Hotels?

[cyndi]

I checked priceline.com today to see rates on the hotel I’d reserved and their prices were cheaper than my reservation price. So I called the hotel (I’d made the reservation last June) to inquire about where our rooms were located, and reservation agent informed me about new lower rates - which were LOWER than the rates I had from priceline.

So, two lessons - if you made reservations awhile back - call the hotel and see about getting cheaper rates if they don’t offer. And, priceline isn’t always cheaper than the hotel’s own best rate! IN my case, the during the week rates were almost HALF what I had been quoted last summer, and about $50 less on weekend.

[ALewis]

Some of the weekly’s are Budget Suites, Siegel Suites, Harbor Island and that’s all I can think of at the moment. They are all over this town. Some can be dumps but most of them are ok for a temporary stay. I’ve had some friends stay in them when they come out.

Their basically a small furnished one bedroom or studio. You would have to provide everything else. If I had room I would invite everyone to stay with me! :yes:

I would think as the events get closer the hotels will offer some better rates. Most have their room rates available online for the coming months. Also check out some of the travel sites. You can find some good deals on those too.

[Dun_Ciarain]

[QUOTE=PaulaM;3836390]
in 2007, I stayed at the Imperial Palace, and had a horrible stay.

This year, I am taking my hubby with me and we are staying @ the MGM Grand!! I’ve heard lots of good things about them.[/QUOTE]

The Imperial Palace is one of the worst hotels on the strip. The Excalibur is also horrible. It is so bad I have seen empty beer cans under the blackjack tables.

[BasqueMom]

We stayed at the Southpoint Halloween weekend and it was lovely. They have their own
equestrian center and saw some big name west coast riders ride. By far, the nicest room
I’ve ever seen with the exception of the Wynn but that was more than 4x the Southpoint
rate. The slot machines were even generous and won enough to pay for the room.

You would need a car unless you relied on the shuttle bus. In between Thomas MacK
and the hotel is a huge, huge outlet mall that is definitely worth a stop.

[onetempies]

Stayed at Bally’s in '05 and loved it. Then '07 we stayed at Excalibur and hated it. Good location but a dump.

Hard Rock is very close to the T&M. In fact, this is where many people end up at to catch cab rides at the end of the night back to the strip. In '07 we relied on the shuttle to get back and forth quite a bit.

Car rentals are really quite cheap and will offer you more options for getting around to see the local sites. I hear that parking at T&M is quite easy if you rent a car. We avoided the cabs in '07 as much as possible due to their driving making me ill. If we ever go back, we’re looking into the timeshare rentals. There’s a website that you can actually look into renting houses or condos, with the amount of rooms depending on how big your group is. I just don’t have that link on me at the moment since I’m at work. But google might be able to help ya out if you search for Las Vegas rentals or something similar.

[ponygirl]

Embassy Suites is another good place to stay. Free breakfast, free Happy Hour and close to Hard Rock. There are two btw. We have stayed at the one closest to HR. They also have 2 swans named Priscilla and Elvis

I’ve been many times and I like to remain centrally located on the strip so we are normally in Bally’s or Paris. Call and ask about specials b/c a lot of times they have them.

[SBrentnall]

I just booked a room at the Hilton for $59.95. It’s just off the strip, but the monorail leaves from right outside the hotel and goes to the MGM Grand. The trip is about 11 mins, and a 3-day monorail pass is $28. From the MGM, you can walk or take the shuttle to the venue.

The Hilton has been refurbished and has a lovely new spa and tons of restaurants.

[_SC]

We went in 2007 and stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, which is only a 10 min walk from Thomas Mac. Let me tell you, it is h*ll trying to get a cab afterwards, so if you can stay within walking distance you will save yourself SO much time!

[Cooper]

I booked a room at the Wynn thru Travelocity and got my RT airfare, plus 4 nights at the Wynn for less than $600. Las Vegas must be feeling the crunch, because I never thought I would see rates so low at the Wynn.

[Seal_Harbor]

@Arizona DQ;3837876

We are staying at the South Point, which is one of the host hotels. They have a shuttle back and forth to the T&M center. Plus during this time there will also be the Arabian Breeders World Cup at the hotel. I hear the shopping at this event is great! My friend and I are not into gambling and really could care less if we even make it to the Strip. But this hotel has plenty of restaurants, bars and a spa. What else does a girl need?

I stayed there in 2007. It is a nice hotel and we did go watch the horse show at the hotel. It didn’t have a shuttle for Thomas and Mack then but appears to have changed that. We drove back and forth and it wasn’t bad. I did ride the MGM shuttle one night to go to dinner with some people and then took a cab back to South Pointe.

[Phyxius]

[QUOTE=MEP;3837226]
So, what are names of some of the “weeklys” - are they just bare-bones or are they dumps or what???[/QUOTE]

There’s a time-share place that doubles as a hotel called Sun Terra Desert Paradise Resort. It’s very nice and peaceful. For the cost of one room at the Luxor we got two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, parking right outside the room, and access to a fitness room, two swimming pools and a hottub. They’ll want to cross sell you a time share, just say “not interested” and they’ll leave you alone. It’s a couple blocks from the strip, but since we had a rental being farther than walking distance encouraged us to get out and about in Vegas.

I’ve also stayed at the Venetian which is very nice but pricey. The Grand Lux Cafe has the BEST breakfast buffet ever. Tons of fresh fruit! Don’t forget to grab a gelato and hop on a gondala.

The Flamingo is much less expensive, but a bit older. If standard accomodations are fine go with it, if you want something extra upgrade your room to enjoy newly remodelled furnishings. Be sure to read the small print on the water bottles, I think they’re about $5! Check out Bugsy’s birds in the courtyard.

Also on my last trip to Vegas I got to visit Marriott’s Grand Chateau. Very nice, but most likely PACKED. If it available their suites are quite nice.

MGM features lions and is within walking distance to T&M. NewYork, NewYork is right across from MGM and features roller coaster rides. Beware of the Cirque de Soleil show here though…Zumanity is an strip show verison of Cirque. Across the strip is Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay. Also within walking distance is Hooters which I’ve been told is offering huge discounts for World Cup week.

For getting around without a rental check out the monorail and their daily pass prices. There are also double decker busses called “The Duece”. They’re a cheap way to travel but they can sometimes get QUITE packed.

If you’ve never been to Vegas, when you’re walking down the strip don’t make eye contact with the hispanic guys smacking pieces of paper. They’re trying to get people to go see hookers, just keep your eyes up and walk forward.

Also if you have a rental car do NOT accept the “we’ll fill up your tank for $X”. Gas really is cheaper in the city than it is at the airport. If you like panera bread or want free wifi head down to S Fort Apache Rd. for the closest Panera Bread. Also in the parking lot is a Wal-Mart if you forgot to bring anything with you.

If you want to throw in some site seeing and the Hoover Dam is a stop, head over to the Hoover Dam, drive over it and park on TOP of the hill on the Arizona side, parking is free here and it’s an easy walk back to the visitor’s center. Do you really, really want to ride in a helicopter? On your way back to Vegas stop at the hotel and casino on the right hand side of the road, you’ve got three options, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and I think it’s called Black Canyon? Have fun and take a camera! Use your ticket stub for a free non-alcoholic drink at the casino and then continue on your way.

[HydroPHILE]

Keep an eye out for travel deals, but if you’re offered a room “upgrade,” take it.

My coworker and I saved our company a total of $2200 by booking our rooms through a deal we saw on the NYTimes website. We stayed 6 nights at Caesar’s Palace for $700. (Roughly $117/night) Our rooms weren’t one of the newly remodeled rooms that looked like a typical boutique hotel, but they were clean and convenient to the monorail.

My coworker has stayed at the Palazo (sp?) - that’s nice, and you can, at times, get great deals. Las Vegas Hilton is sometimes crammed with convention-goers.

Where it’s being held (The Thomas and Mack Center) is away from the strip, but at least it’s close to the airport. For a “known” hotel near there…MGM Grand and Excalibur (though Excalibur is incredibly “kid” friendly). If you want to stay “on the strip,” you might want to avoid Circus Circus as well.

[Dun_Ciarain]

I think that hotel deals will just get better and better over the next couple of weeks. I have already been offered free rooms at Paris and a few other hotels (I’m not a gambler - just been to LV a bunch of times), free weeknights at Ceasars ($25 on weekend), a deal at the new Encore - $100ish, etc. I suggest that everyone negotiate tough with the hotels in Vegas - they are experiencing significantly less vistors (raw number) than last year - and even more hotels rooms have come onto the market during the last year. Occupancy rates are much lower then they have been for some time.

[Pirateer]

When I went in 2007 we stayed at South Point, which was off strip. We got a nice hotel, recently remodeled, great pool (crap weather) and four of us split the week for about $150/ea.

However, we were ALWAYS waiting for busses until we gave up and started taking cabs, which sort of ruined the “cheap” part.

Not going this year but next time i’m staying on strip- Luxor or Venetian, Wynn, something fancy schmancy.

[ybiaw]

Hey everyone! Just got back from my week long business trip to Vegas. I stayed at the Mandalay Bay, which was a GORGEOUS hotel.

My company got a really REALLY good rate, especially since we were there for a convetion and the rates hike up for special events (not to mention the convention was IN the Mandalay Bay convention center).

www.travelzoo.com was the website that we booked through - for 6 nights, we got a rate of $59 for 2 nights, $79 for 2 nights, and $99 for the two weekend nights we were there. At a high-class, high-quality hotel, no less.

So, if you’re looking for good rates, I’d suggest visiting that website.

Also, the Mandalay is pretty close to the T&M Center, so if you need to take a cab, the rate should be pretty reasonable. You can also look around that area - the Excalibur is pretty cheap, too. According to one of the taxi drivers I had the pleasure of talking to, all the “Big” hotels there are dropping their rates so much that the SMALLER hotels are really struggling - why stay at the EconoLodge when you could stay at one of the “Big Names” for almost the same rate?

Good luck with your travel plans! I wish I were going!!!

[Trying]

My son got me a room at the Hampton Inn which is close and he is also providing a car so since he puts friends up all the time i will vouche for his choice. Any one need a lift PM me by e-mail

[dray]

I’m kind of ignorant about VEgas (and didn’t check threads first) and probably didn’t get teh best deal, but we booked at the Bellagio.