Priceline Hotel: Las Vegas Strip 2/13/05

[dahammer]

Decided that if the better half can go to Vegas with her sisters, then I can take an extra day or two and hit Vegas on my way to Phoenix/Scottsdale for a business meeting. I have already booked a room at the Las Vegas Hilton using HHonors points for 2/12. I was surprised that I could get this reservation given the demand for rooms on a Saturday night. I could not use points to get a room on Sunday 2/13 so I am in need of a bidding strategy for this one night. I will need a room with two beds or at the least, room with a King and a sofa bed (a la Venitian) as I will be travelling with a friend. Is it possible to win a 5* for a $100 bid? Definately want to stay on the strip as I will not have a car.

I have checked out Easy Click Travel using the new tool, and it looks like the San Remo is available for $59 and Circus Circus is also available for $39 for this one night; I have read mixed reviews on both.

In a perfect world, I would prefer to stay in one hotel for both nights 2/12 and 2/13 but room rates on Saturday night are sky high. My max bid for each night under this scenario is $100 and I would consider going down a star level.

Also, I plan to fly back to Phoenix from Las Vegas, but thought that it would be different to rent a car and drive, has anyone done this? Southwest's $39 airfares make this decision a no-brainer from a cost perspective.

[Jule]

Regarding the drive from LAS to PHX: I've done that several times and think it is a great drive (is there anything other than great drives in the Southwest?) on US 93. Take into consideration that I'm a non US-resident.

It will take up to 5 hours. Detour to HW 74 some miles south of Wickenburg to Interstate 17 to avoid crawling traffic on HW 60 beginning in Sun City West.

Enjoy!

[thereuare]

I would take San Remo over Circus Circus, but i would first try to see if EASYCLICK can fufill an 'on request' for the Imperial Palace at $69/nite.

Based upon current rates i don't think the Venetian is going to be available around the $100 price-point.

[dahammer]

Thanks Jule for your post! Thereuare, thanks as well for the tip on the Imperial Palace. Hotwire is showing a 3* for $65 that with the following amenities:

Casino Restaurant Pool Fitness Center Spa Services Children's Activity Program Business Center

The "childrens activity program" concerns me....Not that I don't like kids, but mine will be back home and I'd rather not stay at a place that caters to this sort of clientel :)

Does this sound like the Boardwalk?

If a $100 bid for a 5* is not realistic, what do you think my chances of getting a 4* at around $100?

[thereuare]

That Hotwire hotel looks like Circus Circus.

Getting a 4* hotel for $100 or under may be tough, but not impossible (remember, LV is not a great priceline city). You have 3 re-bid zones in the area when bidding 4* so you could maximize your re-bid opportunities to 8 and approach your $100 limit, but also keep in mind you could end up at something like the Westin and/or some other less-than-ideal location... at which point spending less money for something like the IP or the San Remo might make more sense.

[dahammer]

I just checked ECT and for the night of 2/13, a 4* "Off The Record" hotel is available for $109 per night, this appears to be the Monte Carlo and I will probably go with this. Another 4* Off the Record comes up and appears to be the Westin @ $129.

[thereuare]

You can use the drop-down menu on the left side of our EASYCLICKTRAVEL SEARCH tool in order to select the Monte Carlo directly (not sure if that's what you did or not)

[dahammer]

No, I just plugged in my travel date and city, and received two pages of hotels. I could ID the Monte Carlo as the 4* property since the description mentioned the Lance Burton Theater. The drop down menu on the left is pretty slick....$109 is a pretty good rate as the MC website is showing $149. This property features 6 pools, wonder if I have to be a polar bear to enjoy this amenity....I did swim in the 62 degree surf at the Jersey Shore in mid-May once, but I was 15 yrs old at the time...... :)

Hotwire is showing the 5* Venetian for $254 for 2/13....down from $274 last week.....is a $150 PL win in my future??

[dahammer]

I was rejected in bidding for a 5* property on 2/13/05. Started at $105 and bid all zones up to $151, but was rejected 8x :) , with each rejection came a list of hotels from lowestfare.com with availability for my travel date. The Venetian was offered at $259. I will try once again in 72 hours and then one last time on Sunday when inventory may be released. :)

[dahammer]

Just got rejected, once again, bidding for the elusive 5*, starting at $105 and going up to $150 in $5 increments with Priceline, for one night 02/13/05. Looks like I will use my backup reservation at the Monte Carlo @ $109 (it's now $129) However, I just realized that I made the reservation for 1 person when I will need a room for 2. I called ECT customer service and the clerk said that she will add notes to my reservation requesting a room with 2 doubles. Hope that I don't get hassled at check in!! Looks like this will be a busy weekend in Vegas as we approach Valentines Day, rates on the Strip are going up. Hotwire is not even showing any availability at the 5* level.