This page is dedicated to the Bits & Pieces Las Vegas gathering June 1-3, 2012.
We can keep all the conversations here in one place rather than scattered all about B&P.
I’m thinking it will be hard to get everyone to stay at the same place because of different tastes and budgets. Some will be there before June 1st and some will stay after June 3rd. My plan is to be there from May 31 – June 5.
We’re looking into a meeting place but it might be difficult to find because our group probably won’t be that big. That can also be a plus as we can gather just about anywhere on fairly short notice. We can just drag some tables together and there we are.
People will have different tastes (and budgets) in the variety entertainment choices available. So I’m not sure how that will all work out. We’re definitely open to suggestions.
We also need to get an idea on how many people are planning to be there. So if you’re planning to go let us know in a comment and tell us how many people will be in your party.
Elvis invites you to the Las Vegas gathering.
My daughter and I will be there.
I will be there!
Does anyone have suggestions on where to stay? Jonco, where are you staying?
I need to start checking. It seems that every place I’ve stayed on recent trips they’ve imploded shortly after. I think the last place I stayed that’s still standing was the Riviera. It was decent and reasonable. I’ve stayed at MGM, New York New York, Ballys (when it was the first MGM, Stardust, Westward Ho, Mirage and maybe another that I can’t think of, but this has been over 30 years or so.
Try any of the hotels downtown,they are way cheaper than the strip and the golden nugget has a pool with a slide that goes through a shark tank
There are reasons that the Fremont area is cheap. You are far away from the Strip and crime is rampant off of Fremont Street.
Deborah, I remember Bella mentioned a place. I am also going to check it out.
http://bitsandpieces.us/2012/01/21/saturday-open-mic-3/#comments
Debs, We’re staying at Imperial Palace but apparently it has a real smokie smell, if I’m saying that right. We can not smoke in any public place here. Anyways, I don’t care. The other closest one that is in that price range is Harrahs and better ventilation with no smoke smell. I send Jonco some links of how I found out prices and he will probably show those soon. I will tell you guys to jump on this now as for hotel prices coz in the last 2 days, there apparently had been a new concert/event/whatever and the price went up $100 for our accommodation, but that was over a 13 night stay.
Lore, it will be a pleasure to meet you and your daughter. Sweet.
You’re so sweet Bella. I am looking forward to meeting you guys! It is going to be fun!
Looks like the kids are weaseling in on my wife and I’s weekend getaway so count us in for 6.
New name? “Fear and B&P in Las Vegas”. With apologies to Hunter S. Thompson (RIP).
I will be there. I’m looking forward to meeting you all! For good hotel prices, I usually check either Hotels.com or Kayak.com. Often, you can get excellent prices on a really good hotel. I have gotten rates as low as $30/night at the LV Hilton (of course this was Sunday through Thursday rates). Remember: If you are booking a hotel be aware of it’s location. Downtown is actually quite a distance from the Strip and in between lies a rough part of town. Some other nice hotels (such as Red Rock Station, the Suncoast, Texas Station, etc.) are as far as 15 miles from the strip (and through heavy traffic at that!). I will try to check with my friends who work in the industry to see if they can get us some decent packages.
Here are the links Bella was talking about:
Good sites for comparing hotel rates:
http://www.kayak.com
http://www.priceline.com
http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.caesars.com – I e-mailed and phoned these folks and they have awesome customer service. Very nice!
For discount show tickets when they get to Vegas:
http://www.tix4tonight.com
http://www.showtickets.com
and a discount coupon and 2 for 1 site:
http://www.groupon.com
These helped me out and maybe other people will have more sites that we can also check out.
I’ve also found the Las Vegas Advisor interesting.
Barb sends along this information:
Bella mentioned that she will be staying at the Imperial Palace. We stayed there a couple of times and found it clean and less expensive than most of the strip hotels. They do have no-smoking rooms (all restaurants in Vegas are also nonsmoking). They have a popular buffet as well as several other restaurants. Another advantage is that it is pretty much centrally located along the strip.
Their tower rooms are only an elevator ride away from the casino, restaurants, shows, exhibits, etc. Their “manor” (read motel) rooms may be a little less expensive but are a good hike from everything and I wouldn’t recommend them.
Actually we’re looking to see if we can get a suite there thinking it would give us a less expensive space for the group to get together. Separate meeting rooms for this sort of thing are really expensive.
You will find Imperial Palace and Circus Circus to be the least expensive places on the strip. Circus Circus is on the outer edge of the strip and really isn’t as nice. I think you’ll find most of the strip hotels would offer what you’re looking for and fly-stay packages may bring the prices way down. I would caution you against the very cheap places, even though they may advertise “just off the strip.” We stayed in one and could not wait to get out!
While all the strip properties have free parking, you may not need a car. The airport shuttles to any of the strip locations are $8 to $10 per person and for $7 you can get an unlimited-ride pass for the tour bus that runs up & down the strip and to Downtown 24 hr. a day. ($20 for a 3-day pass).
The above was in response to a query specifically about the strip. The Downtown hotels are older (they don’t implode these – they renovate them.) They tend to be less expensive (except the Golden Nugget.) But as (Another) Scott said, it’s a long way from the center of the strip. It’s something to see if you have time but you don’t want to spend all the time you have getting back & forth.
A word of caution about hotwire.com. They show some great rates but they do not tell you which property you are selecting until you commit to the deal. The star ratings do not guarantee a decent place anywhere near where you want to be. For any of these sites be sure you can pick your hotel by name.
There is a good map in “Where” magazine that shows all the hotels on the strip as well as those Downtown. You can see it online (3 pages from the back of the magazine.)
http://www.wheretraveler.com/classic/us/nv/las-vegas/where_archive/Where_Magazine/2012_01/HTML/Pair.html?-1:65
Man I can’t wait,I live in vegas so I could be a kind of tour guide….unless you want the strip,me and mine do not go anywhere close to the strip.I hope you bring your it is hot as hell clothes and deoderant!
I, for one, like the strip. Doesn’t mean I want to be there all the time though. Sure, it’s hot in Vegas, but you don’t have the humidity. Our 95 seems worse (to me) than your 105. Neither is a lot of fun to be in for hours though.
My reservations are made. Arriving Thursday, May 31st, staying at the Imperial Palace and returning home on Tuesday, June 5th.
Yippee! It’s going to be a blast and we’re gonna have fun. I love to laugh so I’m saving up.
I forgot to mention that my husband and I will be there.
Things took a turn for me and now I’m not sure how I am going to do this. We may just go for the day and come back home. If we leave early enough we’ll have time to spend the day out there. It’ll take us about 5 hours to get there. I am just trying to pick what day to go.
Give us a little time to figure this out Lore and we’ll let you know the plan. It’s all just coming together now. I hope everything is Ok with you and your daughter.
Sounds good.
Bella, we are fine. Some things came up and now I have to be a bit tighter with my money.
And that happens with all of us, but we help each other out. We’ll work it out Lore. We’ve got a bit of time until Vegas. I don’t like the idea of you and your daughter traveling 5 hrs. each way, THAT’S 10 HOURS road time. Maybe we can bunk up (that’s what we call it here) or figure out something. And Deej and Infi, I’m talking to you. Let’s work it out. WE can make it happen.
I’m locked and loaded 100%. Booked for Vegas Baby. May 23rd to June 5. Let’s us have a little fun?
Oh, did I tell you today that I Love You? Well, I DO.
I’m totally feeling the love!!! Thanks Bella! Love you back!
It is some time from now so I think that we’ll make it. I am so use to driving that 5 hours is nothing. I love driving and am looking forward to it.
Jonco, I live in Vegas and will be attending. My suggestion for a meeting place for the bbq would be sunset park. http://www.clarkcountynv.gov › Clark County › Departments. Please feel free to contact me if there is anything I can do to help. I’ve been a fan of your site for years, and feel its the least I can do.
I just booked my room at the Imperial Palace!!!
YAY Deb!
I so wish I could go. I have been reading this blog since I lived there but I don’t anymore.
I miss it.
WoW, I just read this. Yippeee Debs. We all gonna be together. I loves you!
I wish you could come too Cindi. Come on everybody, let’s go have some fun!!! We’ll make it a good time.
I’ll have to warn you that I’ll cry with every person I meet. Yup, that’s just me. You mean so much to me, all y’all, that I’ll just end up being a big crybaby. But they will be happy tears.
Hi Jonco,
Sorry I wasnt able to contribute more to the cause. Im just glad you decided to come to Lost Wages for the BBQ. I will hook up with you and all our fellow brother and sisters when a place is picked out. Should everyone chip in for a room for the meet and greet? Looking forward to meeting you.
If you’re going to be in Las Vegas for the gathering and you want a B&P T-shirt, I need to know the size by this weekend. I’ll be ordering the shirts on Monday morning (May 7).
I should be receiving the Las Vegas T-shirts tomorrow. I was beginning to worry about whether they were going to be here in time. But I got the UPS notice today that they’re on the way.