If it's 'standard' rooms as such you're looking at, then Venetian would be best as it's all suites, followed by Bellagio and finally Ceasars. I've actually read some criticisms of Ceasars recently.
Bellagio is slightly better placed on the strip - to be honest either would be fantastic....but Venetian edges it.

TC

Yes I would go Venetian and Bellagio.

What price (in dollars) are you getting for the rooms so we can see if you are getting a good deal or not?

Re the buffets, I bumped a topic on Vegas restaurants and buffets just a few days ago so it should be on the first page. Some of the posts may seem old, but things are basically the same. You could post any specific questions in that topic.

luci

Venetian. If I had the money for a better hotel this year and not a piddly little $22 a night Excalibur room (which I am very thankful for I might add) I would go Venetian. I always have a better time in the Venetian than Bellagio. Ceasars is out against those two if you ask me.

Thanks guys, i will go onto the BA staff site and see what prices are coming up for both hotels. I am really looking forward to it.

As BA dont start flying to Vegas until the 25th Oct we are going to fly to LA on the 24th and drive to Vegas.

Hubby wants to see the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.

Hi first time in vegas so dont no what to expect we are going in April.We are looking at the excalibur as its the best price at the moment £289 4 nights all looking pricey but not sure if MGM grand looks better will it be worth £160 more or is it too early to book ?any suggestions appreciated

gerty - I would never pay that to stay in Excalibur for 4 nights....unless it includes flights as well??
I have Excalibur booked for my first night next week and it cost something like £20 for the night. For 4 nights, (there are no bank holidays or celebrations in April), I wouldn't expect to pay more than around £100 for 4 nights in Excalibur standard rooms, maximum.

Having said all that, we need a bit more info on how many are going, are you staying midweek or weekends etc?

Cheers,

TC

Remember there's the NAB convention in April which pushed prices up.

I wouldn't pay £289 for 4 nights in the Excalibur either. That's obviously with a 3rd party site seeing as the price is in sterling. I stayed at the MGM in May for $69/night and it's been as low as $48. It's a better hotel, but the widescreen rooms as the Excalibur are OK.

Have you tried pricing with the hotel direct? I just checked and can get 4 nights for $237 (£143) which includes the resort fee, taxes and a $25 dining credit.

You should be able to get a better hotel for the same money if you are willing to pay £300.

4 nights isn't really long enough in Vegas as your first and last day will be travelling so only 2 full days there.

luci

Thanks all that is a great help.We changed our mind going for 5 nights, because we have to be in S/D for the tues.We will arrive on the 1st and so we will be there over weekend for our daughters 21st there is 6 adults and 2 children. Do you think we are booking to soon and should keep looking.My daughter thinks MGM grand looks better ,thanks again will keep you informed of what we do

The MGM Grand has just been voted the best international hotel (not sure if that is the correctly named category to be honest) by readers in the Sunday Times Travel magazine this month. I think that confirms just how highly this property is regarded in the travel circle.

I'm going with Excalibur in November for a change and also because its cheap ($22 a night) but the MGM is a vastly superior property and I would go with that. Normally, I would recommend hanging on until a few months out before booking a Vegas hotel but if your dates fall within a major conference it might be a risky strategy. Grab a deal now which suits and is cancellable with 48hrs notice and then keeping looking.

Ju

Think we've settled on MGM grand. At the moment its £430 5 nights booked direct or £380 third party no freebies should we wait ?any advances or diff ideas thanks all

Even accounting for that including 2 weekend nights, it's still steep. You will definitely do better nearer the time, say 8-12 weeks before arrival when the offers come out.

luci

Thanks luci.We need 3 rooms so daughters worried we dont get one but i've read you can book now and phone to change your booking if it goes down have you heard anything about this? thanks

HI
We stayed at the MGM 2nd sep to 6th sep 09 it is one big hotel , we were on 13th floor with strip view , rooms massive with 2 queen beds one each! air con was brill which we left on , we timed or selves leavin pool to get up to rooms and it took 25mins if u got lost around 40 mins, it does have the wow factor and its a brilliant experience stayin there , when we go back i want to stay in the ventetian that beat the rest hands down for style and luxury , the pools at mgm was the nicest i saw as well and were massive compared to some we saw.
the grand cayon trip via vip helicoper with pallion was awesome you do have to do it to experience the wow factor it was the best trip i ever done .
did a bit of gambling but was abit timid around tables as its hetic at nights , at w/ends the limits all rise as well !
ate at the italian cant remember name it was like Mom something !! facing bellagio water show that was lovely but felt rushed !
Ate at Olives in the bellagio that was fantastic for the price we paid 20.09 each for 3 courses

went and watched Neil dimond ( steve ) at riveria He gud , had a great night , walked back and watched volcano show and wate show again , we missed pirate show because high wind they cancelled it .
The heat is like a hair dryer blowing in ur face its roastin , but we kept goin in hotel to cool off

highly recommend Vegas its something i def do again kaz

gerty wrote:

Thanks luci.We need 3 rooms so daughters worried we dont get one but i've read you can book now and phone to change your booking if it goes down have you heard anything about this? thanks

This is usually the case if you book direct with the hotel - but you need to read the T&Cs as some offers are non-changeable, non-cancellable.

The MGM has over 5,000 rooms - the chances of them selling out are fairly small but if you book a cancellable deal they will normally take just the first night rate as a deposit and will refund it if you cancel (usually 48 or 72 hours before). If you're going on 1st April for 5 nights you will be there early enough to miss the NAB convention craziness too...though sounds like you will be there over Easter, it doesn't have that big of an impact in Vegas as there are no US bank holidays for Easter...but it may impact flight prices.

Have you checked MGM rates at http://www.smartervegas.com ? (sorry, can't post links - but add dot com to the end of that :))

Thanks we are going to keep looking maybe until next month see if offers change then book. like you say they have lots of rooms so no need to panic .My daughter likes the sound of mgm because of the pools, she has two young babies so she will spend alot of the time at hotel.Let you no if we book anything.

Agree with everything ferf says. We do it all the time, book at a rate we're happy with, but keep checking for offers and call to change or cancel if something better comes along. You need to book direct with the hotel before you can do this.

The rates you see now for months in advance bear no relation to the actual rates nearer the time. That's what puts newbies off booking direct, they see the high rates and think Expedia, etc are a couple of pounds cheaper whereas booking direct can be considerably cheaper nearer the time.

I was booked into Bally's for $60 or 70 a night which is a great rate for the weekend. Pounced on an offer of 2 nights for $79 total so cancelled and rebooked which was lucky as they changed the offer within a day or so to $100/night.

You can usually get the MGM from $49/night with various freebies, but it may be a bit more for the dates you actually want.

The MGM isn't going to run out of rooms. The only time they may be fully booked is if there is a big fight on there.

luci

Well we are off on Friday into Denver overnight stay there ( BA dont start Vegas until Sun). We have booked the Sat night at the Golden Nugget for the Sat night. Then its the Venetian for 6 nights. Now all i have to decide is do i want to pay $80 to do the Sky Walk

Have a great time. Never been to skywalk so can't comment on that, but hope you have fun in Vegas!

Do let us know how you get on!

based on reviews of the Skywalk I'd skip it if it were me - if you do decide to go, be sure you've read about all the restrictions, additional costs, etc. If you go into it prepared for all of the negatives you might be pleasantly surprised. Loads and loads of reviews at Tripadvisor.