Thanks pebbles

If you only have 2 nights in Vegas I wouldn't waste time trying to find a helicopter ride once you are there. You could easily waste a whole afternoon to save a couple of dollars.

There are plenty companies where you can book ahead such as Papillon, Maverick or Scenic.

luci

Hi all,

finally bit the bullet and didn't book 2 weeks package holiday to Turkey as we always do.

So....

We have now booked flights as follows:

August
6th - 11th Las Vegas
11th - 16th San Francisco
16th - 21st Maui
21st - 26th Los Angeles.

Please..............Any advice with booking hotels would be greatly appreciated.

Luci - am I right in thinking that these links are promotional offers from Vegas hotels?
Do these deals come up a lot?
What is the best way to approach these as we are first timers?
Should we narrow down a list of hotels that we might like to stay and search for a deal.
Is it like most things when booking or changing currency.... i.e all a bit of a gamble
It is exciting though.

Hi all,

finally bit the bullet and didn't book 2 weeks package holiday to Turkey as we always do.

So....

We have now booked flights as follows:

August
6th - 11th Las Vegas
11th - 16th San Francisco
16th - 21st Maui
21st - 26th Los Angeles.

Bring it on
Luci - have taken the advice given to Joey and looked at your suggested helicopter/grand canyon companies. A very sensible idea - thank you

Hi

Yes the offers I have been posting are all promotional offers. If you go to the hotels' own websites you can see the regular rates.

You are arriving on a Friday night and Friday and Saturday rates are typically double or more than Sunday-Thursday.

I would normally say that it is too early for promos or offers for August, but a few of the MGM offers I have posted go to the end of the year. Most offers start to come out 2-3 months ahead.

If you see an offer you are happy with I would book it now and keep looking for something better. They only take the first night's deposit which is usually refundable if you cancel 48-72 hours before arrival. If you see a better rate you can cancel and rebook.

What is your budget in US$ per night? Do you have any idea which hotel(s) you are interested in?

** Edit - There is some useful information earlier in the Vegas Hotels topic so I would settle down with a cup of coffee and have a read.

luci

Thanks Luci
Will clear a night this week and swap the coffee for something red in colour from France
We thought about a maximum $500 - $550 per room for the 5 nights., but obviously the less we spend on hotels the more we will have to go towards shows and trips etc. I hope we can get something reasonable for our budget.

For further reading, if you type Vegas into the Search box in the bottom left hand corner of the screen you will find all previous mentions.

luci

Well, I've finally booked too!

3-18th September (15 nights) this will be our longest trip yet!

Along with the flight we booked the middle 5 nights at Desert Rose. Got the flight + hotel for £560 each, which was quite good. Hopefully £40 total in quidco too, so that will take it down to £540 each. Been wanting to try Desert Rose since it rates so highly on TA. Also though it would be good as it has guest laundry facilities, and is still close to MGM etc.

First 5 nights will probably be at the Orleans. Last 5 I would like to think would be North Strip, but I'm not sure where. Maybe Mirage as we've never stayed there, or maybe TI again as we like it, or might even be daring and try Trump. Just not sure!

Will of course be looking out for offers, Luci you have been posting lots! Thanks for your efforts!

Nice one Lesley!! I've looked at the Desert Rose before, but it looks too far out of the way for me. We are staying at the Carriage House on Harmon which seems to be a similar type of property, but much more central as it's only a 5 min walk to the Miracle Mile. It also has free internet and laundry facilities and we really liked it when we stayed there in May.

I believe the Desert Rose has free drinks/snacks 5-7pm.

luci

jilly

I nearly missed your budget as you must have been editing as I was posting last night.

With that budget I don't think you will get one of the high end place such as the Encore, Wynn or Bellagio, but you will get one of the really nice hotels.

Paris is a really nice hotel and very central, but rates can be high and they don't often have offers. Planet Hollywood is another one to consider and they sometimes have rates from $69.

The MGM Grand on the 222 Offer is coming in at $401 total for your dates for a Grand Tower room. I actually think that will come down quite a bit nearer the time. Don't "upgrade" to a West Wing room as these are really tiny even though they are more modern. Also remember that there is 12% room tax added to all hotels in Nevada.

A Celebrity Spa Suite is currently $551 + tax for those dates so a bit over budget, but again I think that will come down nearer the time.

You also need to watch out for Resort fees that some hotels add to their rates which can be as high as $20 a night. Here is a list of who charges resort fees and what they include:-

http://www.vegas.com/incl/resortfees.html

I will post any offers I find in the Vegas Hotels thread and I suggest that you subscribe to that topic so that you get email notification of any new posts.

luci

What a star you are Luci - long may you twinkle on.

Thank you for your time and effort. It makes such a difference to nervous first timers, to receive lots of advice from people who have the experience.

Thanks again

If you are happy with the MGM offer then I would book that now and keep looking for something better.

luci

We have booked the MGM Grand as we it's good value especially when compared with the prices we are going to have to pay in Maui and San Francisco. One hotel down and 3 to find.

Nice one! Which offer did you go for, Crazy 8's or the 222? I take it you decided against booking Planet Hollywood through a 3rd party?

Whichever offer you have booked, check it again in a week's time if it is still on the go as rates, even on the same offer, do change.

luci

Hi Luci

Not sure if you're mistaken about the location of Desert Rose. It's right beside Hooters, so it's just off the strip, not far to walk at all to MGM area, can even go in the side door of MGM which is just across from Hooters. It is close to South strip though so depends on your preference.

I am thinking for our last 5 nights we will probably go for North Strip. Mirage or similar, depending of course on what offers are on.

Desert Rose has free internet, has a laundry, free beer & wine sun-thurs I think it is and I think they do some free snacks at the manager's reception too. Not sure how much we'd use that, but at least it's there. We would have liked to have tried Staybridge Suites since they're getting great ratings, however the price also reflects that I'm afraid as it wasn't very cheap. Also love Platinum, but again prices a bit high to be making a booking on that just now.

Just booked our first vegas trip. Going on the 22 Feb for 5 nights staying at the bellagio its for my 40th birthday.
Im so excited never thought i would get to vegas.

Hi Lesley

No that's where I thought it was, a bit along from Hooters. The MGM is about as far south as we usually go unless we have a show or something at MB or Luxor. The Desert Rose does sound nice and I wouldn't rule it out altogether, but just feel that we would be heading north all the time.

Will you be hiring a car? The Desert Rose would be handy for the monorail.

luci

Congratulations oliday! Not long to wait now.

If you haven't already booked a lake view room then I would try the $20 trick at check in. It worked for us and we had a great view of the fountains.

The Bellagio buffet is one of the best and breakfast is around $14.95.

Any questions, fire away.

luci

We have not booked a lake view room but did request a nice room with a view when we booked. Still cant believe im going. Silly question now what is the dress code for the evening.

Who have you booked with, is it direct with the hotel or through a 3rd party? A lake view room is normally an extra $50 a night above the price of a normal room.

However you can ask at check in if they have any complimentary upgrades available. If you are lucky they will upgrade you free of charge. No harm mentioning it is your 40th birthday either. Have a $20 or $50 note ready to tip the desk clerk if they come up with the goods. $50 might be more appropriate for a 5 night stay. You should do OK as you aren't staying over a weekend, but it's down to luck.

http://www.frontdesktip.com/las-vegas/bellagio/

There's no such thing as a silly question, just one you don't know the answer to.

Dress code for Vegas is, there is no dress code. I have seen sequins at breakfast and shorts at midnight although it won't be warm enough for shorts in February. You can keep an eye on the local temperatures here:-

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/category.asp?C=5547&nav=menu102_3

You can be as casual or dressy as you want and you won't be out of place in any of the casinos. The only places you would need to be smartly dressed are in some of the high end restaurants, but anything goes everywhere else.

Have you booked any shows or trips?

luci