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Cheap Hotel vs. Cheap Everything Else

Discussion in 'Las Vegas for the Frugal (not Cheap)' started by whiskeyandslots, Sep 4, 2015.

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  1. whiskeyandslots

    whiskeyandslots High-Roller

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    So, off the gate, there is obviously one great option for saving money -- choosing a cheap hotel.

    Obviously, if you stay at Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, etc., you're going to save money over your more expensive options. Sometimes, a LOT of money.

    However, you're also obviously going to be at a lower-end "resort."

    Then, there's always the option to splurge on your hotel and spend less while you're there in various ways...eating cheap, gambling less, focusing on free stuff vs. paid stuff, etc.

    I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do it. I think both are valid, and honestly, if you're on a tight budget, I don't see what's wrong with both staying cheap and "spending" cheap.

    However, I'm curious to see which y'all prefer!
     
  2. abraxis

    abraxis Low-Roller

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    We like to stay at cheaper places (downtown, luxcalibur, etc) and also usually spend cheap as well. My wife won't really gamble more than a hundred dollars a day in losses and i limit my losses to 2-300 per day. However, we'll also have a splurge night mixed in where we'll eat someplace like l'atalier, go see a cirque show (with discounted or myvegas tickets of course! ) and stuff. Usually, we'll also take a trip to the outlets and treat ourselves to one or two things each. We have found this is a good mix to give us maximum enjoyment without feeling guilty about taking too much away from responsible stuff like saving for retirement or a bigger place or whatever.
     
  3. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    We try to be cheap on both ends, but we typically always take cheap hotel. We (especially me) aren't in the room enough to justify paying double or more. Often the savings go toward an extra show or two.
     
  4. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    I stay at cheap hotels. The Cal downtown is my home. As long as the rooms are clean and maintained that's all I want.

    As far as meals, I like to eat simply and once in a while splurge for a great meal and experience. I personally don't care for high end places and like to eat at hole in the walls and casual fine dining places.

    So I would say I'm a cheap hotel/cheap eating kind of guy. But I've been known to splurge when I want to.
     
  5. fresnofishfan

    fresnofishfan Tourist

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    Guys trip=Cheap rooms. More money to gamble eat and drink. I just need a spot to pass out for a few hrs and shower.
    If I take my wife we get a nice room because we will use it . Nice bath,bed,view,ect. I don't gamble much with her so I can spend that extra money on what we both like to do. Food,Shows,ect
     
  6. nhcris

    nhcris VIP Whale

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    I'm no princess so I generally split my trips. One cheap hotel like 4 Queens for a couple nights and 3 nights in a higher end place, usually Palazzo.

    I can't be bothered with $100 dinners very often, and know how to get good meals and service at a price I like. I have had some Great meals at lunch time for a song. Look for Prix Fixe lunches on the strip and you may be surprised what you can find!

    I would not stay at Circus Circus, Excal, Hooters or the like, though.
     
  7. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    I dig the high end resorts, with all the cool shit to see and big, luxurious rooms. But gambling, food and booze are all higher up on my Vegas priorities list. So if the choices are "cheap hotel + usual everything else" and "nice hotel + penny pinching everywhere else", I'll take the former in a heartbeat.

    Assuming the location was decent, of course...Excal? Sí. CC? No.
     
  8. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    Go with the cheap hotel - within limits. There are too many options to end up at a place with a bad location, uncomfortable rooms or the worst, rude staff. I tend to lean towards places where I can sleep, eat, drink and gamble affordably. It may mean the lower end but it doesn't mean the cheapest places. I've done the high end with penny pinching and it's a lot of energy to make that all work, especially if you can't even afford a candy bar in the gift shop.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2015
  9. ardee

    ardee It's only money.

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    Spend the money on a decent room, cheap it out everywhere else. Stay at Venetian and gamble at Casino Royalle, for example. Though I've found the best bet is to go off-Strip and meet in the middle. Stay and gamble at M Resort or Orleans.
     
  10. whiskeyandslots

    whiskeyandslots High-Roller

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    See, that's the thing. I'm not trying to pinch pennies so much that I can't afford to "buy a candy bar in the gift shop" or that I'm asking about the prices of all of the drinks and sticking to the specials.

    On our last trip, we stayed at Excalibur. I think some of the people who have negative things to say about it haven't been in a while or haven't stayed in one of the contemporary rooms. We had a contemporary room with a great view of NY-NY. The room was far from fancy, but it had been recently renovated. It was very clean and perfectly nice, and the bed was really comfortable. The sheets were a little cheap and "scratchy," but other than that, I didn't have any complaints. We only paid $25ish a night (plus resort fees, of course!! Grr!!), and we got a nice coupon book that helped us save money while we were there.

    We had thought about staying somewhere nicer for our next trip, but we finally decided to stay at Excalibur again. That's saving us at least a grand, and we can do a fair amount of gambling and/or eating and/or drinking for that! I wish we had the spare cash to spend on a big, blow-out glamorous trip, but we don't. I'd rather have more money in-pocket for other things.

    That said, I truly understand why someone might want to splurge on the room and pinch pennies elsewhere. This is only our third trip to Vegas, and this will be our longest trip yet (our first one was only one night, and our second one was three nights, but we were exhausted from driving all the way across the country from NC), so I want to have money to spend on everything. Once we've gotten some of that out of our system, though, we might be ready to flip the script a little bit.
     
  11. cphllps

    cphllps High-Roller

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    We stay wherever ever we can get comped rooms so we have more money for the rest of the stuff. This year it was Paris, last year Bally's and next trip Caesars. Even though it was offered never opted for Imperial Palace, but would try The Linq. Don't like Flamingo, so I pass on that one too. Have done Harrah's. Don't spend much time in the room so don't want to pay for more than we need.
     
  12. abraxis

    abraxis Low-Roller

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    Those remodeled "contemporary rooms" are my favorite bang-for-your-buck rooms in all of las vegas!
     
  13. whiskeyandslots

    whiskeyandslots High-Roller

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    Yay! I'm glad we aren't the only ones!
     
  14. NJS24

    NJS24 Voice of Reason

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    Holy Cats! You drive across country to stay just three nights in Sin City? I don't think money management is your issue, but rather time management. Do you have something against flying?
     
  15. Tammy58

    Tammy58 Frugal Slot Jockey

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    I admit I drool over the room pics of the higher end resorts. That being said, we do not want the higher resort fees, higher dining prices that come with those. What use to be middle of the road properties are sometimes now referred to as low end properties. I just want value for my dollar. We like suites...suites that don't break the bank...we want a fridge and a sofa. We stick to places like Monte Carlo, Harrahs, Bally's, Paris, South Point. Mirage is the highest we have paid for so far....buffet, CPK and BLT are reasonably priced plus you get Mickey Ds and Casino Royale across the street. I feel there is something for everyone in Vegas. Being older we also like older slots...newer properties generally equal higher priced rooms and newer slots. Love us some Triple Double Cherry quarter reels...sadly getting more difficult to find.
     
  16. Aces and Eights

    Aces and Eights VIP Whale

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    I get comped rooms now so it would be hard for me to venture out to other locations to see what those are like. But it is a consideration since I've been getting less offers at my current place, although I hear all places pretty much follow the same trend. However, when I did pay for a room, and I was staying in a room by myself, I would definitely find the cheapest rate I could get. They would usually be places like Tropicana, Circus Circus, IP, Las Vegas Hilton, California, Plaza, and sometimes Flamingo or Bally's. I like being able to go to different restaurants on the Strip so that was also a factor; no sense in staying at a place that's $20/nt cheaper if I was going to pay time and money greater than that in transportation. But when I was travelling with an SO, I used to pay for a suite at Venetian or Mirage.

    Food is a different story. If I'm by myself, I won't go to a high-end restaurant, but I won't go to a fast food joint either. I do like choices you get from one of the 24-hour casino diners, and I find most of their food fairly tasty. I may spend $20 or so for a meal. If I'm with people, I will dress up for fine-dining, and one of the places has to be a steakhouse. I also go to shows if I'm with people in Vegas.

    All in all, there are people who want a lot where the quality doesn't have to be extreme, and there are people who want the best but limit their quantity of these things. And different values are placed on these things for different people.
     
  17. VPDana

    VPDana High-Roller

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    We go "cheap", because that is us. We take advantage of comped rooms Downtown because that's where we like to play. We enjoy the convenience of staying / playing. Also, having a nice meal doesn't mean much to us. When we're hungry we find somewhere to eat. On the flip side, we "splurge" on a rental car because we do like to stray from Downtown occasionally. We like some of the casinos on Boulder Highway & in Henderson.
     
  18. crapsguy5000

    crapsguy5000 Low-Roller

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    I go to Vegas for two reasons. Gambling and shows. I stay in the cheapest room I can get and spend everything else at shows or at the tables. I do eat cheap as well however last time I was in town I had to go to Gordon Ramsey Steak.
     
  19. carolineno

    carolineno VIP Whale

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    Personally, I can't say no to a comped room, it feels like leaving money on the table. But if I don't have a comped room, I usually go more upscale and then skip a meal or curb my gaming. I love "Vegas the place", not solely the gaming. I have friends that can't even set foot in a mid-tier hotel without bitching about it though. For them the hotel is part of the escape from reality, even though they are playing penny slots and using MyVegas comps the whole time LOL. I have a problem with aged cigarette smoke, so it is worth it for me to lean towards the newer and/or snottier hotels. So far I have yet to have an unacceptable hotel room!
     
    Ladies getaway, somewhere on the strip with a pool :)
  20. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    I've done the best place possible on a comp most of the time. But at some point, I started to look at restaurant costs and the rest too and sometimes that meant going downscale. For example, I passed on free nights at Wynn in favor of Bally's because the food options fit my budget better.
     
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