Hi! In two months we (my wife and I) will be going on our 7th trip to Vegas. We would like to spend 1 night downtown (have stayed at Plaza and GN before) and we want to book a suite for that night. Our maximum budget (incl. Taxes and fees) is 200 for that night and the suite has to be downtown. Which suite downtown would you recommend? We have no clue, as we never stayed in a downtown suite. Thanks!
In order of highest price, here are the suites where I've stayed downtown: Golden Gate, Downtown Grand, El Cortez's Cabana Suites. For value, I'd say the Downtown Grand city suite was better but both were good options. The golden gate suites probably take your full budget. If you're going midweek, the American Casino Guide used to have a coupon for BOGO nights at the Cabana Suites. They had a little smell but looked good. It ran me like $50 or 60 for the two nights combined. I know you said you only wanted one night, but that's a good budget play. It does come with a poor location though. You're on the backside of the very end of the non-gaming side of Fremont Street. Good luck! Let us know what you do and how it all goes!
I'll give you some advice on what not to get, at least for my suite preference. I would avoid the "mini suite" or "parlor suite" or "junior suite" or whatever name that particular hotel uses to call those rooms. The type of room I am referring to has a slightly larger room, and an extra couch and maybe a second TV in the room. Yet, you pay a lot more for this type of room, even though it isn't that much different than a regular room, from my perspective. Personally, for me, those rooms don't have the real suite experience that I am looking for. If you want the best value in a real suite, it won't be downtown, but instead at Sam's Town, a place that you have been to and like (although from what I remember, you didn't go "full granny" and play bingo there, like you promised to! ;-) ). They have a A suite and a B suite. One is much larger than the other, but both give that suite experience that I enjoy and they aren't as expensive as other places. I know that the smaller suite at Sam's is in your price budget for weekdays at about $100 a night.. http://www.samstownlv.com/stay/deluxe-suites The smaller suite is called the "mini suite king with Jacuzzi tub." I know I said above to avoid the "mini suites" but at Sam's the mini suite is a real suite! And at Sam's you can take their free shuttle to downtown.
The D Suite should fit your budget on a weeknight. Go to their website for pics. I might also suggest the Designer Suites at El Cortez. Those aren't "true" suites, but they're cool, and probably $150 or so on a weeknight.
Thanks!! Yes, I was looking at the Cabana Suites, and though I love to hang out at El Cortez, I don't like the location of the suites. "They had a little smell", that made me laugh I'll put the Downtown Grand city suite on my list, thank you!
Oh yes, I do love good old Sam's! We have our first 3 nights booked there on a comp. I never even bothered to look at suites at Sam's, but that mini king suite looks awesome!! I think I'm gonna send them an email to ask what it would cost me to upgrade my comped room to a mini suite for the 3 days we are there. I want that room! Also, it will be our fifth stay at Sam's, so that's a good way to celebrate, right? Hahahaha, wow, you remembered that, wanting to do the 'Full granny' but failing to do so I still want to play bingo, but for some reason my wife won't join me... I think she's scared of the bingo-grannies I might have to go without her!
I know you said downtown but if you decide to get a room on the strip, you can't go wrong with a Venetian or Palazzo standard suite. I see them offering them on FB for $169 a night. Especially the renovated ones and the are between 650-720 sq feet for the basic room. My local LV friends stay in the Downtown Grand suites all the time when they plan to party downtown so they don't have to drive back to their house after drinking. They really like the rooms.
Well I can understand, grannies with dabbers (those are the ink marker things that they mark paper bingo cards with) can be dangerous and intimidating!. ;-) Maybe you should bring a bingo body guard with you for protection. I think if you sit near some friendly looking ladies (smile and see if they smile back) and tell them that this is your first time playing bingo, they would be welcoming and helpful... but yet still competitive! I think there might be a bingo coupon that you get on the coupon sheet when you check into Sam's. Yes, it probably would be worth seeing how much extra the cost is for the suite since it's only about $50 or so night more than a standard room. You are up to a comped room status at Sam's? Impressive! Probably not too many Dutchmen/women have comped rooms at Sam's! I hope you have money left over for a visit to the Longhorn again! Seriously, if your wife wasn't scared at the Longhorn (that place even scares me a bit!), I think she will be fine at Sam's bingo.
I know, right? So freaking scary!! I think I'll just pull E. (my wife) into the bingo room with me and buy her a few cards so she must play with me. Fifth time at Sam's and no bingo? That would be a shame. We've actually only stayed in comped rooms at Sam's. We once played there a little, they offered us a comped room and since then it's always the start of our vacation: 2 or 3 nights at Sam's Town. We actually have a whole comped-boyd-week this trip. We start with 3 nights at Sam's, followed by 2 nights at Suncoast (my favorite) and the trip ends with two nights at The Orleans. Oh, and yes! The longhorn, of course! The noon $10 BJ tournament on wednesday or friday it is
Don't let the scary grannies in the bingo room intimidate you! Never tell them you are foreigners. Tell them you are, and act like, you are rich kids from south California on your way to night clubs.
We decided to go with a designer suite at El Cortez. We love to gamble there and now we can play single deck blackjack until we are broke for the day or to drunk to play, and just go up to our suite and sleep. Looking forward to it!
I second this...wife and I stayed in the "Mini Suite" ("A" Suite is what it's coded as) for our wedding trip. We enjoyed it! We were upgraded for free...so I would definitely think on a WEEKNIGHT, a $20 tip might do the trick
Thank you for the advice, we might try that when checking in! One thing for sure: they do not respond to questions asked via the contact form on the website. Second time I tried: no answer after 10 days... So we'll wait and see what happens when we check in
