Caesars, Bellagio, or Planet Hollywood?

Hubby and I are starting to plan a trip for next fall, and due to very good luck we have the opportunity to raise our hotel budget a bit from where it's normally at . We're pretty interested in Caesars, Bellagio and Planet Hollywood.

So, for a couple in their late 20's/early 30's, what would be the best choice?

M life/ total rewards doesn't really matter that much to us, as we don't gamble enough to get more than a buffet pass or maybe two each.
We'll also probably just get the cheapest room type at whichever property we end up at.


Opinions, anyone?

 

I've never gone as a couple but I've always said I'd stay at Bellagio if I did with a fountain room. You can get a room in PH overlooking the fountains but it's not the same as staying there. Caesars would be nice but I think their rates are too high for the standard rooms.

 

i stayed at all 3 heres my take

Bellagio - great rooms casino, bars hyde ect, lobby is packed with too many tourits esp japanease with cameras lol, not many quick eats
Caesars - great rooms, pools are good, forum shops handy good mixture of places to eat from quick to luxery meals, casnio not great, a pain to walk to other side of strip
planet - rooms not great neither is the pool, lively casino good location.

i prefered caesars to bellagio thats my take

 

None of the three are great in my opinion.
If budget warrants I would look at Cosmopolitan.

 

I agree with most of this except to add:

I find Caesars just way too big and hard to navigate, and I say that having stayed at MGM 3 times! I stayed at Bellagio and LOVED it, great room, beautiful property, but agree that quick/less expensive food options are slim. PH I agree that the base room (Hollywood Hip) are not great, although I was pleasantly surprised by the bathroom. However our last two stays there have been in Resort Vista rooms and they were spacious, comfortable and not nearly so dark.

RockinLV, are you more interested in a classy scene, a party scene, a foodie scene etc? Knowing that will help with making a recommendation.

 

i also stayed at all 3
I am 34 currently

Bellagio - Nicest rooms of the 3 (imo), casino is very nice as well. Everything was VERY expensive right down to restaurants charging $8 for a glass of OJ at breakfast (cant remember the name of the restaurant) lobby is packed with too many tourits, not many quick eats
caesars - Very nice rooms, Good mix between lavish eateries and food court/quick bite options. Large casino with lots to see, forum shops are nice to break up the gambling
planet - rooms are the worst of the 3 but not "Bad", lively casino great location, connected mall (realistic mall not just shops you need to hit a jackpot to buy things at) is also very nice. Much more of a "Younger crowd" then the other 2 (not that they don't have young people as well.

If I am going to Party I prefer Planet Hollywood
If I am going to relax I prefer Caesars
I am too "Simple" and cheap for Bellagio.

 

Having stayed at all 3 multiple times, I think Guy's assessment is VERY accurate!

 

Have stayed at PH. Rooms were ok. Casino is lively. 20-30 something crowd.

Pool just absolutely blows (imo-one of the worst in Vegas), but since you're going in the fall, it might not be an issue.

 

Thanks for some great input! We have officially eliminated Bellagio, as we both are now thinking that it might be a bit too fancy for us. Especially considering that we like to have some cheap food alternatives available, because it would suck to have to go to another property just to get a budget friendly burger if we're just drinking and gambling where we stay one night.

I don't really know how to answer that question, LOL.
Well, we're pretty laid-back people. We'd rather go to a friendly bar with rock and/or country music than a club, just as an example. But I actually don't think we're looking for any particular scene. We like to mix it up so we usually get a bit of everything.

We are hoping to get some pool time actually, as that's one of the things we haven't been able to do on our previous trips. We're thinking any time between crazy august heat and whenever the pool season is pretty much over, really. So that's good to know.

 

You might try Jubilee Tower at Ballys. Rooms are largest standard rooms on strip (nicer than Caesars Forum Tower, their lowest tier). These are redone nicely. Ballys casino is OK, but you are connected to Paris by a walkway and you are dead center on the strip, so easy to get to everything. Food court at Ballys, LOTS of reasonable other restaurants nearby.
Caesars casino will give you a WOW factor... and Forum Tower rooms are fine, but as I said, Ballys Jubilee is nicer.
(I was going to suggest Cosmo for your age group--, but looking at your further description, Ballys seems a good fit)
The strip is only 3 miles from Mandalay Bay to the Encore...you can get to many many eating choices nearby.
Have not stayed at Bellagio, but have the others, and Ballys & Cosmo. While Cosmo is my favorite, Ballys/PH/Caesars/etc. offers free rooms, so they win!

 

I hesitate to chime in, now that you've eliminated Bellagio but... you might reconsider Bellagio? I don't know where you usually stay, but of the three you mention, I'd stay at Bellagio in a heartbeat. (I've not stayed at Caesars, I'll admit.) PH rooms, in my experience, range from nothing special to really beat-up; my wife and I (early 40s) do like the casino and visit once or twice per trip.

Bellagio is nice and maybe slightly "fancy," but it's not really fancy. Last week I visited a friend at the Pierre Hotel on Central Park in New York City--now, that is fancy, uncomfortably so if you're not used to it. Elevator operators riding with you, that kind of thing. There was literally a princess staying at the hotel--I'm not sure what she was princess of.

Bellagio is not that kind of fancy. And yes, the public areas can be very busy, day and night. But the place just has that "Vegas magic" feel to it, in my (obviously biased) opinion. And the pool area is marvelous--not a "pool scene" kind of place with DJs and the like, just a relaxing place to chill out. Regarding really inexpensive food, that's kind of hard to find on the strip in general, but there are options within say a 15-minute radius from Bellagio: 550 Pizza at Aria, Gordon Ramsay BurGR and Earl of Sandwich at PH, for instance.

So, give the B a second chance!

 

Thank you for the advice. The jubilee rooms do look nice, no doubt. For some reason, Bally's is one of those places that just doesn't appeal that much to me. We visited the casino once, and it was OK, I guess. Same thing with Harrah's. I don't know why though, so it probably wouldn't hurt to look more into it at some point.

Thanks. Of course, nothing is 100% ruled out until we have actually made the booking. And it is very much possible that we end up there anyway, should we find a good deal. We have been going up on the fancy scale each trip, from Excalibur the first time, then Flamingo, and this year we stayed at the Mirage, which was on the top of my wish list (too bad they had shower curtains, those are almost like a deal breaker, lol). So nothing is impossible. We're just probably not going to go out of our way to stay there.

 

We have stayed at both Bellagio and Caesars Palace. Bellagio is a more upscale experience but they charge you premium prices for that experience. There also are no cheap options for meals. Caesars, for us, was the best balance between quality and value and the Total Rewards players program is vastly superior to MLife. We now just stay at Caesars and go next door to Bellagio to visit the Conservatory with the rest of the tourists.

 

Unless you can score an Augustus Tower room at Caesars, I'd lean towards Planet Hollywood. As someone stated earlier, Caesars is just so massive that it's difficult to navigate, much less exit the property. I stayed at PH last April in the Hollywood Hip Room. The room itself was fine, the "Strip view" was pretty limited, and the bathroom was above average and spacious. The casino had decent (for the Strip) table limits, and a solid VP bank by the elevators. Food-wise, I'm a fan of Gordon Ramsay's BurGR at PH, and LOVE Mon Ami Gabi at Paris next door. (I don't feel you get much bang for your buck at the restaurants in Caesars and Bellagio.)

The Bellagio is still on my wishlist, so can't help you there. Good luck choosing!

 

Amen!
Also if gambling, the other 2 places will provide more options in the lower range.

 

Sort of--depends what you're playing, and at what level. At the quarter level, for instance, there's no playable VP at Paris. But there is full-pay 25c bonus poker on the Bellagio floor (albeit, only two machines), and there's 25c 9/5 JoB at the Bellagio Sportsbook bar. Sadly, there's no longer 3:2 $10 blackjack at Bellagio--they made it all 6:5. So I stick to the aforementioned VP and enjoy excellent drinks at the Sportsbook bar.

 

I spoke too soon! We ended up booking a Go room at the Flamingo again. It's alright, though. We like it there.

 

I would cancel the Flamingo booking and change it to Planet Hollywood! I'm in your demographic and am sure you would like the vibe of PH the most. Regular rooms at Bellagio are small and the casino vibe is snobby. Caesars standard rooms aren't great (Roman tower sucks), and the casino feels kind of empty. The pluses are the new nightclub Omnia is awesome, the pools are nice.

Planet Hollywood has an awesome vibe. Lots of yelling and screaming at the craps table. Earl of sandwich for a solid $10 meal (good sandwich and cheap too). Rooms are fine, probably on par with Mirage. It's connected to the mall so shopping is easy. Caesars has the forum shops which is also a mall.

If you were going to spend Bellagio-type money, I would stay at cosmo or wynn. Though the wynn has no cheap dining.

 

Have you logged into Total Rewards to see what a room would cost you? P-Ho should have some options. DO NOT deal with offers, but look at rate calendar.

Caesars is next expense wise with Bellagio usually the most.

Meanwhile, folks here are giving THEIR opinions without knowing what your likes and dislikes are. Where have you stayed and played in the past. Which did you like/dislike?

 

Pool will be nice at Flamingo. And I have never had a problem with a Go room. You will likely find the old carpet still in the hallway - they were replacing it but have not heard it is all done yet. Bed is comfortable - I was double booked at Bellagio & Flamingo one trip and actually went back to F as bed was better on my back than B's was.

Being a diabetic I sometimes need something sweet very quickly. That was the biggest issue I had with Bellagio. Even what was supposed to be the light eating place had a line I needed to wait 35 minutes in to get a quick lunch. I would have been better off walking back over to Ballys time-wise. At Paris I have the 'newstand' by the elevators (juice, donuts etc). At Ballys I have Nosh by the elevators. At Flamingo the small store is near the main elevators also. I have specifically avoided Caesars for this reason. I can now navigate it easily but the size itself is still the issue for getting to food quickly. (I normally always have a snack bar in my purse & items in the room but the extra walking and summer heat can really screw up my bloodsugar & I have gone through ALL of the sweet stuff in my room & still needed more).

Even saying you don't play much, make sure your reservation is booked with using your TR card number. Even mild play can provide at least a discount on normal rates.