Lee, new york new york and mgm grand are on the same intersection ... both have cheaper rooms and a variety of restaurants. personally i think mandalay is a better location because there are more hotels within walking distance which are varied pricing. The venetian only has treasure island, and even though its 'just across the road' its a fucking long distance to walk!
I should clarify ... Mandalay is better for webmasters, not for AVN. I think they finally made the key fuck up that will lose them webmasters and earn them a bigger audience for their video show. If webmasters don't *have to* stay in the hotel that the event is in, AVN aren't going to be given the same incentives as normal and this is what they rely on.
If I ever attend a show again, I'll be staying in a different hotel to the convention, having private parties that have nothing to do with avn and using someone else's ticket to get onto the show floor
Fuck 'em. All they are trying to do is take the industry mainstream and place themselves as the monopoly leaders ... fuck that, we can do that ourselves.