[Paulie_D]

What Do You Mean By "Travel Tips"?

I'm starting this as a companion piece to the Vegas 2011 - An APAT Adventure thread. The primary goal is to inform (as best as one can) the APAT members who haven't previously visited the City of Lost Wages of some of the best (and worst) options available.

To start with, the observations will be based on my experiences over the past {cough} years but I'm sure that those APAT members who have also visited will chime in with their opinions (either pro or con).

I'll try and update the various original points as we go so that, hopefully, this can become a resource of sorts.

HOWEVER, just because I might have an opinion doesn't mean you have to listen to me (lots don't) and there is no substitute for doing your own research. What I like might not appeal to you and vice versa. There are lots of review sites out there...TripAdvisor for one, which you can use to make up your own mind. Google / Bing / Yahoo are your friends here too.

[Paulie_D]

[Paulie_D]

Hotels

I'm going to go out on a limb and decide that the most important factor for the Vegas virgin is going to be LOCATION.

Obviously, for the more experienced visitor other factors come into play such as previous trips, proximity to favourite card rooms or preferred activities but for the n00b, then location is key.

To that end, I'm going to say that being bang in the centre of the Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard) is probably your best choice.

That's not so say that the hotels to the South End, or Downtown aren't worth staying in (they are) but you're going to want to see and do as much as possible with all the hassles of long transfers.

Here"s some stuff I am blatantly ripping off of 2+2

There are many independent criteria which can drive a decision - cost, location, amenities/facilities, luxury, etc. which makes it impossible to arrive at a universally "best" hotel to stay at. Expect to pay a premium (either in terms of room rates or increased gambling minimums) for proximity to the Strip, newer hotels, and more amenities/facilities (including a hotel/casino vs. a hotel only). In general, there are a few broad classifications that can be made (classifications done subjectively by intended audience that they market to):

Strip Top Tier (top of the line luxury, relatively new/remodeled, often have a unique theme/schtick, very expensive resorts): Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Venetian, Wynn, Aria (CityCenter).

Older Strip Megaresorts (top of the line or tried to be at one point, but have been superceded, generally still generate enough interest to be expensive): Luxor, MGM Grand, NYNY, Flamingo, Mirage, Treasure Island.

Second Tier Strip Megaresorts (places that never really aimed to be the king of the Strip, but have good locations and are much more affordable): Tropicana, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, Planet Hollywood, Paris, Bally"s, Harrah"s.

Blatant Discount Strip Options (places that market to the bargain hunters): Bill"s, Imperial Palace, Casino Royale.

North Strip (arguably still on the Strip, but physically separated from the rest by a pretty wide gap; typically discount-oriented): Circus Circus, Riviera, Sahara, Hilton, Stratosphere.

Downtown (most downtown casinos are discount-oriented with low gambling limits and cheaper amenities): El Cortez, Golden Spike, Fitzgerald"s, Fremont, Golden Nugget, Binion"s, Golden Gate, Plaza, California, Main Street Station.

Off-Strip, Strip-like Hotels (playing to the same audience as many on the Strip, but physically located off-Strip): Palms, Rio, Hard Rock.

Just Off-Strip, Downtown-like Hotels (playing to the same audience as many Downtown, but located within a mile of the Strip): Gold Coast, Orleans, Wild Wild West, Hooters, Terrible"s, South Point.

Off-Strip, unclustered (many of these hotel/casinos are unclustered and are geographically scattered; they aim for the discount audience but also draw a higher percentages of locals): Arizona Charlie"s, Boulder, Sam"s Town, Sunset Station, Santa Fe, Jerry"s Nugget.

Non-Casino Hotels: Around the Strip and Downtown there are a bucketload of hotels without casinos. Obviously these are the cheapest options and many chains are represented - Days Inn, Embassy Suites, Marriott, Residence Inn, Best Western, Howard Johnson, etc. Notable non-casino hotels directly on the Strip are Polo Towers and the Jockey Club.

One thing to remember is that most of these places are HUGE and the distances involved in getting between even hotels that look to be next door can be much further than you might think, especially in the blistering summer heat.

There is a fabulous site called Las Vegas Today And Tomorrow that has some fantastic maps.

Here"s a LINK to the best and most comprehensive.

[Paulie_D]

Yes, although I"ve started an "individual" thread based on my own experiences and knowledge it doesn"t mean you can"t contribute. I"m most certainly not the font of all knowledge here, I haven"t stayed or been everywhere.

Please add your comments here and if appropriate, I"ll try and incorporate it.

Have at it.

[Curlarge]

Sounds advice as always from the Guru.

My experience at the new Aria Hotel and Resort at the brand new City Centre complex was an excellent one in May last year. It is very centrally located next to the Bellagio and across the road from the MGM Grand.

The poker room gives a room rate of $99 per night as long as that room plays a minimum of 5 hours per day in The Aria card room. Normal rate is around the $179 mark I believe so a good saving. The rooms are simply stunning with every convenience catered for and the buffet even more so. $17 buys virtually anything you can think of and 2 days play (10 hours) seemed to rack just about enough loyalty points for this to be comp"ed. Even I didn"t need to eat for the rest of the day!!!!

A typical day, in the early stages at least, was up at 6 am (2pm UK time) play cash for 2-3 hours (fairly soft) and then brekkie as above. By 10.30 our obligations were done and the rest of the day was ours. Those on single occupancy needed to make up their hours later in the day, but this rarely proved an issue as most major tourneys at the Bellagio or Venitian for example start at midday so another hour was very do-able.

The only thing it does do of course is limit ones ability to visit other poker rooms if the 5 hours proves tricky to complete.

Our trip was interupted by the infamous volcanic ash cloud and this meant that we had to spend one Saturday night in a different hotel as there was a boxing match in the MGM and The Aria was full. We chose to go Downtown to the Golden (Chicken) Nugget which I have to say we all enjoyed.

There is quiet a difference in these older casinos both in the standard of the rooms and the play in the card rooms, but there is definately a sense of history to be had particularly at Binions, home of the original WSOP.

The cash games were a lot more meaningful for the locals here, in that money had a value far above that of the big casinos on The Strip, where Johnny Bigshot was just looking for a couple of ma$$ive hands to tell his mates about forever more.

Raises where treated with much more respect and good returns were had by most of us. Again the tourneys at Binions and The Nugget were much less "fishy" than the bigger ones, with mainly locals looking to pick up some dollars who again respected strong play.

Our rate at the Nugget was $85 per night with no restrications on play which seemed fair, although the rooms were a little on the tired side, but clean nonetheless.

[Paulie_D]

Finding A Deal

Of course, everyone wants to pay as little as possible for their hotel room and, fortunately, the casino/hotels aren"t shy about throwing deals around...you just have to know where to look.

The easiest way is to visit the individual casino websites (and I do mean each hotel) and ask to be added to their mailing lists. Yes, you"ll get some stuff you can"t use because of black-out dates or the offer doesn"t fit your plans but at least you will have a steady stream of offers coming in.

Secondly, there are a number of sites that maintain lists of offers and will put them together in one place for you.

Here are a few:

Fatwallet.com

A forum which maintains a thread for people to post the deals they have found. Don"t ask questions on that thread, it"ll hack them off. The best option is to go the the last pages and work backwards.

SmarterVegas.com

Maintained by the site owner but features a nice "date" option where you can put in your trip dates and see what offers apply. Always put in the LAST night you are staying as the special rate might expire during your stay.

Vegas-Promotions

As above but with a "month" button instead of a specific date search,

MyCheapVegas

As above but no date search option.

TravelZoo

As above.



In general, these deals can often be found by delving through the hotels" websites but sometimes it"s easier to just have the code to hand.

Expedia and the like will often do a discount for a combined flight/hotel package but in my experience the savings are not that much compared to booking the individual elements separately. Also, you have to pay up-front and no discounts for comps can be applied.

[duncthehat]

Any thoughts on the Golden Nugget.  doing a really good book early deal but a few "interesting" reviews on trip advisor including the mention of bed bugs!!.

Wanted something close to the Rio dont need luxury!! and this ticks the boxes.

of course this is a blatant off to the world series in June blag  

[Curlarge]

Well I wish you well in the WSOP, but The Golden Nugget is nowhere near The Rio. The Nugget is on Freemont Street which is in Downtown, about 3 miles from The main Strip and The Rio.

ThE Rio sort of sits on it"s own behind or level with Caesars Palace but is the other side of Hwy 15 so not really walkable to or from, but if you are going to use cabs and they are pretty cheap and in plentiful supply then anywhere will do really.

[RioRodent]

Any thoughts on the Golden Nugget.  doing a really good book early deal but a few "interesting" reviews on trip advisor including the mention of bed bugs!!.

Wanted something close to the Rio dont need luxury!! and this ticks the boxes.

of course this is a blatant off to the world series in June blag  

If you will be spending most of your time at the Rio then the Gold Coast is great, it is next door to the Rio, and isn"t luxury (by Vegas standards)... however, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I"ve stayed there 3 times.

A cab to the Venetian or MGM will cost about $10 (inc tip) each way.

The GC has a free shuttle bus that does a round trip all day - GC > Orleans > Bills (adjacent to Ceasars, Bellagio, Ballys) > GC.

The Rio has free shuttles to all other Harrah"s properties.

[duncthehat]

Any thoughts on the Golden Nugget.  doing a really good book early deal but a few "interesting" reviews on trip advisor including the mention of bed bugs!!.

Wanted something close to the Rio dont need luxury!! and this ticks the boxes.

of course this is a blatant off to the world series in June blag  

My bad

For Golden Nugget read Gold Coast!!!!!!!!!!  

[duncthehat]

Cheers Rio.   Thoughts on Gold Coast was what I meant thanks for input

[gallowgate]

You can chuck http://www.trivago.co.uk/ in the mix it"s a search engine that scans expedia/lastmin/ebooker/booking.com etc etc etc.

For instance I had a 6 night stay at Flamingo with the 25% discount through smartervegas.com,kept searching because I"am a nit,noticed the price dropping on trivago and jump in at an £80 saving and cancel the original.

The hotel direct takes a one night refundable deposit so I think it"s worth booking something then looking for a better deal and using the original as a banker

[Paulie_D]

You can chuck http://www.trivago.co.uk/ in the mix it"s a search engine that scans expedia/lastmin/ebooker/booking.com etc etc etc.

Thanks...I already have it as a personal addition to my LONG list of search sites after seeing their advert on TV and it"s looks pretty good.

One thing to remember with the deals it puts out through is that the consolidators it searches do NOT include any additional resort fees in their room prices. That"s OK for the hotels that don"t charge them (thank you CET) but bear in mind that some of these are up to $25 per day.

Also, the prices may not include the 12% tax.

As always, it pays to comparison shop...but I maintain that, with some judicious bargain / promo code hunting, the cheapest will nearly always be via the casino"s web site.

[mal666]

Keep visiting here http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-discussion/1036400/?start=80 for latest offers etc.

[Paulie_D]

Keep visiting here http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-discussion/1036400/?start=80 for latest offers etc.

I think I already mentioned FW in my VTT thread.

I may add some more links later....if I have time over the weekend.