StSebastian

I was at the San Remo last summer and it's definately not 4* quality -- maybe 2* on a good day. I don't think it had high speed internet, but I know that's pretty standard for Westin hotels.

You'll probably want to take shuttles or taxis rather than walking, 'cause it does get really hot during the day and afternoon. The Westin doesn't look like it's that far from the strip, but if you're not used to it the walk would really wear you out and dehydrate you.

I had a case with Venetian where I refused the counter offer, then still couldn't get it even when I went back up to the counter-offer value. I went back a week later and got it for even cheaper than before. Please note that Venetian will automatically assign PL bids into a one-bed room, and will charge you extra for the two bed rooms likely because of the people trying to avoid the extra person surcharge. This came up when I was checking in and we were two guys standing there, but after I pointed out we were a gay couple and probably would just stay in one bed anyway, I got my point across. I felt like I got a little attitude from the staff there for being on a $99 PL rate, but nothing big. They'd really hate if I went back to my friend that's a high roller at the Venetian and told him he should switch to Bellagio instead. Luxor was a stickler for every single person showing key cards, even when we were obviously a group of 4, but Venetian let the two of us up with just one of us showing a card. Just be warned that you may run into some problems when you get there with 4 in a room for 2. You may want to go for the 4* instead, but you could get the Westin, which is really not on-strip...it's a pretty decent walk for your average person to get up to the strip.

San Remo is showing: 4/13: $35 4/14: $47 4/15: $165 4/16: Not available online (didn't know if you needed to stay until 4/17 or were leaving on 4/16) Something is definately going on in town. Excalibur is about the same pricing. Expedia is showing almost everything sold out on the 16th. I didn't know if your problem was with Boardwalk (understandable) or sharing a room with him. Boardwalk is showing sold out Thursday and Friday on Expedia, and $54 for Tuesday and Wednesday. Your best bet price-wise may be to get a decent off-strip hotel (Lady Luck is showing as low as $33 on Expedia) and get a rental car, or drop quality standards and go with the Motel 6 on Tropicana for $36 (on Orbitz).

You're definately not going to get $99 rates for that holiday weekend. If I really wanted to stay there and it was that holiday weekend, I'd go to $140 without thinking twice. For something this important (versus just going out to Vegas for the weekend) I'd go higher than normal to make sure I got the place I wanted.

I would be planning on the possibility of using your backup hotel. There's a 3000 person convention at Venetian and a 5000 person at the convention center the days you're looking at, so that could be pinching availability a bit. You might get some availability opened at the last minute, but probably won't see any discounts until right before. When it gets within 21-14 days, Venetian will put the days on the suite specials page that they're looking for people to come stay. If you see your days on that page, then you'll have a really good chance at getting them for cheap on PL/HW. If you're only doing one show, stick with "O". People I talked to there said that's the overall best one, and like I said, I found it really impressive. We had to go through friends of friends to get tickets opened up, but had some great seats.

I went to see it when I was there in March and really liked it. I'm not a show person -- I prefer to game instead, but it was still a lot of fun.

There's a 7500 person convention at Venetian that weekend, and two other major conventions of over 21000 people in town that weekend. Plus the 900 strong American Society of Breast Surgeons at Bellagio. Rates are going a little high at the moment, and if you want to guarantee something, then you'll have to go ahead and book. Being the weekend before Easter and Palm Sunday isn't going to help either. Airfare is quite difficult for that weekend. Your best bet is probably an air-hotel package if they're going to have to fly -- I can pull up one for the weekend for $522 (MGM), $526 (Luxor), $666 (Mandalay), $701 (Bellagio) from the East coast through Southwest Vacations (RDU-LAS, all prices are per-person). Subtracting out the airfare cost of $315 (if booked separately) then your hotel costs are under $150 per room per night (($522 - $315) * 2 / 3 = $138 for MGM per room per night). If they could go Sunday - Wednesday instead and miss the weekend, that same package drops to $369 (MGM), $389 (Luxor), $509 (Bellagio). The airfare doesn't get much cheaper, but the hotels do -- airfare of $285 comes out with a hotel rate of (($509 - $285) * 2 / 3) = $149 for Bellagio, or $56 per night for MGM. At that price you might want to upgrade them to a nicer tower or room in the hotel. If Southwest doesn't work for you, you could try your own airline's vacations package program. All of them have one. No guarantees, but sometimes that price will be better than anything else you could get. You might even want to talk with a travel agent. Sometimes they know special deals or packages that aren't widely published or known, and definately be sure to tell whatever hotel after booking that it is your parents 25th and they're back to the original wedding town to celebrate. They might not get anything, but sometimes hotels will do something special like an upgrade on arrival or flowers or something nice. I'd expect the Vegas hotels to be able to do something. Last thought...I've seen this and never called them to ask about it, but you might want to chat with them and see: http://www.venetian.com/package.cfm -- It would be $172 per night, but guaranteed, and there's some other freebies that come with it.

Tried a few days prior, couldn't get anything 5* up to $120, but had a counteroffer for $136. Hotwire had no 5* availability. Checked back Monday, Hotwire showing 5* availability for $119. Started at $89, failed, counteroffer at $110 Re-bid at $94, failed Re-bid at $99, accepted

Old Data -- just adding for historical information. Had to use 2 free rebids and work up to $115, starting at $105. Made the reservation about 20 days in advance of the trip. This weekend happened to be one week after the blackout, but the only reason you would have known was the street vendors hawking I Survived The Blackout t-shirts. Reservation was made before that so it shouldn't have affected capacity or pricing. Asked for a park-view on check-in, but none were available. Staff and hotel were very nicely furnished and it was a pleasure to stay there on my first trip to NYC. Very conveniently located and easy to go across the street to Central Park or just around the corner to the subway station. Hotel is located on Central Park South (59th St.) between 7th and 8th Ave. Times Square is just a few blocks south and a very nice walk during the great weather we had. Staff were very helpful and courteous when we asked for directions or various other information you'd expect from a first-time NYC visitor. Lobby and guest rooms were very nicely done, which stood out in contrast from our backpacking traveling style at arrival. Once we got to the room and changed, we fit in much better. Some construction repair was ongoing in the inner "courtyard" area of the hotel where our window faced (probably complete now), but wasn't disruptive (might have been since we were there for a weekend). Cell phone service inside the hotel was a little bit of a challenge, but that might have been my service provider. I had an excellent stay and would love to go back and stay there again. Remember that there is an NYC surcharge on rooms upon checkout; at my time of travel it was $2/room/night or $4/suite/night which was not included in the PL bill and was due to the hotel at checkout time.

Having stayed there, I don't think I'd do it again, or at least not call it a 4*. While the staff was helpful and generally friendly, it just didn't have what I'd expect to stand up as 4* material. There were no coffeemakers (not just in the room, but period -- we asked). Calling for more pillows, as detailed on the in-room card was done at 2am, but we were told that the department was closed for the night and to call back tomorrow. There was no mini-fridge in the room, so we used the ice bucket to chill a bottle of wine. While at other 4* (and up) hotels they've refilled the ice in the bucket for us (since we always seem to chill it a day or two in advance) there was nothing of the sort here. We ordered some room service with an odd order (wine glasses and corkscrew but no wine along with other stuff) and that was very prompt and no problem at all. Overall, I think it gets a 3* from me. Other notes - PL and that reservation was prepaid was noted on checkin, and an upgrade to a small suite with two sofas, separate bedroom, and 2 TV's was available for $30/night. (Note that there is no armoire or closet in the bedroom nor pass-through door to the bathroom, so you have to walk through the living area to the front door if you've got something hanging in the closet or are going to the bathroom.) Parking is $7/day self-park, come and go as you please (but wave your pass for the person in the gate house every time you do). Pool area looked very nice, but we didn't make it out there. High Speed Internet access for $10/24 hour period. Saw a capacity utilization worksheet at the front desk when checking out; seemed to imply that the hotel generally stays at about a 65-75% utilization, so there shouldn't ever be much of a problem to get this hotel if you're bidding on PL. Conveniently located near the airport and has a reasonably efficient shuttle back and forth if you're not driving.

Just adding this for historical assistance... Had to do one free rebid if I remember correctly, but $80 was the best anyone had gotten at that time. This booking was on a 6 day advance. The hotel was very nice except for a problem I had with one of the managers, but it's a very nice place to stay in the downtown area. Not exceptionally great for kids or WDW/Universal travel, but I didn't want to be centered around all of that hoopla. Parking was around $18/day valet, with very limited street metered parking and closeby parking garages for ~10-15/day. The restaurant was very good and I'd recommend going there for anyone staying in the hotel. Mini-fridges in the room are equipped with the auto-sense technology for billing and leave no spare room for personal effects. Upon request, your own private mini-fridge will be brought to the room and installed. (Staying there for almost a week we needed groceries rather than going out to eat constantly.) There's a interesting little pedestrian mall/restaurant area (Church Street Station) just a block or two away (within walking distance). Hotel website: http://www.starwood.com/westin/search/hote...propertyID=1171

I posted here because there aren't forum nazis. :) Some other nameless site doesn't get any of my posts anymore...

I'd done research and figured I'd get these 4* places for $40-$50, but tried last night up to $60 and didn't get anything. Started again today at $55 and got one on the second try at $60. It's the MLK holiday weekend, so I figured the prices would be a little higher than usual, but $60 was going to be my limit and I was going to go find something else at a lower * level and cheaper. Amerisuites has an $80 rate on their website, and Hotwire is reporting $62/night for a 3.5* (probably the Embassy Suites, but there are some not so good reviews on it in other places and I didn't want to take the chance).