Cheap week on the strip

[SplawnDarts]

I'm planning a cheap poker playing vacation to vegas, and I wanted ideas on budget mid-strip accommodations. This would be sometime mid-Feb to March. I'd fly in Sunday morning, stay through Thursday night and fly out late Friday. I'd like to be somewhere mid-strip if possible.

I need a room that is clean and smoke free and has a decent bed, but that's pretty much it. All I'm going to do is sleep there.

The best deal on travelocity appears to be the Villa Roma Inn @ 60/night with decent reviews, but it's a little farther north than I liked, and one review mentions a bad part of town (is that true?). Any one have opinions on it, other ideas, or general suggestions about how to stay in vegas cheap?

Also, any ideas on how to keep my (minimal) luggage secure during the periods on Sunday and Friday when I won't have a room and would like to be playing poker? I'll probably walk for transportation rather than get a car and I'll probably be playing at the Bellagio.

[MelloAceCV]

I don'y know about cheap rooms. But every hotel I've been to will let you check your bag, usually at the bell hop desk, for a few hours so you can gamble some more. The Luxor didn't charge to check your bags, but it was standard to tip $3-$5 per bag.

[sternroolz]

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I'm planning a cheap poker playing vacation to vegas, and I wanted ideas on budget mid-strip accommodations. This would be sometime mid-Feb to March. I'd fly in Sunday morning, stay through Thursday night and fly out late Friday. I'd like to be somewhere mid-strip if possible.

I need a room that is clean and smoke free and has a decent bed, but that's pretty much it. All I'm going to do is sleep there.

The best deal on travelocity appears to be the Villa Roma Inn @ 60/night with decent reviews, but it's a little farther north than I liked, and one review mentions a bad part of town (is that true?). Any one have opinions on it, other ideas, or general suggestions about how to stay in vegas cheap?

Also, any ideas on how to keep my (minimal) luggage secure during the periods on Sunday and Friday when I won't have a room and would like to be playing poker? I'll probably walk for transportation rather than get a car and I'll probably be playing at the Bellagio.

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Imperial Palace Casino Gold special. $65 a night in their renovated rooms...nothing special but clean and newish looking rooms. You have to become a players club member. You can check your bags with them in a special area when your room is not available. The regular rooms can sometimes be as low as $50 a night.

Also you can check out Casino Royale which is crummy but clean enough. They don't advertise on aftermarket websites so you have to check their webpage.

Better places that may or may not be as cheap in the same area are Harrahs, Flamingo, Barbary Coast, and Ballys. Be aware that Harrahs hotels discount lowest price you find by 25% so that may help. Sometimes Aladdin and TI are inexpensive too. TI is way head and shoulders above the rest of these places in terms of niceness so you may want to really consider it if you get a rate under $85 a night or so. Check travelaxe, vegas.com, i4vegas.com, expedia, travelocity, and each hotels website as well. All are within really easy walking distance of Venetian, Mirage, Ceasars, and Bellagio, and only a short cab ride to Wynn or MGM.

[bav]

Looks like Villa Roma is on Convention Center Dr. That's a bit of a hike from Bellagio.

I drive down CC Dr regularly (that's the standard path home from Wynn) and I don't even remember seeing the motel. In the wee hours, that stretch is a bit sketchy, but not all that bad as far as "not on the strip" segments go. But it's also less busy lately since Stardust is closed.

Definitely aim for cheap IP/Bally's/Flamingo/Harrah's/Barbary/Alladin rooms. You'll be a lot happier being so much closer to Bellagio if you're going to play there.

[SplawnDarts]

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Looks like Villa Roma is on Convention Center Dr. That's a bit of a hike from Bellagio.

I drive down CC Dr regularly (that's the standard path home from Wynn) and I don't even remember seeing the motel. In the wee hours, that stretch is a bit sketchy, but not all that bad as far as "not on the strip" segments go. But it's also less busy lately since Stardust is closed.

Definitely aim for cheap IP/Bally's/Flamingo/Harrah's/Barbary/Alladin rooms. You'll be a lot happier being so much closer to Bellagio if you're going to play there.

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The problem I'm having is that they all seem to have their rates hiked up all March, perhaps for march madness?

As far as sketchy, what do you think the probability a 6'5" guy in nondescript clothes would get robbed of his roll while walking it is? That's my only real concern. I like walking before and after a session to get some exercise and clear my head, so I'm not too concerned about the distance.

[habsfanca11]

Definetly hiked up for March Madness. It's one of their busy times. Splawn, how much do you gamble on other than poker? What I mean is ... I would normally recommend Flamingo for cheap, clean, decent and centrally located. It's cheap for me because everytime I go I play craps there at least once and they have me "rated". I don't get the lowest rate but pretty close because they have a history of me spending money (gambling) there. Whatever you work out for this trip - if you're inclined to do some gambling - pick a place to spend your money and focus there so you have "an out" on future trips where you can get discounts on rooms. Plus they send you all of their special offers. For instance last April I sayed 4 night for $24 by combining two promos they had. Hope things work out for you.

[SplawnDarts]

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Definetly hiked up for March Madness. It's one of their busy times. Splawn, how much do you gamble on other than poker? What I mean is ... I would normally recommend Flamingo for cheap, clean, decent and centrally located. It's cheap for me because everytime I go I play craps there at least once and they have me "rated". I don't get the lowest rate but pretty close because they have a history of me spending money (gambling) there. Whatever you work out for this trip - if you're inclined to do some gambling - pick a place to spend your money and focus there so you have "an out" on future trips where you can get discounts on rooms. Plus they send you all of their special offers. For instance last April I sayed 4 night for $24 by combining two promos they had. Hope things work out for you.

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I don't under normal circumstances play pit games. I could give them some blackjack action potentially (counted, which they might not like) or some almost 0Ev craps action if I thought it would get me near-free accommodations down the road. I could probably cook up a string of small sports bets I would be happy with too. The question is how much time & effort I would have to put into making them think I'm a gamblooor vs. how much of a discount I would get later on. I'll look into the flamingo in general though.

Thanks for the advice.

[bav]

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As far as sketchy, what do you think the probability a 6'5" guy in nondescript clothes would get robbed of his roll while walking it is?

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"Sketchy" may be the wrong word for it. It's not like I see gangs hanging around. Rather the opposite. It's just a pretty empty stretch of road. It's also a nice, wide road with sidewalks on both sides. I'd walk it and I'm only 6'1.

I just fired up live.com and used its side-view aerial photos to look at Villa Roma Motel. Now that I see the sign I kinda remember it, closer to the strip and across the street from Greek Isles. Ick. Bring your own deadbolt and guard dog. You may be safer on the walk down the street than you are once you get there. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[SplawnDarts]

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As far as sketchy, what do you think the probability a 6'5" guy in nondescript clothes would get robbed of his roll while walking it is?

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"Sketchy" may be the wrong word for it. It's not like I see gangs hanging around. Rather the opposite. It's just a pretty empty stretch of road. It's also a nice, wide road with sidewalks on both sides. I'd walk it and I'm only 6'1.

I just fired up live.com and used its side-view aerial photos to look at Villa Roma Motel. Now that I see the sign I kinda remember it, closer to the strip and across the street from Greek Isles. Ick. Bring your own deadbolt and guard dog. You may be safer on the walk down the street than you are once you get there. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. If not, I'll trust your advice and go elsewhere.

[BigBuffet]

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Now that I see the sign I kinda remember it, closer to the strip and across the street from Greek Isles. Ick. Bring your own deadbolt and guard dog. You may be safer on the walk down the street than you are once you get there. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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LOL. I got married at the Greek Isles wedding chapel almost two years ago. My wife took virtual yours of wedding chapels and chose them.

The chapel was very nice. The casino was a dump. The general location was not impressive. Don't know about the rooms in the area because we were staying at the Luxor.

But I do remember an ambulance leaving the Greek Isles when we arrived... [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] (Probably the typical revolving ambulance scenario such as at the Four Queens--old folk expiration...)