Vegas Trip Information for anyone looking to go this year.

[Simon Galloway]

Back at PC now and don't mind typing a little more seeing as this thread has grown beyond the "RTFT" stage.

For first timers in particular, Vegas is hotter than can be expected, bigger than can be expected, more expensive than can be expected, less sleep than can be expected...once you've been a couple of times and had a good look around and know why you want to stay in X over Y, then ofc you should do that.  In fact, if you follow the general advice to book centre strip on a code direct with hotel, even if you decide you hate it on the first day it is really easy to just check out and move to wherever you prefer.  So I would say whatever you do, don't prepay the whole stay or book 3rd party with no cancellation rights.

Downtown is all easy walking under the canopy of Fremont St (but not from the strip!) and is home to a lot of the older casinos/hotels where price is king.  99c prawn cocktails, $3.99 gallon of beer, you get the idea.  That being said, there has been a little bit of rejuvenation in the surrounding areas in recent years, a few trendy eateries springing up and one or two hotels getting a refurb.  Expect poor quality, (fair quality if you are careful) cheap prices and a relatively rowdy time.  Marmite stuff.

Strip is the opposite.  Generally poor value (you are paying a hefty location tax) but higher quality.  All on a sliding scale ofc, there are 3* strip hotels that are worse than downtown, right the way up to some of the best hotels you could hope to stay in.  In general, people just stay according to pocket, and/or according to location, either close to where they want to play or close to everything right in the centre.  Rates vary wildly, one set of dates hotel A can be $50/night cheaper than hotel B, a month later it can be $100/night dearer.  That's why lots of my posts have been eye rolls at people who blindly book hotel a purely on the grounds that it is always cheaper than hotel b.  Ain't necessarily so....  The hotels are really big, so big that they look like they touch the next hotel, where in fact it can often take you half an hour to get there on foot.  Throw in summer heat and you can see that lots of mistakes get made.  Taxis are abundant, Uber/Lyft also, so getting around can be a mix of learning your way around under cover on foot (picking the right exit can save 15 mins walk outside in sapping heat) or jump in a cab if beyond your walking threshold.

Baller Suites/Condos/Craigslist/Air bnb. The  majority of hi roller suites can't be paid for, strictly on invitation.  And no, 4 guys clubbing together for some $25 blackjack won't get that invite.  The suites that you can rent are nearly all 1 bed suites.  So what starts off sounding like a baller hangover trip becomes 4 guys with luggage standing around trying to work out who gets the bed, who gets the sofa, who gets the bath and who has to do a pressure pull that night.  Condos such as Palms Place and Vdara I classify as well equipped hotel rooms, fine to stay in, altho PP in particular is a bit removed, location-wise.  Getting taxis to come and get you from off strip is 'king hard, and many will say they despatched a driver, but one won't turn up.  Uber apparently the drivers try and find it, but fail regularly, even with sat nav to guide them!  If you rent a car, that stops the drinking for someone, and you have to work with the MGM parking charges.  If you don't rent a car, the extra costs of transportation are a major consideration.  I can see why wsop players going for 2 months go this route, that's too long in a hotel.  But for a fortnight, hotel it is, with action on your doorstep.  Craigslist or Air bnb might be a value seeker's route for experienced Vegas travellers, but really wouldn't go that way 1st trip.

Cliffs: Stay centre strip, try and stay at a decent quality hotel as much as budget permits, at least for the first trip.  If you get there and it isn't you, check out early from a direct booking and go wherever else you want.  You will either love the strip, or love downtown.  They are so chalk and cheese that not many love both.

[Woodsey]

Some advice please, just bagged a direct flight from Gatwick with Virgin for a very reasonable £393 departing 31st may for 2 weeks.
 
As I am a Vegas virgin, I am not sure if a hotel on the strip verse downtown verses a villa rental is best??  Its a minefield out there so any advice is welcome.   

You might want to consider splitting your trip over 2 locations. I find with trips longer than one week it quickly becomes ground hog day and a change of scenery is a good thing,

[Marky147]

Some advice please, just bagged a direct flight from Gatwick with Virgin for a very reasonable £393 departing 31st may for 2 weeks.
 
As I am a Vegas virgin, I am not sure if a hotel on the strip verse downtown verses a villa rental is best??  Its a minefield out there so any advice is welcome.   

You might want to consider splitting your trip over 2 locations. I find with trips longer than one week it quickly becomes ground hog day and a change of scenery is a good thing,

I started doing this after the first few trips, but I don't think it's a problem for the cherry popper.

They're going to be flying up and down the strip exploring, so a change of home scenery isn't worth the agg of moving, imo.

[duncthehat]

Black Friday prices quite astonishing compared to last week.    Just Bagged Gatwick to Vegas with Virgin in June for £580

[exstream]

whats prices like around halloween
27th october for a week

[mumblesrock]

Back at PC now and don't mind typing a little more seeing as this thread has grown beyond the "RTFT" stage.

For first timers in particular, Vegas is hotter than can be expected, bigger than can be expected, more expensive than can be expected, less sleep than can be expected...once you've been a couple of times and had a good look around and know why you want to stay in X over Y, then ofc you should do that.  In fact, if you follow the general advice to book centre strip on a code direct with hotel, even if you decide you hate it on the first day it is really easy to just check out and move to wherever you prefer.  So I would say whatever you do, don't prepay the whole stay or book 3rd party with no cancellation rights.

Downtown is all easy walking under the canopy of Fremont St (but not from the strip!) and is home to a lot of the older casinos/hotels where price is king.  99c prawn cocktails, $3.99 gallon of beer, you get the idea.  That being said, there has been a little bit of rejuvenation in the surrounding areas in recent years, a few trendy eateries springing up and one or two hotels getting a refurb.  Expect poor quality, (fair quality if you are careful) cheap prices and a relatively rowdy time.  Marmite stuff.

Strip is the opposite.  Generally poor value (you are paying a hefty location tax) but higher quality.  All on a sliding scale ofc, there are 3* strip hotels that are worse than downtown, right the way up to some of the best hotels you could hope to stay in.  In general, people just stay according to pocket, and/or according to location, either close to where they want to play or close to everything right in the centre.  Rates vary wildly, one set of dates hotel A can be $50/night cheaper than hotel B, a month later it can be $100/night dearer.  That's why lots of my posts have been eye rolls at people who blindly book hotel a purely on the grounds that it is always cheaper than hotel b.  Ain't necessarily so....  The hotels are really big, so big that they look like they touch the next hotel, where in fact it can often take you half an hour to get there on foot.  Throw in summer heat and you can see that lots of mistakes get made.  Taxis are abundant, Uber/Lyft also, so getting around can be a mix of learning your way around under cover on foot (picking the right exit can save 15 mins walk outside in sapping heat) or jump in a cab if beyond your walking threshold.

Baller Suites/Condos/Craigslist/Air bnb. The  majority of hi roller suites can't be paid for, strictly on invitation.  And no, 4 guys clubbing together for some $25 blackjack won't get that invite.  The suites that you can rent are nearly all 1 bed suites.  So what starts off sounding like a baller hangover trip becomes 4 guys with luggage standing around trying to work out who gets the bed, who gets the sofa, who gets the bath and who has to do a pressure pull that night.  Condos such as Palms Place and Vdara I classify as well equipped hotel rooms, fine to stay in, altho PP in particular is a bit removed, location-wise.  Getting taxis to come and get you from off strip is 'king hard, and many will say they despatched a driver, but one won't turn up.  Uber apparently the drivers try and find it, but fail regularly, even with sat nav to guide them!  If you rent a car, that stops the drinking for someone, and you have to work with the MGM parking charges.  If you don't rent a car, the extra costs of transportation are a major consideration.  I can see why wsop players going for 2 months go this route, that's too long in a hotel.  But for a fortnight, hotel it is, with action on your doorstep.  Craigslist or Air bnb might be a value seeker's route for experienced Vegas travellers, but really wouldn't go that way 1st trip.

Cliffs: Stay centre strip, try and stay at a decent quality hotel as much as budget permits, at least for the first trip.  If you get there and it isn't you, check out early from a direct booking and go wherever else you want.  You will either love the strip, or love downtown.  They are so chalk and cheese that not many love both.

Thank you for your advice.  Having read all the posts - Everyone is singing from the same sheet, so I am now almost certainly going to take all your advice and  book the strip!

[mumblesrock]

'Walking distance' in Vegas isn't really like 'walking distance' anywhere else IMO.

Venetian to Planet Hollywood for example is very much walking distance, but you won't want to actually do it more than once. Especially in the dry 40 degree heat.

From behind the Rio to the Strip is going to be meandering around the streets, under the freeway and through the back of Treasure Island or something. But then the middle of the strip in my head is Venetian because I'm a nit and I stay in Circus Circus and similar fine establishments.

Good advice re = 'Walking Distance' comments noted, four up in a taxi the way forward I recon!

[exstream]

stay at the monte carlo or aria

[mumblesrock]

Thanks for the input, think there will be 4 of us going, they are keen on a condo which appears to be next to/behind the Rio.... walking distance by all accounts, but I have read info online that the area is not to good??  I will def have a look at prices on black Friday and see if there are any sales on!  
Do the hotels get cheaper closer to the time? or is it worth booking well in advance??

Walking distance to an RTA?

If that condo is Palms Place, then it's nice enough, but you're not going to want to walk anywhere, imo.

First trip, just stay on the strip, and enjoy having Vegas on the doorstep, without having to piss about.

After half a dozen trips, I split my stays between strip/dt, and the last 3/4 I've spent entirely there.

For yourself I couldn't recommend staying on the strip strongly enough, but if there is a group, you have to decide amongst yourselves, obviously

With room pricings, it's hard to tell, and most bookings you can cancel at no cost anyway. I generally end up with 3/4 rooms booked through the year, and then cancel the ones I don't want before I go.

Thanks for that advice, Booking several hotels as great prices pop up during the year is a great idea!! will def be doing this now!!

[Marky147]

WSOP 2017 dates released early (May 30th - July 17th)

May 30 marks the start of the 48th World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The 2017 schedule will feature Colossus III, the world’s largest live poker event as the opening weekend event, a three-day $565 buy in reentry no-limit hold’em tournament from June 2 through June 4. During its first two years, the event had 43,987 entries.

Events back on the schedule from prior years include Millionaire Maker, Monster Stack, Little One for ONE DROP, Seniors Event and Ladies Championship.

The $10,000 buy in No-Limit Hold’em WSOP Main Event Championship will kick off July 8 and run across 10 consecutive days, until July 17. The starting flights are as follows: July 8, July 9 and July 10.

The first event on the schedule is the Casino Employees event on May 31 with a $565 buy in no-limit hold’em tournament. The tourney will run two days and have a single reentry format.

The Seniors Event will feature a $1,000 buy in no-limit hold’em format on June 16 with a single reentry option.


From Pokernews.

[Tal]

Virgin sale has a few good prices up for the summer.

[Longines]

Last minute Chrimbo shopping for kids? 1000 clubcard points = 2500 Virgin miles if you spend over £75 on Lego.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/special-offer/collect-1000-extra-clubcard-points-when-you-spend-75pound-or-more-on-lego/promo44180059.promo

[Marky147]

Last minute Chrimbo shopping for kids? 1000 clubcard points = 2500 Virgin miles if you spend over £75 on Lego.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/special-offer/collect-1000-extra-clubcard-points-when-you-spend-75pound-or-more-on-lego/promo44180059.promo

My sister-in-law would shoot me if I got her kids £75 of Lego

[vegaslover]

Anyone else not likely going next year due to how expensive it is with the current exchange rate?

[tonytats]

Anyone else not likely going next year due to how expensive it is with the current exchange rate?

I thought about it briefly , then deceided to spend a bit less n lay in the sun a bit more