US help.

[anytime]

What kind of cheapass place are you staying for ninety bucks a night?

Anyway, look, they probably won't do anything to stop you, but if the check-in desk clerk is having a rough one they might say "look, here's the deal, you have to pay extra".

Bally’s Las Vegas. Is it a bad hotel?

 

[Shiny Things]

Day 9 LV (12/4/2020)[/U][/B]
Drive to LV

Day 10 LV (13/4/2020)
Las Vegas Premium outlet Malls
Shows/Musicals

Day 11 Arizona (14/4/2020)
Antelope and Horseshoe Bend
Stay over night at Arizona

Day 12 LV (15/4/2020)
Grand Canyon
Back to Las Vegas
[

I think this is where you're going to run into a bit of trouble. LA -> Vegas -> Page -> Grand Canyon Village -> Vegas is a lot of driving! It's basically (give or take a couple hours) like driving from Singapore to Bangkok.

I'd do less time in LA (it's not that great, really), maybe one extra day in Vegas, and chop out Page (where Antelope Canyon is). That way you'll still see a bunch of great things, but you'll be doing a lot less driving and you'll be able to enjoy it a lot more.

Lastly, would love to hear your recommendations and experiences of hotels in SF,LA and LV.

Thank you and have a great week ahead!

Whenever someone asks this question, I always ask "what's your dates, and what's your budget?". Hotel prices in SF and Vegas especially will swing around wildly based on whether there's a convention in town hoovering up all the hotel rooms; and people have different tastes! I don't know whether you're a Holiday Inn Express kind of person or a St. Regis person.

For your dates in Vegas, at least, you're in luck because they're stupidly cheap right now. I can get the Mandalay Bay for April 12-14 for sixty bucks a night, which is just hilariously cheap; if you want to be closer to the middle of the strip, and/or you're a Starriott loyalist, the Cosmopolitan is $140/night for those dates. (Pro tip: the Cosmo is the right choice. Try breakfast at Eggslut, but get there early.)

That's going to go against your rooms in San Francisco, though. For April 4-7 there must be a something on in town, because my usual cheapo go-to, the Park Central, is nearly four hundred bucks a night. Even the janky-ass Holiday Inn out on Van Ness is four hundred a night, you'll need to go all the way out to the airport hotels to get anything reasonable under two hundred bucks a night.

 

[Shiny Things]

Bally’s Las Vegas. Is it a bad hotel?

Nah, they're fine. Nothing special for Vegas, but they're not bad (you can check out Tripadvisor, they're trustworthy).

Since it's in Vegas, sometimes you can slip a twenty to the front desk clerk while you're checking in and they'll swing you an upgrade. No promises but it can't hurt. (This only works in Vegas.)

 

[Pseudomonas]

Really appreciate the detailed reply!

Yes, that’s unfortunately a long drive as we will be taking our pre wedding photographs at the Antelope Canyons. Perhaps, we will drop a day in LA and that gives us more time in LV and breaks between travelling.

Ahhh, heard about Eggslut. Definitely dining in there! Cosmo looks great all round, would you consider Venetian too? (Both priced similarly)
In addition, do you have any recommendations for things to do, with the additional day in LV? (apart from the Casinos)

We were looking at either Fairmont or Marriott Union Square for our stay in San Francisco. Location wise I think Marriott has an upper hand.
As for Los Angeles, we are looking for one at Hollywood.
(No particular preference for loyalty programme as I’m at the lowest tier for both Accor and Marriott membership)

Lastly, when would you say would be the best time to start booking these hotels?

Thank you very much for your help!!!

I think this is where you're going to run into a bit of trouble. LA -> Vegas -> Page -> Grand Canyon Village -> Vegas is a lot of driving! It's basically (give or take a couple hours) like driving from Singapore to Bangkok.

I'd do less time in LA (it's not that great, really), maybe one extra day in Vegas, and chop out Page (where Antelope Canyon is). That way you'll still see a bunch of great things, but you'll be doing a lot less driving and you'll be able to enjoy it a lot more.



Whenever someone asks this question, I always ask "what's your dates, and what's your budget?". Hotel prices in SF and Vegas especially will swing around wildly based on whether there's a convention in town hoovering up all the hotel rooms; and people have different tastes! I don't know whether you're a Holiday Inn Express kind of person or a St. Regis person.

For your dates in Vegas, at least, you're in luck because they're stupidly cheap right now. I can get the Mandalay Bay for April 12-14 for sixty bucks a night, which is just hilariously cheap; if you want to be closer to the middle of the strip, and/or you're a Starriott loyalist, the Cosmopolitan is $140/night for those dates. (Pro tip: the Cosmo is the right choice. Try breakfast at Eggslut, but get there early.)

That's going to go against your rooms in San Francisco, though. For April 4-7 there must be a something on in town, because my usual cheapo go-to, the Park Central, is nearly four hundred bucks a night. Even the janky-ass Holiday Inn out on Van Ness is four hundred a night, you'll need to go all the way out to the airport hotels to get anything reasonable under two hundred bucks a night.

 

[patryn33]

I stay with cosmopolitan every July for the last few yrs. eggslult and buffet ok.
I like Mesa grill

 

[apple isle]

Hi Experts!
The hotel prices at San Francisco are very expensive for my dates (12-14 May 2020) for my group of 5 adults. Might be considering Airbnb for now. Any areas to recommend? Preferably close to public transport, shopping and cafes. Thanks!

 

[fzhfzh]

Hi Experts!
The hotel prices at San Francisco are very expensive for my dates (12-14 May 2020) for my group of 5 adults. Might be considering Airbnb for now. Any areas to recommend? Preferably close to public transport, shopping and cafes. Thanks!

Consider hotels in south sf airport area, generally cheaper, and commute into city is quite convenient.

 

[Rxgn]

For hoover dam, i will drive from vegas and stop on the way to GC.

is there a proper place to park car and explore the dam by foot?

Sent from Samsung SM-A705MN using GAGT

 

[liteScribble]

i won't recommend spending so many days in miami beach areas though unless you are partying everyday.
Spend sometime in downtown area like brickell or the up and if you want it to be cheap and try coconut grove area. But there is no cheap accom for miami during march season tho...

I would suggest to spend some time and drive towards key west as suggested by shiny things too.

p.s i do hope that you know some spanish cause they mostly speak spanish in miami.

Haha. Basic Spanish for 2 years. Hopefully that'll work.

 

[hawkwind]

For hoover dam, i will drive from vegas and stop on the way to GC.

is there a proper place to park car and explore the dam by foot?

Sent from Samsung SM-A705MN using GAGT

There is a multi storey carpark at the dam. You can park and walk along the dam. There is also an open area after you exit the dam on the south to the left up the hill where you can take some photos.

 

[anytime]

Hi Experts!
The hotel prices at San Francisco are very expensive for my dates (12-14 May 2020) for my group of 5 adults. Might be considering Airbnb for now. Any areas to recommend? Preferably close to public transport, shopping and cafes. Thanks!

I booked grand hyatt SF at union square for my November’s trip

 

[addats]

Renting direct is more expensive.

I always book from uscarhire.com. After you get the conformation, you can go to Alamo website to check the booking.

Hi all,

Thanks for giving your valuable advices. Will be zooming into Hertz, Avis & National then. Anybody tried Alamo? It seems to have quite good reviews too.
By the way, rent directly will be cheaper or any better platform to rent?

 

[Shiny Things]

Hi Experts!
The hotel prices at San Francisco are very expensive for my dates (12-14 May 2020) for my group of 5 adults. Might be considering Airbnb for now. Any areas to recommend? Preferably close to public transport, shopping and cafes. Thanks!

Duboce Triangle, the Castro, and Cole Valley are all good picks for AirBNB. They're right near the Muni subway, very nice suburbs, and plenty of cool places to eat and things to see.

I generally prefer hotels/motels to AirBNB, though, so maybe have a sniff down around South San Francisco or the airport? There's plenty of places down there, and they should be reasonably priced.

 

[ashketchum]

Anyone has experience on which part of NYC is the best to stay in? In terms of accessibility and price. I'm a solo traveller and was looking at some Airbnb in Queens or Brooklyn...

 

[faithgurl]

Renting direct is more expensive.

I always book from uscarhire.com. After you get the conformation, you can go to Alamo website to check the booking.

I have tried searching using uscarhire.com but it seems to be more expensive compared to renting directly. Am i missing out something?

 

[Rxgn]

Hello everyone!

Would appreciate your input and advice for the itinerary planned for my trip to West Coast next April

We will be taking Lyft/Uber for our travels in SF and renting a car for our trip down to LA/LV.

Lastly, would love to hear your recommendations and experiences of hotels in SF,LA and LV.

Thank you and have a great week ahead!

IM doing something similar like you somewhere march 2020 with 12nights.. think a bit tight..

should i forgo san fran and land LAX directly?

spend a few nights then travel to LV
spend a few nights then travel GC
spend a few nights then travel back to LV
(either take domestic flight back to LA [1h $50] or drive back [4h])

 

[Shiny Things]

IM doing something similar like you somewhere march 2020 with 12nights.. think a bit tight..

should i forgo san fran and land LAX directly?

spend a few nights then travel to LV
spend a few nights then travel GC
spend a few nights then travel back to LV
(either take domestic flight back to LA [1h $50] or drive back [4h])

You don't need "a few nights" in Vegas or the Grand Canyon. Two nights in Vegas is plenty, and two nights is enough to cover Grand Canyon Village and Antelope Canyon (which is all you really care about, unless you're super outdoorsy).

 

[Prof Goh]

Anyone has experience on which part of NYC is the best to stay in? In terms of accessibility and price. I'm a solo traveller and was looking at some Airbnb in Queens or Brooklyn...

first time in nyc? what's your budget?

i'd recommend staying at manhattan as it's more happening there. i stayed in an airbnb in Brooklyn once, kinda takes a while to get to manhattan so do consider the travelling time!

 

[orionmiz]

Hi, would want to ask some questions regarding Miami.

How safe is Miami (especially on mugging)? Ok for solo traveller to travel there? Any places that I should avoid?

Also, is it easy to travel around just by public transport?

Was thinking about participating a running race event there next year.

 

[Avizoa]

Hi, would want to ask some questions regarding Miami.

How safe is Miami (especially on mugging)? Ok for solo traveller to travel there? Any places that I should avoid?

Also, is it easy to travel around just by public transport?

Was thinking about participating a running race event there next year.

erm no where is safe in the world. Just apply the usual precaution.

you can head every where in miami except Halieah.

Miami downtown have the free metromover which you can take to some of the sights. Everything other than that I suggest taking uber.
Of course there is no metro mover that goes to south beach.