Shaving costs for SND Vegas

It’s been a very tough summer for U.S. journalists. The latest wave of layoffs and buyouts at American newspapers has been stunning for the sheer numbers swept up in the industry’s latest retrenchment. It’s never been more important to learn new skills or network with your peers — and SND Vegas is the best place to do it.

This year, we have more sessions than any of our previous 29 Workshops and we’re working to increase the value of your registration dollar — it’s truly one of the best training bargains out there. We realize this is a significant investment and money is hard to come by whether its coming from your employer or out of your own pocket. We’ll use this space to share our tips to manage costs and share tips from the Vegas veterans among you.

The Workshop hotel

Between the time we signed a contract for Red Rock and the time of the Workshop, the Vegas economy took a dip with everyone else. Rates in the hotels dipped as well.

So our rate of $179.99 per night might seem a little steep. But it’s comparable to a few Strip hotels like the MGM Grand and Caesars Palace and Red Rock is every bit as nice, if not nicer. Our rate is a fair amount cheaper than nights in familiar hotels like the Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Mandalay Bay, The Bellagio, Paris, and The Venetian. That leaves a lot of bargains to choose from.

But before you book your room at the Flamingo, here are a couple of things to consider:

• The Workshop hotel is about 13 miles from the Strip. We purposely booked off the Strip so we could focus on the program and network more effectively rather than be swallowed up by Las Vegas Boulevard. We also have the chance to mingle and meet top editors from our papers. All of that will be easier from the conference hotel.
• The meeting rooms will be just a few steps away from your room. To stay on the Strip, you’d need to rent a car to come back and forth at your convenience. But you’d have to pay rental car and gas costs or get a taxi (about $45 each way). While parking is free virtually everywhere (one of our city’s better qualities), the commute time from the meeting space at Red Rock to your Strip hotel room will be 45 minutes each way depending on how crazy the Strip is. We start about 8:30-9 a.m. each day and go as late as 11 p.m. - 1 a.m. each evening. Finding an hour-and-a-half each day for commuting will be tough.

Roommate finder

The quickest way to reduce costs is to split one of those beautiful Red Rock rooms. They’re spacious and comfortable and easily shared. Some of you may have friends coming and can arrange to share on your own. For those that don’t have someone they can easily share with, we’ve setup this Google Docs Spreadsheet for anyone looking for an SND roommate. Just add your name or e-mail someone who has already posted. It’s completely editable (think Wiki meets spreadsheet) — so you’re free to edit details or remove yourself whenever.

Transportation

While a Strip room may be cheaper each night, you’ll have to add the costs for a rental car and gas. Rental car prices are mostly reasonable (though the taxes and airport fees are steep additions) and gas is only slightly higher than the national average.

But you can save ground transportation costs in Vegas pretty much altogether. If you stay at Red Rock, you can take advantage of complimentary shuttle service between the hotel and airport, plus service to/from The Strip. Right now the shuttle runs every two hours and doesn’t go late enough into the evening. Before you arrive you’ll have a chance to fill in an electronic form for your anticipated arrival and departure times. We’re collecting this information to get the hotel to increase shuttle service during high demand arrival and departure times.

The current Red Rock shuttle schedule can be found by clicking the link halfway down this page.

FOOD

We’ll host several food and beverage opportunities throughout the Workshop — more than usual, thanks to an additional reception by the Freedom Forum on Tuesday night. There will be appetizers at the opening party, a breakfast buffet Monday morning, dinner Monday evening, a continental breakfast Tuesday morning and the evening reception on Tuesday.

When you do have to dine on your own, you’ll find a huge range of options right in the casino. While Red Rock has some high-end restaurants (T-Bones, for example), there’s also specials at the 24-hour diner (The Grand Cafe) and in the deli off the sports book. There’s the reasonably-priced Salt Lick BBQ (yes, the Texas chain). And for those on the tightest budgets, the food court hosts Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop (a favorite of the SND Vegas staff), a 24-hour Fatburger, Panda Express, Villa Pizza, Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Rubio’s, and Tropical Smoothie Café. Plus, there’s always the buffet!

ALTERNATE HOTELS

If you really just need to find something cheaper — and you might now that the hotel cut-off has passed (a Saturday night room at Red Rock is going for $700 per night) — let us offer some suggestions:

• In the $30-40 a night cheaper range we recommend New York, New York or Treasure Island on the Strip or The Palms just off the Strip.
• In the $50-70 a night cheaper range we recommend the Monte Carlo on the Strip or the Rio just off the Strip.
• For the cheapest per night rate, look into downtown’s Vegas Club. We have at least one attendee staying there. The Golden Nugget downtown is a nice step up at just over double the price (but still a bargain).
• For the nearest alternative (just under three miles), check out the Suncoast. The only hotel closer is the J.W. Marriott at the Rampart Casino. But it’s more expensive than the Red Rock. The Suncoast is considerably less.

Also, over at robbmontgomery.com, Robb has scouted out some package deals here.

Share your tips!

Feel free to add a comment to this post if you have any extra cost saving tips for your Workshop colleagues.