The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

trets77

April

tashawasha wrote: »

It is now some months since I posted that I was attending a friends wedding on 14th March for 1 week. The Excalibur seems to have the best rates at the moment for this time but from reading this forum this hotel is not considered to be one of the favourites. Bearing in mind there is a convention on till the 15th March, should we wait to book and do you think there will be any better deals if we were to wait. I would prefer to stay at the Venetian, do you think there will be any deals soon or not? Please help!!!

it,s hard to say if one or hotel or anthor will start a offer or not .like i say in the guide hotel rates work on a very well organised supply and demand basis, only people who's job it is will know if The Venetian is not shifting rooms for your dates. The Venetian is a big jump in terms of price and quality from the Exaclibur , plus it targets buisness travellers so maybe be reasonably well sold for convention dates/

why not start with the MGM grand offer on the previous page. the weekends for your dates for this offer are not the best priced ( $299 and $269) but the weekdays at $69 are good value (don,t forget the free nights ) . you can maybe mix and match other offers by moving hotels ( a lot easier than you might think )

the important thing is to get something booked up now as a fall back. check out all the links in for hotel offers in post #1 and providing it is not advertised as a NO REFUND offer, go ahead and book something you would be reasonably happy with. remember they only take your 1st night as a deposit and it is 100% refundable ( no questions asked ) if you cancel before 72 hours of arrival.

with something to fall back on you can continue searching upto the few days before you leave and book anything else that appears in the mean time.try not to get too down if your 1st choice hotel does not appear , my 1st choice for April is Planet Hollywood , but if doesn't come up at price i'm willing to pay then Ballys or MGM grand it is ( and i'm sure i will probably have five or six different hotels booked up and ready to choose from when the time comes )

20 days & counting until we leave for Vegas. My DH & I are travelling with my Mum & Dad to celebrate Mums 50th. We got together today to plan a loose itinerary & decide on which Grand Canyon trip to go for (too many to choose from) we have settled on the following Papillon Grand Canyon Deluxe with Helicopter.

http://www.papillon.com/popris/show_...=34&lang=en-US

Can anyone advise from experience or knowledge if we can obtain any further discounts if booking in advance, or should we wait until we arrive in Vegas to book. After reading the first page of this thread I looked at viator & them didn't have any tours like this one. What has made us decide on this one was the 30min Helicopter tour over the Canyon. I haven't called them yet to ask for a discount.

Thanks in advanceYesterday 9:21 PM

tough to say. these companys are pretty well established and popular meaning they don't need to offer discounts . it would be unlikely ( but others m,ay know different ) that you would not get a flight with one of the companys out of McCarren while out there if you waited ( we booked ours while out there no problems ) , . if your paying around £200 ($400) per person that is the going rate for standard flights form McCarren without landings.
if you do decide to wait make sure you get your hands on all the free magazines you see , as they often advertise in there and may be cheaper. but there is no Guarantee .

but do do it. £200 in your pocket when you get home or the memory of a lifetime is no contest IMO . we flew over lake mead , Boulder city , Hoover damm and bowl fire as well as a good 30 mins in the Canyon , before coming home over the strip at dusk ( as all the neon was lighting up ) for £240 each ). you won't regret doing it .

ferf1223

March

tashawasha wrote: »

It is now some months since I posted that I was attending a friends wedding on 14th March for 1 week. The Excalibur seems to have the best rates at the moment for this time but from reading this forum this hotel is not considered to be one of the favourites. Bearing in mind there is a convention on till the 15th March, should we wait to book and do you think there will be any better deals if we were to wait. I would prefer to stay at the Venetian, do you think there will be any deals soon or not? Please help!!!

There will never be any deals that bring Venetian anywhere near the price of Excalibur, I'm afraid. And like Trets said, they cater to the business traveller, so I would doubt that there will be particularly good rates during or shortly after Con-Expo.

For a point of reference, you could look here:

http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/index.php/category/las-vegas-hotel-special/venetian/

To get an idea of the kinds of deals that Venetian has offered in the past...you'll see that they generally don't go below $159/night.

As trets said, it's probably best to find a hotel you would be happy with and book it (direct with the hotel) as a back-up and keep looking.

As for Excalibur, we stayed there several times and it was just fine for us. It really depends on what you expect in a hotel.

trets77

April

i think it is a good a idea i repost LVA's round up of what was the cheapest quoted price for all major hotels in 2007. while this does not mean you might not see the following a bit cheaper, i would very much doubt you will see them a lot cheaper this year .remember these are the lowest price through out the whole year , which probably means they were for weekdays in quitest weeks of December or Feb ect

LVA has published it best found rates for the last year. makes a good guide to expected prices.

Under $20
El Cortez
Under $30
Arizona Charlies East , Four Queens , Gold Coast , Gold Spike , Palace Station , Sam's Town , Suncoast, Vegas Club, Wild Wild West
Under $40
Arizona Charlies west , California , Circus Circus ,Excalibur , Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Fitzgeralds, Fremont, Golden Gate , Hooters , Nevada Palace , Orleans, Plaza, Sahara , Stratosphere, Terribles, Texas Station, Tropicanna, Tuscany.
Above $40
Flamingo $49 , Harrahs $52, Hilton $54, Luxor $55, Ballys $59, Golden Nugget $59, Monte Carlo $60 , Hard Rock $63, Rio $63, TI $69, NYNY $70, MGM $80, Planet Hollywood $84, Mirage $88 , Palms $89, Paris $89, Westin $109, Mandalay Bay $110, Green Valley $129, Red Rock $129, Caesars $132, Bellagio $159, Venetian $179, Wynn $189

these do not include comped rates ect, and as you can see $159 was found for The Venetian online last year , and we have already found $69 for MGM grand this year , but it makes a useful guide to expected prices

p.s March Madness starts March 20th . this is basically College basketball , and will be busy time on the strip . i have added it to guide .

crazyhazel

May

fifth_ave wrote: »

20 days & counting until we leave for Vegas. My DH & I are travelling with my Mum & Dad to celebrate Mums 50th. We got together today to plan a loose itinerary & decide on which Grand Canyon trip to go for (too many to choose from) we have settled on the following Papillon Grand Canyon Deluxe with Helicopter.

http://www.papillon.com/popris/show_package.aspx?package_id=34&lang=en-US

Can anyone advise from experience or knowledge if we can obtain any further discounts if booking in advance, or should we wait until we arrive in Vegas to book. After reading the first page of this thread I looked at viator & them didn't have any tours like this one. What has made us decide on this one was the 30min Helicopter tour over the Canyon. I haven't called them yet to ask for a discount.

Thanks in advance

Last year we did the Papillon tour for My DH birthday. We got picked up at the hotel by coach and travelled to the airport near the canyon. The helicopter took us from there to the Grand Canyon for breakfast and back to base then we were bussed to the Hoover Dam where we did the rafting along the Colorado river. It was such the best experience. When booking the representative went through various different scenarios to ensure that we got maximum discount. You will certainly have a great day out with this company.
enjoy :beer:

Trowel

trets77 wrote: »

ip.s March Madness starts March 20th . this is basically College basketball , and will be busy time on the strip . i have added it to guide .

Is it also worth you also adding the World Series of Poker (WSOP) which takes place at the Rio this year from May 28 to July 17. As usual offers are running through the whole Harrah's chain for players, so they're likely to be heavily booked.

Myself and the missus are going on a fortnight's flydrive around the Southwest national parks this year, and I'm still deciding how best to fit Vegas in (Vegas counts as a national park, right?!). Looking to fly in on Fri 11th July and hang around to experience WSOP for a day - do you have any experience of Vegas during WSOP Trets?

dreammachine

Hi - I'm new to the forum and to this thread!

Myself, OH, brother & girlfriend are hoping to go to Vegas in March. We'll probably be flying from Manchester as brother's girlfriend lives there (we live in Belfast).

Anyway we're going for my 40th birthday and none of us have ever been to Vegas. We have about £700 pp including flights to spend (though obviously would like it cheaper!) Can anyone recommend where to stay? We're hoping to leave Manchester on Sunday 16 March and return from Vegas on Sunday 23 March. I had heard good reports for Treasure Island, but a few people have said it's themed for kids and there could be alot of youngsters running around. Is this the case? I liked it for it's location.

How long is a direct flight to Vegas?
Is it better taking 2 flights?

Hoping someone can help me :-)

Thanx

crazyhazel

May

dreammachine wrote: »

Hi - I'm new to the forum and to this thread!

Myself, OH, brother & girlfriend are hoping to go to Vegas in March. We'll probably be flying from Manchester as brother's girlfriend lives there (we live in Belfast).

Anyway we're going for my 40th birthday and none of us have ever been to Vegas. We have about £700 pp including flights to spend (though obviously would like it cheaper!) Can anyone recommend where to stay? We're hoping to leave Manchester on Sunday 16 March and return from Vegas on Sunday 23 March. I had heard good reports for Treasure Island, but a few people have said it's themed for kids and there could be alot of youngsters running around. Is this the case? I liked it for it's location.

How long is a direct flight to Vegas?
Is it better taking 2 flights?

Hoping someone can help me :-)

Thanx

Whilst it is nice to stay in a 'proper' casino hotel why not do that for a couple of nights and then book into the Hampton Inn Tropicana? OH and I stayed there last year it is within walking distance to the NYNY where you have to go for the steak at Gallaghers and the Duelling Pianos - not to be missed - from there you can get trolly busses or taxis which are not too expensive. The Hampton inn has breakfast included in the price and although not swanky and on the strip - excellent value and location!! Have a great time and Happy Birthday:beer:

ferf1223

March

dreammachine wrote: »

Hi - I'm new to the forum and to this thread!

Myself, OH, brother & girlfriend are hoping to go to Vegas in March. We'll probably be flying from Manchester as brother's girlfriend lives there (we live in Belfast).

Anyway we're going for my 40th birthday and none of us have ever been to Vegas. We have about £700 pp including flights to spend (though obviously would like it cheaper!) Can anyone recommend where to stay? We're hoping to leave Manchester on Sunday 16 March and return from Vegas on Sunday 23 March. I had heard good reports for Treasure Island, but a few people have said it's themed for kids and there could be alot of youngsters running around. Is this the case? I liked it for it's location.

How long is a direct flight to Vegas?
Is it better taking 2 flights?

Hoping someone can help me :-)

Thanx

We'll be there then! As for your questions...

TI has changed some things over the last few years (many would say not for the better) to get away from the idea that it is family-friendly...though I never really thought that it was ever particularly geared toward families with kids. Cannot remember any incidents with loads of kids around but haven't spent tons of time there...I suppose anywhere with a pirate theme would probably appeal to a lot of kids especially with the recent movies - just I never thought of TI as being overrun with kids before.

For flights I would first check http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp?adnetwork=af if you do not mind a connection - if their fare sale is still on, you could get a major bargain (but watch the length of the layover as some are really, really long). Could also check www.expedia.co.uk just to get an idea of flight prices (and then check with the airlines direct). Direct flights from London are about 10 - 11 hours or so, not sure on Manchester and I normally prefer direct flights myself, but check both options to see how the prices compare - then you can decide if it is worth it to you to pay the extra for a direct flight or to save the extra by making a connection. I think that BMI is the only direct option from Manchester that would work for you flying out on a Sunday.

As for other ideas where to stay, as it's your 40th I would try to treat yourself a bit...maybe first have a look at airfare and then you can decide what sort of a budget you will have to work with for hotels? I assume you will be wanting 2 rooms, so you will have £2800 - £flights / 2 for hotels as Vegas hotels are per night (not pp per night)...so it will really depend on how much is left after the flights.

dreammachine

ferf1223 wrote: »

We'll be there then! As for your questions...

...As for other ideas where to stay, as it's your 40th I would try to treat yourself a bit...maybe first have a look at airfare and then you can decide what sort of a budget you will have to work with for hotels? I assume you will be wanting 2 rooms, so you will have £2800 - £flights / 2 for hotels as Vegas hotels are per night (not pp per night)...so it will really depend on how much is left after the flights.

Thanks for that, and thanks to crazyhazel also.

I'd better get searching then! I'm so excited! Can't wait! :j

trets77

April

Trowel wrote: »

Is it also worth you also adding the World Series of Poker (WSOP) which takes place at the Rio this year from May 28 to July 17. As usual offers are running through the whole Harrah's chain for players, so they're likely to be heavily booked.

Myself and the missus are going on a fortnight's flydrive around the Southwest national parks this year, and I'm still deciding how best to fit Vegas in (Vegas counts as a national park, right?!). Looking to fly in on Fri 11th July and hang around to experience WSOP for a day - do you have any experience of Vegas during WSOP Trets?

nope , but i have read plenty . compared to say rodeo week or CES , it is not the same in terms of numbers. i think about 5000+ usually enter main event , weight that up against 135000 attending CES.

but a lot of Brits like their poker so flights will be more difficult to come by , plus the fact that some people will only go on holiday at traditional holiday times ( ie after May and school holidays )
it was interesting to watch the fares on MY TRAVEL (now thomas cook) last year. through March , April and most of May , you could easily land a sub £300 fare by booking late , they disappeared like a virgin on prom night in June - till pretty much Oct .

if you want a feel for what hotel offers to expect look back on the Fat wallet thread to 2007 deals. http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=63&threadid=704925&start=220.

I had heard good reports for Treasure Island, but a few people have said it's themed for kids and there could be alot of youngsters running around. Is this the case?

:rotfl: :rotfl: like ferf said ..nope . back in the 90's when the idea of Vegas as family destination was in it's heyday ,it did have things aimed at kids/teenagers ect . but it has changed it's name to TI and toned down the pirate theme since then. hell look at the Pirate ship battle , it now has busty ladies instead ( ironically meaning that more kids now want to see it) i spent a fair amount of time there in December and there were very few kids . it's worth pointing this out again , and it's not being selfish , or discriminating ( as we have been accused of before on the thread ) but ... VEGAS IS NOT FOR FAMILIES WITH KIDS ANYMORE !!!!

only 2 properties court family business Circus Circus and Excalibur . all the others would much prefer you left the under 21's at home. thats the way it is cause they ( the casino owners) want it that way. okay you won't be turned away with your kids in tow , but you will find a lot of restrictions on what they can do , and where they they can go.



I've booked Death Valley up , by the way , you have to try everything once . looks like only 5 nights in Vegas now . as we have decided to do San Fran and Yosemite as well as LA and Death Valley before LV