Any Vegas People in Here?

[HotHolly]

I was wondering if anyone in here frequents Vegas a lot? I had someone tell me that hotel prices were about $45 per night. When I checked rates, they were more like $175 per night (that is the special price - reg rate is over $250).

Is there a secret code I don't know about, or is my source having a flashback? My Great-Grandma always used to tell me hotels are so expensive - $10 per night. $10 would rock. Heck, $45 would rock.

So, what's the norm on the strip? Thanks ahead of time!!!

[gsdpic]

I'm not a regular there, but I have been there recently. The prices vary *a lot* from one night to the next depending on what is going on. A room might be $80 one night and $280 the next. Fri and Sat night are generally most expenseive. On at least some of the hotel's web sites you can bring up a calendar showing the rate for each night. I was there in May, on Sunday-Wednesday nights and paid a little over $100/night at Luxor, on the south end of the strip.

[JamesB]

it all depends on the hotel. I stayed at the Luxor for $69 a night years ago. A lot of the places are pretty pricey (over 129 a night). also you HAVE to ask for comps and stuff and know when and where to ask.

you dont need to rent a car there unless you plan on driving a few hours away from the strip. It will be a lot easier taking cab or riding the tram

Im sure if you hunt around you will find some deals

http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/

James

[pmblue]

We go several times a year and have never paid around $45/night. On average the prices we've paid are around +-$200 and that's staying from Caesars Palace to the Wynn. I don't know about prices at some of the smaller casino/hotels.

[David_3]

I've probably been there at least 40 times over the past 10 years. The newer luxury hotels (Bellagio, Venetian, Mandalay Bay, Wynn, etc) have driven the prices of rooms sky high. The basic rooms in those hotels can cost up to $1000/night, and they stay full. That has allowed the older, more established hotels to up their rates also. So $175/night is not uncommon anymore....even during the week. There are still good deals around, but you have to look a little harder for them. As someone said, ten years ago Vegas was all about the $0.99 buffet. Now it is about who has the most expensive, luxurious, extravagent hotel in town. Vegas has changed a lot over the past ten years, and I think it has changed for the worse. But I still go there.

You might try www.vegas.com It will give you the chance to check out prices on rooms in many different hotels.

Good luck.



Edit to add: For a basic room, check out the Sahara, or the Stratosphere. They are nothing special, and the location is not great, but it a clean basic room, for a reasonable price. Oh, also The Imperial Palace...it's old and a little run down, but the location is great!

[*Mike*]

The Excalibur and the Hilton were suggested to us as places with reasonable rates and okay locations... Whatcha think?

[David_3]

Originally Posted by *Mike*

The Excalibur and the Hilton were suggested to us as places with reasonable rates and okay locations... Whatcha think?

Excalibur is OK, and may offer some good rates. It's at the south end of the strip, and there are a bunch of other casinos right there too. That makes a fairly short walk to see a bunch of other hotels. BUT...during the summer, and because of the "castle" theme, I have found it to be absolutely full of parents with small kids. And those kids seem to be running everywhere. It felt more like Disneyland than Vegas, to me. I've never stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton, because it is off the strip. It too is a little older, but I'm sure it has been kept up very nicely. I believe the local tram now stops there, so getting around to other parts of the strip would not be too expensive. It's too far to walk from the strip from the Hilton....especially during the summer. Still, the rates might be just right.

[Breezy]

We stayed at Circus Circus a few years back for $39 a night. But that was a "special" rate and then a military discount too

[HotHolly]

Thanks for the links. Already found some better rates. We were looking at the Venetian. The 1st price I found was discounted to $219/ night. One of those links has it down to $139 per night. Way better! Thanks!

[lscottpht]

I've never been, but I was a travel agent, and you can get package prices which makes the hotels cheaper. They have package deals for air/hotel or just hotel. Adventure Tours and Funjet offered these, but for Adventure Tours, you have to go through a travel agent. There are others, but it's been awhile since I was in the biz, so I don't remember all the names. Most travel agents don't charge for their services on packages, so you should check them out just to see if you can get a better deal.

[HotHolly]

Thanks for the tip! I forgot about FunJet!

[studiocygnet]

The folks that tell you about $45 hotels in Vegas are staying off the strip, and walking a couple blocks over. None of the big casinos would be that cheap, but there are a bunch of small places on Paradise going down toward the Hard Rock, I can't remember all the names but one of them is called Terribles or something like that, with a pirate theme. There are also some places up farther from the new casinos in the old section of the strip, like Circus Circus and Stardust, that aren't as expensive, and then around the corner from them, the Blair House, which has no casino at all, but it's just a block from the strip and last time I checked, was about $50 weekdays, and $15 more for weekend days.
For the last few years I've been there, I've been staying at the Tuscany Inn, which has a small casino and a couple nice restaurants, and is in between priced at $99 or so. It's around the corner and a couple blocks down from the Flamingo.
So really, you either pay for the convenience of having casinos and restaurants right where you're staying, or go cheap and walk more.

[lscottpht]

Originally Posted by HotHolly

Thanks for the tip! I forgot about FunJet!

Your welcome! Hope you get a good deal and have fun!

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Used to be that the Circus Circus had a deal, if you even just walked up to the desk and they were sold out they would get you a deal in a casino as nice or better at the Circus Circus price-did this a few moons ago and stayed at the Riviera for about 70% of the Riviera's cheapest stated rate (circus circus rate) but I don't know if that policy is still going on.

You could also look for places Downtown-near the Freemont Street strip of casino's where the big Freemont Experience is nightly, that street where they have the computerized light show on the canopy that arcs over the street. I believe the MINT was there- if you ever watched the TV Show Vegas some of the lead ins to the show were actually showing Casinos downtown and not on the strip.

Remember going to Vegas as a kid and there was little out on the strip- Stardust comes to mind and the Silver Slipper- and we would stay downtown instead.

Do some more searching-try every source-expedia, hotels.com. etc and even use Google to search for cheap rooms in Vegas, heck so what if you have to pay $10 for a cab back and forth to the strip if you save $80 a night!

I bet there are even Motel 6's and the likes out there if you just search around!

I also agree that the MEGA hotels on the Strip have pushed prices up-Belagio, WYNNS, etc that have you paying for all sorts of bells and whistles that you may not want nor need-really do you want to pay for the hotel having a golf course if you don't plan to use it? What about expensive day spas? To be honest a golf course and day spa usually are not big money makers over their costs for the hotel but are services that they want to offer but they have to build it into the room prices anyway.

Good luck.

BTW I have a friend who said that he can get me, personally, a great price in one of the high end places since he kinda of knows the principles in the place and they are pretty good at being generous to a few folks but to be honest I wouldn't feal comfortable in the place anyway so probably would not take him up on it unless it was a special trip.

So see if anyother hotels or if Circus Circus still have that standing offer.