The Days Off – Travel Guide

I checked around the hotels for CES 2010 (International Consumer Electronics Show)  and it looks like the prices are coming down. I’m going to focus on hotel prices under $100 per night in this guide, as there are many hotels in the $100+ range.

Where to get good deals on hotels for CES?

The easiest place to look is on the CES website itself. They include most resort fees that would typically get charged extra.  Circus Circus seems to have the best deal on the strip right now at $50-92 per night for tower rooms. I would avoid the Circus Manor rooms at all costs as the tower rooms are much nicer.

Excalibur widescreen rooms (recently remodeled) are in the $66-$96 range, which has the nicest rooms for under $100.

If you are on a real budget, you can stay in downtown Las Vegas for around $60 per night. I find its a hassle staying that far away from the convention center though.

Early bird rates end on November 30th (today) FYI. A nice thing about the official CES hotels is that there is a shuttle that will pick you up to/from your hotel. Parking at CES is expensive, so its best to use the shuttle.  The monorail is another option, but can be pricey at $5 each way.

Official CES Hotel List:
http://www.cesweb.org/hotelTravel/hotel.asp

If you use Expedia, check to see if you have coupons in your account. I booked a hotel last month using Expedia and they added a $50 coupon for a 2+ night stay, which is a great deal. Priceline is another option if you want to get the lowest rates available.

Popularity: 16%

Special thanks to Jessica Berlin/Cirque du Soleil during Blogworld 2009 for providing free tickets to review the show.

That being said, Love was an amazing show. The acrobatics was spectacular and the visuals in the show are amazing. I liked how they tied together 130 songs to make 26 music pieces. The transitions between the pieces are great, making it almost seamless. I’m glad they didn’t just put all the best Beatles songs in the show and made it a “Greatest Hits” album. They used only a few of the upbeat Beatles songs and many from the later stages of their career. I enjoyed the part with “A Day in the Life” — one of my favorite Beatles songs.

The theater for the show is amazing, with basically a 360 degree view of the stage. Its been said to have cost $100 million to build. Visual effects in the show were stunning, with huge video screens to give a nice atmosphere to what was going on the stage. The sound in the theater was excellent, vocals were clear especially in such a large theater. Its like surround sound with Beatles music! Each seat has their own speakers in the headrests, which is cool.

Compared to other Cirque du Soleil shows, this one has a unique feel with its interpretive dancing. There is a lot less acrobatics, but there are some amazing stunts including rollerblading! This show doesn’t have early entertainment like the other ones, so don’t rush in too early. ”O” or “Ka” will offer more of the traditional acrobatics while “Love” has a unique vibe that can’t be compared with any other show. Definitely go if you are a Beatles fan or are looking for a different type of show experience.

Popularity: 59%