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Tags: Deals / Gay Vegas / MGM Mirage / Fabulous Vegas / Lady Gaga / → All Tags

MGM To Make Fabulous Las Vegas More Fabulous on August 12

We all know Las Vegas is fabulous. After all, it says so on the sign. But on August 12, Las Vegas will get an extra dose of fabu and it's only partly because Lady Gaga is coming to town.

MGM Resorts are rolling out the welcome mat for the LGBT crowd with My Fabulous Vegas, a deal-packed extravaganza offering guests special perks and insider access all weekend long ranging from special rates on the rooms to VIP entry at private parties, happy hours, show discounts, art tours, shopping trips and access to LOGO Lounge at Mandalay Bay. There's even a meet-up scheduled with the Las Vegas Human Rights Campaign so your weekend doesn't have to be all about partying, music and dancing.

What we think will be stand-out events from the weekend? A meet and greet with chef Susan Feniger at her restaurant Border Grill, a blackjack tournament hosted by the cast of Fantasy and Thunder from Down Under, a Cirque du Soleil cast party and the pre-parties and after parties for the Lady Gaga concert.

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Tags: Deals / Cheap Vegas / MGM Mirage / → All Tags

The Last But Probably Not Final Chance to Get Cheap Rooms in Vegas

The bed at Vdara

Room rates are still insanely cheap in Las Vegas as evidenced by Travelzoo's brand-new Vegas sale. This latest round has put almost all of the MGM Mirage Resorts on sale.

You could get cheap hotels like Circus Circus and Excalibur for even cheaper or you can splurge for rooms at Vdara and Aria. We especially like the Vdara deal for just $95 a night. There's a $15 resort fee on top of that but it includes internet access, fitness center access and valet parking. Weekends do bump up to about $160 but most of the week of July 25 you can get rooms there for $95.

Also looking good? The Mirage for just $78 and the Signature at MGM Grand for only $98 (remember these are suites with kitchenettes too.) However, you need to book now. The deal runs out July 12. But don't worry, we suspect there will be another sale soon.

Tags: Snapshot / Aria / MGM Mirage / → All Tags

Thinking About Excalibur? MGM Mirage Wants You to Try Aria Instead

Only the other day, we were perusing the website of our new BFF casino, Circus Circus, when we noticed a little something hanging off the corner of the screen like a hanging chad.

What was it? Why, an advert for Aria!

The hanging chad rolled out into a video ad and a link saying “your offer awaits”, which took us through to the main CityCenter website. When we asked to book a room at Aria, it took us through to the general reservations page, and its Grand Opening Special deal.

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Tags: MGM Mirage / Deals / Packages / Camp Vegas / Circus Circus / → All Tags

MGM Mirage's Summer Camp is Going to be Pricey

Holly Madison got all dolled up and this is the best you can do, MGM Mirage?

Remember the Camp Vegas launch at the end of April? Well, apart from the TV ads (starring our favorite sexy Vegas lady, Tala McDonnough), we haven’t really seen much evidence of camps on the ground.

Until we got an email through about MGM Mirage’s Camp Vegas promotions. Aria, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Luxor, the Mirage, Monte Carlo, Circus Circus and Excalibur are all offering Camp Vegas packages, although they greatly vary in their dealiness.

Camp Vegas at Aria, for example, costs from $149 and gives you $50 resort credit and an Aria cap and t-shirt – which, assuming you’re despo for the branded goods, is unlikely to entice you more than this. Likewise, the Bellagio’s starts at $174, and offers you an upgrade and an “Exclusive Invited Guest check-in” – nice enough, until you realize that a standard room costs $149 when it’s $174 on the package, and to buy your own upgrade would come in at $179. Not such a deal.

Luxor’s offering assumes you’ll spend your trip on the premises – giving you a pair of tickets to each of Believe, Bodies, Titanic, the Spa and LAX – but for $210 a night, we aint buying (if you are, though, use promo code PDCAMP).

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Tags: Resort Fees / MGM Grand / MGM Mirage / Aria / → All Tags

MGM Grand to Charge $10 Resort Fee, Will Aria Be Next?

Go here for VegasChatter's Resort Fee List.

It was inevitable. MGM Mirage could only go so long without charging a resort fee at its namesake property, the MGM Grand. But that time has come to an end. Dutiful Twitterer, @Rex_Imperator tells us the hotel will now charge a $10 resort fee, effective July 5.

That fee will include the following: complimentary internet (yay!), a $15 beverage credit (ok!), daily USA Today newspaper, local and toll-free numbered calls and limited business center services such as outgoing faxes, copies, notary, and boarding pass printing. Hmm...the only one we'd really use out of the biz center is the boarding pass printing but the internet is definitely a perk and even the beverage credit is nice. (Although we can always get free drinks on the casino floor.)

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Tags: Resort Fees / Westin Casuarina / MGM Mirage / Harrah's / Wynn / Encore / Survival Strategies / → All Tags

Hotel Resort Fees: A Disturbing and Annoying Upward Trend in Las Vegas

We were pleased to see that the M Resort has finally done away with the $25 resort fee. However, it's a different story over at MGM Mirage properties which either introduced new fees at properties or bumped them up.

In fact, resort fees are now common on the Strip thanks to MGM's bold move. So much so that Harrahs properties (Caesars Palace, Rio's, Paris) are trying to distinguish themselves from the rest by calling out "No Resort Fees!" under their hotel listings on Expedia.

So we figured it was time to update our resort fee list from last Summer. These resort fees listed are per night and do not include taxes. Yup, that's right. You gotta pay taxes on those fees.

Inherently, resort fees are rip-offs but the Vegas ones seem egregious like charging you for incoming faxes and local phone calls. Hello, when was the last time you needed to receive a fax in your hotel room? Also, you have a cell phone. You're not making local phone calls.

Some fees are tolerable, especially when they include internet and the use of the fitness center which a la carte would cost more than the resort fee. Yet while that's convenient for business travelers, folks coming to party on the weekends are still getting screwed.

Sigh. This is just another reminder that it's the casino's world and we're just living in it. If you're averse to paying resort fees, avoid these hotels below.

Our complete list of hotels with resort fee on The Strip in Las Vegas is after the jump.

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Tags: Deals / Packages / Airline Deals / Southwest Airlines / MGM Mirage / → All Tags

Southwest and MGM Mirage Will Give You Up to $200 Off Your Vegas Vacay

$200 off the Bellagio? Get in

We flew Southwest to Vegas from LAX last week and, apart from the weird boarding order, we loved it (bearing in mind we come from Europe where lowcost means a Pamplona-style race for seats and flight attendants who seem to think that smiles are a chargeable frill).

So we would definitely be up for this offer that Southwest Vacations have just announced. Book a three night or more flight and hotel package staying at any MGM Mirage property and you can save up to $200.

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Tags: MGM Mirage / Concierges / Technology / → All Tags

Another Reason To Always Carry Your Cellphone: MGM Grand Discounts

We’re all about services and amenities that make our life easier, especially if they help save us money. MGM Grand understands our needs and has launched its new Mobile Concierge program.

Here’s how it works: Book your reservation and a pre-arrival email will appear in the trusty inbox of your cell phone, iPhone or PDA. You’ll have the option to pick and choose what amenities and offers you receive information on, including discounts at MGM Grand’s restaurants, spa, Cristophe Salon, nightclubs, Tabú Ultra Lounge and Studio 54 and shows, KÀ and Crazy Horse Paris.

Redeeming the offers is simple – just present the text to an MGM Grand concierge or participating venue.

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Tags: Gift Cards / MGM Mirage / Do Not Do / Christmas / → All Tags

What Is the Point of the MGM Giftcard?

Do not click purchase...

UPDATE: Apparently, you can use your gift card to pay for your room at check-out. See this comment below.

Paying upfront is something we only understand if there’s a discount involved. Those 20 percent off Vegas.com giftcards currently being flogged by Costco? We totally get that. Non-refundable room rates for better deals? We’re in.

But we’re stumped as to why anyone would buy an MGM Mirage giftcard (they have individually named cards for all the MGM properties, but you can use them all over the network).

First up, they’re not redeemable on accommodation or gambling – only extras like restaurants, shops and spas across the MGM properties.

Second, they’re not discounted. They work at cost value. ‘Nuff said.

Third, according to the FAQ on the website, they come with an expiry date, and "upon this date, your card will expire and you will lose all right to the card funds". However, when we called the hotline to ask how long the cards lasted, we were told that this isn’t true, and that when the card “expires” (she didn't say when this would be), they’ll transfer the balance onto another. Hmm.

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Tags: Buffets / MGM Mirage / MGM Grand / Mandalay Bay / Excalibur / Luxor / → All Tags

More Than You Should Eat: MGM Mirage Hotels Offer All-Day Buffets

Loosen the belt buckles, people: there’s a new opportunity for buffet-lovers to get their money’s worth in Vegas. The latest: all-day meal passes from the buffets at a handful of MGM Mirage properties.

The new promotion, which targets visitors looking to save money on food, started earlier this month in the buffets at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, and Luxor. It continues indefinitely.

The deals differ at each property. Some of the specifics:

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Tags: Resort Fees / The Mirage / MGM Mirage / → All Tags

The Mirage To Charge a $15 Resort Fee Starting October 1st

These pretty rooms at The Mirage now cost $15 more (plus tax) to enjoy.

Resort fees are akin to checked baggage fees in the travel world but in Las Vegas resort fees aren't that prevalent. Sure, the Excalibur, The Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood and The Signature at MGM Grand have charged resort fees for quite some time, we were still shocked when we heard that The Mirage would begin charging a $15 resort fee per night, starting October 1st.

But it might not be all that bad. The resort fee includes admission for two to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, access to the Cardio Center, daily newspapers, two bottled waters delivered daily to your room, bathrobes in the room, complimentary printing of your boarding passes, unlimited local and toll-free calls and randomly, complimentary notary service at the Business Center. Also, the resort fee is taxed so expect it to be a touch higher than $15 each night.

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Tags: Deals / Hotel Rooms / MGM Mirage / Treasure Island / → All Tags

Vegas Wants To Raise the Room Rates

Could the year of killer deals in Las Vegas be coming to an abrupt end? The hotel and casino owners sure hope so. According to the Las Vegas Sun:

MGM Mirage executives said demand for the company’s hotel rooms is high enough to warrant an increase in room rates, which have plummeted during the downturn.

This would mean an increase in room rates as we head into summer which is traditionally a slower time in Vegas and when hotel deals are at their lowest. But MGM Mirage says they have improved their average occupancy rates enough in the past two months to warrant some price hikes. Uh-oh. No more $36 rooms at the Excalibur then?

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