Vegas packages/hotels

[hz80408]

Starting to think about a birthday trip the first wknd of May to Vegas. I know nothing about hotels/casinos but would want something in a good location and 3-star+.

I found a trip package for $300/person for Excalibur Hotel Casino - Tower Deluxe; but the downfall is that we have to drive to our hometown airpot (about 2.5/3hrs away).

Is that a decent deal (and hotel) or are we more likely to find similar pricing out of Chicago?

Any big name hotels to look for or avoid?

[osumelissa]

Wow $300/person for airfare and hotel? That is really good considering right now I am looking at paying almost $500 per person in airfare alone from Baltimore/DC in April.

However, I would not want to stay at the Excalibur (way too many kids). If you could find something mid-strip, I think it would be better. A moderate priced center strip hotel is Flamingo and I have heard their GO rooms are good.

I would check Chicago for comparison purposes. Assuming it is a lot more convenient (which it sounds like it would be) it might be worth paying a little more. Of course I don't know your budget so what is reasonable to me may not be for others

[ckinla]

It's not a luxury hotel at all (more like a holiday inn), but probably fine since you won't spend a lot of time there anyway. We loved Paris, but it's pricier. Friends of ours have stayed at Circus Circus and although it was dirt cheap, they said it wasn't worth it and was a really awful hotel. We've also stayed offsite at the Blackstone, and really liked it, but it was a hassle having to take the shuttle to the strip so we prefer to stay on the strip. Living Social and Groupon have deals for Vegas quite often.

[balbacm]

wow that's a great price. flights usually cost us $350-450pp. But, if you want budget, at least take a look at Harrah's, Ballys or Flamingo - great strip location and you can stay for pretty cheap. Excalibur pretty far south on the strip, it's teeming with kids and it's dark, smoky and dingy.

i'd avoid excal, circus circus (my husband says it's where dreams go to die), luxor (my bff got held up there), stratosphere, Riviera, among others. You can also find decent rates at NY NY, but not as great of a location as the hotels I mentioned above.

We have also got some pretty decent deals in the past on priceline/hotwire.

have fun! i need a vegas fix

[Deleted]

We were in Vegas a couple months ago and I would NOT recommend staying at any of the hotels on the far end of the strip: Riviera (where we stayed, booked because we got a deal and didn't know location), Circus Circus, Stratoshpere, Excalibur and I believe Luxor are on the far ends.

[sunshinedaydreams]

I agree, that's a good price, but also wouldn't stay at Excalibur. Unless budget is the limiting factor and you can't find anything else.

The last time we went to Vegas, we got a great deal through Southwest vacations. Have you checked there? I got a billion e-mails from them today about CM deals, but haven't checked any of them out. Maybe they'll have something on there from Chicago to Vegas. Probably won't be as cheap, but may still be good and save you the 2.5 hr drive.

We stayed at The Venetian last time and it was just average. We booked the lowest class of room since we just needed a place to sleep. The room was very run down, but clean and functional. Service kinda sucked. Check-in was super slow. But location was great.

I've also stayed at Mandalay Bay and loved it, but it's a bit pricier and on the far end of the strip. If it's your first time (which it sounds like it is since you're not familiar?) I would probably go more central on the strip.

[mdgirl]

Ditto the above rec for Southwest vacations. They have really good prices on flight/hotel packages.

[Deleted]

I would not do a package vacation for Vegas. There are so many nice hotels that you can get them on Hotwire or Priceline for super cheap. Or Jetsetter, SniqueAway, etc. I booked Aria (5 star) earlier this year for like $65 a night. Excalibur is really bad and on one end of the strip.

[RoxMonster]

Good price but I wouldn't want to do Excalibur. The last time I was in Vegas we stayed at the Flamingo. We found a package out of O'Hare (this was in Dec) for $500/person including 5 nights at the Flamingo. We liked it; it was centrally located which was awesome. Next time we go I might check into the Mirage which is still cheaper than the expensive places (Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian, etc) but maybe a step up from the Flamingo (it's right across the street).

A long time ago I stayed at MGM. I wasn't a huge fan; it is a monstrosity! Took forever just to get to the elevator and get to our room. A neat place to check out, but far down on one end of the strip and just too big for my taste.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2012 22:09:02 GMT -5 @missy1 said:

I would not do a package vacation for Vegas. There are so many nice hotels that you can get them on Hotwire or Priceline for super cheap. Or Jetsetter, SniqueAway, etc. I booked Aria (5 star) earlier this year for like $65 a night. Excalibur is really bad and on one end of the strip.

I second this. Another nice mid-strip option is Treasure Island. If you sign up for their newsletter they send out some pretty amazing deals every now and then.

[ashap]

Agreed that I wouldn't do Excalibur unless price was your biggest limiting factor.

We've been twice stayed once at the Vdara which I loved (smoke free, game free and very quiet) and the last time we stayed at the Palazzo. I didn't really care for the Palazzo at all, nice big rooms, but very low service levels (this was just this past weekend over Thanksgiving). Our room being "cleaned" was basically towels replaced.

We usually book our Vegas package through travelocity, but I also compared Southwest vacations and they were about the same price.

[raangoli]

We went last November and booked a package deal through Orbitz (flight + hotel) for the Cosmopolitan. It was newer (and I guess still can be considered new) and we liked it a lot. I'd stay there again and have recommended it to others. Granted, we paid more than $300 but we thought it was worth it for the location and the fact that the hotel was new, clean and centrally located.

[Tacocat]

I would not stay at the Excalibur either. Try Flamingo, Paris, Treasure Island which are central strip. It probably won't be $300, but it will be worth the extra money.

[hz80408]

Thanks for all of the insight and feedback! Ideally we'd like to spend under $1K for flight/hotel, although the cheaper the better. Our thought is that we'd barely be in our hotel room anyways, although I would like non-smoking (must) and a decent location.

eta: Southwest packages out of Chicago start at $1,100 total for Excalibur, it seems like the Allegiant Air packages are much better. They have a package for Flamingo for 3 nights for $925 total. That seems like a good deal then?

[vegas]

That's a good deal for Flamingo. The location is much better than Excalibur. See if you can get an upgraded room at check in.

Also, be sure to factor in the costs of flying with Allegiant. They nickel and dime you for EVERYTHING, including $$ for luggage, picking your own seats, water, etc.

I'd try to price flights out separately and see what you can find. If you can get anything for around $250, I think you can do better on the hotel by doing priceline or hotwire like a previous poster suggested.

[osumelissa]

You might want also to check specific hotel sites for air/hotel packages. I just booked directly through Aria today for flight and hotel for the first weekend in March and got the best rate (compared with Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Southwest).

[hz80408]

Thanks osu and vegas!