Hotwire Hotel: 4**** Hotel on strip in January for 3?

[Mandrax]

Hi everybody!

I am looking to book a room, checking in on Jan 4th and out on the 7th, which is a Friday. I do have a backup so far which is a Suite with two Queen beds at the MGM Grand. However, I have only booked the Wednesday and Thursday night so far and when I wanted to extend my stay another night I was told that the Suite deal I got on the first two nights was not available for the Friday night and that the price for that night was $150. Adding taxes, resort fees and the fee for a third person I would be well above $200 just for that night, which I am not willing to pay.

I am a student from Germany, meeting up with my girlfriend and her sister in Vegas. Therefore, I need to have accommodation for three. Two rooms would be preferred, but we would also be OK with one queenbed room for the three of us. At the prices the hotels charge for a third person, however, I figured that it might be well worth adding a couple of bucks and getting a second room. The other idea that came up was getting a room and try to upgrade to a two-bedroom suite with the twenty dollar trick, even though it might not work, or just not mention the third person in the room and just get a queen bed room.

I do want a hotel ON the strip and possibly one of the big name hotels. Since my gf and I will not have seen each other in 5 months, I would also like it to be a nice hotel so I figured I would go with at least a four star one. My gf and her sister have not been to Vegas yet so I would really like to make that stay memorable to them.

Now my question would be whether you have any advice what room to book, when to do that, and how to book it. My idea was to look at the lowest price of HW for a 4* hotel, look if I can get a 4* hotel cheaper at price line bidding and otherwise book the unknown 4* one at HW.

Now I am also confused because the 4* hotels at HW start at some 70 Eur/night, however, the Rio is listed on HW for about 40 Eur for the same time and also as a 4* hotel. Is this hotel off the strip? I couldn't quite figure that out.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Phil

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

What is the price (to have as comparison) for the first couple of nights at the MGM?

A few other notes/questions:

The lists of PRICELINE and HOTWIRE hotels that have been reported to the board can be found at this link: Hotwire/Priceline Hotel Lists Nevada New hotels can be reported at any time, but those lists provide what has been currently reported to the board.

On HOTWIRE, if you enter three people, you should get a room with bedding (it may be 2 beds or 1 + sofa, etc) for three people. If you don't mind having everyone in one room, this would likely be a cheaper option than two rooms. If you want to go for two rooms, you may want to consider PRICELINE instead.

Which zones would be acceptable - North Strip, South Strip or both?

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Mandrax]

the suites are $76 for the other nights..unfortunately also + tax, resort fee and charge for third person (if mentioned at checkin...)

I wasnt sure about HW, because it had also offered me kingbed rooms...does this mean these rooms have sofas that can be made into beds then?

I have been to vegas twice so far...once I stayed at the Motel 6, once at the Harrah's...is there a great advantage to north or south? there should be plenty going on everywhere despite of the low season, shouldn't it? if so, i don't mind on which part of the strip the hotel is located.

by the way...does this list you posted mean if i bid for a priceline 5* hotel at the south strip i will most likely get the vdara or the aria? they are both pretty new, aren't they? morover, for the north, will I most likelyget the CP or TI for a four star hotel?

[thereuare]

the suites are $76 for the other nights..unfortunately also + tax, resort fee and charge for third person (if mentioned at checkin...)

With Vegas hotels now charging up to $30/nite per person for an extra person in the room, do you plan on 'declaring' the 3rd person in the room or not, as this will make a difference as to your options and ensure that we're comparing apples-to-apples.

I wasnt sure about HW, because it had also offered me kingbed rooms...does this mean these rooms have sofas that can be made into beds then?

If you search for triple occupancy, then the room will have enough sleeping accommodations for 3 people. This usually means two beds in the room, but the second 'bed' could be a pullout sofabed, rollaway, etc.

by the way...does this list you posted mean if i bid for a priceline 5* hotel at the south strip i will most likely get the vdara or the aria?

These are the only two 5* hotels reported to the board in this zone, but there could always be others. See the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Mandrax]

does anyone have experience with not declaring the third person at checkin? I figure I would just tip the maid to give me an extra set of towels and that's it? Does anyone have information on whether it takes a key card per person to use the pool at MGM, just in case we want to do so in January?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

I'm sure it's done frequently, and leaving a tip for the maid each day is probably a good place to start. I don't think keys for entry at the pool are typically per person, but you could always work around that by 'losing' a card and getting a replacement at the front desk (only works if you only need to show the card and it's not 'swiped'), sending two people in with two cards and having one person leave with both cards and give the 'extra' to the person waiting outside, etc, etc.

I don't think Pool access would be as much as an issue as ensuring that the room has bedding to accommodate the three of you.

On a side note, January isn't typically a great month for Pool weather in Vegas.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Mandrax]

I realized that but i figured most hotels might have a heated pool and was asking just in case.

As for the bedding, I figuered I might not bid but go with one of the offers stated on the priceline/hotwire page...on priceline I can choose my room. but I read that if priceline offers a room for three people it might be a kingsize bed because they think that it will fit three people...any information on that? i don't want to end up having only one bed if hotwire said the room was for three!

[thereuare]

Please click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links, then reply to this thread and we'll further comment on your stay and occupancy questions.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... and for your retail purchases too!

Thanks.

[Mandrax]

done

[thereuare]

...on priceline I can choose my room. but I read that if priceline offers a room for three people it might be a kingsize bed because they think that it will fit three people...any information on that?

All PRICELINE reservations, regardless if 'bidding' or 'retail', are for double occupancy, so there is no indicating triple occupancy with PRICELINE.

...i don't want to end up having only one bed if hotwire said the room was for three!

There have been some isolated reports of this, but it's very rare. If you want to ensure at least two beds (where the second 'bed' could be a pullout sofabed, rollaway, etc) then search HOTWIRE for quad occupancy instead of triple occupancy (and try using kids as the 4th guest since sometimes that won't effect the price vs. double/triple occupancy)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know what you decide or how you'd like to proceed and we'll try to assist further.