las vegas in march
 

We are hoping to go to Vegas in March as my husband has a conference at Mandalay Bay - hotels seem expensive. Can anyone recommend a hotel close but reasonable. Like the sound of Orleans but it seems as though it is a way of the strip and he has to be at the conference early in the morning. Any help would be appreciated.

Not a problem especially early in the morning. It is about a $5.00 cab ride. Maybe less depending on traffic.

On strip, Monte Carlo is usually a good deal or try MGM. Both are walking/tram distance.

I would opt to stay in mid-strip, in a place such as the Flamingo, Paris, etc. I think the Orleans is in this same area. We didn't use it last time we were there since we like to walk & we didn't have a meeting deadline, but there was a trolley that traveled up & down the strip. Since Las Vegas is a 24 hour city I would imagine that it runs all hours.

Check www.lvmonorail.com and you'll see what hotels that have easy access to the monorail stations for going back and forth to Mandalay Bay. Just click on Route Map on the site. You'd have lots of choices of where to stay that way.

The monorail has had a lot of problems, if you pick a hotel with (or near) a monorail stop just be prepared to use alternate transportation if necessary.

Seems like some of the postings so far have been a little misleading so I'll throw my 2 cents in.

The Orleans is located approximately 3-4 miles from Mandalay Bay. A cab ride will be around $10.00 and will take 10-20 minutes depending upon the time of day.

The Monte Carlo is easily a 1 mile walk from Mandalay Bay. Add to that the walk to get out of the Monte Carlo, the walk to get into Mandalay Bay, and the walk to get to Mandalay Bay's convention center and you are looking at about 2 miles. I would not plan on walking, especially if you are carrying anything.

Mid-strip hotels such as the Flamingo and Ballys are even further away than Monte Carlo.

The Trolley is not a good option because it stops over and over up and down the strip. You will waste too much time getting to the conference.

The Las Vegas Monorail is not currently running and may not be running by March. In addition, the end of the line is in the rear of the MGM, which is nowhere near Mandalay Bay. From there you would have to walk through the MGM, across the street, across the street again, into the Excalibur, board another monorail, walk through Mandalay's casino and about another quarter mile to the convention center. The Las Vegas Monorail will not be of any help, running or not.

To stay within walking distance of Mandalay Bay, but in a less expensive room, your options are Luxor (next door) or Excalibur. Both of these hotels are connected by a private monorail which runs between Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay.

One other suggestion I have would be the Tropicana hotel located across the street from Excalibur. Any other hotel would be too far to walk if you are in a hurry or are carrying anything.

If you can afford to pay $10.00 each way for a taxi, you can stay at any hotel on or off the strip, south of Flamingo Road. Hotels north of Flamingo Road will cost more for a taxi. The cab driver can drop you off directly at the Mandalay Bay convention center.

Lastly, there are three new Marriott hotels directly behind Mandalay Bay, but on the opposite side of the freeway. They would require a very short inexpensive cab ride to the convention center, but are not on the strip. These are the Residence Inn, the Courtyard, the Fairfield Inn. If you go to Mariott.com, you can find these three hotels on Industrial Road.

Thanks for all the info. Can you walk from the Mariott's to the Mandalay or is it impossible. One other option was San Remo - any comments on that. We are not keen on the enormous hotels

You can walk from the Marriott chain hotels to Mandalay Bay, but you have to cross over I-15, although there is sidewalk and crossing signals the entire way. I did this walk in June and it takes about 15 minutes and I was so hot when I made it back I thought I was going to die. Well, maybe not die, but I definitely wished I would have taken a cab.

I don't know what your budget is, but AAA offers a cheaper rate on Four Seasons than Mandalay Bay, if you pay in advance (when I looked it was $210/night). The Four Seasons is in Mandalay Bay but you go up a separate elevator and it's very quiet and elegant - nice to be away from the hurly burly but close for your husband's convention.