LAS VEGAS HOTELS
 

Can anyone tell me what the following hotels are like we are coming to las vegas at the end of september and are spoilt for choice. <BR>Las Vegas Hilton Flamingo Hilton and the Luxor. <BR>Help!!!!

I'm assuming this is your first trip to Vegas, therefore, i would NOT stay at the Las Vegas Hilton as it is NOT on the stip. <BR> <BR>There are mixed reviews about the Flamingo, although i had no problem recommending the place to my sister (who will return from Vegas tomorrow so i'll update this when she get back and gives me a review). My knowlege of the place is that it represents a very good value. It's not the Bellgio, Mirage, Paris, etc, but they give a decent room for the price, AND THE LOCATION IS THE BEST!!! <BR> <BR>Luxor is probably a higher rated hotel than the Flamingo, but it is all the way at one end of the strip, and therefore less desirable location-wise. <BR> <BR>Pending any bad news from my sister, my choice of those 3 would be the Flamingo, as the location is much better, and probably a few dollars cheaper than Luxor. One thing to keep in mind is that in Vegas you do a lot of "hotel hopping" and probably spend less time in your hotel room than in any other city.

I wouldn't stay at either. Sorry. I have been there numerous times. I Love Las Vegas. You can get great deals at any hotel in Vegas. Caesars is great, but only in the Palace Towers. The Venetian is breathtaking. Others that a good try are the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, you could even try the MGM or the Mirage. You will find great rates at those two. Good Luck. And have fun.

Try Treasure Island, the rates are generally good and it is an excellant hotel with a good location directly across from the Venetian. Of the properties you mentioned, I would stay at the Luxor a newer property than the Hiltons. The location while not the best is actually better than the Four Seasons and Mandalay Bay, two top notch hotels. Generally any property between Treasure Island and Mandalay Bay would be considered in a good location. <BR> <BR>

The Venetian is by far the best hotel in Vegas! Every room really is a suite with a large bathrooms, and sunken living/dining areas. It is more expensive than a lot of the other hotels, but worth it! It also has a wonderful spa. The Flamingo has one of the best pools in Vegas, and it is right in the middle of everything. The rooms are clean, but not luxurious. Have a fun trip! Hope this helped!

B Ratcliffe, <BR> <BR>Some people are still in a time warp. Vegas USED to be a place that you could get GREAT hotel rooms for less than $50/nite. Now you're LUCKY if you can get that for Sun-Thur, rates for Fri+Sat are triple that for an "average" hotel. Weekend rates for hotels such as Caesars, Bellagio, Venetian are likely to be $300+/nite, with midweek rates ~$200/nite. Unfortunately, Vegas is no longer the FANTASTIC value it once was. (although decent values can still be had, you have to hunt for them) <BR> <BR>On a positive note, rates change VERY quickly based upon supply/demand formulas that all the hotels have put into their computers. September is also the start of a busy season in Vegas. Another resource you can use are advertisements in the LA Times (as this area get lots of Las Vegas' advertising dollars). There are many websites that reprint the deals.

I'm amazed at the misinformation given out on the Fodor's Forum: <BR> <BR>Jennifer: The Venetian is very nice but IS NOT "by far the best hotel in Vegas". Check the archives on this forum alone and you will see that the Bellagio almost always is the hotel considered the best in Vegas, with the Four Seasons a close second. Almost every professional review agrees with that rating. <BR> <BR>thereuare: After I read your last post, I checked the Bellagio and Treasure Island websites, here is what I found: <BR> <BR>Bellagio - Sept 23-27 $139 <BR> <BR>Treasure Island - Sept 23-27 - $79. December rates, $54 per night. <BR> <BR>There are deals to be had and it takes all of 5 minutes to find. Be careful when giving misinformation. <BR> <BR>

<BR>there are 2 Hiltons'....one is away from the strip by the Convention Center...and the other(not owned by Hilton anymore) is the Flamingo...it is central on the strip...as far as I`m concerned the strip ends at the Venetian...if you can get a high floor with a strip view that would be fantastic esp. the Bellagio fountains..some lower rooms are okay...the higher floors are better...not impressed with Luxor( the rooms inside the pyramid)....pool at the Flamingo is great...I love the loaction...also handy to tram from Bally`s to MGM and on the other side of the street the tramfrom Monte Carlo to Bellagio..... <BR>

Frank, <BR> <BR>I don't think my info was so off base... <BR> <BR>I saw the rate you mentioned under "promos" at the Bellagio website, but if plug the dates into their calendar, the rate is $164 for their "Delux room" but jumps to $204 if you want a view of the lake! (both of these rates are within the range i mentioned of being 2-3x $50/nite). Want to go that weekend instead of mid-week, your rates jump to $349 and $389 respectively. <BR> <BR>What i really don't understand is when somebody asks for comments regarding LV Hilton, Flamingo, or Luxor, and people tell the person to stay the Bellagio or Venetian because (as Chris says) "you can get great rates at ANY hotel in Vegas"... TOTALLY different class of properties! (in comparison, i checked the Flamingo for the above dates and it's $70 Sun-Thur, and $120 Fri+Sat). Based upon the properties asked about, i doubt the original poster is looking to spend the kind of money the Bellagio is asking (although ~$150 may be considered a great rate for that property, just not what the original poster was likely looking for) <BR> <BR>Sorry if my previous post was misinterpretted, but my point was that Las Vegas is no longer a place where you (as you used to be able to do) could just show up and get rooms for a few dollars, and the hotel would likely end up comping it by the time you left and take care of any meal tab you have as well. (ie- only 3 years ago i stayed in a tower room at the Tropicana for $35/nite... i don't think i'll be seeing that rate for a long time to come!)

In General, "thereuare" is correct. <BR>Vegas has changed a LOT in the past 5-7 years. Used to be that the casinos made no real attempt to run profitable hotels. They were after the easy money from their casino operations. <BR>Now many of the better properties also make profits from their hotels, and what they've found through trial and error is that if they raise rates steadily during busy periods (most weekends, major conventions, big sporting events) they still sell out their rooms. <BR> <BR>The frustrating thing for the individual seeking the best rate is that rates can vary so much, sometimes from one hour to the next, often from one website to the next, that it's very hard to do thorough comparison 'shopping'. <BR> <BR>As for your choices B Ratcliffe, I'd avoid the Hiltons for a first trip to Vegas. Try something midrange if you're on a budget. Try Mirage, Paris, Monte Carlo, Treasure Island, etc. If you want the best, try Bellagio.

thereuare: I agree with your premise but I think Treasure Island is a better choice than the Flamingo at $79 per night. Hope your sister enjoyed the Flamingo, let us know. I'll be gone for a few days but I'll check next week. Have a good Labor Day weekend.

B Ratclife, <BR> <BR>Also, this is a GREAT website for consumer reviews/rankings of all the strip hotels: <BR> <BR>http://www.a2zlasvegas.com/hotels/hotel-rank-s.php3 <BR> <BR>You can also click on each hotel to get short summaries of why people did or did not enjoy their stay. <BR> <BR>Also, you will notice that both the Paris and the Flamingo rate HIGHER than the Bellagio. This is NOT to say that the Bellagio is a better hotel than the Paris or the Flamingo, but that these hotels represent a better overall "value." There is a certain expectation built into staying at a property like the Four Seasons, Bellagio, Venetian etc and it is far easier to be disappointed, than by spending a lot less money (and therefore not expecting much) but then having your expectations surpassed. <BR> <BR>

My sister returned from Vegas and 4 nites at the Flamingo ($60/nite). <BR> <BR>She checked in at the airport as there was a short line. Once she arrived at the hotel, she saw a long line waiting to check-in so, they saved a fair amount of time. <BR> <BR>Room was nice but not overly large (yet large enough to hold their family of 5). They were very happy with the hotel, and thought the location was excellent. They said it wasn't the nicest place in town, but they would stay there again as it was centrally located, clean, and the pool area was great. By the way, recent reports stated that only 1 or 2 (of the 4) pools were open, but she said that they were all open this week. <BR> <BR>

My husband, 10 year old daughter and I just returned from our first trip to Vegas. We stayed the first two nights at Flamingo and last night at MGM Grand. <BR>We are not gamblers (I did not even spend a nickel on the slots). Our room at the Flamingo overlooked Caesars and the Bellagio fountains. The pool area is beautiful and even stays open in the evening which seems to be a phenomenom in Vegas. We got a great rate of $70.00 per night which included about $40.00 in meal credits. The location IS THE BEST! <BR>We also enjoyed the MGM and loved their <BR>"river" pool. Our room was very nice at the MGM but our view was of the roof. <BR>Their buffet was good, and we also enjoyed the bufeet at the RIO . We walked down to Mandalay Bay and that would not have been a place where we would want to stay. <BR>My daughter and I splurged and went to "O" at Bellagio. We had really bad seats but did enjoy the show. All 3 of us had a great time. It was sort of like being in Disneyland. Not sure we would ever go back but a great first time experience.

We recently stayed at the Flamingo and were completely satisfied with it - especially for the price. We had a room overlooking the Bellagio Fountains which had a better view of them than when we stayed at the Bellagio. Our room was not small (for two of us) and it was clean. The Flamingo pool area is wonderful and the location is one of the best. Parking in their lot was easy too. All in all no complaints.