week and see if they are reasonable enough for you...if they are too expensive now, you might find better rates later...but a quick search of a few hotels seems to indicate that that's an expensive week in Vegas...so something is going on.

Excalibur standard room - $1217
Ballys standard room - $1484

etc...weekday rates are much, much higher than normal (ex. Excalibur on a Wednesday night is almost $300).

Ah, OK, there's a convention in town (construction industry) with 135,000 attendees from the 11th to the 15th...that's what is bumping up the weekday rates quite dramatically...weekend appears to be the most expensive of the month as well...possibly NCAA basketball

If the flights are good value and you're happy to go during a relatively crowded time and the hotels are in your budget and it's that or not go at all, then go for it...

I don't know about flights from Belfast but it may be cheaper to get a flight to London or Manchester and fly onto Vegas from there another time - £490 seems quite expensive for March to me, but I'm used to prices flying from London and usually don't pay more than £320 direct with Miles+Money...something to consider anyway.

ferf1223

photome wrote: »

What I have done is driven from Vegas and stayed 2 nights on the edge of the GC national park.

Photome - do you recommend the place that you stayed at the GC? If so, do you remember the name (apologies if you've posted this before and I've missed it)...in the pre-planning stages for a trip for my in-laws sometime next year and we want to do a night at the South Rim, so personal recommendations on accomodation would be fantastic to have.

photome

blondie21 wrote: »

There is a direct flight from Belfast in March and the 12 march is showing £490 and The 19 th March £828 F/O so i am a bit restricted as its th only month there are flights from bfs.

As ferf says is it not worth a flight to London or manchester first. I am going on the 20th march for less than £300 with virgin on an M plus M fare from gatwick.

photome

ferf1223 wrote: »

Photome - do you recommend the place that you stayed at the GC? If so, do you remember the name (apologies if you've posted this before and I've missed it)...in the pre-planning stages for a trip for my in-laws sometime next year and we want to do a night at the South Rim, so personal recommendations on accomodation would be fantastic to have.

It was a Best western (poss squire inn), I cant remember as it was 9 years ago.

It was about a mile from the park entrance, had a good buffet and the rooms were good, we stayed two nights and would stay again. As I said though it was 9 years ago

blondie21

Will def check out the flights from London , Manchester etc. was thinking with flight from Belfast and possible overnight stay there would not be much of a saving.
I have tried Travel Republic for Hotel accomodation and it seems reasonable eg the luxor at £395 pp per week
Please note that is only in my opinion. i will be more informed after I trawl through all these posts....
thanks for all your advise and suggestions. :beer: :beer: :beer:

photome

blondie21 wrote: »

Will def check out the flights from London , Manchester etc. was thinking with flight from Belfast and possible overnight stay there would not be much of a saving.
I have tried Travel Republic for Hotel accomodation and it seems reasonable eg the luxor at £395 pp per week
Please note that is only in my opinion. i will be more informed after I trawl through all these posts....
thanks for all your advise and suggestions. :beer: :beer: :beer:

Havent checked luxor prices but you can usually book direct with them with a special deal from fatwallet or others (all on here) for a bout $100 a night so about £50 x7 = £350 for the week for the room NOT PER PERSON

tingtong

Ferf, we stayed at the GC South Rim in May at the El Tovar Hotel. It’s not the cheapest but you are literally a few yards from the Canyon Rim and it’s a 100 year old historic hotel, the location really couldn’t be better (and the restaurant was very good).

There’s also the Kachina, Thunderbird and Bright Angel Lodges which are right on the Rim next to the hotel above. You can book them all directly at www.xanterra.com. Also, if you vist the National Parks website you can download a PDF map of the South Rim village.

If you want any more info, just PM me. I’d be more than happy to help as I got most of my LV info from this thread.

alictait

We stayed at the best western squire inn in June of this year and it was pretty dire. The staff were very rude and the place was quite dirty. We had stayed in the same hotel last year aswell and thought it was pretty good, however the standards have dropped dramatically since then. We had cause to complain because of the above and they had overcharged us, we eventually got a 50 eur gift card sent to us because of the inconvenience.

Not recommended though.

trets77

photome wrote: »

Trets....thats putting the pressure on lol.

But I havent done a tour like that.

What I have done is driven from Vegas and stayed 2 nights on the edge of the GC national park. ( not what you want I know) and stopped at Hoover dam on way and done the tour of the workings...I liked that.

havent done the helicopter thing as they scare me.

The Skywalk is in the indian reservation on the west (I think) rim therefore not in the same location as the poular excursions to the canyon so unlikely to be able to do both in one excursion, but i may be wrong

:A sorry photome i thought you had , somebody did this type of tour , but i think it was on a seperate thread. seach for Grand Canyon in the forum search