Vegas....so many hotels. HELP!!

Coopaloop

Apologies if this has been asked a million times already (if so a link to it would be much appreciated), I'm booking a surprise trip to vegas for my OH who is 40 this year, around November time. The choice in hotels is overwhelming me to say the least. I just want somewhere decent, clean a bit swanky as it's a birthday gift and a pool open all year. Would like to be on or close to the strip.

Can any of you please please help me out with recommendations. Where you've stayed before, ones to avoid. The trip advisor reviews are so conflicting. One person says 5star, the next says 1star for a stay at the same hotel at same time. Very confusing.

Thanks in advance.

ANXIOUS

Coopaloop wrote: »

Apologies if this has been asked a million times already (if so a link to it would be much appreciated), I'm booking a surprise trip to vegas for my OH who is 40 this year, around November time. The choice in hotels is overwhelming me to say the least. I just want somewhere decent, clean a bit swanky as it's a birthday gift and a pool open all year. Would like to be on or close to the strip.

Can any of you please please help me out with recommendations. Where you've stayed before, ones to avoid. The trip advisor reviews are so conflicting. One person says 5star, the next says 1star for a stay at the same hotel at same time. Very confusing.

Thanks in advance.

New York New York is the recommendation that I give everyone. Not sure about a pool in November though, but you can go to other hotels and use their pools some are free or some you can pay.

mojesius

I stayed in the Palazzo when I was in Vegas and would recommend it. Attached to the Venetian, which is just as nice, huge pool area open all year, buzzing casino and lots of good restaurants. The rooms are huge and comfy, big bathrooms and service is excellent.

loconnor1001

Avoid circus circus and the stratosphere like the plague. Palazzo is fab and nice location the strip, maybe on the pricier side depending on budget. I don’t know of any hotels on the strip that have a pool year round, not sure if they are still open in November or not. You can’t really go too wrong with any of the strip hotels aside from the the 2 mentioned (some might disagree, but I think they are rather dumpy and also a long enough walk to the rest of the strip). The linq, flamingo and Harrahs are nothing special, but you really can’t beat the location! The Wynn is magical if it’s in the budget.

th283

The Flamingo is lovely, really nice, large rooms and unreal views over the strip. The location is perfect too because you’re right in the middle of the strip, the pool is seasonal though.

There are some really good deals on flights at the moment, I booked to fly Dublin to Vegas in March earlier this week for €335 return including luggage

dudara

We’ve stayed st the Cosmopolitan and the MGM in the past and really liked both. The Cosmopolitan is newer and funkier.

FYI Las Vegas can get cold in November, so outdoor pools may not be suitable.

OU812

Aria, Venetian, Parisian or Belaggio are the more upper-class ones. You can save real money by using the likes of priceline, only catch is you don't know what hotel you get until you pay for it, but you can make a minimum standard - 4 or 5 star.

When you're checking in, fold a $50 between your passport & credit card for the receptionist if they can. they'll upgrade you, if not, it'll be discretely passed back to you the same way. I've been upgraded to a junior suite two out of the last three times I visited doing this.

Lastly, they're going to charge you "Resort Fees" which is a daily rate per person (booking is per room), this is a way of getting more money out of you in the guise of availing of facilities which were included up to a couple of years ago. remember to budget for that - 2017 fees here

Also check out the groupon & living social pages for the area as you might get some fun non-casino activities.

ollaetta

Had the same dilemma ourselves, the choice is overwhelming. We chose the MGM and were very happy with it. It's got a lovely pool area but as someone mentioned November mightn't be the best time for it.

barney shamrock

We stayed in NYNY last November and loved it.
When checking in ask for a room looking out on the strip.
It's a nice hotel with a good 'buzzy' atmosphere. It was surprisingly warm too (shorts & t-shirts by day)
TBH, there is so much to see and do in Vegas, I wouldn't "waste" my time lying by a pool.
As mentioned, avoid circus circus and the Strat.
We walked through most hotels on the strip, most will blow you away but we really loved Wynn and Bellagio.
Look into booking everything yourself online but also look at Cassidy travel website.
They have 5 nights in Vegas next September from 500 euro pp.
Would love to go back!

CWF

Luxor is nice but a bit far from the centre of the strip. Depending on prices but I'd like to stay in ny ny going off reports from here.

Atlantic Dawn

If it was me I wouldn't stay south of Tropicana or north of Treasure Island. Don't under any circumstances stay off the strip, what you might save in hotel accommodation you will have blown in a few taxi trips to get to the strip, there's not easy pedestrian access from outside the strip.

A few I'd recommend in rough order of cheapness...
Excalibur
Treasure Island
Planet Hollywood
MGM
Aria
Venetian
Bellagio

Have you a budget in mind or a time of year you want to travel? Prices vary hugely, around major sporting events and conventions prices for accommodation will rocket. Well worth looking over dates in or around when you want to go to see when is best value. There's resort fees in almost all hotels, this is a dilay fee payable at check-in it's around $30 a night, a guide here...
https://www.lasvegasjaunt.com/las-vegas-resort-fees-2017-guide/

Pools usually close around November until May.

Here's a list showing major hotels on the stip and where they are located...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Strip#Locations_of_major_landmarks

OU812

Do make sure you get up to the older part of the strip. It’s a lot deedier but a lot more fun

Chickus

Def recommend cosmopolitan. Trailfinders gots us an AMAZING deal there. It was so stylish and has fantastic breakfast buffet. Rooms were lovely and rooftop pools were lovely.
We also stayed in planet hollywood the first time and it was great..busy though.popular with those in 20's and party groups but has a great.mix.. lots of shops on miracle mile which goes through it. Friends stayed in bellagio on.honeymoon and didnt think it was worth it.
Staying on central strip is good as its an easy walk between hotels/casinos..monorail is xloseby too. It gets super hot in summer so you dont want to be walking too far.
The old town is brilliant at night..its a good bit away about 15mins in taxi or more depending on traffic.

tedpan

Mandalay bay is a beautiful hotel too

Deub

The Vdara was nice. It is attached to the Belaggio.
They often do promotions: Book 3 nights, pay for 2 so for the hotel you want to book, check what kind of promotions they regularly do to save a bit.

Zaph

Stayed in the Encore a few years ago on our honeymoon and can definitely recommend it. Would have no hesitation in going back there given the chance. Also stayed in the Luxor a good few years ago, the rooms were grand, if a bit basic, but if you decide to go there try to get a room close-ish to the lifts. It's a bloody long walk back if you forget something and you're on the opposite side to the lifts on your floor.

RobertKK

The last hotel I stayed in there was Ballys.

Had a lovely room, could watch the Bellagio fountains and the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

gaillimh

Coopaloop wrote: »

Apologies if this has been asked a million times already (if so a link to it would be much appreciated), I'm booking a surprise trip to vegas for my OH who is 40 this year, around November time. The choice in hotels is overwhelming me to say the least. I just want somewhere decent, clean a bit swanky as it's a birthday gift and a pool open all year. Would like to be on or close to the strip.

Can any of you please please help me out with recommendations. Where you've stayed before, ones to avoid. The trip advisor reviews are so conflicting. One person says 5star, the next says 1star for a stay at the same hotel at same time. Very confusing.

Thanks in advance.

The Cosmopolitan is a fabulous hotel.
Stayed there back in October 2011 when it was relatively new & it was savage.
It has several pool areas on different levels and a host of nice restaurants (there was a lovely tapas restaurant there at the time).
I would highly recommend it.

dar100

Stayed in Luxor last Jan for honeymoon was good,.

Done few activities as not really into gambling, we went shoot range where we got the machine gun package including 50. Cal sniper rifle, amazing experience, also done helicopter over the strip at night was great too

sc86

stayed in mgm last and will be staying in it next time also

dobman88

Had the exact same dilemma. I'm 30 this year and we're going to Vegas. Aiming for October/November. Our heads were melted looking at hotels but V Dara caught both our eyes for some reason.

leestone

hmmm nobody the most famous of them all Caesars Palace?

furiousox

dobman88 wrote: »

Had the exact same dilemma. I'm 30 this year and we're going to Vegas. Aiming for October/November. Our heads were melted looking at hotels but V Dara caught both our eyes for some reason.

May or may not be an issue for you, but there's no casino in the Vdara.

Tefral

I stayed in the Venetian. Unbelievable hotel. Slipping the person checking you in some dollars also definitely works, they either waive the resort fees or upgrade you. If you sign up to whatever membership club the hotel is a member of before you book you can also get deals.

Vegas is an unreal place. You'll love it. Oh and id second the poster that said about going to the old strip. Mad place altogether.

Thestones

I've stayed in Venetian, Encore and Vdara. Vdara we had the most amazing views of the bellagio fountains and what I liked about that place was that it didn't have a casino, it's like a little oasis of calm away from constant casinos in every other hotel! Having said that Encore and Venetian have beautiful rooms and interiors, Encore is slightly further down the strip so not as good location, deffo better to be central strip.

furiousox

youtube is your friend OP.
You'll find loads of footage of the strip, as well as walk throughs of all the hotels showing you what the casinos, bars, restaurants & bedrooms look like in each one.
Have a look and see what appeals.

2Mad2BeMad

Went once, we stayed at the luxor.
Loved it,
I mean really you couldn't go wrong picking any hotels along the strip (apart from circus cirus what a kip)
Were going again in jan next year, were planning on staying in planet hollywood, friends say thats one of the best spots if I remember right its pretty much bang in the middle of the strip.

sc86

you could go to the mgm and not leave the hotel for the week and still have a great holiday!

dobman88

furiousox wrote: »

May or may not be an issue for you, but there's no casino in the Vdara.

No issue. I think there's one or two casinos close by

GaGa21

dobman88 wrote:

No issue. I think there's one or two casinos close by

Yes, it's right next to the Aria for casinos. We loved the Vdara. It's a non smoking hotel too which is great(for me anyway!) The food was lovely, tho expensive like everywhere on the strip. I would recommend anyone to stay there and that's where I'll be going back to.

rossie1977

To make your choice easier as a first timer I would stick to the strip and wouldn't stay north of Encore on the map or south of MGM Grand. Seeing as hotels east and west of the strip are a little far from the action that removes the likes of Rio, Palms and Hard Rock as choices too. Monte Carlo mid strip is undergoing a big refurbishment/transformation over the next year so avoid it too.

The three best hotels in Vegas are Wynn (Encore), Venetian (Palazzo) and Bellagio. All world class establishments but you will obviously pay for the privilege of staying in any of them. The likes of Caesars Palace (newer tower over older), Mirage, MGM Grand, Paris, Aria and Cosmopolitan would be the next best hotels.

Flamingo, Harrah's/Linq, Bally's, Treasure Island would be your mid range options.

As far as pools go in November it's hit and miss. As others have stated it's much cooler that time of year and while certain hotels may state they have pools open year-round they sometimes spend the winter months cleaning and on pool construction. For what it's worth Mirage, Bellagio and some of MGM Grands pools should be open

dobman88

GaGa21 wrote: »

Yes, it's right next to the Aria for casinos. We loved the Vdara. It's a non smoking hotel too which is great(for me anyway!) The food was lovely, tho expensive like everywhere on the strip. I would recommend anyone to stay there and that's where I'll be going back to.

Yeah that comment about the casinos was very much tongue in cheek.

Nice to hear it's non smoking, plus points for us. I quit 5 years ago, she never smoked. Good food another plus.

Tbh Vdara just ticked all the boxes for us in our budget. Has good reviews and looks great

Coopaloop

Thanks everyone. Some great tips and suggestions.

furiousox

Cassidy Travel have November trips to Vegas on sale now.
A 4 night trip is coming in at less than 400 euro per person.
Sooo tempted....

Curb Your Enthusiasm

furiousox wrote: »

Cassidy Travel have November trips to Vegas on sale now.
A 4 night trip is coming in at less than 400 euro per person.
Sooo tempted....

Don't forget resort fees are not included in that price.

Beefy78

As others have said, 90%+ of pools will be shut at that time of year. We don't think of it as a cold place but it does turn in the winter and whilst it'll obviously be a lot nicer than Ireland will be at that time of year it probably won't be pool weather. If you want to swim then the biggest hotels (MGM & Caesars certainly) will have one of two heated pools open.

If you can bring your trip forward to the start of Octobwr then you'll have way more options.

Cosmopolitan is the nicest hotel in Vegas. It's very expensive though. I always recommend Mirage for first timers - perfect location, not so big that you'll get lost and a lovely hotel in its own right. Aria is a really nice too. TBH you can't go wrong if you're on the Strip. Ignore the worst of the reviews - even the worst Strip casino resort (other than Circus Circus which is in a league of crappiness on its own)is so much nicer than anything you'd find for the price just about anywhere else.

Ive stayed at Mirage, Luxor, Aria, Harrahs, New York New York and Vdara on the Strip and Plaza & Golden Gate on Fremont Street, all in the last few years and I've seen the rooms in Bellagio, Wynn, Cosmopolitan and SES so if you need any specific advice on any of those I'll try to help

Beefy78

dobman88 wrote: »

Yeah that comment about the casinos was very much tongue in cheek.

Nice to hear it's non smoking, plus points for us. I quit 5 years ago, she never smoked. Good food another plus.

Tbh Vdara just ticked all the boxes for us in our budget. Has good reviews and looks great

It's really nice. You get a huge amount of room for your money including a mini kitchen (which means access to tea if you bring a travel kettle) and even though it doesn't have a casino you can an actually get to the casino in Bellagio, Aria and Cosmopolitan in less time than you can from some rooms in the bigger hotels.

Only problem with Vdara is it's got a ****ty pool.

leestone

Beefy78 wrote: »

As others have said, 90%+ of pools will be shut at that time of year. We don't think of it as a cold place but it does turn in the winter and whilst it'll obviously be a lot nicer than Ireland will be at that time of year it probably won't be pool weather. If you want to swim then the biggest hotels (MGM & Caesars certainly) will have one of two heated pools open.

If you can bring your trip forward to the start of Octobwr then you'll have way more options.

Cosmopolitan is the nicest hotel in Vegas. It's very expensive though. I always recommend Mirage for first timers - perfect location, not so big that you'll get lost and a lovely hotel in its own right. Aria is a really nice too. TBH you can't go wrong if you're on the Strip. Ignore the worst of the reviews - even the worst Strip casino resort (other than Circus Circus which is in a league of crappiness on its own)is so much nicer than anything you'd find for the price just about anywhere else.

Ive stayed at Mirage, Luxor, Aria, Harrahs, New York New York and Vdara on the Strip and Plaza & Golden Gate on Fremont Street, all in the last few years and I've seen the rooms in Bellagio, Wynn, Cosmopolitan and SES so if you need any specific advice on any of those I'll try to help

Hi can you tell me what the Luxor is like seems the best value for what I need.

Assassin saphir

Hands down The Cosmopolitan. Best hotel in Vegas and worth every dollar. Bellagio nice too but older crowd

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Monte Carlo, reasonable price too.

January

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Monte Carlo, reasonable price too.

Being refurbished at the moment and turned into The Park MGM.

We're staying in Excalibur from Tuesday onwards, we were there before. It's now non-smoking in the hotel rooms (still allowed smoke in casino as far as I'm aware). Rooms are clean and comfortable. Book Royal tower if you can as it's newer.

We got a week including flights for 320 each. That was Dublin - Philidelphia - Las Vegas but due to a schedule change, we were moved for free to the Dublin - London - Las Vegas flight.

leestone

January wrote: »

Being refurbished at the moment and turned into The Park MGM.

We're staying in Excalibur from Tuesday onwards, we were there before. It's now non-smoking in the hotel rooms (still allowed smoke in casino as far as I'm aware). Rooms are clean and comfortable. Book Royal tower if you can as it's newer.

We got a week including flights for 320 each. That was Dublin - Philidelphia - Las Vegas but due to a schedule change, we were moved for free to the Dublin - London - Las Vegas flight.

Omg where you get that price insane

January

leestone wrote: »

Omg where you get that price insane

Expedia, I posted in Bargain alerts about it at the time.

It was actually 370 pp I just checked but still, amazing.

th283

There’s lots of deals on flights today, I booked Dublin to Vegas for 330 return in March last week, it’s down to €230 today

youngblood

Cant recommend the Cosmopolitan high enough, stayed at the MGM, Luxor & Wynn, so a bit of a mix of hotels and Cosmopolitan wins on every front!

Except for the Breakfast Buffet and thats across the road in the Bellagio- 12 min walk

leestone

January wrote: »

Expedia, I posted in Bargain alerts about it at the time.

It was actually 370 pp I just checked but still, amazing.

Tried Expedia recently found no zero decent prices strange

lillycakes2

What websites are good to book vegas holidays where you get free buffets and thinks like that ? I got that once when I went but cannot remember what website? it was part of the package deal

Beefy78

leestone wrote: »

Hi can you tell me what the Luxor is like seems the best value for what I need.

I LOVE Luxor. As a casino its one of the most fun places on the Strip, IMO. You've Mandalay Bay right next to you which has a lot of cool bars and restaurants and its even got a decent Irish pub by it where you can get a proper cup of tea

The rooms in the two towers are sold as being the nicer rooms but they're really bog-standard Vegas hotel rooms. Clean, decent-ish size but nothing special. For me though what Luxor has over any other hotel in the World is the Pyramid and I'd recommend staying in there instead of the towers as part of the experience. Where else in the World can you stay in a pyramid? The pyramid rooms are a bit dated (although they appear to have started renovating them recently) but they're still functional.

Only 'downside' to Luxor is its location right at the South of the Strip. Personally for me that's my favourite end of the Strip but first-timers usually like to be more central. You're talking probably 45 minutes walk from Luxor to the fountains at the Bellagio.

Basically Luxor is cheap because it's a bit older and not in a great location but it's a lot of fun. I wouldn't go there if I was looking to impress anyone and might think about somewhere more central if its my first trip but if I'm just looking for a fun basecamp, don't mind the idea of elevators which move diagonally and either have been to Vegas before or am happy to do a lot of walking I'd definitely stay there again.

Beefy78

lillycakes2 wrote: »

What websites are good to book vegas holidays where you get free buffets and thinks like that ? I got that once when I went but cannot remember what website? it was part of the package deal

Not sure if its what you mean but I always use http://www.smartervegas.com/

Mokuba

What's the verdict on the Linq? Not the OP but going in a few months with younger crowd (24-26).

Not been mentioned too much on the thread so far.

aj89

We have stayed in the Luxor, Excalibur and New York New York...

Luxor was the nicest but further down the strip... We are heading back in April and are staying in Planet Hollywood (which has been recommended by lots of people I know)!