Excellent. The kids will be rapt

I'm staying at the Linq for the first time and checking in today.

How is this place and any recommendations on what I should ask for at check-in to get a clean, quiet room not far from the elevators?

Im on solo business trip so I don't have to have a special view or anything

13 days (!!) at The Orleans from mid to late Aug, solo.

I chose The Orleans because of the price, I wanted to try something different and it looked good based on reviews. Other options considered were Monte Carlo, The Linq and TI.

Pros:
- Spacious double queen.
- Relatively clean for an old property.
- Movie theater (pretty big, good selection).
- Decent casual dining options, 24h food court.
- Very friendly staff.
- The pokers is ok I guess. Daily and nightly tournaments and good spread of cash.

Cons:
- The internet incl in the resort fee is very slow and unstable. You can purchase an upgrade for $10 per day.
- No safe in room incl in price.
- No fridge in room.
- Elevator system is extremely tilting if you are in a hurry (hello toilet). I waited for ever numerous times.

I could include the location under cons, but we all know that. It's not walkable. Cab to MGM is about 11 bucks, Aria $13 etc. The free shuttle is quick, it goes first to CP right by the side entrance to the Forum Shops (~13 mins) and then back to Gold Coast. It leaves every half hour from the exit by the cage.

Room service was fairly quick, got mine in 30 mins each time.

The whole place has a very friendly atmosphere to it. Lately I have been drawn to locals type places rather than the more happening places. CALL ME CRAZY!

Poker was alright, didn't play any cash there tho. Tournaments had a lot of the same people, older nits and some semi-young players. The staff there is also friendly. The dealer wrongly accused of flashing the bottom card during the WSOP is there. I asked him "cheat much?" and we all laughed and laughed. Saw some insane collusion there one time, but it was husband and wife so everybody laughed.

The only place I ran into terrible staff there was at the TGIs. Jesus lord that was a experience. Maybe I was unlucky, but sometimes you get the feel that they are being held there against their will and I am a great bother to them. Oh well.

Summed up; it's a nice joint, but too far away from the Strip, for 13 days.

There was a safe in my room, big enough for my fairly large laptop. They are either in the bathroom or in the furniture under the tv. I had a "premium" room, but from what I remember the ordinary rooms had them too.

That's a rarity in Vegas hotels. You can get one though for a fairly small charge. I saw it in an upgrade list when I reserved my room.

If you're staying that long, you should rent a car. Even if I stayed on the strip I would rent a car for that length of stay. Orleans is actually more livable than most Vegas hotels for long stays like that. As you mentioned, it has the movie theater. The food court is cheaper than most Vegas hotels, and most of the places are open 24 hours. Being almost next to the poker room is a huge bonus.

You should've played some cash. More interesting and varied than the tourmeys, imo.

I stay at TI every January when I'm in town for the SHOT Show because the show is across the street in the Sands Expo at the V. In the past I've always paid the TI resort fee for 2 reasons; 1) I thought it was mandatory and 2) I needed the wifi. Now that my phone acts as a hot spot I don't need their wifi.

So does anyone know if the $29/day resort fee at TI can be declined or are you forced to pay it. I heard last year that it was optional but I'm trying to find out if that's true. Any info?

Thanks!

It depends on how you reserved the room. If you paid normal or near normal prices, the fee is optional. If you reserved with certain promotions the fee is mandatory. The only way to be sure is to ask when you make the reservation.

I was there for a week in July. Resort fees were optional. I didn't decide @ the desk I waited for my friend to arrive and we ended up paying them on our 3rd day just for the wifi. Although in our room we could get the venetian wifi with a weak signal lol...

Liked the place alot it's going to be our new place to stay. Friendly staff, fun atmosphere and decent rooms. No complaints.

Yea I'd forgotten about the railway. 2nd morning I asked for a room change to strip facing, all was fine.

Cellphone reception was terrible also.

Still a solid deal, all in all.

103 bedbug reports near this address:

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Thanks for the info. I'll just ask and see. I sure don't want to pay the fee anymore if I don't need the wifi. That was the only way that I justified it in my mind before.

TI is way underrated by most people. The casino is boring and the poker room is a joke but the property is clean, rooms are nice, the prices are good, the restaurants are good and I think the location is really good. It's an easy walk to most all of the Strip and if you play poker at the V then it's super convenient. It's always seemed like a great place to us that is in between (in price and quality) the high end places likes the V, Wynn, Aria etc and the lower end cheaper places like Harrahs, Linq etc

I've stayed there a ton and loved it every time. If you get a good high room facing the Strip the view is amazing.

Yeah, it's just disappointing compared to what it used to be. The poker room used to be a really fun place to play and the little crappy tournaments used to get 60 to 70 players.

Very brief Linq update: at least as to the tower closest to the strip ("District 1," I think?), all of the massive knocks on the place should go away. Rooms and hallways are updated, clean, and comfortable. It ain't Caesar's, but remains a perfectly fine budget-end (relatively) hotel in a great location.

Its been a couple of years since I stayed there but the rooms were really solid. Pools good. It's a bit quieter than other casino's, no poker room but close to Wynn and Venetian obv. I don't mind being at either end of the strip so I thought the location was fine. I really enjoyed it there.

I'll be in Vegas from 12/7-12/11 for the Mosconi Cup, which will be held at the Tropicana. I will be on a kind of tight budget. I will have my own car and do not necessarily need to be super close to the Tropicana and the room will basically be for sleeping for me and my friend. Any advice on where to stay?

Excalibur or any other low priced strip hotel. Couple minutes on Kayak.com should get it done.

I am staying at the D in the first weekend of December..I stayed there a long time ago when it was Fitzgeralds (I won a free trip).

The two reasons I am staying there this time is my brother wanted downtown and its 40 a night plus fees.

My two questions.. Is it any better then Fitzgerald's was and there anything worth the twenty dollar trick?

I stayed at Caesar's for a week last month and it was awesome. The night club there is insanely busy on the weekends and the dealers are pretty relax overall.

Would definitely recommend it.

I also just posted this in the "Where do you stay cheap in LV?" thread but figured it should be posted here so others can find it in the future when that thread inevitably dies.

1st trip ever to Vegas was for my girlfriend's 21st. Stayed at Stratosphere, realized shortly after arrival that this was a terrible mistake because of the bad location. Would never recommend it to anyone for that reason. Same with Circus Circus. There are better cheap options in off strip locations. But if you don't have a car you'll want to be in the heart of the strip or at least Downtown.

On more recent trips we have gotten some decent deals at Vdara with promotions and the Aria poker rate can be an amazing value for otherwise expensive nights (big NFL weekends, conventions in town, etc)

For more even more budget-minded folks I can recommend the following options I have personally experienced in this order:

- California. If you are a budget traveler then Downtown is probably a good fit overall. No resort fees here. I once got a great deal on a room via Orbitz during the CES convention when everything else in town was bonkers expensive. Acceptable room and location just off Fremont.

- Bally's. I like to book Indigo tower here for solo trips. Have struck out when asking for complementary upgrades to Jubilee. Last time they gave me a strange high-ceilinged loft-like duplex 1 king room on the 2nd highest floor in Indigo that I actually enjoyed quite a bit. The bed and full bath were upstairs open overlooking the living area below. It also had a wet bar with fridge and half bath. The huge windows offered great views North towards the high roller. They had blinds that were comically large and a bit tricky to operate. I tried to book this room again for an upcoming trip and it isn't an option online as far as I can tell. I imagine you can ask for it by description at check in if you just book a standard room. I don't think they consider it to be an upgrade because a lot of people would find the stairs to be a pain and it doesn't have the privacy of a separate bedroom like their more expensive true 1 bedroom duplex suites. Bally's is an A+ location and I would describe the Indigo rooms as older but perfectly fine.

- Rio. I've stayed here solo during the WSOP and would highly recommend you do the same that time of year, but only if you will have a car. Rooms are large and comparable to Bally's Indigo in that they are dated but comfortable. If you won't have a car, I'd pay what might be a slightly higher price and stay at Bally's or even Harrah's instead. Even during WSOP I would not consider staying here without a car, the location is just too poor.

- Harrah's. The room was basic but fine. Location is great but a not quite as fantastic as Bally's in my book. Sometimes it's cheaper though and could be the way to go simply for that reason.

- Monte Carlo. A+ location, comparable room quality to Harrah's. I do remember the shower/bathtub in particular being a bit more dumpy though. But what kills this place for me is no wifi in the rooms, wired internet only. Didn't realize that before we checked in. It would have to be significantly cheaper than Harrah's/Bally's for me to stay here again.

I'm gonna try the Travelodge Center Strip for the most expensive nights on my next trip. Being near PLO cash games & the WSOP circuit events at PH is a very high priority for me, but I don't want expenses to get out of control as I hope to grind a decent profit. Managed to book a flight to/from NYC for $87 all in which was a minor miracle so that will help. No resort fees at the Travelodge, free breakfast & wifi is included, and their prices are of course way lower than anything else close to Aria. Not sure how it's going to work out but I'm going solo and don't want to rent a car this time. I've stayed at 1 star properties in other cities so I have an idea of what to expect. I will be at Bally's for the other portion of this trip. Have a standard Indigo king booked but will try again to get Jubilee or at least that same loft room and can report back on those results as well.

By the way, I rarely tip $20 to the desk person, and would certainly never consider giving more than $20. Anyone can be successful in achieving a Las Vegas upgrade by just asking nicely. But I can confirm that it does help to book directly with the resort rather than a 3rd party.

My final tip is to arrive at night and stay up late to get the most value out of your room. A savvy traveler can finagle 2 nights for the price of one. It worked perfectly on my last solo trip. I landed around midnight and cabbed straight to Aria to play cash. Finished the session at 6am (when the new hotel day technically begins for most resort casinos) then walked over to Bally's and checked right in. There can be a little variance with this strategy, avoid trying it if you think the hotel might be close to selling out the night before your reservation, unless you are comfortable potentially rallying through the morning. I'd say 11am is when you are basically guaranteed a room if you goto the desk to at least pre-check in right at 6am

lol Monte Carlo

Has anyone used the fitness center at Excalibur? Wondering what equipment is available, thanks

Are you wondering if there is a squat rack?

Nice call back.

Yes, among other things. Is there a steam room at Excalibur? What about at Bally's? You have access to Paris as well when you stay at Bally's right? Is there a steamroom or sauna or free weights at either property? Thanks, would appreciate any insight from those who have stayed at these hotels previously

Holy crap, I checked on a cheap room at Bally's - 29 bucks. Resort fee - 29 bucks. Plus tax.

It seems like they're raising the resort fee every 6 months. Oh, and gym use NOT included.

Harrah's also increased from $25 to $29 between my May and November stays. But at least it does include use of the gym.