Early early early Vegas Check-in

January 23, 2007 7:11 PM

(Really really) early check-in at Vegas hotels/casinos-- anyone have any luck? We're getting in late Friday night Super Bowl weekend(midnightish) and are planning on gambling then crashing at 8am/9am. Any places let us in there without paying for Friday night stay? I'd rather not waste money on a far from strip place and stay in something sort of central.

Related question... any tips on doing Vegas, Super Bowl style?

posted by sandmanwv to Travel & Transportation around Las Vegas, NV (9 answers total)

If you want to see the game in the books, get there *really* early. I'd recommend the MGM Grand or the Mirage as good places to watch the game, but I can't possibly over stress how much you want to get there early.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 7:23 PM on January 23, 2007

If you don't have reservations you're going to wish you did. I'm sure that most of the big hotels are fully reserved for that weekend already.

I just checked the one for the Luxor and they said that there's a minimum 2-night stay for that weekend.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:24 PM on January 23, 2007

Not going to happen on an event weekend. Or any weekend really. Rolling in at 8am isn't that unusual in Vegas. Some hotels might offer a day rate usually 1/2 of the night rate to carry you to check-in time. But on event weekends, there might be mandatory minimums nights.
posted by birdherder at 8:41 PM on January 23, 2007

The earliest check-in we've ever had was 10:30 a.m. at the Paris. That was on a Friday morning. On a busy weekend like Superbowl, you may have difficulty but it always pays to be nice and have a good smile. Good luck.
posted by maniactown at 8:56 PM on January 23, 2007

I deleted a line by accident in my post above, making it semi-incoherent. (This is a change?)

The big hotels all have web-based reservation systems which you can use to reserve a room and/or check for vacancies. I checked the one for the Luxor and it said there was a two-night minimum for that weekend.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:55 PM on January 23, 2007

You may have better luck on the "old" strip. Try places like The Plaza and other Fremont Street hotels. In my opinion, these places, though old, are far classier (and much less expensive) than the new theme hotels and meat-market bars.
posted by Brittanie at 12:51 AM on January 24, 2007

Best answer: Brittanie's thought is a good one...IMO, the best place downtown is the newly renovated Golden Nugget. My gambling pals and I used to hit the downtown casinos late night (Binions, the Nugget, Four Queens) for the people watching and the cheap minimums at the tables. We wandered into the Nugget late last fall and were shocked at how the place had been spruced up. The pool area has a cool South Beachy kind of feel and the gaming floor is a huge upgrade from the old space. I chatted with a couple of guests who basically said that the hotel offered Strip quality rooms and service at downtown prices. The whole downtown area is still a little sketchy but I never really feel unsafe there. Unless you plan to do all of your dining and gambling in the hotel where you stay, you are going to be in cabs all the time anyway...even on the Strip. In any case, probably too late even for the Nugget on Super Bowl weekend...Good luck!
posted by cyclopz at 6:16 AM on January 24, 2007

Coincidentally, I was able to book a room at the Paris 9am Superbowl Sunday 2004. We didn't even have reservations so I guess it wasn't really a "early check in".

Be prepared though. We partied all night but when it came to the actual SuperBowl we passed out just after half time and missed the rest of the game :-)
posted by sideshow at 1:30 PM on January 24, 2007

I can't help you with the hotel, but I was in Vegas for last year's Superbowl. We heard good things about the sports bars at Caesar's Palace, so we went over three hours or so before the game started so we could snag some seats. Turns out people had already snagged all the seats by 9 AM, and they'd been drinking since then, too. Fun! We never did find a place to get comfortable; we ended up wandering from sportsbook to sportsbook, peoplewatching.

If you're planning to sit and watch the game, pick your sports bar the night before, and set your alarm clock to be there as early as you can the morning of.
posted by liet at 10:21 PM on January 24, 2007