3,250 sounds ridiculously high.....

Care to quote a line to bet on?

Haha, I totally f-ed up my last post, and it's 181 rooms. I think I was half asleep posting from my phone.

I was about to say . . . yeah 181 room and 18 luxury suites.

I would totally rethink my opinion of Caesars if the standard rooms were 3250 sq. ft.

It would at least explain their financial problems!

Planning a trip sometime in the fall. Would have liked to get down for wsop, but it's not going to work out.

Price is our #1 factor, and my wife and I have found expedia packages for 4 nights as low as $800-$900 including flights. I have a few questions:

1) We've noticed expedia packages can be significantly lower if buying 2-3 weeks in advance rather than months. Is this just because of this time of year, or is it true all year-round? If so, is that the smart thing to do?

2) We're looking at a number of casinos and would like some input. Specifically:
rio
stratosphere
monte carlo
excalibur
luxor
MGM
New york new york

we'd like to stay on the strip. Our determining factors are price, poker room (low limit cash and daily tournaments), shopping/entertainment, table games (specifically craps).

I'd love to hear some advice that sheds some new light on our research.
thanks

Eliminate Rio and stratosphere right away. Locations will mess your trip up.

MGM is prolly the nicest of the list, although I haven't stayed everywhere you've mentioned

REMOVE Rio and Stratosphere from your list. They are not on the strip and not really that close.

Also, REMOVE Excalibur/Luxor since they are both 3*, and are not as nice as Monte/MGM/NYNY. (HOWEVER, if you really want the budget option, the Excalibur is the better of the two. Upgrade to the front tower for $10/night. It has a small room or you can walk x the street to MGM)

Monte Carlo is kinda old and busted...and the poker room is pretty dead. I wouldn't stay there. (It is close to the Aria room though.)

MGM rooms have just been newly renovated and are fairly nice, and has a big room with many 1-2 tables.


NYNY isn't bad, but does NOT have a poker room. HOWEVER, it is just x the street from MGM and you can play at the MGM easily.

Cheers,

S

Plus MGM rooms are 4,000 sqft

Could get a sick game of hide and go seek going. A big plus in my book.

Thanks for the advice. Couple of follow up questions:

We're definitely looking at the lower end of the price range, but still want a respectable hotel. Furthermore, we've decided location on the strip is important. One question is: is it worth it to have not such a good location and get a 1 or 3 day tram pass to visit other casinos on the strip? What is the traffic, times and use of the tram like?

With location criteria, looks like MGM, Monte Carlo, Excalibur, NYNY, Treasure Island and Flamingo are our best bets. Can anyone elaborate on quality of hotels, entertainment, shopping, table games and poker rooms (or proximity to) of these hotels?

Thanks

Out of the ones you've listed MGM has the best mix of what you are looking for, especially since the rooms were just redone. Isn't the Tram free? Personally I don't use the Tram, but I can see it would be good if you were going from MGM all the way to where it ends. Taking it to the casino next door really isn't worth it in my opinion. Getting to and from the tram in any casino can be a long walk (at least from what I've seen). You will get much more sight seeing by just walking.

I don't know where you're from, but "trams" in Las Vegas are free short-haul automatic trains, not unlike those found in airports, that carry passengers between affiliated hotels, for example Mandalay Bay-Luxor-Excalibur, Mirage-Treasure Island, and maybe some others. You'll have to find and walk to the tram stop which could be buried in the rear of the hotel. Las Vegas city buses are inexpensive but what is your time worth? Especially with more than one person in your party, taxis will be more convenient and cost-effective, taxis pick up and drop off at the front entrances of all hotels. If you take the bus, you'll have to find and walk to the bus stop, possibly in hot or cold weather.

There is a monorail between MGM, Bally's, Harrah's and the LV convention center, don't bother.

Personally I think location is more important than Hotel Quality. (They are all good enough as a place to sleep in.) So of your most recent list I might pick the Flamingo.

But .... if I were you I would first figure out where most of the shows are that you want to see and pick a Hotel that is close to them. (Last time we stayed at PH but the shows we went to see were at the Venetian, the Mirage, and the Flamingo. It was inconvenient.)

You can Walk from MGM to TI in 37 minutes (according to Google). Flamingo is in the center. You can take the bus or Taxi if you need to get from one end of the strip to the other quickly*. I would take the walk if you can and sight see along the way.

TI is adjacent to Fashion show mall. Caesars and Wynn have some fancy shops. PH has the Miracle Mile shops and there are plenty others.

----------------
* Some would argue that your time is valuable, but then again you are not coming to Las Vegas to do business. Its a vacation and there is no need to hurry. So slow down and enjoy your visit. Walk and enjoy the many sights. Stop along the way and visit different places. Just wandering around some of these big Casino's is in itself interesting. I only use a Taxi as a last resort.

Wow, that's even bigger than the Nobu Tower at Caesars!


Tram thing is meaningless. And everything on the strip is walking distance anyway.

Location-wise, in regards to what you'll care about, it goes in this order:

Flamingo
Treasure Island
Monte Carlo
NYNY
MGM Grand
Excalibur

Out of those, MGM is definitely the nicest hotel (not by a ton, mind you, but it is the nicest). All the rest of your criteria are pretty much a wash, since even at the places with weaker or no poker room, you won't ever be far from a good one. For example, Monte Carlo's hotel rooms are basically equidistant between Monte Carlo's poker room and Aria's.

The location advantage is simply about how much less walking you'll do to get to more stuff you like. None of the differences are extreme though with those choices.

not gonna read this whole thread from the beginning to see if this has been answered, but has anyone ever stayed at the top of the riviera? i see what looks like a suite of some sort with a wraparound balcony up there. looks nice as hell.

thanks to everyone posting reviews in this thread!

I'm coming to Vegas (1st timer) end of april / beginning of may from Sun - Thurs with the mrs. I'm tossing up which hotel to stay at so would appreciate any advice.

we're looking for some pimp luxury and i think i'm gonna book a decent room and see if $20 can get me an upgrade to a suite if not then i'll just fork out the cash for an upgrade. because it's not weekend i'm thinking i should be ok.

i don't have a strict budget but not gonna spend more than 1500 and would like to spend less than 1K

i'll be playing a bit of poker but not heaps and will do a little on table games as well probably. the mrs isn't a gambler at all. we'll try to catch a couple of shows and maybe play a round of golf

at the moment the Aria is looking good but i'm also tossing up the B, Cosmo, PH and even MGM. Wynn seems to be just a bit too expensive...

Cuz it's our first time in vegas we wanna get the full vegas experience so don't think i'll bother with Vdara

you guys have any suggestions? thanks

i guess i'll contribute some. if you're staying at planet hollywood, try to get the star trek room in the south tower if it's available. that room is pimp as ****. think it's room 1701 or something?

they have ltcmdr data's outfit in the bedroom display cabinet. that's all you should need to know.

awesome !

1701 would make sense.

bathroom also opens up into the living room. pretty scandalous.

How many star trek rooms are in PH? Just the one "1701" or are there more?

It's the panoramic room, just Star Wars themed. And I believe there is only 1 of its kind.

MGM for sure, good selection of hotel rooms/ suites. I never had to wait for 1/2 or 2/5 while i stayed there. Good food options, buffet is always a safe bet. Lot's of craps tables.

Luxor would be my second choice, the rooms aren't bad at all considering the price...only problem is, its technically on the strip but at the very south end. Poker room is extremely small and a few craps tables.

If you prepay your room thru a combined expedia package chances are you won't get your room comped even if you hit a monster roll.