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Thanks for the ever helpful suggestions. I am in the process of getting my leaves approved and fixing my dates as per the travel fares that i get and then may be i will be in a better position to decide.
Thanks again for help.
Please keep on pouring suggestions as this really helps people like me and others who have same/similar query
Suggest some on strip and off strip (but near to strip) hotels. I have selected a few so please let me know how good or bad they are ? I have put their price i got from hotels.com for my stay period (per night rates) and if there is any resort fee then the same is also put down.
If you have any other suggestion on hotels, please free to let me know.
Flamingo Las Vegas - 65$
Imperial Palace - 38$
Bally’s - 83$
Harrah's Hotel and Casino Las Vegas - 58$
Hooters - 22$ +7.5$ per day resort fees
Riviera Hotel And Casino - 33$ + 8$ resort fees
Stratosphere - 40$ + 7.5$ resort fees
I dont want to spend more on hotel stay as i know that for most part of time we will be out wandering or going here and there. So we would love spending outside rather than an expensive hotel.
I plan to book any of these for now as a assurance that i have at least one booking in hand and then may be i can search for other better offers and cancel the one i book to take advantage of the other offer.
Suggest some on strip and off strip (but near to strip) hotels. I have selected a few so please let me know how good or bad they are ? I have put their price i got from hotels.com for my stay period (per night rates) and if there is any resort fee then the same is also put down.
If you have any other suggestion on hotels, please free to let me know.
Flamingo Las Vegas - 65$
Imperial Palace - 38$
Bally’s - 83$
Harrah's Hotel and Casino Las Vegas - 58$
Hooters - 22$ +7.5$ per day resort fees
Riviera Hotel And Casino - 33$ + 8$ resort fees
Stratosphere - 40$ + 7.5$ resort fees
I don't want to spend more on hotel stay as i know that for most part of time we will be out wandering or going here and there. So we would love spending outside rather than an expensive hotel.
I plan to book any of these for now as a assurance that i have at least one booking in hand and then may be i can search for other better offers and cancel the one i book to take advantage of the other offer.
Most of us who live here never get to stay in a hotel, but for what it's worth, out of those choices, I'd pick the Flamingo or Ballys for convenience and location. Maybe Harrah's since the location is pretty good. The Stratosphere location sucks, and from what I hear, so do the rooms and service. You would have to put a gun to my head to make me stay at the Riv. I was in there waiting for my cousin one night and the smell of 50 years of smoke, and probably mold, made me sick within 20 minutes or so.
You might also try the Tropicana, New York New York, and Excalibur. You could spend a whole day at that one intersection and find more to do than you have time for.
Have you given any thought to seeing the sights away from town, like Hoover Dam and the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston; or even a day trip to the Grand Canyon or Zion Nat'l Park?
As far as the Stratosphere Tower, going to the top for the 360º views of Las Vegas and surrounding mountains is worth it, day or night, but I doubt if I'd ever stay in the hotel.
Flamingo Las Vegas - 65$
Imperial Palace - 38$
Bally’s - 83$
Harrah's Hotel and Casino Las Vegas - 58$
Hooters - 22$ +7.5$ per day resort fees
Riviera Hotel And Casino - 33$ + 8$ resort fees
Stratosphere - 40$ + 7.5$ resort fees
Flamingo? Not at that price.
IP? It's basically a Motel 6 in a good location, and you can watch people undress from your balcony if you're into that sort of thing.
Harrah's? Not at that price.
Hooter's isn't a bad deal at $30 -- it's close enough to everything. But I haven't stayed there. Read some reviews.
Riviera -- no, just no.
Stratosphere -- not just no, hell no. The hotel is basically in a demilitarized zone. The only reason to go there is to see the view from the tower. Just keep in mind the tower was built by a lunatic with a reputation of building crap on the cheap.
And seriously, Kayak.com -- that will give you a very good idea of what airfare costs. THEN you can get on the phone and dial individual carriers.
For instance, I recently booked airfare for my mother-in-law. Southwest was $100 more roundtrip than a non-stop I found on Kayak.
There's also the ultra-budget carriers -- Spirit Air (www.spirit.com) will cost around $150 round trip from DFW to LAS. (If your dates are flexible.) Go to their website and play around. You may have to join their "$9 fare club" ($50 to join). I'm already a member, because it gets me to San Francisco for $30 that way. Just keep in mind, they will nickle and dime you every step of the way. If you're cool with that, and can play their game, that will be your cheapest option.
Have you given any thought to seeing the sights away from town, like Hoover Dam and the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston; or even a day trip to the Grand Canyon or Zion Nat'l Park?
Yes i do have plans to go for a one day tour to Grand Canyon. I am exploring the various tour agencies like grand adventure etc which provide such 1 day tours.
Also i am open to more suggestions on other hotels which i should consider. I am aware that that time period when i want to go is holiday season and i should expect higher rates. But i really cannot avoid and cannot shift my dates much. Please let me know other options for hotels and i shall even check their details and deals.
I am also checking which airline too book since once i get that thing booked i can fully concentrate in hotel booking.
I see that most airlines do allow one carry on bag and one laptop bag right ?
So for the carry on if i have a bag which is of standard cabin bag size which can fit the over head compartment and a backpack consisting my notebook/tablet will be fine right ?
Can someone please clarify ?
Suggest some on strip and off strip (but near to strip) hotels. I have selected a few so please let me know how good or bad they are ? I have put their price i got from hotels.com for my stay period (per night rates) and if there is any resort fee then the same is also put down.
If you have any other suggestion on hotels, please free to let me know.
Don't discount the Fremont Street Experience properties.....
Golden Nugget or Four queens....[MAYBE the Plaza IF they get their waste products together.]
The strip is readily accessible from any downtown property...
Remember....BOOK EARLY, BOOK CHEAP especially for NY's the rates have already started to climb.
Yes i do have plans to go for a one day tour to Grand Canyon. I am exploring the various tour agencies like grand adventure etc which provide such 1 day tours.
Also i am open to more suggestions on other hotels which i should consider. I am aware that that time period when i want to go is holiday season and i should expect higher rates. But i really cannot avoid and cannot shift my dates much. Please let me know other options for hotels and i shall even check their details and deals.
I am also checking which airline too book since once i get that thing booked i can fully concentrate in hotel booking.
Some advise from someone who has lived, worked, and played in Las Vegas for the past 35 years (since 1976). My career in the hotel industry totals 25 years with employment from small off-strip motels to the then largest hotel in the world -- the Las Vegas Hilton. I've taken countless "busman holidays" or as they are now called, "staycations."
Allow me to address a few issues and maybe go off topic. It is inate in most of us to seek and capture the best bargin out there. Your particular travel dates in late December are good as long as you're aware the major, if not all, hotels hike rates into the stratosphere (incidentally, the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino is dangerous from numerous aspects from food preparation, filthy rooms and ghetto/gang location to its dangerously constructed tower).
What has not been mentioned in this thread unless I missed it -- is the importance of joining the "loyalty" programs that every major resort offers. And, most of the hotels offer on-line sign-up. Quite often these resorts will offer heavily discounted rates; some even offer complimentary rooms, but don't count on that until you've played their slot machines.
The MGMResorts which operates at least 10 strip and off strip resorts has the M-Life Player's Club card. Most notable is the Mandalay Bay, THEhotel, Luxor, New York-New York, Monte Carlo, Aria and Bellagio. The Mandalay Bay Hotel's upscale, all-suite property, THEhotel is offering loyalty card holders mid-December arrivals at $68 + $22resort fee per night. Other than the New Years holiday, the weekend rate is $88 + $22rf per night for Friday and Saturday night. This particular property during late spring, summer and fall easily charge over $230 per night and higher. Convention season starts in January (thru April) and rates are $400 for the same rooms.
Another "must have" loyalty card is Ceasars/Harrah's "Total Rewards" card. You can sign-up on-line. Besides Caesar's Palace, they operate the Flamingo, Bally's, Paris, Harrah's and the Rio, as well as other locations in Mississippi. Total Rewards card holders can (currently) book the Flamingo and Bally's from Dec 18 to 22 @ $35 & tax (no resort fee), Dec 22 to 29 @ $55 and $65 & tax. In fact NYE rates are reasonable @ $285 per night for Friday and Saturday. Many hotels are not even offering NYE rates as they are already sold out. One little trick to be aware of regarding NYE...many major properties hold back as much as 5% inventory for maximum rates they are allowed to charge under Nevada law. Considering NYE falls on Saturday night this year -- they will probably sell-out. It can work the other way as well. Hotels can be sitting on 100 or more empty rooms on Dec 30 & 31 and not wanting to report (under law they have to report occupancy to the Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Commission) 95% occupancy - they will sell these rooms at $65 a night to walk-ins. Of course, a lot of that is just serendipity, but worth making a friend of the hotel desk manager
Another avenue for lower rates is to see what's trending on http://www.stayandplayhere.com/ which is strictly for Las Vegas residents with legal Nevada driver's license or Nevada ID card. However, these very same hotels that lower their rates for locals are also lowering them for everyone else.
I'm happy to list the hotels (major resorts) to STAY AWAY from. Regarding off-strip properties, of which there are hundreds from small "by-the-hour" motor courts to major resorts such as the RIO and THE PALMS, as well as the downtown resort corridor. HARD ROCK - quite a distance from strip but a celebrity hang-out, year-round pool.
Stay Away:
Luxor (pyramid rooms bad) newer hotel is great
Excalibur
MGM Grand
Polo Towers
Planet Hollywood
Jockey Club
Barbary Coast
Imperial Palace
Circus-Circus
Riviera (newer rooms ok)
Stratosphere
Those above listed are on the Las Vegas Strip. Going north on Las Vegas Blvd after the Stratosphere has only motels of ill-repute, strip clubs and wedding chapels until Fremont Street/Downtown.
So few downtown hotels remain that I'll rate them:
El Cortez: historic, dirty, but great gaming action
Western Motel & Casino: dirty, awful food, stay far away
Fitzgerald's Casino & Hotel: fair to poor rooms, awful food
Four Queens: good rooms (small), excellent food, active casino
Fremont: small, well-kept rooms. Food awful. Active casino
Golden Nugget: good to excellent rooms, good food, great casino
Binions: hotel open seasonally, small clean rooms, great rooftop food
Golden Gate: historic, oldest casino, great shrimp, small poor rooms
Las Vegas Club: fair to good rooms and food. Food okay
Plaza: recently renovated and reopened. Food was okay, but...?
Main Street Station: Large rooms, fair food, lousy casino
California Club: great food, casino good, real bad rooms.
Also check-out traveladvisor.com where you can find comprhensive real traveller reviews.
One piece of final advise: don't try and save money by staying far off the strip or downtown. The cost in exhaustion by walking or even drving to the must-see destinations easily equals what you might pay (as suggested) at the THEhotel (Mandalay Bay) or at the Flamingo, which is a fair/good property only. Treat yourself to a quality resort especially if you're visiting mid-December, when the rates are about the lowest.
Feel free to post if you have any questions. Have a great time!!!!
Last edited by FourFive55; 10-12-2011 at 01:41 AM..
Reason: to change status and language
Barbary Coast hasn't been around for a very long time.
While I agree with most of your information, I wonder how long it's been since you've been here?
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