[Palmnuts]

I'm off to the States in August for 10 days and have booked the flight to LA and a hotel for 4 nights in LA.

I plan to drive to Vegas, spending one night in Death Valley on the way and the remaining 5 nights in Vegas.

The question is; where do I stay in Vegas?

I did a similar trip back in 2003 but so much seems to have changed with new hotels and back then my budget restricted me to the Luxor (amazing hotel for $49 a night though!!).

I've narrowed it down to the Bellagio, Venetian or Wynn and my thoughts favour the Bellagio....but I just cannot make a final decision. All are similar in price and the girlfriend wants a nice pool.

So, which one is it to be?

[trixman]

I stayed at the mirage a few months ago, fairly decent place and not too far. Bellagio looked nice although was a bit OTT in attempting to be fancy. Personally liked the Venetian and ceasers palace, especially venetian if your with the missus (all suites I believe)

[MOB]

I stayed at the MGM Grand last year, nice but a bit tired

Luxor is best value

I liked Bellagio and Venetian and would happily stay at either next time

[Oil Burner]

Over christmas we stayed in the marriott courtyard well we had been away for three weeks.... However my brother stayed in The Hotel at Mandalay bay which are all double suite rooms, and we had an amazing view of the fireworks over the strip for new years eve. After that, when the prices dropped, he moved to the Bellagio, and I must say room overlooking the fountains, was not as nice as The Hotel. Have stayed in the NYNY before as well, and that was ok as a cheaper theme hotel


We did a day out in Death Valley from Vegas and it was well worth it, we drove up the highway out of vegas north, then accessed death valley from the far end, and came back through the valley in a big loop back to vegas. Assuming you actually want to stay in Death valley i asusme you are looking at Furnace Creek, havent stayed there, but did have a nice cold beer in there

[Oil Burner]

PS do not under any circustances hire a Ford mustang loved the looks but was a POS to drive

But i case in fairness it did 4000 miles, and didn't break down like my hire cars usually do in the states

oh and if you want some decent beer/food I can reccomend the Gordon Biersch brew pub, just behind the convention centre, I think on paradise road. We had our wedding reception there five years ago, and went back at christmas for a few beers

[willhollin]

Four Seasons.

[dxb335d]

Personally ive never seen the facination with Vegas, looks like an over hyped heap of junk in the desert. A bigger version of southend...

But to be fair i have never been.. So i may be being a little over zealous with my comments.

[Oil Burner]

To be honest Carl you may not be far off the mark, but it is one of those places that is just so completely off the wall it has to be seen to be belived, but it is sensory overload

and as i got married there guess I have a soft spot for the place

[trixman]

Yep, it's understandable Carl if you've never been. Like Oil Burner said, it's sensory overload... like Blackpool on acid, trips and speed.

Great place if your looking for entertainment though... although noticed the last time I went all the good shows are gone and been replaced by Cirque du Soliel ('Love' was good though)

[mistry]

Stayed at the Mandalay bay, which was quite nice.

Don't forget to do the $20 sandwich http://www.frontdesktip.com/faq/ it got us upgraded to a suite.

[rogerxp]

I did Ceasers Palace as part of my honeymoon (round trip : NY - Hawaii -Vegas). Thought 'the' Palace was superb and the missus loved the shopping mall inside (as big as The Trafford Centre I beleive). Loads to do including the theatre, bars, restaurants, casinos, pools, spas, Pure Nightclub, etc - we bearly stepped out of the hotel (it was 113 outside too!!!).

Didn't visit any other hotels though so suppose it doesn't help you!!!

[Joyrida]

man this post brings back memories...

the heat, good food, bright lights and fine women.

dont forget the car "museum" at Imperial palace

http://autocollections.com/

[PYSpeed.com]

Your two best choices are WYNN and Venetian. Bellagio is too crowded with Poker Players and Kids.

Trust me on this, as I went to Vegas very often before.

[E902717]

I was going to post this question! I'm getting married next year and for our honeymoon we are going to Hawaii and we wanted to go to Vegas on the way

[trixman]

The WYNNs did look nice although not themed (which is a good thing if you don't want to be a pirate/centurion/parisian)

Next time I go I think I'll stay at Caesars. It's in the middle and has a nice buffet area and loads of shops. We kept going in there anyway so makes sense to use it as a base next time.

I did make the mistake of staying downtown once at the Plaza, wouldn't recommend staying so far from the strip unless you have a car.

Oh, and don't bother with the monorail. Good in theory, but it's situated at the back of the hotels so takes you half an hour to walk through them to the front. Far easier just to hop along the road and go in straight at the front.

[Palmnuts]

Originally Posted by Oil Burner

PS do not under any circustances hire a Ford mustang loved the looks but was a POS to drive

Oh...that was what I was going to hire. I know the old ones are shite (when I went in 2003 thats what I had but I swapped it after 2 days for a Ford Thunderbird before the long drives as it was the biggest heap of shite you could imagine).

Are the new ones still that bad?

[Geoffo]

Personally I love Vegas. I've stayed in Circus,Circus (big NO NO),Venetian & Mandalay Bay.
I quite liked using the Monorail,but as Trixman says,It does drop you round the back of the hotel's.The Deuce bus network is good if you're planning on only staying on the 'Strip'.

[Oil Burner]

the one I had from hertz was, had 26,000 miles on the clock, and more dents, scratches, and dings than any hre car I have ever seen, only time I have ever marked down on pick up all the issues. (took me 10 minutes) as i didn't want getting charged for them

No acceleration (well not compared to the 330d) no torque, steering that was as vague as a supertanker and it took as long to brake as well

but having said that, it did look good (well as long as you ignored all the cosmetic issues) and my one had sirius as well, so didn;t have to suffer local US radio

[Oil Burner]

here is a pic of it in Death Valley

[trixman]

Originally Posted by Geoffo318

Personally I love Vegas. I've stayed in Circus,Circus (big NO NO),Venetian & Mandalay Bay.
I quite liked using the Monorail,but as Trixman says,It does drop you round the back of the hotel's.The Deuce bus network is good if you're planning on only staying on the 'Strip'.

I did enjoy using it, it's a good system but just needs to be closer to the front of the hotels I reckon.

Originally Posted by Oil Burner

the one I had from hertz was, had 26,000 miles on the clock, and more dents, scratches, and dings than any hre car I have ever seen, only time I have ever marked down on pick up all the issues. (took me 10 minutes) as i didn't want getting charged for them

No acceleration (well not compared to the 330d) no torque, steering that was as vague as a supertanker and it took as long to brake as well

but having said that, it did look good (well as long as you ignored all the cosmetic issues) and my one had sirius as well, so didn;t have to suffer local US radio

Should've got the corvette from Hertz instead!

[Palmnuts]

Some great responses so far - thanks all!!

I do like the look of the Mandalay Bay but having been before I do think it's just too far down the strip.

Carl - yes, you are right in your comparison. But, much like Blackpool, there is something that draws a person back to Vegas. The weather is just fantastic (if you like it REALLY hot, espeically in August), the location and sheer isolation of the place is incredible and of course there's loads to do around it...Death Valley and the ghost towns, the Grand Canyon and of course just visiting the totally excessive selection of hotels to eat, drink and spend money!

And yes, in Death Valley the only place to really stay is Furnace Creek - I stayed there when I went in 2003 and there was a thunderstorm in the night which caused a power cut. It was sooooo hot withou the aircon that you just couldn't sleep - I almost went and sat in the car with th engine running at 4am! Oh...it also has a proper western-style saloon which is fun.

With regards to car hire...well, this is an even bigger decision. I was just going to go for the Mustang as I believed the new ones are OK until I've just read otherwise on here. Hertz do have a Corvette to rent but it's like 3x the price of the Mustang (like £1200 for the 10 days) which is just crazy. You just can't seem to rent anything too 'different' through the regular rental companies.


However...I still can't make my mind up where to stay. Maybe I should just turn up and make the decision on the day?? Do you reckon you can get a better deal doing this?

[Palmnuts]

Originally Posted by trixman

IShould've got the corvette from Hertz instead!

Lol...I've just said the same thing! It can't be worth over a grand for 10 days though?