2007 Las Vegas Apostafest

by earthtone 38 Replies latest members meetups

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  earthtone

  okay time for a new thread. It's too much to read through. lol

  only 19 people so far. We need 20 rooms, if we want to have them holded, About 13 so far. So contact all who may be interested so I can get the head count and rooms . We got a date which is Aug 9-12. There are no Saturday arrivals for group booking with the TA, sorry I forgot to mention that.

  Hotels: Paris, Venetian, MGM, Belliago, Mandalay Bay,Mirage - some of the ones talked about. FYI- Belliagio,Mandalay Bay and Venetian are on the higher end so more money! MGM is reasonable and has tons of rooms for reasonable pricing, but at end of strip with Mandalay Bay. The more expensive the rooms are the less likely others will want to come. And we need at least 20. Of the 19 can anyone NOT do the 3 expensive hotel. Of course feel free to book your own room if you want to stay at a cheaper or more expensive hotel and meet up with us after the hotel has been decide for the group.

  Once we get hotel/rooms settle, then will will talk about meeting up and activites we can all do or break up in groups and do. I will also ask the TA about a conference room where we can get for an hour to meet up at everyday. Sound Good? Any other input?

  Big Thanks to Sammie's wife, Lennyinbluemont, and Jim_Tx for all the suggestion and info *hug*

  Will be pming people personally to make sure my head count is right so far. Later.

  Okay BIG boo bo on my part and I'm glad I talked to the travel agent personally. For Groups. You need 20 rooms at the least to get them holded. Pros- the rates are guarenteed. You have up to 45days before you book it to come up with the money.

  Con -but it most be paid in full at time of booking or you (that individual) loss the room/rate( I acutally think that not a bad con since you we have a whole year to save). They need a 500 dollar deposit to block out 20 rooms at the hotel of our choice, but if only 19 actually book you lose the 500 dollar deposit. Only one deposit is need for all 20 rooms.

  Per the Group sale specialist( not TA..oops. lol) said that they will not have availablies for 2007 until Nov and for sure we should have a sense of whether we need to go the Group route or not

  All in all, I think we will get enough people to book 20 rooms. We can split the deposit and I can charge it to my credit card.
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  DannyBloem

  Earthtone,

  I would love to come, only my work scedule is unknown so far in the future.
  it would be great, but I only can say possible I can come...

  Danny
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  sf

  There's no way to predict what AUGUST 2007 holds in store. Nor the months before then.

  I'm in, for now, yet will make no solid plans.

  sKally
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  collegegirl21

  Earthtone - I am confused... so we have to pay for our room up front - when we book it? And are you saying that we cannot have group rates until November of 2007?
• 

  whyamihere

  Put me down as a maybe....I love Vegas and Vegas loves me.

  When I was there last March, I walked down the street and a group of guys looked at me and one said "Welcome to Vegas boys!" I guess I belong there....lol - or maybe just on a street corner

  Brooke **of the maybe class**
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  earthtone

  Sorry for the confusion college girl (and everyone)

  I just got off the phone with the Group specialist. I wanted to get as much info from you all before actually talking with her about our needs. So hopeful I will clarify things...

  1st off ..Sherri ( the group specialist) says that the hotels are not allowing her to book 20 rooms or more that far in advance (aug 2007). She said to check back with her at the end of oct/early Nov to schedule for Aug.

  2. Once the schedule is available to book the rooms, she will use our dates along with our top 5 hotel choices ( she made recommendations will talk at the end about that) for rates.

  3. Once we decide which hotel is in our budget for what we want, she will have the hotel block off 20 rooms for us. Then we can indivdiual call her and pay for the trip.

  There is a 500 dollar deposit to hold the 20 rooms ( or more). We have up to 45days before the trip to book and pay for it. At the time of booking you must pay the full amount. If we have 20 rooms held and only use 19, we do not get the 500 dollars back. If we use all 20 rooms, we get the deposit back

  There is no discount for going the group route. The appeal is in the fact that we can all be at the same hotel and save our money to pay it at the time of booking 45 days before the actual trip. Also the rate is guaranteed not to go up once the contract with the hotel is in place.

  As far as hotels she made suggestions. Like I said earlier. Hotels like Venetian, Belliagio, and Mandalay Bay are more expensive. According to her they can be 250 to 275 dollars a night depending on the date and avaliablity. For some it might be no problems for other... this is alot. Hotels she recommended are Monte Carlo (nice), Flamingo (recently remodeled), Bally ( not bad), Imperial Palace (older hotel) - all in the middle of the strip. A couple that are off the strip are Orleans (9am - midnight shuttle service to strip, with 7 minute driving to stripe - equaling 10-12 dollar cab ride) and Tuscany (which is right behind Bally and in walking distant of strip. Both are nice (so she claims.lol). These hotels going rates are 75 to 150 a night depending on rates and avaliablity.

  I asked about MGM, since dismembered mentioned paying 79 bucks a night there. And she agreed that they can also have really good rates depending on availability/dates.

  We can put in for the the top hotels and see what the rates look like and if we don't like them, request other hotels. There is no charge for that. We don't have to pay a deposit until we book the agreed hotel. She also said she can look into a hospitality room for us to meet up at everyday (extra charge of course).

  I think Nov will give others time to see if they want to go also. That's it so far.

  Editted to add: The is a big men's apparel convention, normally in early Aug. It's big guys with tons of celebrities. This will also affect the prices. Just keep that in mind.
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  earthtone

  If you've been to a hotel that was on or off the stripe that was reasonably priced and like it, please give your input. It will help us all decide. Also Jim_Tx gave some good descriptions of the hotels in the last thread. Page 1 or 2, so look at them for insight.
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  LennyinBluemont

  Earthtone,

  I know Vegas is convention city and when the demand for rooms is high they jack up their prices. I am going in January for the Consumer Electronics Show and my room at the Luxor is $235 a night. But the week before that same room is $109 a night. Can your agent suggest times when the rates would be lower? As I mentioned, the Costco rep said the first two weeks of December are always the lowest. But are there other times that aren't so bad? It's true that we may lose some who want to come because of scheduling, but we may also lose some because of pricing. Maybe we could go with two hotels (if there are enough of us), one fancy and one economy. On the matter of the meeting room, if you figure that we will be paying the hotel for 20 rooms for say 4 nights at a rate of maybe $150 per night, that's about $12,000 if I figured right. I think asking for a meeting room for 1 hour a day gratis is not unreasonable. (We'd like to stay for five nights.)

  By the way, before you commit to anything, why not get a commitment from them on dates and rates and the rest of us can do a quick comparison by making a few calls to see if it's a good deal. For instance, how much will they charge for the meeting room, if there is a charge? What if we find another nice hotel on the strip that will guarantee rates and a meeting room at a lower rate? In the end, the hotel we all stay in is not really that important, I'm sure they're all fine. But having been there before, I do think it's important, for convenience sake, that it be on the strip, and preferably not at an extreme end. But it can be a lower to mid-range hotel. I don't think $150 a night would be a bad rate. Sometimes when you contact the booking agent at the hotel directly you can get a better rate than through an agent. Let us know if you want us to do some footwork. You don't have to do this all by yourself. But we certainly appreciate your taking the initiative! Oops! Taking the lead.? You go, girl! (Can we get a better rate by saying we're with the Watchtower?)

  For those who haven't been before, there IS a lot to do. If you want to gamble, nuf said. You can't turn around without bumping into a slot machine. But there are plenty of really good shows to see. Music, comedy, magic. Circ de Soleil has at least four different shows in Vegas. And there's plenty of shopping as well. We went to see Circ de Soleil Mystere, Second City, "V" at Aladdin and the Fab Four at Aladdin. Rita Rudner and David Brenner are there. There's just tons of shows. Depending on the size of our group, it'd be nice to maybe have one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner together (on different days). And maybe a morning meeting in our conference room every day to let everyone know what's going on that day (maybe two or three activities) so that those who want to join up with individual groups can do so. Some advance arrangements may be necessary as some shows sell out. Maybe some will want to just hang at a prearranged place and swap stories. Of course it would be nice if everyone can get together each morning to discuss the daily text.

  Lenny
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  earthtone

  Good points Lenny!

  I'm hoping everyone keeps that in mind. My way of thinking was that Aug might not end up being a good month with the men's apparel convention. I mean we are competeing with celebrities for cheap rooms. lol @ the thought. The convention last a week and you have to figure some will come and stay a few day's before and a few day's after depending on what designer they want to see. This is a big event, catered to the rich.

  It's true that we may lose some who want to come because of scheduling, but we may also lose some because of pricing. Maybe we could go with two hotels (if there are enough of us), one fancy and one economy.

  I agree, I'm really trying to make this work for the majority here. But we need enough people for that to work. So far I've only had 19 say they will definately go. And a few maybes. If we go with 2 hotels we will have to block out 40 rooms - 20 at each hotel and risk losing 1000 dollar's deposit if the rooms aren't filled. I would put on for it, but all have to know that they maynot get their money back for it and be okay with that, if some people back out at the last minute.

  I think asking for a meeting room for 1 hour a day gratis is not unreasonable.

  For the money they will get, I'll remind them of that but that will only work if we have a big turn out for the hotels and we pick a date that does not compete with others (rich / companies) who have things at Vegas also.

  I WOULD LOVE SOME HELP! LOL.

  After I talk back with the lady I'm dealing with in Nov (calenders for the hotels open up around this time) and she gives us our rate quotes for our top 5 hotels...comparison shopping sound great! But remember when you book on line you have to pay the day you book it. With a travel agent you pay a fee for their help. You also pay the whole amount when you book with the group, but you have 45 days before the fest. To pay it. So you can save knowing how much you might need and wait for the cutoff date to pay it.
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  LennyinBluemont

  Thanks for your feedback, Earthtone. I've edited my above message to include some additional information.

  Lenny