Planning ahead to avoid disappointment.

[Katie Wilson]

Hi Gang.
I have made so many trips to Vegas and in almost every month of the year that I have lost count and have stayed in both very upscale and downscale places over the years so I Do know a little something about where to stay at specific times of the year and how to stay within a reasonable budget.
I thought I would let those who are unfamiliar with the system in on my experience and try to make a decision easier for them and I hope others will add to this list as time gets closer to the Spring.

1st off never book a flight and hotel as a package deal if you are traveling with someone! You will almost always be charged per person which amounts to paying twice for your room so book your hotel separate from your flight and you will only pay for 1 hotel room with as many people as it can legally hold,,,,as long as you tell them how many will be staying with you. Also this way you can browse the airlines seasonable prices and book a flight in December let's say and then chose your hotel at another time >>but Always early..
I always book over the phone so I can personally talk to someone who can actually answer my questions. And even if they offer a discount for booking the room over the net. They will always give you the same deal by phone in Vegas.If not then tell them you will stay somewhere else and they will comply.

2) Book early... You can cancel 48 - 72 hours before check in without penalty and ( Always) ask for the type of room you want. IE:- Non Smoking. 1 King bed or 2 Queens etc'. and if you are staying at Harrahs ask to be away from the entertainment courtyard on another side of the building unless you like being entertained as if the rock group were right inside your room at the foot of the bed. ( Write this stuff down somewhere so you don't forget to ask when you book the room ) This may sound silly but how often have you forgotten a razor or toothbrush?

Always and I mean "Always" ask if there is a resort fee and how much it is? They can be as much as $20 and up per day in some places. At Caesars properties such as Harrah's etc' a regular 1st level gold card member will pay them. ( Platinum and above don't ) .. MGM properties are the same and as far as I know the only one which does not have resort fees is the Golden Nugget which is a very nice place to stay and if you book early it will be around $45 per night.Research will tell you if there are others.
All the downtown hotels are much cheaper than the strip ones but remember this...It is a long way from Downtown Freemont St to the strip and the resulting cab ride to a Strip DLV event from Freemont St may outweigh the decent hotel price but all in all I Think Downtown is a really great place to stay, They are all T Friendly and the tourist seem to love us there too!

3). Dining..... I was in Vegas a few days ago and researched some of the buffets and eateries.
Terribles on Flamingo and Paradise is now called The Silver Sevens Casiono and has a very reasonable buffet breakfast which starts at 7 AM which is the norm for L/V....It has gone up $1.00 but is still only $4:99 with the players card... [ It will cost you more than that just for a single coffee and a donut in a strip casino and if you chose the Buffet route you will get to have multiple coffees and oodles of food choices! ]...The Gold Coast brecky buffet is 5:99 with a players card./ $6:99 without one.. Sams Town, Arizona Charlies and all the Station Casinos are in the same price range too but you will need a car for them as they are all off Strip.
*In comparison Harrahs and The Quad breakfast buffets are around $16 -$18 each or very near to it*

The Palms is now a terrific place to have a buffet, The old chef has obviously moved on and a far better one has replaced him/her. Their buffet is now amazingly varied, very tasty and quite extensive for the size of the space they have available and reasonably priced too.

Getting around.
Free trams run between TI and The mirage.... Monte Carlo to Bellaggio... and between Luxor to Madalay Bay .
The behind the Strip Mono Rail Unit from MGM to Sahara and The LV Hotel Casino is around $5 per ride, you can research the routes yourself if you like....
The RTC Transit busses which run all over town for one price are $8 per day or $20 for a 3 day pass. ( RTC are planning on adding a 1 week pass sometime before March for about $36:00 so that will be even better ).
There are also free shuttle busses which run between. Harrah's, The Rio. Caesars, Paris and Ballys which start running at 10 Am and stop at 1AM so for a tip of $1:00 per ride you can casino hop all day and night. The gold Coast has it's own free shuttle which runs between there and the Orleans every 20 minutes or so. ( Don't forget to tip the driver ). They only make minimum wage and are often very helpful.

If you really want to save $$$$ buy the *Anthony Curtis coupon book* ahead of time too. It is on the net for easy pre purchase scrutiny under ( The Las Vegas Advisor) where you can browse through all the savings before committing to buying it and it takes less than 2 weeks to get delivered to your home. .. Some of their meals and Buffets are 1/2 price or 2 for 1 but mostly only 2 for the price of one so get together with someone and make a new friend or two by sharing a coupon and / or splitting the price of a meal.
The Advisor also offers $$$ off Gaming and decent discounts on mid range rooms. Discounts on car rentals, Hotels and Mid Range Shows and even a $50:00 coupon at the palms gift store or 50% off meals if you chose to use it that way. Also the web site has a wealth of Vegas information which is much too big to go into here but if you do browse it then you will see what I mean. Even those who are not intending to purchase the coupon book will find some very useful info in there
As the coupon book costs $39.99 you will have made your money back as soon as you have bought 2 show tickets for the price of one or used The $50 Palms gift coupon.
I have been using their coupon book for years and always came out way ahead.


I will likely be adding to this list over the next few months and I really hope that someone saves $$$. If so please let me know .. *lol*. No free drinks necessary just a simple "Thanks and a hug or two.

Please feel free to ask any questions here in this thread and I will try to answer them. If I can't then I am sure there will be someone from the DLV ranks who can.
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Maybe we can asterisk this in some way to lead new DLVers to it when they ask in the general mailing pages about some of this stuff.
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Huggers. Katie.

[kandi.dolfen]

Hi Katie,
Thanks for all your hints!
I usually travel solo and don't look for 2 for 1 deals. I search the online travel sites, like Hotwire, Priceline & etc.
I booked The Quad hotel for my Halloween trip later this month @ $20 per night. On a later search I found they posted $18 per night for the same rooms! I booked the lower price and then cancelled the first booking. Your right to book the hotel early. I found booking the rental car on-line at the last minute saves the most $$.

I'm looking for FREE events so see what Vegas has on a budget. I found the Mermaid Aquarium @ Silverton Hotel Las Vegas holds 117,000 gallons of water with over 4,000 living fish, rays, sharks and of course, mermaids. Visit this free Las Vegas attraction to experience mermaid performances and animal feedings. Attraction Dates: Aquarium can be viewed 24 hours a day but show times vary. Location: 3333 Blue Diamond Rd. Las Vegas, Nevada 89139. Mermaid Show every 30 minutes: Thurs. 2:15pm-8:30pm, Fri.-Sat. 2:15pm-9:30pm and Sun. 12pm-7pm

I will report back what I find on my Halloween trip (99% sure I'm going then).
best,
kandi

[Michelle V]

The street downtown is spelled: Fremont.

[Katie Wilson]

Michelle..
Thanks for the correction, In my 40 or so trips to LV I had never noticed that ! And not being a student of Mormon history it seems to have slipped by me.
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Kandi.
I know what you mean and I agree wholeheartedly. Booking a car early can quite often be a mistake and waiting till' closer to holiday time can prove to be better by just browsing the chosen rental site with 2 -3 weeks to go before your vacation can you can save $$$.
Quite often I have noticed that they seem to have a glut of cars of a certain size left untouched so they put them ahead of the smaller ones to get them used up. I have saved $50 on a weeks rental on a mid size, an SUV or a large when all I really wanted was a compact.
Good point Sis!
Someone will thank you for this . Hopefully with a free drinky poo!

What I have done is enrolled in 3 car rental companies Email specials and have often used their 3 weekend days for the price of two when they offer it to me. I usually stay for 6 days or so and pick up the car for the last 3 days as I wanted to be car free for the onset of the vacation and a car is very handy on the last day.
I personally like Enterprise but Alamo National is often a good choice too.
If you have any others which are decent please let us know.
Thanks.

[Katie Wilson]

I did not mention Vegas.com
Today the Quad is on special for $15:95 and Luxor is $35 weekdays. + resort fees of course.
The Quad hotel is nothing to dash away and write home about but the last time I stayed at Luxor it was very nice.
You can reserve a room through them and then cancel without penalty if you use their 1 time fee of around $10 which must be paid when booking which covers the whole stay. I have used Vegas .com in the past and found them to be very accommodating and their show prices and side trips are often on special too.

Again this is only for those who did not know about all things Vegas. I am sure most already knew but if it helps just one person to get to DLV 2014 I am happy.

Katie.