10 Tips for a Champagne Vegas Vacation on a Beer Budget

 

We just enjoyed a champagne anniversary getaway … on a beer budget. It's easy to do in Vegas … there's always a deal to be had if you research a bit and you're patient. Our 2-night/3-day stay at Paris on the Las Vegas Strip cost us about $250 … a nice hotel, meals, a first rate show and a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower all included. Here are some tips for saving money and enjoying your time to the max.

1. Check out the current promos on rooms at the hotel of your choice.

We chose the Paris because of the ambiance and good reports we'd heard about it, but there are 62,000 rooms available in Las Vegas. It's guaranteed that one will fit your style and your budget. Some hints? AARP or AAA member? Discounts might apply. Be flexible. Plan your stay during the week and not on a weekend or during a holiday peak season. Most Las Vegas hotels charge a “resort fee” from $20-$30/day which includes use of the pool, internet, etc. Keep this in mind when you see a room for $40/night … it's really more like $70 with the resort fee and taxes included. Our promo charged a $20/night fee, but included a $25 food/beverage credit per day which offset the fee.

2. Consider using some of your flight miles or credit card reward miles for a hotel room.

Several airlines and credit cards offer hotel nights as rewards. I was able to use expiring United Airlines miles for one of our nights at Paris.

3. If you want/need to fly to Vegas, consider a package deal with flight and room.

Las Vegas is a popular destination, so you might snag a special. Watch out though because you might pay extra for the room at the per/person cost. It might be better to plan your trip “a la carte”. Also remember that sometimes, two one-way air tix are cheaper than a roundtrip.

4. Get a “player's card” as soon as you arrive or if you have time in advance, sign up for it on-line.

Each hotel group has its own card offering discounts on foods, shows, drinks, etc. Have yours ready when you check in and have it available whenever you eat or drink at the hotel of your choice or associated hotels. By the way, there's no harm in getting a card at several hotels and taking advantage of the discounts wherever you are.

5. Don't be afraid to ask for an upgrade or a room with a view.

The worst they can say is “NO”, but if there's something available, you might be able to upgrade for free.

6. Remember those old timeshare presentations?

Well, they're not called timeshares any more, they're called “vacation ownerships”.  We think of them as gimmicks, but if you're willing to sit through the spiel, you can snag first rate show tickets and probably some meal vouchers. If you opt to do this, be sure to ask for top show tix; don't settle for Legends or Jubilee. Yes, we did sit through one and received two tix to Jersey Boys plus $50 in meal/beverages at the Paris. Value: ~$200 for sitting through 2-3 hours of hype. We think it was worth it. If you're too time-challenged to sit through one, consider buying your tix at a discount  at Tix-For-Tonight from several locations along the Strip.

7. Look for Two-for-One opportunities everywhere.

Drinks at bars especially during happy hour, two-fer meals, especially buffets. We found a 2-for-1 Eiffel Tower coupon and used it for our trip to the top. Nevada residents, by the way, get even better deals.

8. Buffets in Las Vegas are not your usual buffets.

They range from $5.99 for a breakfast buffet to $50+ at Caesar's Palace for the Bacchanal Buffet, rated #1 buffet in Las Vegas. If you have a hearty appetite or like to try a variety of offerings, this might be worthwhile. There are also opportunities for a 24-hour Buffet of Buffets pass at several participating hotels, and if you time it right, you can have four pretty sumptuous meals for the cost of a buffet pass.

9. Watch out for the extras.

There seem to be little extras thrown in here and there … at a cost. The daily resort fee I mentioned is one example. There are also “service” charges associated with show tix, and then hotel taxes and surcharges add another 12%+ . Several hotels also charge an early check-in fee. We opted to have lunch and wait till the 3pm check-in time.

10. Bring your own wine and champagne.

Hotels are notoriously expensive if you purchase on room service or through a casino bar. If you can't pack it, consider buying it at one of the many liquor/wine stores along the Strip, all significantly less expensive than a hotel purchase. Need water? Buy it ice cold from a vendor on the Strip for $1 versus $4 in the hotels.

Remember, Las Vegas isn't just about gambling although you'll have all the opportunity you want to win your fortune. There are lots more things to do here that are interesting and fun. Just walking down the Strip and exploring the casinos and themed hotels and shops can be a full day's  inexpensive and fun excursion … depending on what you buy, of course!

Here's a breakdown of our costs:

Paris Hotel 2 Nights in a Luxury Room with a View	$72
Same room, back-to-back reservations using United miles	$0
Jersey Boys Tickets for 2	$0
Meals – 2 lunches/2 dinners/2 breakfasts: This included $75 in food/beverage credits,10% discount on most meals using our player's cards, and various 2 for 1 meals, prix fixe, etc.	$102
Top of the Eiffel Tower – 2 for 1 plus local discount	$21
Champagne/wine (from home)	$35
Miscellaneous snacks, drinks, $ for pic opps	$20
Total	$250

Note: Some folks consider us cheap. Cheap is when you don't tip for services rendered or avoid paying your fair share. We consider ourselves parsimonious … frugal. We think of living on a budget as a challenge rather than a hardship. We don't budget our enjoyment … just what we spend on it.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means that we get a few nickels for bringing you good deals. Thanks!

Hitting the Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip stretches about 4-1/2 miles along Las Vegas Boulevard. It's considered an All American Road and though it's impressive during the day, it's outstanding at night. According to Wiki, half of the world's 50 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms. We haven't walked the Strip in years. We started at the south end of the Strip at the Mandalay, not far from the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, and worked our way north.  

In 100F+ (38C)  heat, it's a long, hot trek along wide, crowded sidewalks, moving walkways, over pedestrian bridges, up and down escalators, elevators and stairs … with lots of opportunities to stop to rest, drink, eat, gamble, buy or generally be entertained. Each major hotel/casino has its own theme to draw in the crowds and it was fun discovering the unique aspects of the more prestigious ones.

We'd never been inside the tropical island-themed Mandalay Bay and were drawn to it because I read there was a headless Lenin statue there. (Not sure how this fits with the theme, but …) We found the Red Square Vodka Bar and sure enough, there stood a larger-than-life Vladamir Lenin … headless and complete with simulated bird poop on his shoulders and shoes. I learned later that it was the folks at Mandalay Bay that beheaded the Russian Communist revolutionary in response to complaints from visitors. The rest of Mandalay Bay was nice, but not outstanding. They have a 1.6 million gallon  aquarium which houses over 2,000 aquatic animals with an $18/admission fee, a House of Blues and the usual casino stuff. All in all, despite the delightful decadence, other than headless Lenin, we weren't impressed.

We took the free tram to the Luxor. There's no confusing its theme … the wonders of ancient Egypt. A Sphinx guards the entrance and the tip of the pyramid-shaped hotel is the Luxor Sky Beam, which at 42.3 billion candela, is the strongest beam of light in the world. The interior boasts gigantic Egyptian statues and, though we weren't allowed up, an “inclinator”, not an elevator, takes guests to their rooms on the inside of the pyramid walls. There's lots of entertainment at the Luxor … Bodies-The Exhibition, the Titantic Artifact Exhibition, a Cirque de Soleil performance and of course, the casino. Enough … let's move on.

We took another tram to the Excalibur. The theme is King Arthur's Court. There's Tournament of Kings, a jousting, eat with your hands dinner show and two Australian-inspired shows … one a musical Bee Gee tribute and the other, Thunder from Down Under, touts “Australia's hottest hunks”. Hmm … we've seen lots of Australian hunks on Australia's beaches. We gave that one a pass. Excalibur seemed like a tired place … perhaps all that jousting.

Lest you think the Strip is just one casino after another (which it pretty much is), there's lots of local color to catch your attention. I warn you though … try to snap a pic without paying a tip and you'll get properly (or improperly) chastised. This is a “make a buck” town.

We were a bit peckish and needed a snack after all of our walking and gawking. A huge pretzel with mustard from a vendor on the streets of New York, New York seemed just the thing. We passed on the Big Apple Coaster, “the world’s first roller coaster to feature a 180-degree “heartline” twist and dive maneuver”. We could have purchased the Big Scream package which would have given us an all-day pass and a 5x7 photo of us vomiting, but we preferred to watch and sedately eat our pretzels.

We had to cross the street to get a pic of Leo, the iconic MGM lion. This hotel, the largest in Vegas, is the second largest in the world. David and I met here about 30 years ago at a medical convention … it looks a bit different now. Come to think of it … so do we!

I got a giggle when I saw this clever young fellow and gladly paid him a $1 for a pic.

We'd barely made a dent, but it seemed we'd walked for miles and miles. We were tuckered out for the evening and headed back to Paris, the Eiffel Tower and Paris Balloon clearly visible from most anywhere along the Strip.

There's so much more to see. Join us as we resume our explorations of Vegas. We haven't lost a dime yet, but the leather on our shoes is wearing down fast.

Paris for our Anniversary...ohh, la, la

Can you think of a more romantic spot to celebrate a wedding anniversary than Paris? La Tour Eiffel, L'Arc de Triomphe, croissants, wine, walking hand in hand, lunch at little bistros. Okay … we only had two days to get away, so it was Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, but hey, it beats Paris, Texas, don't you think?  

Mary dropped us off around 11am and we checked in early. We snagged a particularly good Summer Promo deal on-line ($42/night!). We told them at the check-in counter that we were celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary. The woman said “The best I can do is give you a view.” Well, she really did an outstanding job in that department. When we checked into our room and opened the drapes, we were gobsmacked with what we saw.

Two days to relax, luxuriate and enjoy each other's exclusive company. We're not gamblers, but Las Vegas offers much more and we set about doing the things we like best. (We'll skip the x-rated parts.) Like all Las Vegas casinos, there are no windows and no clocks … time of day just slips away. The Paris sky was always dusky blue and the streetlamps were always on. We sauntered along the faux-cobblestone streets of Paris town taking it all in and window-shopped till we found a little place for a late lunch. Yes, we could hear the slot machines jingling and the roulette wheels spinning, but it just became part of the background noise of a big city. We were oblivious to it all.

The hotel has done an excellent job with the Parisian theme. The lobby is elegant with huge chandeliers and columns and marble floors. The four support legs of the half-size Eiffel Tower extend into the casino. All the signs are in French. The facade of Parisian streets is quite realistic. There is no Louvre; no Notre Dame; no arrondissements; no Seine. But L'Arc de Triomphe is there (despite the fact Gordon Ramsey has his picture on it … bah!) and there's a bridge with love locks on it.

We enjoyed the cool of our room after lunch. The temp soared to 112F/44C in the afternoon. When it cooled down to 95F/35C in the evening, we walked south on the Strip till our feet were hot and tired. The rainbow of flashing neon lights and the cacophony of sounds are sensory overload. Everything is big … no, gi-normous … in Las Vegas ... oversized and so spectacular that your eyes are ready to pop out of your head and your ears need a break.

We retreated once again to the quiet seclusion and coolness of our room. We're saving the trip to the top of the La Tour Eiffel and perhaps a show for our anniversary night. In the meantime, a bottle of Clos du Bois was chilling and ...

Oh, there's lots more in the coming days. Walking the Strip, the sights and sounds of Las Vegas and even ways to celebrate in Vegas … champagne style on a beer budget. If we can't be sailing and at sea, we can still enjoy what life has to offer in the desert.