I was thinking of getting a pass for the Deuce so I can ride up and down the strip. I'd like to go downtown one night and figured the cost of the Deuce would be totally worth it even for short trips to Aria and Bellagio.

Does anyone have much experience with the Deuce and how good/bad it is. I heard you could also ride the bus to and from the airport.

That time of year the weather is more than nice enough to walk to the B or Aria - you may end up waiting long enough for the Deuce that you would have been there already - it's fine for the trip downtown.

Either Uber/Lyft or shutlle from the airport IMHO rather than the bus if you're trying to save a few bucks over a cab. Shagging luggage onto the bus with a gazillion stops to me wouldn't be worth it.

MM MD

If the chance of seeing famous people is of interest, CinemaCon is going on at Caesars that week. It's my work convention so it's virtual torture for me but for a civilian it might be fun to wander around, you'll probably see a movie star or three in the casino.

Thoughts on Bally’s? Staying here end of April in a resort room. I was just at Aria and loved it but don’t wanna spend a lot on another high end property

I also love the bellagio the most and plan to play there the most

You might also look at Vdara, through mlife of course. Sometimes their prices are better than expected.

I had some comped nights at Ballys last trip and was upgraded to the resort suite. It was more then adequate and it was a cheap way to get center strip...10 min walk through Paris walkway gets you on the Strip. Would do again had no complaints...didn't eat there or gamble much.

I have stayed at Ballys and enjoyed it. Its not a high quality hotel, but the location and prices were great.

I agree with Bdywax regarding Vdara; I got a much better price for Vdara than Aria when I was last in Vegas in August 2017. Its a short walk to the Aria, and the full kitchenette/stove and refrigerator (not available in Aria standard rooms) are great if you wanna store drinks and/or food leftovers.

Wife and I are going to the Venetian for a conference and booked through the conference rate.

Any shot the $20 trick works, or not so much since it’s most likely the conference has a block of rooms dedicated for it?

It can’t hurt to try worst case you don’t get an upgrade and get your $20 back.

It’s been a while since I’ve stayed at Venetian but aren’t most rooms there suite like and there isn’t much inventory between baller suites and regular rooms? Maybe I’m thinking of Palazzo.

Venetian is the same IIRC, all rooms are suites, surely there are different categories of suites though. No idea about the 20$ trick, yeah cant hurt to try though, worst case you get an awkward look.

The only thing the $20 trick at The V or P might get you is a better view if yours is bad or possibly a shorter walk to your room. The Venezia tower is the longest walk. It was originally designed to be a hotel within a hotel, but it’s not, and it’s a bit of a hike from your room to the main lobby. As far as rooms themselves, the $20 trick won’t get you anything since all of their rooms are suites, and there’s zero chance you will get upgraded to a baller suite unless you are a high roller. I’m guessing that with a conference rate you have the normal suite without a view on the V side.

When checking in ask what tower you are in and if you have a strip view, if that’s what you want. If you want to change it then ask.

Thanks guys!

I did the $20 trick at Venetian five years back and was moved to Palazzo, and given a nice Strip view maybe 30th floor or so. Maybe it was worth the $20, maybe not. Nice room, though.

I did the trick about 8 years ago & got upgraded from V to P, a higher floor, AND..... (wait for it) I got comped the resort fees! Now THAT was worth it. Things may be different now but it can't hurt to try. My advice is to appear innocent/ignorant/timid and ask for help.

Good Luck!

8 years ago the resort fees at V/P were optional (not that they advertised that fact) but that's no longer the case. Also, V & P are usually priced equally and higher floor is just an ask. There's really very little in the way of free upgrades they can offer you there.

Has anyone stayed at Planet Hollywood recently? Is it a good place to stay? Coming out in the middle of April and normally stay at NY NY, but for some reason I have free nights at a few CET properties.

friends of mine stayed there last June.

feedback was 'it's fine', the room is clean and decent size and it's well located.

they wouldn't stay there again because...

- slightly dark rooms
- sometimes very long elevator delays
- tiny pool

but those gripes were a comparison to higher end properties, so not sure how they'd compare to NYNY

Ahh, kind of makes me sad....my very first trip to Vegas probably 15 years ago we stated at Hooters when it was the Hotel San Remo. I'm sure the room was trash, but I still remember the "strip view." Plus $3 steak and eggs late night.

Harrah's isn't fancy, but I've never had a problem with the rooms, especially the new Valley Tower rooms; it's the usual place I stay. But I don't care much about amenities (pool, gym, etc.).

I stayed there in March. Room was perfectly fine. I actually like the elevator situation there, as it's pretty close to the gaming floor. One of the reasons I've only stayed at Flamingo once is it took so damn long to get from elevator to room.

i know your friends aren't the only people to ever make this complaint about a hotel, but it still aways seems an utterly bizarre comment. even moreso in a vacation destination where many spend essentially no time in the room besides sleeping.

I get it. For me it definitely is a consideration, because I run a small business and need to do 2-3 hours work at the computer and on the phone every day, regardless of where I am, but yeah, actually if you're playing all night and sleeping all day, a slightly darker room is ideal

Depends.

We stayed at Red Rock earlier this year in a suite, and it was really nice - but for some reason your choices in lighting were batcave and surface of the sun. I think TI is pretty dark, too, but that's probably just Phil being cheap. A happy medium would be nice.

MM MD

Why would it be bizarre to want a hotel room with a decent amount of natural light? There are a so many (health) benefits associated with natural light that people spend a lot of money on simulating that in their homes.

I hate hotel rooms where you have to choose between dingy and surgery room lighting. Especially when the room light is so bright that nobody can sleep while it’s on and the bedside lamps are not bright enough to read.

Ideally you would like to have both, a decent amount of daylight when you choose to have some, and blackout when you want to sleep. Although the latter is def more important to me esp since almost every hotel sucks at that, even very high end ones. There are sleep masks and stuff but that's all an imperfect remedy compared to a well-designed room where you are actually able to choose the amount of light to be exposed at day and night

can you name names please? i guess now that there are more people interested, we should be calling hotels like this out by name so people can avoid them.

When i once stayed at the Rio the room was large, but dingy, with an obvious concrete floor .The idea of carpet buffered by a carpet pad was obviously too much to consider. Checked out after one day and never went back.