Hotwire Hotel: Looking for Strip hotel 1/26-1/28

[IAD4me]

My girlfriend and I are heading to Vegas for the first time. I have already booked a hotel for 1/28-1/30 via an EasyClickTravel link I found on another post, but since the hotels are almost double for Friday and Saturday, I wanted to see if anyone had any advice.

I am looking for a 3-4 * hotel on the strip. The best deal I have found is hotwire, with a 3* North Strip with:

Casino

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

for $86 a night plus tax. From your list, I would guess that this is Circus Circus. I would like to keep my room around $120 or less and this looks like a good deal. Any suggestions or ideas? If it is Circus Circus, any thoughts on that hotel?

Thanks,

Karl

[dahammer]

Karl, when listing amenities, please edit out the lengthy descriptions that Hotwire provides, it makes it an easier read :)

What was the rate through EasyClickTravel and the name of the hotel as well as the star rating?

[IAD4me]

Oh sorry about that!

For the second two days, I booked the 4* Aladdin for $128 a night from a link I found on another post of yours. I would have booked all four nights but they price for Friday and Saturday was $208.

Thanks,

Karl

[photomikey]

IMHO, Circus Circus is kind of a dump.

Since you're staying two nights in a nicer place on the strip, how about two nights slightly off strip? The hotels are sometimes nicer, for less cash.

See if any of those Hotwire properties ring your bell, and I'll advise further.

[dahammer]

IMHO, Circus Circus is kind of a dump.

Agreed!

from reading other posts, not from first hand experience, I would agree that the Manor rooms at CC are a dump and the place is loaded with rugrats waiting up all hours for their parents to return from gambling away the college fund. :)

Photomikey is spot on regarding the car question, if you have one, then a stay at an off strip property would save you some $$. The Gold Coast casino (walking distance from the Palms and Rio) appears to be available on HOTWIRE for $92 with amenities: Casino,Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center,High-speed Internet Access. You could also get the Orleans with these amenities. The Barbary Coast is available (direct) for $130 and has a great location. Maybe this is the time to split your stay and check out the Downtown area usually a better value and lower minimum on table games. Please use the Travel Links to Help Support BetterBidding with whatever you do and good luck!

[IAD4me]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you, but the girlfriend says we have to be right on the strip so we can walk to everything :-)

We did find the Imperial Palace for $93 on Travelocity"]Travelocity for those nights. The reviews make it sound like a pretty mediocre hotel, but it is right there on the strip. Any thoughts on it?

Still evaluating the options :)

Thanks for everyone's help.

Karl

[IAD4me]

I left it out of my last post, but no, we will not have a car. I don't plan on spending much time in the room so I don't need it to be super fancy, but I definitely don't want to deal with thousands of rugrats on our first vegas trip :). Thanks again for the advice.

Karl

[dahammer]

again, can't comment from first hand experience, but from reading several posts by thereuare the IP has a great location, central to the strip and very walkable to the other casinos, but with mixed reviews....much better, however, than the Circus. I would go for the IP as long as you can cancel without penalty should something else come up. Who knows, try to slip the desk clerk a discretely folded portrait of Andrew Jackson along with your credit card as you request an upgrade....it might just work. :)

Have a blast! The only bad part of Las Vegas is going home and the desire to go back!!

[007blur007]

The Imperial Palace isn't nearly as bad as some of the reviews might suggest, but it is an older hotel and can't compare to the new mega-hotels. As others have mentioned, the location is fantastic.

I have been in Circus Circus, but never stayed there. I know a few people who have, though, and none of them had particularly kind things to say about their stay.

[hannahb352]

I agree take IP over CC. You will be much happier with the location of IP. I have stayed at both properties and would stay at IP again just for the location but never CC. If for some reason you choose CC stay in the Towers don't stay in the Manor, you will not feel safe. If you can take the recommendations of the others and book a cancelable back up and keep looking for something nicer.

[photomikey]

To make it a quorum, I agree on the IP, in fact almost stayed there instead of Aladdin on my upcoming Dec 7-10 trip to Vegas. The renovated rooms are MUCH nicer than the non-renovated rooms. We've been before.

When I referred to "off strip", I wasn't thinking car .. I was thinking slightly off strip. I found several good deals, one of the best of which was at Atrium Suites, just 0.5 miles from the strip. Walkable, but a $5 taxi ride, even with a tip. Even taking that taxi ride four times a day would only be twenty bucks.

Can't remember which venue I saw this at, but I lean toward HOTWIRE's East and West of strip properties. This one is next door to the Hard Rock.

Don't know if that'll change your mind or not!

I've been to Vegas several times. I've found that no matter what hotel I stay at, I spend most of my time elsewhere. So it's not like you'd be confined to some two-bit hotel.

[thereuare]

I'm not a fan of staying off-strip. Although photomikey's comments above regarding a taxi, as well as spending a lot of time at a hotel other than the one you are staying at, are certainly true, i find myself going in/out of the hotel frequently throughout the day. It's a 'perk' to stay on strip making it easy and convenient to stop back at the room for something you may have forgotten, change your shirt, get a glass of water, etc, etc, rather than think of everything you need to take with your for the day.

[Writer]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you, but the girlfriend says we have to be right on the strip so we can walk to everything :-)

We did find the Imperial Palace for $93 on Travelocity"]Travelocity for those nights. The reviews make it sound like a pretty mediocre hotel, but it is right there on the strip. Any thoughts on it?

At this moment, Travelocity"]Travelocity has the IP for $81 a night. You can get the Luxor for $110, which is a bit inconvenient at the end of the strip, but still might be fun.

However, the Flamingo is $118 a night. It combines tremendous location with good but not spectacular rooms and usually a good rate (and a great pool, but that won't impact you in January). When you factor what you're getting on the middle of the strip, the Flamingo is usually the best bang for the buck in the middle of the strip.

Harrah's is the other side of IP, and it's a tad cheaper than the Flamingo, but you are MUCH better off in the Flamingo. Harrah's is just so freakin' bland!!!!

If you want to go on the Cheap, The Riveria and The Sahara have great rates, but both places are very dated. Last time I stayed at Sahara (2001ish) it was suffering from neglect.

I did stay in CC once for a convention. Did the towers and the rooms were fine. Nothing special AT ALL but the room was clean and comfortable, which is all I needed.

Tropicana is going for 71 a night, but I've never stayed there -- anyone have any thoughts?

In sum, if you are going to do mid-strip, do the Flamingo - most bang for the buck while not being too expensive, and the monorail goes right into the hotel.