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Booking.com group totals for Sep 30 - Oct 3 with taxes and resort fees included; add parking column. Ranking shifts: Horseshoe rises to $1,025, SAHARA has free parking and the top rating, Option B suites now clearly undercut centre-Strip hotels. Grand Desert villa no longer available for the dates.
6.5 KiB
Las Vegas — Where to Stay (shortlist)
Candidate accommodation for the Vegas leg. Nothing booked yet.
Dates: Wed Sep 30 → Sat Oct 3 (3 nights) Guests: 4 adults (2 couples) → 2 hotel rooms, or one 2-bedroom suite Car available — the group drives in from LA on Sep 30. KT & VT fly from LAS on Oct 3, while MS starts the drive back to San Francisco and returns the car at SFO on Oct 4. Position on the Strip still matters, but hotel parking must now be included in every comparison.
Prices below are all-in — Booking.com totals including taxes and resort fees, for the whole group (2 rooms or 1 unit), Sep 30 – Oct 3. Booking quotes in CAD; USD converted at ~0.72.
⚠️ Parking still varies: free where marked; MGM/Caesars properties (Excalibur, Luxor, Horseshoe, Flamingo, Signature) charge extra per night with the fee set at the property.
Location on the Strip
| Zone | Walk to | Hotels below |
|---|---|---|
| Center Strip | Bellagio fountains, High Roller, Caesars, Venetian | Horseshoe, Flamingo, Casino Royale, Jockey Club |
| South Strip | Sphere-side attractions via tram, MGM area | Excalibur, Luxor, Signature at MGM, Desert Rose, Grand Desert |
| North Strip | Fewer sights; longer walks or rideshare | Circus Circus, The STRAT, SAHARA |
Option A — two hotel rooms (classic Vegas)
All-in group total for 2 rooms × 3 nights, taxes and resort fees included.
| Hotel | Zone | All-in × 2 rooms | Parking | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circus Circus | North | $500 (C$694) | Free (1 spot/room) | 6.8 (16,474) |
| The STRAT | North (far) | $576 (C$800) | On site, fee TBC | 7.2 (8,794) |
| Excalibur | South | $637 (C$885) | Paid | 7.6 (30,951) |
| SAHARA Las Vegas | North | $934 (C$1,297) | Free (self & valet) | 8.4 (11,717) |
| Horseshoe Las Vegas | Center | $1,025 (C$1,424) | Paid | 7.9 (8,180) |
| Luxor | South | $1,056 (C$1,467) | Paid | 7.4 (22,988) |
| Flamingo | Center | $1,274 (C$1,770) | Paid · 1 room left | 7.8 (24,171) |
| Best Western Plus Casino Royale | Center | $1,391 (C$1,932) | Free · no resort fee | 8.0 (3,579) |
With fees included the ranking changed. Horseshoe (centre Strip, walkable to nearly everything in vegas_sights.md) is now $1,025 + parking — no longer the bargain it looked. Excalibur at $637 stays the cheapest sensible hotel (South Strip, free tram to the MGM cluster, 30,951 reviews). SAHARA at $934 has the best rating (8.4) and free self + valet parking, but sits north.
Skip Circus Circus and The STRAT despite the price — both sit at the far north end, where every evening ends in a rideshare. Note MGM/Caesars hotels also take a refundable deposit at check-in (e.g. Circus $200/room, STRAT $300/room).
Option B — one suite / apartment for all four
Whole unit, 2 bedrooms, kitchen. All-in totals, taxes and fees included.
| Property | Layout | All-in 3 nights | Rating | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Rose Resort | 1 bed + living room | $598 (C$831) | 9.0 (4,724) | NO RESORT FEE · free parking · by far the most reviewed |
| Wyndham Desert Rose 2BR Apartment | 2 bed · 2 bath · 79 m² | $630 (C$875) | 9.0 (59) | Free parking |
| GetAways at the Jockey Club | 1 bed + living room | $775 (C$1,076) | 9.1 (2,859) | NO RESORT FEE · free parking · centre Strip, next to Cosmopolitan |
| The Signature at MGM Grand — All Suites | Suite + balcony | $839 (C$1,166) | 8.5 (1,567) | Parking paid · non-smoking, no casino in the tower |
| 2 bed · 2 bath · 95 m² | — | 9.6 (29) | ❌ No availability Sep 30 – Oct 3 |
If the group would rather share one place — the way they have all trip — Wyndham Desert Rose 2BR at $630 all-in gives two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen for less than two rooms at any centre-Strip hotel. Desert Rose sits on Harmon Ave, a short walk east of the Strip. The Grand Desert villa dropped off — no availability for these dates any more.
The two 1-bedroom options (Desert Rose, Jockey Club) only work if one couple takes the living room — fine for three nights, worth agreeing in advance.
Not on Booking for these dates
Bellagio, Caesars Palace, The Venetian, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Park MGM and The LINQ did not return availability on Booking.com for Sep 30 – Oct 3. Other MGM/Caesars properties did (Excalibur, Luxor, Flamingo, Horseshoe), so this is an inventory quirk rather than a sold-out Strip — price those directly on mgmresorts.com and caesars.com before deciding.
Own search: Booking, Las Vegas Strip, 2 rooms, Sep 30 – Oct 3
Still to sort for this leg
- Day trips — the through-rental is available for Hoover Dam, Red Rock and Valley of Fire (see
vegas_sights.md). - Shows — Cirque residencies sell out; book before arrival.
- Oct 3–4 return drive — choose MS's overnight stop / endpoint and coordinate the Oct 4 SFO car return with the SFO → YVR flight.
All-in prices (taxes + resort fees) re-checked Aug 31, 2026 on Booking.com for Sep 30 – Oct 3 — parking fees at MGM/Caesars properties still excluded.