Stopping over in Vegas for the first time in Oct. for two days on the way to LA. Looking for the total "Vegas" experience- cheesiness is A-OK with us! Have been quoted similar rates at Caesers in OLD TOWERS ONLY (not Palace Tower) or Treasure Island, which strikes me as pretty darn cheesy with that whole pirate thing. Caesers seems the way to go, but get the impression from other posts on this site that the rooms are not up to par in the older towers. Gambling, restaurants, pools, and shopping are of no concern to us, just room quality and overall atmosphere. I'm counting on you fellow Fodorites to steer me in the right direction! Please don't say Bellagio or Venetian - if we wanted a luxurius Italaian holiday, we'd go to Italy!! We are looking for the kind of semi-surreal atmosphere that you can only get in LV.

Try the Paris-- it is right across from the Bellagio---

Seriously, how cheesy do you want-???
It has a replica of the Eifel Tower out front!! LOL

Or for super cheesy, try NY NY with the total amusement park

Since you stated that the only things that matter to you are room quality and atmosphere you do NOT want the old towers at Caesar's.
If you want the Vegas atmosphere as it relates to theme hotels, but still want better than Holiday Inn quality, consider:
the House of Blues floor at Mandalay Bay, Luxor (in the pyramid, not the towers), Paris, Aladdin. Aside from Mandalay Bay, these are mid-priced hotels. But I'm not sure if you're thinking that the ROOMS will be themed like the public areas. That's not usually the case in LV.
Also, Rio has a great (free) Mardi Gras show in the casino several times per night which is borderline cheesy, lots of fun. It's an all-suites hotel, but rooms are older and a little dated.
The rooms at Treasure Island don't have a pirate theme. Nor dor the rooms at Aladdin have Arabian flavor.
It's the casinos and public areas that have the themes.
Old Vegas hotels had cheesy rooms, as in mirrors on the ceiling, red shag carpeting, silver patterned wallpaper etc, but most of those hotels are long gone.
For that reason I would not cross Venetian off your list. Nice rooms, decent theming, lots of conveniences.
Mirage isn't cheesy. NYNY has crummy rooms, Monte Carlo is too sterile. Hard Rock isn't on the strip and has very vanilla rooms. Excalibur is a dump. MGM has a boring theme. Harrah's has nothing memorable about it.

Actually, the Forum Tower in Caesars might be what you're looking for, mirrors on the ceiling, spa in middle of room, glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom. Most people hate these rooms but you sound like the bizarro Vegas traveler so it might be perfect for you.

Most of the cheezy hotels have very normal rooms.

Just back three days ago from first trip to Vegas (3 nights only at the end of a California fly drive). We really only had less than two days to do the Vegas thing as we had a a pre-booked helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon which took up a little over half a day. We also had two young kids with us which restricted the amount of walking we could do and how late we could stay out. That said we did manage to visit Mirage, Treasure Island, Caesars, Aladdin, MGM, Luxor, Circus Circus (for the Adventuredome) and we stayed at the Venetian. I can't speak about the rooms at TI and Caesars but as far as cheesy atmosphere is concerned I would rate Caesars higher than TI. The interior of Treasure Island is fairly bland IMO. Both Caesars and Aladdin are much more themed and I loved both. Caesars is vast and for that reason ridiculous in the Vegas sense. I also thought that MGM was good fun - quite 'gaudy' if you know what I mean, and the lions are completely 'over the top'! Luxor is very cheesy, entirely overthemed - but I wouldn't rush to stay there although I can't say why.
The Venetian was beautiful. The rooms are lovely - marble foyer and bathroom as I'm sure you've read and the hotel itself is obviously thoroughly overthemed but breathtaking in a Vegas way. We considered staying at Caesars but, like you, I am fussy about room quality and was put off by the reports of the 'old tower' rooms. They also charge extra per child per night so for us The Venetian was way cheaper. I'd consider Aladdin over TI for atmosphere.
Have a great trip.

The rooms at Treasure Island are far from cheesy. There is no pirate theme at all. If you go to the Treasure Island website, you can view the rooms. We have stayed there at least twice a year for 8 years, and love it. The bathrooms are large, the rooms nicely decorated and the service top flight. Check the website out, you will be pleased with what you see there.