Anniversary ... where to stay? (Comped offers MGM\NYNY\RIO\IP)

We are heading to Vegas Oct 9 and departing bright early Oct 13 (3 weeknights, 1 weekend). Now we will be getting to Vegas at 6am that Tuesday and leaving 6am Saturday so that last night we plan on doing very little sleeping.

Our party will consist of 4 people. My wife and I. My dad. My cousin. The only people that get comped offers is myself so I decided to book rooms for everyone.

My anniversary is Oct 10. We don't need to go crazy but we definitly want to have a nice night to ourselves and hopefully a nice room. We rather not pay extra for an upgrade so we plan on going with whatever comped rooms they give us (pending the $20 try?).

Now, here are the offers and I am trying to figure this out so the only night we have to share with the others is the last night since like I said we wont be sleeping we really are just going to use it so we are all in the same place and can leave at the same time (we are renting 1 car).

Sorry about the rambling... lol. On to the question.

The offers we have are as follows:

MLIFE: MGM *OR* NYNY - 2 WEEK NIGHTS
CET: OCT 9-12 @ RIO *OR* OCT 9-13 @ IMPERIAL PALACE
EL CORTEZ: 3 NIGHTS ANYTIME

Now, before the MLIFE offer we ended up setting up the following:

Wife and I stay at RIO OCT 9-12 and then move to IP for last night.
Dad and cousin stay at CORTEZ OCT 9-12 and then move to IP for last night.

Like I said, we don't plan on sleeping much that last night and would much rather be all together so we don't have to drive to pickup people.

Just today I got the MLIFE offer and that kinda threw a monkey wrench. Are either of those MLIFE properties (MGM or NYNY) that much nicer then RIO? If so, we may decide to do MLIFE for 1st two nights then change to CORTEZ since the wife and I actually didn't mind them too much and let my dad and cousin take Rio and switch to CORTEZ last night like we originally had planned.

So confusing. Of course I could make this easy on everyone and just book IP all 4 nights and get 2 beds but then the wife would hate me forever.

So, of all the properties, which is the nicest if we consider they are going to comp the basic room? Also which has the best chance of upgrade with the $20 trick?

 

I've stayed at NYNY and MGM. I've been to the Rio but never stayed there and never been to IP.

So I'll talk about the two I've stayed at and let others compare them to the other properties.

The lowest end room at the MGM is slightly nicer than the lowest room at NYNY. Not by much, but a little better bed, a little nicer. About the same size. The casinos are right across the street from each other in a good location. Food offerings are good at both, although I'd skip the MGM buffet. MGM has some really, really good dining options if you are going to spend a ton. NYNY has probably more variety at more reasonable prices. MGM has the foodcourt.

Table limits are slightly lower at NYNY, but not hugely so. You'll find $5 limits at NYNY during the week and probably won't find lower than $10 at MGM.

The $20 trick is much more likely to work at NYNY, but it may not get you much. NYNY has 3 classes of basic room -- the regular one (forget what it's called), Park Avenue, and Broadway. So if you're in the lowest room and do the $20 trick, you might get the park avenue. The catch is, during the week, it would probably only cost you $10 a night to buy that upgrade in the first place. So then the $20 might not be a trick if you're only getting two nights (rates vary, so I could be off by a bit, but not a ton.)

So the park avenue room is pretty close to what you'd get in the basic room at MGM in the first place.

NYNY is a busier type of crowd in the casino. Just the design of it -- lots of shops and restaurants kind of right there. MGM comes across a little quieter, but mostly because it's huge.

Not sure what else you want to know -- feel free to ask -- I've spent way too much time in both of those hotels.

If you do choose MGM, skip the buffet and eat in the studio cafe. It's one of my favorite reasonably priced places in the city for breakfast. I wouldn't eat it for other meals (okay, I would, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone else.)

Edit: Maybe the Park avenue is the basic room, then they had broadway and another one. Anyway, I still think the lowest room at MGM is nicer than the lowest room at NYNY.

 

Thanks alot mike!!! I hope to get some more info in reference to RIO vs. MGM or NYNY as well hope someone can chime in but I think you made my decision easy if I have to decide between the two.

 

I honestly enjoyed my stays at both. And I stayed in the basic room at both, because my wife wasn't with me.

 

Lets be real if the wife wasn't with me all 3 of us guys would cram into a downtown hotel since we will be stumbling most of the time LOL.

 

Good point. My wife is spoiled by suites, but I wouldn't hesitate to put her in a regular room at either the MGM or NYNY if that was my budget.

 

Thanks for the REPLY -- Another question for anyone that can answer. The forum or roman tower @ caesars... are they good?

 

If I were you I would get two rooms at
Rio. One you'll get comped right? The other,
try and get a friends and family rate.

Good luck!

 

MGM can't imagine the ladies would like the crappier ones haha.

 

Our group will be staying at NYNY next month as well. While there we will be celebrating our 10 yr anniversary, and friends of ours their 20 yr. I have booked Park Ave Premium View rooms, thought about upgrading to Maddison Strip View rooms, or Spa Suites with no strip view. Should I upgrade before we go or take our chances with the "$20 trick" when we get there? Any thoughts or tips?

 

As to the free rooms at CET, are you using offers, or the calendar?

I would try to get free rooms at Paris/PHo/Flamingo the same nights you can get rooms at one of the MGM hotels. Stay closer to each other. Then just add another night at what ever rate you can get.

Rio is fine, but off strip.

 

Okay, I figured out what I stayed in last year -- it was a Park Avenue. I was alone (travelling with a friend, but he had his own room on my friends and family deal.) The Park Avenue room was your basic medium quality room.

I've got a current offer for a spa suite, which appears to be just a bigger room...and not even that much bigger (it says it's 550 square feet, which is bigger than the park avenue, but small by 'suite' standards...for example, my spa suite in MGM and my spa suite in MC were both around 700 square feet) with a spa tub. Would that be worth $20 more than a Park Avenue? I'd say without a doubt. Not sure about the madison avenue...I think if I was trying the $20 trick I'd specifically ask if they could upgrade you to a spa suite, and if not, I'd stay put.

Just one man's opinion.

 

Kind of what I was thinking. How was the view from NYNY, I love seeing all the lights at night. Best view ever was at PH, watched the fountains at Belagio all night.

 

The basic spa suite at NYNY is a joke. The room is just longer. Bathroom is very small,and spa tub sits between bathroom and bed.

It is not a suite.

 

mgm and ny-ny are both fine. Avoid IP quite a dump with lots of construction

 

NYNY sits on a corner, so most of the views from higher floors don't suck. But I don't know what to tell you as far as requesting something specific in order to get a view. I just seem to end up with good views without doing anything special.