Vegas Strip Hotels-When is Best to Book?

[keishashadow]

Las Vegas Vets - got any secrets for booking a hotel deal?

have been pricing out strip hotels for midweek end of June prices are all over the place on AAA/kayak/hotel websites

no convention seem to be in town during our time frame (and i'm thinking rational souls would avoid visiting in the heat of summer )...

so....
are we better off booking now @ what appears to be over 1/2 off rack rate & upgraded view rooms @ approx. $80 night (not sure if the specials on the big hotels websites are refundable)

or wait until closer to date & hope for last min. deal?

our 1st visit, so no frequent player guest deals - or are there for newbies?

 

[1andrea]

What hotel are you looking to stay at?

 

[keishashadow]

What hotel are you looking to stay at?

Honestly, don't know lol. I do prefer "mid" strip or near monorail for sightseeing purposes on our 1st quickie visit (think it's a good strategy?)

we'll have a 15 DS in tow (not expecting DL, just not interested in a dicey-area/hotel) and a nice pool is important to me.

so far best rates seem to be @:

excaliber (interesting theme, new updated rooms/plasma tvs, etc.)
harrahs (another front runner)
sahara
imperial palace & orleans (off strip?) all approx $70-90 night

luxor
TI
paris
ny ny'
monte carlo - @ $120 to $160 out of our price range, unless they discount heavily @ some point

offstrip
hooters $45 night, rooms look a bit low-brow; not sure of family friendly clientel even mid week?

"far" north - probably too far for us
statosphere $40
circus circus $50

 

[1andrea]

Honestly, don't know lol. I do prefer "mid" strip or near monorail for sightseeing purposes on our 1st quickie visit (think it's a good strategy?)

we'll have a 15 DS in tow (not expecting DL, just not interested in a dicey-area/hotel) and a nice pool is important to me.

so far best rates seem to be @:

excaliber (interesting theme, new updated rooms/plasma tvs, etc.)
harrahs (another front runner)
sahara
imperial palace & orleans (off strip?) all approx $70-90 night

luxor
TI
paris
ny ny'
monte carlo - @ $120 to $160 out of our price range, unless they discount heavily @ some point

offstrip
hooters $45 night, rooms look a bit low-brow; not sure of family friendly clientel even mid week?

"far" north - probably too far for us
statosphere $40
circus circus $50

We went end of May 2007 for 8 nights with DH and DD7 we stayed in THE HOTEL at Mandalay Bay and it was a great Hotel we had a lot of fun. This was at the South end of the strip but th location wasnt a problem to us.

We walked through the Excalibur every day as the tram from the Mandalay Bay stopped there. We liked the Excalibur as it was very child friendly and had a childrens arcade area which DD loved. I thought it was nicer inside than Circus Circus and The Stratosphere and would pick Excalibur over either of these.

We also walked through New York New York daily and we all loved the theming so I would go for this one from the hotels on your list if you can afford it.

We only walked through Harrahs once as the monorail stopped there I think it was a Country and Western theme and it wasnt really our cup of tea really, but it is very centrally located.

Circus Circus and The Stratosphere are at the North end of the strip and we were glad that we hadnt stayed at either of these we felt that they were too FAR out for us. We spent a good half a day at each hotel doing the rides at the Stratosphere and the Adventuredome at Circus Circus and we had good fun at both. We didnt visit the rooms but the impression I got from them both was Shabby and parts looked to me due for a refurb.

Wherever you pick you will have great fun in Vegas!

Andrea x

 

[I'mNoPrince]

Me and DW did the Riveria in 05 I think it was nice and at the far end but not a big problem. We went mid July and they had 3 straight days of record Heat. We just slept during the day and went out at night .

We walked the entire strip hopping from resort to resort.

I agree to look for a nice pool . Good Luck .

Excaliber was real neat and I could see us staying there in the future when DD gets a bit older.

 

[keishashadow]

thanks!

 

[Pakey]

I've stayed at most on the strip and out of the ones listed, I would pick NY NY. I hate Excalibur with a passion. There will be large family groups there with many kids in a room. It's horrendously noisy. NY NY is much better and if your DS wants to go to the arcades at Excalibur, there's an over the street walkway to go on. NY NY also has an arcade which generally has less young children in it plus the rollercoast is right there too.

Luxor, icky rooms. Paris, very noisy place. Room walls seemed paper thin. TI, pretty far down the strip and not much there of interest. You'd probably sleep there but spend all of your time somewhere else. Monte Carlo was nice enough but I did like NY NY better.

Weekends are super packed in Las Vegas. Even in June because the weather in June is very nice--heat does hit hard until July/Aug. Last time I was there on a weekend, the sidewalks were so crowded that you could have picked up your feet and just been carried by the traffic. We just got back last month from a midweek trip and it was so much nicer.

I would definitely stay on the strip. The hotels are farther apart than they appear. There is the monorail, which can be very crowded, and there is a bus that stops on the street in front of each resort. It's slower but cheaper. We generally do a lot of walking and enjoy it, even in the heat.

Mandalay Bay has the best pool. Paris' pool is awful, one of the worst. We generally stay at Bellagio or Cesars which both have amazing pools too, but not as great as Mandalay's.

 

[keishashadow]

great info, i'm taking notes

 

[Pakey]

I also want to point out, since you mentioned paying for upgraded views, that a lot of the upgraded views will not be views of the strip. Could be views of the pool. And if you are on floor 30, that pool view isn't going to be that great anyway. Depending on how much time you plan to spend in room, it may not be worth it to you. I always get an upgraded view but sometimes I haven't thought it was worth the extra. DH totally 100% thinks its a waste of money as we spend little time in the room.

Another thing I wanted to point out is are you buying airfare? Many times you can get a pretty good deal on a room, especially midweek, if you book an airfare/hotel package through expedia, travelocity, etc.

 

[ZekeKelso]

Deals booked through the hotel website are almost always fully refundable, as long as you give them something like 72 hour's notice. A good strategy is to book the best deal you can find now, and then constantly check back and move whenever a better deal comes along. Typically, the best deals are about 1-2 months out. It's *HOT* in June, so there are usually pretty good deals.

Keep an eye on www.vegashotelspecial.com (or similar sites) that track all the deals offered through the casinos.

Taking a look at your list of hotels you are considering, I'd throw out Sahara, Circus/Circus and the Stratosphere. The location just is too remote for first timers. Don't get too hung up on "the strip". Hooters is in a much better location than any of those.

Your block of Luxor/TI/etc. is usually the sweet spot in terms of value. A nice step up in quality for not too much more money. If a good deal comes along in one of those, I'd take it.

Don't necessarily write off Hooters. Family-Friendly? It's Vegas! Hooters may be a bit risque in Peoria, but it's downright wholesome by Vegas standards. The location isn't as good as the others - and if "low-brow" bothers you, hold out for the Luxor/TI level.

 

[everylastbreath]

Taking a look at your list of hotels you are considering, I'd throw out Sahara, Circus/Circus and the Stratosphere. The location just is too remote for first timers.

Totally agree- Just have to add that this end of the strip is a little more run down. Wouldn't stay at any of those hotels for free.

For location I think Harrahs is the best - Dead center strip, in the middle of everything. Want to go up in price, go for Caesars- Beautiful pools. I personally love Paris, never been to the pool there, but never found the rooms noisy. I've only stayed in the mini suite so maybe there's a difference, but in our case the amount of time you actually spend in the room- just find a clean, comfortable room that's in a good location.

If your considering "off strip" check out the Rio, all rooms are suites, large rooms - great hotel, but we just ended up taking cabs to and from the strip all day/night. Great pool too.

 

[keishashadow]

we have ruled out the Northern hotels, even though they have great prices

did verify view rooms...although it could be of a pool, dumpster lol; will make sure.

Noticed on Excalibers site/MGM; the specials are entirely non-refundable haven't seen that for a long time. i'll skip those deals

will check out the link, have been using kayak

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

You might want to check out this site.

http://www.i4vegas.com/

You have to keep checking back, and will usually find the best deals at the last minute, but Hubby and I were able to get rooms at the MGM for $59 a night. As you have probably already figured out, that's practically unheard of. But again, sometimes you have to be able to wait until the last minute.

My other favorite Vegas site is

http://www.lvol.com/hotelnks.html

I find that other than the occasional gem from i4vegas, booking directly from the hotel tends to be cheaper.

 

[jlima]

Most hotels will sell 11 months out. Just stay away from big convention weeks (check on www.lvcva.com for a convention calendar) and you will find decent midweek rates, i.e. less than $100 per night.

The better the package, the stiffer the cancellation penalty. If you are getting a great rate with 2 for 1 show tickets and dining credits and other goodies, the trade-off is the nonrefundable rate.

IMHO, I would always book directly with a hotel and stay away from a wholesaler who will "own" the reservation. The biggest issue is you have to go through the wholesaler who booked it, instead of the hotel directly, if you want to make changes or have questions.

I would watch the Travel Zoo website for deals, and sign up for their Top 20 list, and watch for deals that are direct with a hotel, instead of with wholesalers.