Las Vegas Hotel Booking Tips

To book a Las Vegas Hotel at a great price, there are things that you should know. There’s a bit of reading for you here, but all in all, valuable for you. If you just want to know how you might earn a free stay at the Wynn, you can just go to the end of the page to number 32.

1. The cheapest time of the year to stay in a Las Vegas Hotel

Las Vegas Hotel prices are normally the cheapest in early December. It’s not ideal pool weather, some shows won’t be running, some casinos will be dolling themselves up, it’ll be quieter, but with all that, you’ll get great attention from staff as they have more time etc.

A few positives for December…it’s got lovely Christmas things going on (ice-skating, often free warm apple cider), the National Rodeo Finals are on (room rates can sometimes be higher on those dates in comparison to other December dates with the Rodeo on, but often not really from experience, and you’ll still get very decent deals as it’s December), you could do your Christmas shopping in the outlets, and when you’re leaving Las Vegas in December, it’s a lovely feeling to be going home for Christmas.

Thanksgiving

Just before Thanksgiving is also a time when you’ll get great rates. New Year’s Eve, is a no-no price-wise, for me anyway. July and August often have very good room rates too as it’s so hot at this time. 

2. Las Vegas Hotel – cheapest days to stay

If you stay Sunday and check out on or by Friday, you’ll get the BEST rates on rooms. The weekends (Friday and Saturday nights) will nearly always be more expensive, often far more. If you are staying longer, say 12 nights (I often do, and it’s not nearly enough for me), you should only have two of the twelve nights as a Friday and Saturday night, and you’ll save significantly.

3. Check the convention dates when you’re booking a Las Vegas hotel stay

Las Vegas is a convention capital, so rooms are going to be more expensive when the bigger ones are on, even if there are over 151,000 rooms in the city. 

4. The universally HATED Las Vegas hotel resort fees!

Filthy, filthy dirty words these. When I first started going to Las Vegas, this wasn’t a thing at all. I don’t like the practice, not at all, but it’s here in full-flow and it’s pretty much unavoidable except in certain resorts IF you take a very expensive upgrade.

If you’re booking a room and the resort fee isn’t mentioned, the likelihood is that the first you’re going to know of it is when you get hit with it as you check out of the hotel. There are very very few Las Vegas hotels without the resort fee and the charge is from (these figures are WITHOUT tax and PER day) $8.95 (El Cortez) to $45 (Venetian and Palazzo, beautiful luxury 5 Star).

So in practice, if you’re staying five nights at The Venetian or The Palazzo (both incredibly beautiful resorts at the $45 side on the resort fee), you’ll be paying $225 in resort fees plus tax when you checkout.

The resort fee generally covers:

Free internet access, a Daily Newspaper, Free boarding pass printing, and free local phone calls. Sometimes gym or spa access. To note, and for fairness, both The Venetian and The Palazzo (sister hotels) offer two guests access to Canon Ranch SpaClub (it’s really top-notch!) as part of the resort fee, the other bonuses just mentioned, and one two-for-one drink coupon for well drinks, domestic beer, or wine at any casino bar excluding the pool decks. So this resort fee has positives but I’m out. I’m not happy with this practice as I don’t think it’s fair.

Here’s a trick that can “often” help you avoid resort fees AND stay in a swanky place. HomeAway.Com, if you book here, you can get a room at MGM Signature, Palms Place, Trump International, or Vdara (all high-end hotels) amongst others, and again, often without resort fees. These are owner-listed condos. 

Again, there’s a way to stay at the Wynn Las Vegas and not pay resort fees. If you weren’t reading the top half of this page you won’t have known. You can just jump down to Number 32.

Read the first couple of lines of the next paragraph too as this can help avoid fees too, but no guarantees folks!

5. $20 trick for a Las Vegas hotel upgrade? 

If you haven’t heard of this, let me explain this. Some will use a $50, but not totally necessary unless you’ve got deeper pockets (BUT, please let this register if you’re staying a few days or more, it’s to help you, I have heard of resort fees being waived with this. Could you be this lucky? Maybe!). 

You’ve booked your room and you’ve arrived at the hotel. You were wondering if you’d see if there are upgrades available. You don’t really want to pay the full upgrade price of course and get it for free if possible (your $20 is a tip).

The Trick

All you do is ask the receptionist the question, “I was wondering if there were any complimentary upgrades available right now” and while you’re doing this, you’ve sandwiched a twenty in between your ID and your credit card which they’ll have asked for to check you in. Make sure that it’s partially visible at least.

Best Chance

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on what they have really. Don’t feel in any way awkward doing this. The receptionists are well used to it, it’s normal practice, and it’s certainly not frowned upon, and welcomed by most staff. The best time to do this to give yourself the best chance is to check in late in the evening when most of the guests have already checked in and/or on a Sunday night.

If they can’t upgrade you, they most likely won’t take your $20 or $50. I’ve no control over them (!), and people will be people of course! A little risk with potentially very comfortable rewards. You’re in Vegas, of course, might as well start with this gamble, if the airport slots didn’t get you first, ha. I got an upgrade for a tenner one time. It was all the cash I had on me at that moment, I was only off the plane, and it was a Monday night, and not crazy busy.

The upgrade came with a deal where if you didn’t need your room cleaned, you got $10 credit for food each day that you didn’t avail of. This was in the Westgate, the old Hilton where Elvis had his residency. Over the years more people saw Elvis perform there than anywhere else in the world, there’s a factoid for you now.

6. Birthday/Special occasion in a Las Vegas Hotel – Freebies? 

If you are coming to Las Vegas for a special occasion, anniversary, or birthday, or what have you, make sure that you inform the hotel when making your booking. You never know what they might surprise you with. I received an upgraded room (at no extra cost) AND a massive fruit and snacks basket from The Mirage for a birthday of mine, simply by putting a little note in with my booking. Thanks The Mirage! I never forgot! 

Oh yeah… apart from hotels and your birthday etc., sign up with restaurants in Las Vegas (if you’re there for your birthday) and you might get a little surprise! I hear that Denny’s will feed you for free on your birthday. There are others too that give you something. I’ll make a note of them as I find them and let you know  

7. Stay for FREE in a Las Vegas hotel? 

FREE rooms? I can think of four ways right now, two I’m not keen on myself for different reasons but plenty seem to be. I’ll deal with them first. 

The first is if you are interested in doing some gambling. I don’t know the exact amount you need to gamble (I believe it’s in the thousands and from what I hear, I also hear that it’s not worth it unless you’ve got deep pockets and love gambling).

Make sure to give them your postal address, you never know what surprises you’ll get in the mail/post from them.

Also, you’ll need to focus on the hotel or the group of hotels in that chain. Plus, many hotels give you a little something free when you sign up for their player’s card. I’m just not very hot on gambling, I like to gamble, but very rarely, and also, there’s so much more to do in Las Vegas for me, and anyway, I’m a Taurean. Again, though, for comped rooms, you really need to be gambling in the thousands from what I’ve been told. 

Time-share

The second one is if you’re willing to sit through time-share presentations (I wouldn’t be keen on doing it, you might. Again, might be for you, and that’s cool, I don’t know why I’m even mentioning it as it’s not for me but again, could certainly be for others depending on their journey in life. I’m not always great at saying no, so this option is not for me). You’ll find plenty of these. In the Flamingo certainly. 

Note: IF you do get a complimentary room (from the hotel/NOT the timeshare people), it’s almost expected that you would tip $50. 

Ok, those are two options that won’t be for most people so what have I got for you? Ok, NOW…this is worth money to you… there are apps that you can play on your smartphone or on Facebook which at times offer free rooms (you pay the resort fees on most though, but not on all) so that’s definitely something that you can do. They offer deals for rooms, food, drinks, and entertainment. I’ll explain this further below. You SHOULD read it! Definitely  

Oh, and here’s a FOURTH method, it’ll be for some and not for others, you can stay FREE if you are willing to be a House Sitter. You can register here 

8. Cookie tracking and Las Vegas Hotels

If you’re doing an online search, clear your browser’s cookies beforehand as otherwise, you “could” end up paying more as cookies help a site provider know what you’re looking at/for and they might keep putting up the price. This is controversial I’m sure. Some say that it doesn’t happen, others are adamant that it does. Doing this should safeguard you whether it actually does or doesn’t. This is very easy to do and you should have this option under “Tools/History” in most browsers. If after doing this you see a really great rate, don’t clear them again, the booking site may offer you an even lower one. 

9. Choice of the device when searching Las Vegas Hotel

Compare the price that you find on your laptop/desktop with the same site that you look up on your smartphone or mobile device. Often sites use a different system to update these prices so your luck could be in. 

10. Las Vegas Hotel Promo codes! 

This is obviously a newer one but one that you should use regardless of what site you’re using to book or order whatever it is. Promo Codes (promotional codes). Let’s say that you’re going to book online with The Mirage directly, then always, always, always, do a Google Search for “Mirage Las Vegas Promo Codes” and see what you can get. All you need to do is copy and paste them. Definitely something to do. You can do this with Walmart, BestBuy, or any online site really, for your day-to-day online shopping. This is going to save you moolah for Vegas too remember? The less you spend day to day, the more you have to enjoy yourself in Las Vegas! 

11. Call the Las Vegas hotel after 6 pm PST (Las Vegas time) and two other tricks

If you intend to book directly with the hotel, call them (even though online rates are often cheaper) after 6 p.m. BUT know the online rates first. Also, it’s said that if you dial the local hotel number and not the 800 number, that if you do this, and instead of asking for reservations, ask to speak with the manager or the director of sales. They have the right to alter rates for you.

12. Las Vegas hotel – general tip

This isn’t really one that’s going to save you money, but it will help you have a nicer time and it’s good advice based on experience. Pick a nice hotel, life is short. We never know how long we’re here for. Be good to yourself, honestly, do. You’d be very surprised how, with just a little bit more patience and a few dollars more, you could change your idea from a 2 or 3-star hotel to a 4 or even 5-star hotel. You WILL spend quite a bit of time in your hotel, the hotel is a HUGE part of the experience, and you’re going to Las Vegas where there are some of the greatest hotels in the world so you should really enjoy it! If you’re not sure that you can get the deal, contact me. I’d like to help you. For sure!  

13. Slightly Off-Strip Las Vegas Hotel

Look at the “off-strip” hotels including The Palms and Palms Place. These hotels (just mentioned off Strip) all run free (last time I looked) shuttles to the Strip and they are nearly always a fair bit cheaper to stay in. I’ve stayed in Palms Place, a beautiful hotel. More Condo-y than a hotel, but very high standard. You will get a good deal on these I’m fairly sure.

14. Las Vegas hotel WITHOUT a casino

Look at the “non-gaming” hotels including Vdara and Palms Place. Palms Place is cheaper than all of the other 4.5 – 5 star hotels normally. If it’s your first time going to Las Vegas, I’d leave this for another time (unless you don’t want a casino in your hotel, then you could easily choose one of these) as staying on the Strip itself is a phenomenal experience. Vdara is on the Strip.

15. Low-Cost Las Vegas hotels on the Strip

Low-cost hotel-casinos on the Strip (with great locations) include Bally’s, Flamingo, Linq, and Harrah’s. I’ve only stayed in the Linq of these, and it was a very acceptable and fun place in the heart of it all, what with it being alongside Linq Promenade. I lived behind it a couple of times. These are all very central Strip but I can’t tell you any more as regards the quality of the rooms bar the Linq. All are very reputable, just to note. Off the Strip, Tuscany is different. Very comfy, has no issues, has decent food, and it’s quieter. Maybe for an older crowd in Tuscany, I enjoyed it though. 

16. Downtown is cheaper than the Strip

If you’d like the idea of Old Las Vegas, you should stay Downtown (Fremont). The rooms are substantially cheaper than most on the Strip, the food can cost less, and there is low-limit gambling. Super bars there too! A really great place to go pub crawling/bar hopping for sure! There are far better pub crawls (and cheaper) to be had Downtown than the Strip, things are just closer for a pub crawl and that’s important. The Nugget (as the locals call it) or if you don’t know it, The Golden Nugget, it’s probably the fanciest of the hotels Downtown. It was Steve Wynn’s first hotel-casino in Las Vegas (he built The Bellagio, The Mirage, and Treasure Island, sold them all to build Wynn in 2005, then Encore, two years later) so you’ll know it’s good! 

17. Las Vegas hotel loyalty cards

You should join M-Life (you’ll need to if you want to try and win free rooms and/or other freebies and discounted offers, that I’m going to tell you about as regards the My Vegas App. M-Life is the MGM Mirage Properties Reward Card. Bellagio Las Vegas, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, The Mirage Las Vegas, Luxor Las Vegas, Excalibur Hotel and Casino, New York New York Hotel and Casino, Park MGM (formerly Monte Carlo) Las Vegas, and ARIA Las Vegas are all properties that you can claim discounts and get special deals from if you play My Vegas Slots. The App is free and I’ll tell you more about it HERE (but please read on first as I’m going to get to it anyway, and there’s more information for you that will help you besides this).

18. Another Las Vegas hotel loyalty card

Also, join Caesar Rewards (formerly called Total Rewards) and earn rewards when you play, dine, shop, or stay at their properties including Caesars Palace, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, Bally’s Las Vegas, The Cromwell and Nobu Las Vegas.

19. Take someone’s Las Vegas hotel room!

Well not quite! You’re not invading a room and chucking someone out! This is something quite novel and cool that you can do, and you’ll be helping out the people that you purchase from. Buy someone’s booking. This can of course be hit and miss as regards availability, and you’d need to be flexible with your dates.

If your dates are somewhat open, go to RoomerTravel, and choose “Don’t Miss A Deal” at the very top of the page. Type in Las Vegas, choose “anytime”, and give them your email address. You will receive offers this way by email, from RoomerTravel for rooms that people have booked but can’t stay on those dates. They are for rooms that can’t be canceled and can offer a discount of up to 74% at times, nice!

Again, always compare these prices with the Hotel Tonight App, Trivago, and Hotelscombined.com and have a look here too, as I might have found one for you that will beat it. Difficult to beat 74% off, but as I said, this can be hit and miss, of course, there are dates that might not work with your plans, and they’re not all 74% off, but up to 74% off. Definitely worth a look though. 

20. AAA, Military, AARP

AAA, military or AARP members can often receive great discounts when booking hotels. With AARP membership (only $12 a year currently, 25% off the 16-year offer) you get access to discounts for travel (Hilton, Starwood, Wyndham), dining (Denny’s, Outback Steakhouse), entertainment, and shopping. Anyone can join from most countries although they have no offer for Irish or UK residents to join right now. I’m going to contact them and ask why. They cover so many countries as regards their membership base so why Ireland and the UK aren’t covered, I’m not quite sure. The membership fee really is a pittance for the discounts that you’ll get. 

21. Price-Matching Las Vegas hotels

Some might not bother with this and that’s cool. Each to their own. If you want to book directly with a hotel, shop around on Trivago, Hotelscombined, Hotel Tonight, ebookers etc. first and give them a call to price-match the best one that you’ve found. They often will, as they will get paid immediately and will not have to wait on the third-party site that you might have booked with. This is advantageous to you if you have a player’s card or if you intend to sign up for one. 

22. Discounted e-giftcards for a Las Vegas hotel

You can buy discount e-giftcards from HERE etc (these are gift cards that people receive as presents/gifts and wish to sell on, they sell them at a discount) AND use these to book part or all of your hotel etc. You can get them for all sorts of online stores, restaurants, car hire etc. so you can use these for more than your hotel booking in Las Vegas if you have a look around that site. So, once you’ve decided on who you’re flying with, where you’re staying etc., you can take a quick look on GiftCardGranny to see if they have any offers for those that will give you the discount. You’d be surprised at how much you can save by paying with a discounted e-gift card. 

23. Instead of a Las Vegas hotel, you can rent a home OR a BUS!

How about if you wanted to rent a home? This can be much cheaper if there are a few of you or more heading to Las Vegas, and of course, you’ll most likely dodge those poxy resort fees, which is a nice bonus, and probably no parking fees either (for most places as these in the main are homes) if you’re bringing or hiring a car.

HomeAway

You can use HomeAway (very similar to VRBO both being owned by the same parent company) for this and often they’ll have condos in MGM Signature, Palms Place, etc (top-notch places) at reduced prices that owners will rent them to you for. Of course, there are houses too. I saw a really cool “Downtown Fun Bus” offer, which for ONLY $100 per night, sleeps 6 adults and 2 children.

It’s a completely renovated 35′ RV. Its resident address is at the Main Street Station Casino RV park, on the North End of Fremont Street, and it’s just a short walk across the street to so much that Vegas has to offer. To note, you don’t get to drive it around. It stays there. The Main Street Station Casino RV park has a pool at the California Resort that you would have access to.

It has 3 bunk beds in the galley, and a queen-sized bed in the back bedroom. This comprises of 1 queen, 2 fulls, 2 twins, and 2 junior-sized beds. A full kitchen and bath with all the appliances and cooking utensils at your disposal. Plus, towels, linens, toiletries, etc. All the comforts and convenience of a hotel, but at a fraction of the cost.

Now that’s definitely for some people. I haven’t been in the RV park, so that’s all the knowledge I have on this particular offer. Sounds good to me. Always, always, stay safe in Las Vegas. Stick to the main streets. I hopefully don’t really need to tell you this. 

24. Be credit card savvy! 

Be smart with your Credit Card. Check with your company, Mastercard, Visa, etc., or the bank you have the card with if this applies to you, to see if they offer discounts with the hotel that you’ve chosen or sites like hotels.com, trivago, ebookers, expedia.com/.co.uk, etc

25. Download this App! 

GET THE HotelTonight App. This is sweet. Hotel Tonight is given unsold rooms by hotels and they pass them onto you and me, at very often, super rates. Not many people in Ireland or the UK might be familiar with this app so I will explain it a bit further. You have nothing to lose by downloading it, and it really can save you money.

I can’t state this strenuously enough, even if you’re only using it as a comparison, as it’s a wise step to compare this app for the hotel that you want with Trivago.com and Hotelscombined.com. You should ALWAYS check a few sites once you know the hotel that you want, and by checking the latter two against HotelTonight, you’ll have covered multiple sites without maybe actually knowing it, as these are aggregator sites that will search the major booking engines for you. It’s to protect you that I’d advise this.  I WANT YOU TO SAVE MONEY! That’s what I’m here for. 

You can book using Hotel Tonight a full 100 days in advance and book a stay for as long as 14 days, and a week in advance for stays of up to 5 nights. If you use my code sdonnelly18 , you’ll get €20 off your booking also, or whatever €20 is in your currency depending upon where you’re reading this. Again, I’d always run my findings through Trivago.com and Hotelscombined.com too though. Find your deal wherever you like and check the same property on those two anyway and I can’t really see you going wrong. 

Please ALSO note – Hotel Tonight bookings are NON-REFUNDABLE, so that’s why I’d book it on the day itself (where possible) when I know that a flight interruption, or what have you, doesn’t get in the way. 

26. Business-focused hotels

You could stay in the business-focused hotels during the summer or at weekends when demand is less as regards business folks. The cost is often less too. 

27. Last Minute (where to book a Las Vegas hotel)

If you’re going last minute or going to book and check-in on the day itself, and have researched some of the lowest prices, again, have a look at HotelTonight, Trivago (they search 250 sites alone, and several lesser-known sites, including Agoda, and also include sites like Expedia, Priceline, and Booking.com) Hotelscombined, there are others but I don’t want to overload you, and these are solid and cover so many booking engines, so I’m going with them as they’ve never let me down. Then book in late in the evening, most of the rooms will have been taken if they’re busy, and they’ll know what their inventory is, and you’ll get a good price and maybe even a free upgrade if you’re pleasant to them at check-in. 

28. Pay in the currency of the site

On the site that you’re booking on, pay in the local currency of the site IF your card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. If you want to book in your own currency and/or if your card charges foreign transaction fees, you can switch the currencies on Trivago, Hotelscombined etc at the top of your screen. Switch the currency, and use xe.com to check if there’s a significant difference. 

29. The Hotel’s Credit Card

If the hotel you want to stay at offers a credit card, you might look at taking it. Some cards will offer you free nights. MGM Resorts has one that you can apply for here (U.S. residents only). https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/mlife-rewards-program/mlife-rewards-mastercard.html

30. Stay in someone’s house! 

I’ve touched on this but it needs a little paragraph on it’s own. If you’ve got time on your side as regards booking, and want to stay in Las Vegas for FREE, if you would like to look after someone’s property and their animals, why don’t you register with these guys? www.trustedhousesitters.com This will be a runner for some of you for sure. 

31. Buy Travel Insurance!

This is very important – as soon as you’ve booked your flights and/or hotel, buy Travel Insurance (especially if you’re traveling to the U.S. from abroad). If you need to cancel, you’ll want to get your hotel and flight money back. Honestly, you’ll never know when you might need it, and trust me, I have a bit of experience with this, and hospitals and medical treatment in Nevada are NOT CHEAP. 

32. Las Vegas hotel – FREE STAY!

Okay, finally, I kept you waiting for this, my apologies, but it’ll be worth it (!), so here it is, myVegas and Wynn Slots. MyVegas first. More opportunities to get FREE rooms, and lots of other discounted, BOGO (buy one, get one free), and FREE stuff.

myVegas

myVEGAS is the official mobile and Facebook game of MGM Resorts and M Life Rewards. This is a free-to-play app that offers a plethora of slot and table games and gives you amazing rewards from MGM Resorts destinations.  You can earn free hotel rooms, meals, show tickets, and more. 

The more you play, and the bigger you bet, the more “loyalty points” you earn. Open the App or the Facebook game every day and play, even for a minute or two at a time (but do open it each day as you get a free spin to give you points), and watch the loyalty points fly up.

I know many people who use this App, I use it too, and the bonuses are worth playing for. It seems that you get the most loyalty points if you play it on Facebook.

Amazon App Store

I read elsewhere that if you’re on Android, if you download myVegas from the Amazon App Store, you get more loyalty points. I’m unsure as to why this is, but there you have it. I downloaded it from Google Play so I’m not really able to test this claim at the moment as you can only have one account. Most of the rewards are for the MGM Resorts casinos in Las Vegas with some others for London etc. The rewards are DEFINITELY worth playing for.

Make sure to read the small print of each reward as some will need to be used in short order once you take them. When you’re in Las Vegas, you will go to an MGM casino (there are lots of them) to the “Mlife Players Club” desk, and sign up for their Mlife loyalty program.

You give them your emailed confirmation there. The Mlife card will help you earn free slot credit as you spend in their casinos and also, your purchases there will gain you further points.

Just to note: For a Mirage Mlife reward, you need to go to the Mirage Mlife Player’s Club to activate it, Bellagio reward, go to Bellagio to activate it, etc. It’s very clear on the App so you don’t need me to go any further here. 

Wynn Slots

WYNN SLOTS! Is this the best for last? Maybe, maybe not! Depends on you, for sure. It will take you some time though. There’s no denying this. With Wynn Slots, you can earn up to 4 nights of free stays (and avoid resort fees) as regards hotel rooms in what is most certainly one of the most beautiful hotels in the world, and this is no exaggeration.

They have won awards up to their eyeballs. AAA, 5 Diamond. With 19 in total, Wynn Resorts Holds The Most Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Awards Of Any Independent Hotel Company. If you have a partner, they can earn 4 nights too, so immediately, you have 8 free nights stay in what would definitely be among many people’s opinion as the best in Las Vegas. Maybe not for everyone. Go and see for yourself. Let me know though!

A FINAL ONE … can’t leave this one out.

Whilst you’re in Las Vegas, IF you have your own place at home, why don’t you AirBnB it to make yourself some money whilst you’re away? Who knows, might even cover your Las Vegas hotel cost.  Here you GO!

 

Book Las Vegas NOW!

These prices (below) will be very difficult to beat BUT also, please check the same hotel on Trivago.com, and IF it’s cheaper on Trivago, follow the link before booking to ensure that the prices take resort fees and taxes into account as some solo sites aren’t entirely transparent with this, which is an absolute nuisance and an annoyance, and to be fair, I don’t think it’s proper practice. Anyway, you can contact me if you’ve any queries, again, in the main, these prices are very hard to beat AND I believe that I’ll have more hotel booking sites (built into this) available for you very soon. 

Now, get yourself a Las Vegas hotel! What are you waiting for?  

Now that you’ve read Las Vegas Hotel Tips, would you like Tips for a Las Vegas Flight? 

Just click HERE!