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THE WEDDING HOTELS AND INFO MISC and RSVP |
the stardust! At Christmas, 2001, Bill, Jessica and I drove to California to visit with his Dad, also named Bill. After two full days of driving, we pulled into Las Vegas at about 1:00am. You could see the glow from the Luxor Hotel 'spotlight' from about 50 miles away, it is so bright. We had planned to stay at an EconoLodge or something similar since keeping costs down was our main objective for that trip. We stopped and asked the Econo what the rate was, and they replied $68.00 (USD of course) for the night. We decided to look around for a bit for something cheaper, although we didn't really expect to find it. Even though it was extremely late, we were all on a bit of a high from just being there, so we decided to cruise the strip for a bit and check out the sites. Seeing Vegas for the first time leaves you awestruck. When we were driving up and down Las Vegas Blvd I don't really think I was absorbing anything, I was just staring at as much as I could. There is certainly no shortage of sights. A ways down the strip, we spotted this HUGE sign that read $39.95 per night, 2 free meals included. Needless to say it was the massive Stardust Hotel sign that we were reading. Having worked in the Hotel industry, we both figured that was their Sun - Thursday rate, and since it was a Saturday, we expected it to be alot more. Bill ran in to check out the prices though while Jess and I sat excitedly in the car, staring at the palm trees, which if you know me, you know that is just about my favorite thing in the world. A few minutes later, Bill came sauntering out of the hotel carrying something with a very smug look on his face. The offer was real, it applied to that night, and we were booked in. Absolutely ecstatic, we parked the car and I took my first step into a Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. We ended up staying awake longer than I care to admit on this site. Bill played a bit of blackjack, and I played the slots. Never having been much of a gambler, plus not having alot of money on that trip, I was playing very conservatively. I made $20.00 last for about 3 hours, and at the end of it I was up $140.00. Needless to say that more than covered our hotel room, meals, and allowed us to get some souvineers. The next day we went for a very late, sleepy lunch which was covered by our free coupons, and headed out to California for two weeks to spend Christmas and New Years Eve with Bill's Dad. The Stardust allowed us to stay in one of the large hotels, have an excellent stay for not alot of money, and provided us with quite a few good stories to tell. Boxing Day 2002 It was about a week before Christmas, and Bill and I were reminiscing about our previous year's trip to Las Vegas, and wishing we could be there again for the holiday's this year. We jokingly started to look up flight prices and hotel prices on the internet, which led to me calling my best friend Juanita and her husband Lyle, which led the four of us booking flights and hotels, all within two days of planning. I am sure by this time I don't have to tell you which hotel we stayed at. We did call around to see if there were any deals that were comparable anywhere else, but the Stardust was the best yet again. Our flight was $280.00 per person, all taxes included. The hotel was $39.99 for the Thursday, and $59.00 for Friday and Saturday each, as we were there during their prime time instead of just missing it like we did last year. However that is still an exceptional deal considering a lot of the other hotels start at $200 and up for a night during their prime time. It is arguable that the Stardust doesn't have as many exciting features as the newer, fancier hotels, however you can go visit the others anytime as everything is within a fairly decent walking distance. I think Juanita and Lyle covered almost the whole strip in one night, popping into as many different hotels as they could. Bill's dad also came out to visit us on this trip, so on the Friday night we drove down to Freemont Street to go to Binion's Horseshoe Casino, which if you follow poker, you will know that it is where they hold the World Series of Poker every year. Being big poker players ourselves, that was pretty exciting, although we stuck to the slots and blackjack yet again. I am personally not as impressed by Freemont Street (downtown) as I am with the strip, but I have to admit that the outdoor street with the lighted canopy is one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. On Saturday we stayed at the Stardust and played Blackjack again, and on Sunday Bill and I did a whirlwind tour of as many Hotels and Casinos as we could get to in 2 hours. See the links for the pictures we took on this trip. We would have seen more, except the Casinos are designed to keep you in. Bill and I tried to get out of Caesar's Palace for about 45 minutes! So as I am sure you can tell, The Stardust Hotel has been a big part of Bill's and my trips to Vegas, and is kind of a home away from home for us there. This is why we have decided to book the block of rooms there, and although everyone is free to stay wherever they choose, we do highly recommend it. At this stage, we don't know what the prices are yet, but will keep this site updated with any new information we find out. Joanne PS - if you want info about the Stardust, go to: (yes, I borrowed their wallpaper!)
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