Gold Member
Tourist
Sorry that this is a little old, but I am missing Vegas and it was great writing this report after a few months. .
Vegas Trip Report 5/16/04 -> 5/23/04
Flight+Stratosphere booked via swavacations.com (it was actually cheaper to get the rooms+flight then just the flight alone)
Westin Casuarina booked via priceline for 5 days $52 per night.
Ballys for 1 night (friday night) via their website special offer $105 + coupon book that included $50 in matchplay.
Arrived in Vegas on Saturday night via Southwest, took shuttle to Dollar car rental
and got a Neon for about $100 for a week! (booked via their website) Way cheaper then using cabs for a week.
We could of went with a bigger car but I think a neon is perfect for Vegas, very nimble
when changing lanes in awful traffic and easy on the gas. There was a line at Dollar
that moved very SLOW. Only one counter person. Line got really long behind us. Oh and for those
people that don't have a credit card, don't worry… they will take your PayPal check card. (they charge
$150 the day you arrive to make sure you got some cash)
The drive down the strip to Stratosphere took about 45mins, haven't been to Vegas
for about 3-4 years and loved seeing all the changes. My fiancé (vegas virgin) loved the crowds and lights.
Stratosphere
Wasn't sure where parking at the Strat was, they did not have good signage off the strip. But I found my way in once I made a second pass. Check in was easy and quick, no free upgrades, but they did offer a $20 per night upgrade to a newly redone room with a Jacuzzi. We took it. Getting to the room was a @#$%@ The elevators are pretty far from
the check in desk, you have to basically walk through the whole casino. It took us about half an hour (took wrong elevator up) to get
inside our room. Passed a couple drunks along the way in the hallway.. vegas standard. Room was ok, looked pretty standard.
Jacuzzi was pretty nice and we used it 3 times for the 2 nights we were there. View was pretty good. The bed was pretty hard,
Pillows very flat, sheets seemed old. The one thing I would think every hotel should get right is a very comfortable bed and bathroom.
Bathroom was ok, but the soap and shampoo sucked.
We were booked at the Strat for Sat+Sun night. I made full use of 2 coupon books. Had to go back to the check in desk to get
them, they were not offered upon arrival. I believe each book had 2 $10 matchplay coupons. (won 1, lost 3) Table minimums
for Sat/Sunday/Monday were $5, that surprised me because I expected at least $3 and maybe some $1 mins. Fiancé quickly won
$100 at a dollar slot machine, unfortunately that was our biggest win for the whole trip.
Went up to the stratosphere tower about midnight Saturday night, it was awesome! (2 for 1 coupon) we spent about 40 minutes up there
Soaking up our first night in vegas. It was really chilly up there, We loved it!
Stratosphere is not a bad place if you are traveling on a budget and rent a car. We only slept at the Strat for 1 night, but came back to use the Jacuzzi…
Checked out Monday morning about 3am.
Westin
Next day we move our bags to the Westin, check in was smooth and easy, we were offered several rooms. Next time I should ask for the room closest to elevator, somehow
I picked the one at the end of the hallway. The elevator requires you to put in your room card before you can pick your floor; this is extremely inefficient, as many times
I would forget about it, and by the time I found my room card, the elevator was already being called up. The Westin room has a modern feel to it, nice 27’ TV coffee maker with
Starbucks coffee, THE BEST DAM BED I HAVE EVER SLEPT ON, really nice 2 head shower and awesome lotions and toiletries. I could probably write a book about how much we loved the bed. Oh and no matter how much “action†you put it through, it did not make any noise, nice! Great change from our squeaky bed at home. The rooms are smallish but we loved it. Since we were getting married in Vegas this was the perfect bedroom for us.
Self parking at the Westin is a very short walk from the parking garage to the elevator. Pool is smallish but classy, great lounge chairs and hot tub. Plus its open till 10 or 11 at night.
Vegas Trip Report 5/16/04 -> 5/23/04
Flight+Stratosphere booked via swavacations.com (it was actually cheaper to get the rooms+flight then just the flight alone)
Westin Casuarina booked via priceline for 5 days $52 per night.
Ballys for 1 night (friday night) via their website special offer $105 + coupon book that included $50 in matchplay.
Arrived in Vegas on Saturday night via Southwest, took shuttle to Dollar car rental
and got a Neon for about $100 for a week! (booked via their website) Way cheaper then using cabs for a week.
We could of went with a bigger car but I think a neon is perfect for Vegas, very nimble
when changing lanes in awful traffic and easy on the gas. There was a line at Dollar
that moved very SLOW. Only one counter person. Line got really long behind us. Oh and for those
people that don't have a credit card, don't worry… they will take your PayPal check card. (they charge
$150 the day you arrive to make sure you got some cash)
The drive down the strip to Stratosphere took about 45mins, haven't been to Vegas
for about 3-4 years and loved seeing all the changes. My fiancé (vegas virgin) loved the crowds and lights.
Stratosphere
Wasn't sure where parking at the Strat was, they did not have good signage off the strip. But I found my way in once I made a second pass. Check in was easy and quick, no free upgrades, but they did offer a $20 per night upgrade to a newly redone room with a Jacuzzi. We took it. Getting to the room was a @#$%@ The elevators are pretty far from
the check in desk, you have to basically walk through the whole casino. It took us about half an hour (took wrong elevator up) to get
inside our room. Passed a couple drunks along the way in the hallway.. vegas standard. Room was ok, looked pretty standard.
Jacuzzi was pretty nice and we used it 3 times for the 2 nights we were there. View was pretty good. The bed was pretty hard,
Pillows very flat, sheets seemed old. The one thing I would think every hotel should get right is a very comfortable bed and bathroom.
Bathroom was ok, but the soap and shampoo sucked.
We were booked at the Strat for Sat+Sun night. I made full use of 2 coupon books. Had to go back to the check in desk to get
them, they were not offered upon arrival. I believe each book had 2 $10 matchplay coupons. (won 1, lost 3) Table minimums
for Sat/Sunday/Monday were $5, that surprised me because I expected at least $3 and maybe some $1 mins. Fiancé quickly won
$100 at a dollar slot machine, unfortunately that was our biggest win for the whole trip.
Went up to the stratosphere tower about midnight Saturday night, it was awesome! (2 for 1 coupon) we spent about 40 minutes up there
Soaking up our first night in vegas. It was really chilly up there, We loved it!
Stratosphere is not a bad place if you are traveling on a budget and rent a car. We only slept at the Strat for 1 night, but came back to use the Jacuzzi…
Checked out Monday morning about 3am.
Westin
Next day we move our bags to the Westin, check in was smooth and easy, we were offered several rooms. Next time I should ask for the room closest to elevator, somehow
I picked the one at the end of the hallway. The elevator requires you to put in your room card before you can pick your floor; this is extremely inefficient, as many times
I would forget about it, and by the time I found my room card, the elevator was already being called up. The Westin room has a modern feel to it, nice 27’ TV coffee maker with
Starbucks coffee, THE BEST DAM BED I HAVE EVER SLEPT ON, really nice 2 head shower and awesome lotions and toiletries. I could probably write a book about how much we loved the bed. Oh and no matter how much “action†you put it through, it did not make any noise, nice! Great change from our squeaky bed at home. The rooms are smallish but we loved it. Since we were getting married in Vegas this was the perfect bedroom for us.
Self parking at the Westin is a very short walk from the parking garage to the elevator. Pool is smallish but classy, great lounge chairs and hot tub. Plus its open till 10 or 11 at night.