Where to stay in Las Vegas?

[burchybabi]

Going to Vegas in a couple of weeks, had a hotel booked but thinking about changing it as going by reviews etc its seems a bit of a hole! We have Imperial Palace booked at the minute, basically for the price, location on the strip. I was just wondeirng if any of you fine people had any suggestions of where to stay on a budget (not exactly sure how much yet)

[Retro Red]

Going to Vegas in a couple of weeks, had a hotel booked but thinking about changing it as going by reviews etc its seems a bit of a hole! We have Imperial Palace booked at the minute, basically for the price, location on the strip. I was just wondeirng if any of you fine people had any suggestions of where to stay on a budget (not exactly sure how much yet)

 

We stayed at the Luxor at the end of 2008, it was decently priced and a great hotel. Being right at the top of the strip too it makes a good starting point, and is never as busy as the rest of it.

[Frankie Crisp]

There are plenty of great hotels which are relatively well priced. Somewhere central to the Strip is ideal, like The Mirage, Caesars Palace or the Venetian. You may see good rates for the Stratosphere which, as fun as it is to visit for the rooftop rollercoaster/rides, is a bit too remote for a handy walk to the rest of the strip. The MGM Grand and New York, New York are both great fun and although they're at the top end of the strip, the walk from there to the ones further down is good because of the proximity of other hotels and attractions.

 

This link should be handy as you look at hotels, so you can see where they lie in the grand scheme of things.

 

One last thing; if you're thinking of going really cheap and staying in a hostel then I wouldn't recommend it. If you wander off the strip towards the hostels you can end up in a few dodgy places and it also doesn't give you the buzz of staying in Vegas when you wake up to a cockroach instead of in the middle of a boss hotel.

[M-Dudz]

Having spent half my adult life in Sin City and stayed in every hotel on the Strip i can tell you, you'll be glad you've changed from the Imperial. There are much better hotels available.

 

I wouldn't mess around staying anywhere else other than Bellagio. Especially if this is your first trip.

 

It's one of the best hotels on the strip, and for good reason. Location, luxury, atmosphere, furnishings, great staff, good rooms. Also, in my experience the rates aren't that bad for a 5 star. Hotel rooms are quite cheap anywhere in Vegas as they'll make their money elsewhere.

 

But, if Bellagio is out of your price range, i'd check out Caesars and / or Planet Holywood (both similar locations).

 

Don't get drawn down the Strip to places like Circus Circus and Stratosphere, or to the other end in hotels like Excalibur, Luxor etc. Circus and Stratosphere are absolute shit and at the real down and out part of town. Excalibur and Luxor, although much better standard are a good distance from where you really want to be, centre strip.

 

Have a great time, Vegas is a crazy, crazy place!

[Foale]

Very convenient this thread has cropped up, I'm going to Vegas for the first time as well in September! Definitely going to look into the Bellagio, looks fantastic.

[simonworden]

I think you have summed up exactly how I felt about the imperial palace before I went last June. In terms of budget hotels on the stip or close by there is nowhere better. The reviews on places like Trip Advisor seem to have all come from Americans with Standards that are fairly high. Yes it is a tad grotty round the edges but it is only a tad. Some of the things I really liked

 

-Although people are really friendly across the board. The people in the Palace were exceptionally nice

- They have some amazing restaurants, yes there are some nice ones everywhere on the strip but House Hash a go go and the Korean place were exceptionally good.

- the dealertainers were class

- They have a monorail station which trust me is very very handy with the amount of walking you do

- as part of Harras/ ceasers group you can use all the expensive casinos in the groups pools for free

- Having a balcony is wicked in the heat

- The fact it is probably half the size of most of the other casinos makes it a little more homely and comforting in a weird way

- It is perfectly central with everywhere that matters being walkable and if not you have the monorail

- Carnival court bar outside is brilliant day and night

 

The only drawback I would say would be that they have started work on "The Linq" which has taken out the Rockhouse (moved to planet Hollywood) and torn down O'sheas a dirt cheap for beer casino next door so the frontage may be a bit of a building site but it wont affect the majority of the hotel from what I have heard.

 

Price range wise it does vary from venue to venue date to date so if you can get a deal for somewhere more your cup of tea then do it. But I will warn you place like bellagio, wynn etc are horrendously expensive. My top other suggestions are Monte Carlo and Excalibur.

 

If you have any other questions about Vegas please let me know and I will answer them. Have only been once but being a bit OCD with excitement spent 10 months before hand planning and researching.

 

First bit of free advice DONT try to use the cash points they are set up very differently to ours and sometimes your card cant work them out. If you need cash go to a foreign exchange place and pay for dollars with your debit card. Is the cheapest place to do it

[burchybabi]

Thanks for all your replies! Looks like we will be sticking with the Imperial, think we've left it too late as hotels are either way out of our price range now or some of the dates we are there aren't available. Soooo next question...

 

Any recommendations of what to do and where to go? It is our first time so not really sure where to start

[CiderBag]

Mirage is the best located place on the strip, as its pretty much in the middle.

 

Some hotels are just way out of the way (MGM Grand) but where Mirage is, you have Ceasers Palace right next door, you have a McDonalds opposite the road and a Starbucks on site (I say this because rooms don't have kettles or tea or anything which is gay because obviously you want a coffee when you wake up from a night out.) To the left of the hotel you have Treasure Island, and if you keep on walking you have little New York.

 

But if you stay at Mirage, pay extra to have a strip view. Well worth it. Half of my lot did, and half didn't. So whereas I was waking up to the Vegas strip which is such an amazing sight, they had a swimming pool at the back. Same thing for getting ready for a night out, it just adds so much to the atmosphere.

[CiderBag]

Any recommendations of what to do and where to go? It is our first time so not really sure where to start

 

Do you gamble? Pretty much all of the hotel casinos are carbon copies of each other. What we did was start off at a little bar, go on the tables for a bit, then hit clubs. Mirage has a bar called Revolution which is class - but it depends what you're into. You may not be a super cool handsome fuck like me

 

During the day, don't bother with any of the "zoos" around - every one of them is shit. Same for sharks. There is a nude bar in Mirage called "Bare" which is well worth it for getting an eyefull of your mates nuts.

 

Skyline / Helicopter trip was amazing. But be warned - one of the copters crashed just before Christmas. All died. Google it. They had a history of issues. I can't remember where it was, but there was like an indoor ammusement park around which had some basic, yet fun coaster rides. This was adecent stop off in the day to kill an hour or two.

 

The space needle restaurant was shit in my opinion. The food wasn't that great, everything turned too fast for my liking (you could see the floor move and it was off putting whilst eating) and so bloody expensive for what it was. Plus, the area around it was an absolute shit hole. We got a taxi back to the strip because it was filth, with borded up windows everywhere.

 

Try as you might to find the Wrestlemania 9 location - you wont find it. (I believe the lot area they built the stadium for the show has been replaced for concert extensions - thank Celine Dion)

 

If there is anything in particular you want to know, fire away, I've been three times now and love it!

[Paul Essex]

Went on honeymoon with a night time flight over the strip. As we went over Caesar Palace i was shouting to the wife that's where wrestlemania 9 was. don't think the other people in the helicopter were too impressed.

[simonworden]

What to do depends on your budget I was on a low medium budget and was with fairly non clubby people so missed out on some of the big fancy nightclubs. Im sure people can fill you in on those.

 

As for daytime activities some of the ones I enjoyed were

 

- The Dolphin and Big Cat habitat at the Mirage - Im not a nature person in any way it was just part of the Power Pass we had (explain more later) the animals are not in performances and are really natural (or as much as they can be) its just somewhere thats nicely shaded that you can chill for hours in the day.

 

- Madame Tusauds (sp?) - Inside the Venetian so gives you a chance to go see the indoor canals worth it again if you have the power pass or want to get a picture of yourself assaulting celebrities, I have a picture of me giving the rock a stunner (Yes Im a loser).

 

- Hoover Dam - part of the power pass (you may be noticing a pattern) well worth a visit if you cant be bothered to go to the grand canyon (8 hour round trip by land) plenty to see and an amazing piece of architecture

 

- The Gun Range - Great fun can shhot off any type of gun your heat desires and keep your target as a souviner. The great par is it can be a cheap as

[matbro1984]

TOP TIP. Check out the success rates of hotels on this site: http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/

 

Worked for me - I was staying in a standard room at Planet Hollywood. Twenty dollars sandwiched between my credit card and passport upon checking in and we were moved to a massive, upper floor, Bellagio view suite. A wise investment of $20.

 

Regarding the helicopter rides - Sundance Helicopters were the company whose helicopter ditched last year and killed all on board. There are other companies doing similar tours. I recommend a late afternoon trip to the Grand Canyon. That way you'll be flying back at sunset (amazing) and flying over Vegas at twilight.

[garynysmon]

I went to Vegas 2 months ago and stayed at the Monte Carlo. No complaints from me, was a cracking hotel.

Try as you might to find the Wrestlemania 9 location - you wont find it. (I believe the lot area they built the stadium for the show has been replaced for concert extensions - thank Celine Dion)

Thought as much! Wandered around the back of Caesar's for a while and couldn't find it.I went to the Grand Canyon on a Helicopter operated by Maverick Tours. Bit pricey but worth it.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Don't get drawn down the Strip to places like Circus Circus and Stratosphere, or to the other end in hotels like Excalibur, Luxor etc. Circus and Stratosphere are absolute shit and at the real down and out part of town. Excalibur and Luxor, although much better standard are a good distance from where you really want to be, centre strip.

You sound like you know what you're talking about but you must be the laziest fucker alive, I stayed at Circus Circus and it was definitely walking distance from the strip, I did it everyday.I had a great time there, it's a tiny bit ghetto but that made it more fun, Vegas is supposed to be seedy, it's not Disneyland.A Circus themed hotel, come on man, who wouldn't want to stay there.

[Dirty Eddie]

Looking back very shortly afterwards (having spoken to people in other cities) I completely balls'd up in Vegas by staying in a Hostel. I was doing the whole "backpack across the States" thing and it had been hostels all the way until that point so I didn't even think to try getting a cheap off-season room somewhere, so me and my mate just booked into a hostel. It was the most horrific, dirty shithole I stayed in in America. We immediately changed our dorm beds into a private room which at least felt safe, but the place was a total tip! It was however right opposite the Little White Wedding Chapel where HHH/Steph got married and was just a few minutes from the Stratusphere (where I enjoyed the awesome rides on top) so we totally made the best of it. Walking from there down the whole strip was actually pretty cool. I don't think i missed anything in Vegas, so it all worked out well. We also met some cool/weird people in the hostel (which is always the way) which is half the fun of traveling to new places. A sexy, huge-boobed former stripper ended up giving us a lift to the bus depot, so all's well that ends well.If i were to go back though, I'd certainly get a decent room in a proper hotel though!