Whites718

Just doing some research for some friends heading to Vegas soon.

They will arrive on 02/22/09 and stay for 7 nights. At this time they have no hotel booked. They are not sure whether to book something in advance or turn up and hunt for the best deal.

So my questions are:

1) If you think they should book in advance, which website would you use and which hotels offer the best deals?

2) If they should turn up and hunt around, where should they head to first and how much do you envisage they would pay. (They want to stay mid-strip).

3) Does anyone know if there are any conventions etc on around this time?

Any other info that may help would be great....

Many thanks for your help,


Iain

briankoenig

There are a couple other threads for hotel deals, but my advice is as follows:

1) Book now. They're in the prime time for deals, since hotels have a pretty good estimate of capacity two weeks from now and are trying to fill rooms. Check the fatwallet deals forums for specific offer codes, do the hotwire "wynn trick" found in another post in here, or if they will be gambling call a casino host and I'm sure they'll get comps. (fatwallet link : http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/trav...246/#m13426246)

2) The only time I tried hunting and pecking for a room the day-of, it did not go well at all. Although I was poor and in college and had just lost $2k in a bad beat in poker so I was in a bad mood anyways.

3) The biggest convention looks like the orthopaedic surgeons convention, with 30,000 expected attendees 2/25-2/27. That isn't enough, IMO, to be a noticeable amount. And surgeons tend to blend in, unlike the Adult Expo or when the Rodeo is in town. Conventions listed here http://www.lvol.com/conventions/conv0209.html

Non-NonRev

One additional note to the excellent advice posted by briankoenig is to note where the larger meetings are being held. In the case of the orthopaedic docs, because they are meeting at the Sands Expo Center, it would follow that rates at the Venetian are higher, and they are (~$279).

For contrast, using the DVRV20 promo code in the link that briankoenig has provided, the Bellagio can be had for $159.20 per night for all seven of the nights in question ($199.20 for lakeview).

QuietLion

Always, always book in advance. Refundable rates if possible, so you can keep hunting for better deals.

QL

goingmiles

Hey!

If you guys are visiting, you can check out these Las Vegas Shows. In fact, you would find the answer to most of your questions there.

Have a great trip.