Harrah's hasn't been enclosed for about a year now.

Yup, when it's cold outside . . . and people are constantly opening and closing the doors, that cool fresh air just blows in and sends a chill thru the "room" . . .

Really? Why did that happen? (I didn't get to LV the last couple of years. I guess I'll need some catching up when I get there in July and/or October this year.)

About a year ago...

Here are pics of the 'new' room:
http://www.allvegaspoker.com/room_8.html

Wow it looks very nice.
I'll have to visit when I get back to LV.

I've stayed at the Palms Place studio suite a couple times. Very nice, modern -- definitely not old and run down. On par with Vdara, except for location. Would recommend to anyone who doesn't mind renting a car, or taking time to shuttle to the strip.

Yeah, Harrah's "room" location is right next to the row of pit games near the Mcdonalds entrance. Unless it's changed again recently, don't know how you wouldn't smell the smoke.

I am going next week for a bachelor party...trying to setup a club night but don't have too much experience with vegas clubs.

I have about 8-10 guys and we are trying to get a table at Hakkasan. Anyone have an idea what we should expect to be spend? We'd be ordering whatever the min bottles is (2-3) and not top shelf liquor.

Also, how much is standard to tip our host?

8-10 guys will be more than 2-3 bottles at hakkasan imo

$100

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've been doing a lot more research, including reading pretty much every thread in this forum related to short term stays back through 2009. Also been studying Google Maps to learn where everything is, and reading TripAdvisor reviews nonstop.

I haven't made a lodging decision yet, but I did buy a flight. I arrive on Saturday. I'll leave at the end of February or start of March.

Right now my default plan is going to be to just rent a car and stay at Candlewood Suites, unless I decide on something else in the next week. They have a long term rate of about $50/night, well under my preferred $2k / max $3k monthly lodging budget. They are an IHG property, have decent reviews on TripAdvisor, and the stay may get me my IHG Platinum status stays for 2014. The only downsides I see are that they allow pets there, which I'm not excited about being allergic to dogs and cats, and that they don't guarantee a non-smoking room. I don't mind a 2 mile walk to Aria/B area, will be good exercise. Can taxi back if it's a sketchy walk at night.


Other possibilities include:

Signature - Probably #1 non-Candlewood contender, seems to have everything I want as well, and is walking distance. This may displace Candlewood as #1 after I call that guy Alex on craigslist. I can't tell if he has more than one unit or is just super aggressive on craigslist with the one he has.

Palms Place - Location seems fine. I am not afraid of Mexican grocery stores, I can read Spanish.

Jockey Club - Love the location, but have read a lot about noise there. I did LOL at one of the descriptions of this place in a 2p2 thread - "Let's not forget about the Jockey Club, the way God did."

Meridian - This went lower on my list when I read about the history of some scamming agents there. The 2p2 thread on this place where dude shows up offering to help sue the limo driver is pretty funny.

Staybridge Suites - It's not just the breakfast tempting me, but also the halfway distance between both Aria/B and Whole Foods.

Homewood Suites - Very close walk to Whole Foods. I've stayed at Homewoods before and they are usually very solid. May call and see if they offer a long term discount as both them and Staybridge show as just over $100/night even after punching the full timeframe into their websites. I can live with $3k/month, but if I'm paying that I'd prefer to be on the strip I think. I know I can get Jockey for <$100/night for a month+ stay.

702 Housing - Not sure who these guys are, but they advertise on craigslist a lot and their website seems OK. They do short term executive/corporate housing just south of Flamingo and just west of 15 on S Valley View Blvd. Looks all the units are in the Desert Tides Condominiums complex. The location looks pretty solid from Google Maps. The reviews on TripAdvisor, however, as superLOLbad. I take all reviews with a grain of salt, since bad reviews are often written by entitled *******s who had their feelings hurt ("Would not let me park in the fire lane!!! 1 STAR!!!"), but this has pretty overwhelmingly bad ones. The Oyster review is also pretty damning. Their online rental agreement is also kinda LOL. Probably far less hassle to just go with an extended stay hotel or VRBO.


Still doing my research. Might just bounce around a bit in January while deciding where to stay for February. Looks like it's mostly down to staying at an extended stay place like Candlewood/Staybridge/etc with a car vs finding a easy walking distance condo/timeshare like Signature/Jockey/etc using VRBO or Craigslist. Short term rental places like Meridian are still possible, but probably #3 choice as I don't want to deal with large security deposits, agents, and leases if I can avoid it.


To answer some of the items raised earlier -

I'm not coming to Vegas to grind, just to chill for 6 weeks or so. The poker rooms will not be a workplace, they will be a place to relax and spew some buyins in the evenings. I am a spewy rec-fish, not a grinder.

Grocery delivery is nice, but I prefer doing my own shopping, and doing it often. I eat a lot of fruit and veggies.

I'm thinking my average days will go like this - work during the day from place I'm staying, head over to the strip around 4-5pm to play poker until 11pm or so, then head back. Rinse & repeat. Explore city and interesting stuff on weekends. Maybe some sailing on Lake Mead if I can find a sailboat rental.

The Holiday Royale threads/stories were pretty funny, so thanks for those. Confirmed LOLme for spending more than even 20 seconds reading about Siegel Suites. The TripAdvisor reviews for that place are hilarious.


doublejoker, Combo-Prof, prototypepariah, Turiya, eobmtns, phunkphish - thanks for your advice. Feel free to hit me up for a drink or sushi roll any time after the coming weekend.

Feel free to keep giving me advice as well LOL


Sorry for the super tl;dr! Figured some people might be interested in some of the research.

I think he owns 8 or 9 units. he pretty nearly always has a unit available. ANd he also knows enough owners so that he can probably help you find something if he doesnt.


I assume youre thinking of the candlewood by flamingo and paradise.... Candlewood is somewhat expensive for what you get....
That said, you can get away with living at cabdlewood with no car, IMO. Youre walking distance to albertsons and the strip.

to be fair, you can't really judge 702 housing by all desert tides reviews. For a while there the HOA was basically operating a hotel service for owners with vacant units, and running it terribly.... however the ads i have seen for 702housing before theyre just charging way too much for what they have to offer.

Is there a group of locaL LVLers that goes out/gets hammered from time to time? Just moved here and like to have a few pops once in a while

where did u move to?

Real men drink alone

Thanks Turyia!

Vegas Noob here,

Is the American Casino Guide worth buying if heading to Vegas in a couple months?

Here's the link to the Guide and its website.

http://www.americancasinoguide.com/order-now.html

Are there other guides/booklets with offers or promos that one can buy? Is it worth it?

Las Vegas advisor coupons are sometimes worthwhile.

were these the guys that were official LVL sponsors for a while then a bunch of ppl had a problem with them then they weren't

I bought the basic LV advisor coupon book once. It recall that most of the good coupons were only for off strip properties and so I could not use them. I don't think I used any. But when I go now I just play poker so the touristy coupon books are not so helpful to me anymore. If you plan to go downtown (Fremont) they may be more useful. If you plan to exploit the coupons then get them.

I might not stay at a hotel in vegas this year. I know many have safe deposit boxes at the hotels but you have to stay there to be able to use them. Is there anywhere u can get a complimentary one on the strip or pay a marginal amt like $25 for 10 days of use?

you can get a safe deposit box at a bank for like 40$ per year. there are banks on/near strip. maybe just get one of those.

Because 8 to 5 hrs with no weekends wont work. Has to be virtually 24 hrs

Most major poker rooms have safety deposit boxes for players

are we talking just about money... imo nearly every casino will let you put cash on deposit.

Friends,

How long of a walk is it from the lobby at Panorama Towers to the poker room at Aria?