The Algorithm.

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I use what I call the "algorithm" to decide where to stay in Vegas.

The algorithm consists of several factors, more or less evenly weighted.

Resort: Do I want to stay in this place from an amenity and poshness standpoint. Is there enough food/bev/VP onsite to make this the place I want to start and end my day every day. Do I like the vibe? Have I stayed here in the past and enjoyed myself? Am I going to have "fun" here over the course of 5 days, relatively speaking? 

Room: Standard room for full comp or suite for $300/night? Strip view for $50 more a night? Is this an "occasion" trip like a birthday, and therefore I want to go baller, or just a run of the mill June trip where I can save some $$ on the room. Also, is this a resort or room I want to tick off my "been there" list?

Location: Where on the strip is this, relative to dead center strip, i.e. Bellagio. Am I going to have to cab or walk a lot to get here on a daily basis, and what's my threshold for that on this trip? (Sometimes I WANT to be more isolated and away from a busier week on strip). Or if I'm there for a show is the resort close to that.

Rewards Package: This one's pretty simple, what kind of nights comped/resort credit/no resort fees/freeplay package is the resort offering? In almost all cases in the last 5 years or so this has been MGM resorts, but FB and RW are starting to sneak in there.

So you mix all those up with a little low-fat milk in my blender of a head, and out comes the ALGORITHM smoothie. It's not a perfect science. In a lot of cases, it comes down to price vs. posh, simply. If, like on my upcoming trip, I will need to be keeping things in line on cost, then a standard room with no view is fine. If I have more spend available, usually a Xmas or birthday trip, then a suite at the Encore with a strip view might be in order.

The upcoming SeptemberVegas, for example. This is a bog standard trip, no special occasion, nothing going on in town. I'm not celebrating anything and as usual, am not going with anyone so no need to "show off". So the algorithm was simple. I'm getting fantastic rates, some FP/RC in the package, and no resort fees to stay at MGM Grand in a standard, no frills room. It is newly renovated, which matters; a year ago I wouldn't have selected the old ass rooms there.

I like the Grand. It's fine, upper midrange in the MGM pantheon, easy to get to from the airport and always taxis waiting to get around town. Plent of food/bev, lots of places to play VP, and I've had a little luck there before. It also has the Monorail that can help keep transportation costs down during the trip.

I wouldn't do Excalibur or Luxor or Park, because they are dumps. And while I could spend more and stay at a standard room at Aria or Bellagio or Cosmo, it would be hundreds more on my overhead for not that much room/resort quality gain. The other possibility was NYNY which would be fine and at about the same cost, but I haven't stayed at the renovated Grand rooms, so in the end that was the decider. 

I'm also not married to one resort like some people are, I want to spread myself around and see all the strip has to offer. Those people who go 5 times a year and always stay at the Venetian, ugh so boring and limiting. Let's see the new, like Fontainebleau, and the old, like Bellagio, every once in a while and take it all in.

So there you go. Why I stay where I stay, and how everyone should decide where to stay in Vegas.




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