CES - Parking at Sahara for Monorail (or other option)

Hi! I'm staying down on Fremont during CES. I was thinking about renting a car (rather than taking the Express Bus) in order to take advantage of some of the of the restaurants and whatnot in the evening.

Can I park at Sahara still and take the Monorail? Or would it make more sense to park at Venetian or Circus Circus or something else?...or should I just forget the car and take a cab?

I read the post from last year regarding the MGM and Bellagio, but those are at the other side of the planet from Fremont.

Thanks!

 

There's a shuttle service provided by CES from the hotels on the strip. The schedule is available here.

http://cesweb.org/Hotel-Travel/CES-Shuttle-Service.aspx

My first time at CES but I think my plan is to park at one of the hotels on the opposite end, like Mandalay and shuttle it over. I may venture and try to get closer, like Venetian or Wynn, depending on how early I get there.

 

Strip and Downtown express bus is not too slow. Skip the deuce at all costs though

 

I don't even know if they allow parking at the sahara since the place is closed. As slurpster has included, there are free CES shuttles that are located around the strip. You can also take some of the buses from downtown that go up and down paradise road.

My recommendation would be to park at the palazzo. since the sands expo contains exhibitors there is a continuous lvcc/sands expo shuttle. Relatively easy to get in and out of the Palazzo (easy access to spring mountain road to get on the I15). That way you don't have to pay for the monorail.

On the other hand, you could park at any of the monorail stops to catch the monorail. The monorail is probably faster (don't have to fight the paradise road traffic to the LVCC) than the CES shuttle buses. I don't know where to park near the sahara monorail station but I would assume that the sahara station might be the one most empty. I would definitely skip the hotels and shuttles that are on the west side of the strip, IMHO way too much traffic to fight to get to the LVCC.

 

Since you aren't staying at the Sahara, you will PAY to park there unless you get lucky. And if you do do this, the Sahara is a short walk to the Convention Center, you won't need to monorail it. You'll walk farther using the monorail stations than just walking to the CC.

Cabs will cost a fortune (the meter clicks while they sit in looooooooooong lines), plus I've seen cab lines up to two hours long at the CC when the show is over.

Your best bet (if you have a rental) is to drive to Sahara an pay to park, but traffic and parking can be a real PITA. Or, park at Circus Circus and shuttle over on the CES shuttle. Almost painless. Look at the CES shuttle schedule for other hotel parking alternatives.

This year (my 16th at CES), I'm staying at Terrible's and will be walking to the Tuscany and taking the shuttle from there. Unless it is super cold, then I'll drive to Tuscany. I've been to the CES when you could wear shorts, and I've seen snow. Weather in Vegas is crazy at times.

EDIT: As Makikiboy rightfully pointed out, Sahara is closed. I forgot that. I think parking at Palazzo might be a real pain though.

 

The Monorail still runs from the Sahara even though it is closed. You will avoid tons of traffic & people by taking it from the Sahara. We went to the SEMA Show. Just as crowded or nearly as CES. Those shuttle buses from the hotels are hell. We took one from the Convention Center to the Sands and it took 45 minutes because of traffic.

 

Like RonDiaz, I highly recommend the SDX for CES transportation from Down-town to the LVCC.

In the past they also have started the route service earlier in the morning for those that "work the floor" or attend conferences at the show. The rest of us lazy bums mosey on in later in the morning.

When I visit the strip I take the SDX and usually get off right in front of the Cosmopolitan. Return trip pick-up is in front of PH.

I do not have to stand in line for cabs, wait forever for shuttle buses, or deal with the monorail.

Oh yea, the SDX pick-up and drop-off is right in front of the LVCC on Paradise Blvd. Very convenient, low-cost, and relatively faster than all other options in my experience.

 

where do you park if you take the sahara station to get to the CES? I didn't think that they allowed parking at the closed sahara hotel so where else do you park? Just wondering.

 

You can walk between the Sahara and the convention center faster than you can take the monorail.

 

I made the comment to sarah9nascar since she mentioned taking the monorail from sahara. I'm more interested in where to park near the sahara.

And actually it is a hike to go from the sahara to the lvcc and actually faster to take the monorail from sahara to lvcc. I've done it before, the walk isn't as quick as you might think even though it is only a "block or two" from the lvcc. Of course if the monorail is delayed or crowded or slow it may take longer. One CES I was going to take the monorail but when I got to the top of the escalator they were saying that the monorail was delayed for some reason so it was a 15 minute wait.

 

Got it. When I've parked at the Sahara, I've always parked behind the hotel, almost between the Sahara and LVH. I think I used to enter off of Karen???

For CES, they usually charge now, about $20 if I remember correctly. I'll be there Wednesday, but I'm taking the shuttle from Platinum.

 

I suppose you could park at Stratosphere , then walk over to the Carl's Jr. and catch the SDX or Route 108 directly to the Convention Center.

 

no problem. Yes I know that places that usually have free parking will charge for parking during the CES. Guess that's why I'm always interested in where everybody else parks.

Oh well, starts today so I can watch it on the news since I can't make it this year.