if you are just looking to book a hotel i would recommend www.hotwire.com sign up for there weekly specials to vegas. you will get some incredible deals. you pick your # of stars,book it, pay for it and then you get your hotel
i have goten hilton montreal for $89 sheraton toronto for $91 and harbour castle toronto for $91.

The Strip is a long road and casinos are spaced very far apart. Parking is far from the hotels/casinos, so if you stay off the strip, you will waste a lot of time walking, looking for your car, etc. Mandalay Bay is at the far end of the Strip, so a little inconvenient, but the rooms are brighter and more spacious than most hotels/casinos (especially the bathrooms) and there is a shuttle that helps you get to the more central part of the Strip. Otherwise, the themes of the hotels/casinos vary, but inside most of the rooms, they are generic and look like a Holiday Inn. I've stayed at Paris, Luxor, Monte Carlo, MGM, New York New York and find them all comparable. Mirage has recently remodeled some of its rooms, so if you stay there, ask for one of the remodeled room.

Fantastic replies. Thank you all for your help. Anything more you can suggest for our first time trip to Vegas - fire away !

Definitely spend your days slowly meandering the strip. Each hotel is so neat to go into and see. Some have other attractions you can pay additional for. Like the aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It was wonderful:

http://www.mandalaybay.com/entertainment/sharkreef.aspx

In fact, you should go onto each hotel's website and find the daily attractions that they have. Print off the times for the Treasure Island show, etc. And look to see what else each hotel offers. This would help you plan your walking tour. Vegas is tricky with distances. It will just be two casinos down your brain says, but your feet will tell you that it was two miles! Bring comfy shoes!!!

My recommendation in The Platinun Hotel. It is totally non-smoking and has no gambling. The rooms are mini-suites with a huge bathroom and full kitchen. It is behind Bally's and about a 7 min walk to the strip. We loved this hotel. You can check it out on line,

We have driven from casino to casino. A group of us will get in one car drive to the casino and let the valet park the car and tip him. You walk in the front door that way and save a lot of walking.

Another way is to buy an all day ticket for the bus that runs up and down the strip. Think it was $5. We decided to walk instead as there were always people waiting and the buses looked to be packed.

We liked the Bellagio buffet and have heard the Wynn buffet is also very good.

Ellis Island which is not on the strip is supposed to have a steak and baked potato dinner at a cheap price. We didn't make it there.

We drove to Arizona Charlies and had the lunch buffet for about $6. It was amazing for the price. Wasn't too bad.

We stayed at the Paris and the food there was very good.

We stayed at the MGM when we went to Vegas in June (our first time there). We stayed in one of the newer West Wing rooms and liked it. Location was fine, although it wasn't mid-strip really. We don't mind walking though, so the location worked for us.

For location, I would pick: Venetian, Bellagio, or Mirage.

Next time we go, we'll consider Mandalay Bay. We thought the areas we saw (casino, lobby, etc.) looked very nice and less cheesey than some of the other hotels.

There was construction going on inside the Luxor, and it was rather loud. I'd also avoid Excaliber and Tropicana.

Slightly unrelated: I HIGHLY recommend eating dinner at Sensi at the Bellagio. It was one of the best meals I've ever had!

I'm going to throw in my opinion to the mix! I suggest the Four Seasons that is on top of Mandalay Bay because it is simply divine. I find the Casinos totally fab and intoxicating I can't get enough, but, for this reason I loved the clean and calm serene atmosphere of 4S so I could have downtime and sleep in my oasis. The elavators were not packed and you could get a cab or a car without joining 85 million other people in the line. I would not suggest renting a car and attempting to drive your own self around talk about needing a Prozac or something...ugg. As far as places to eat I loved Stripsteak, Burger Bar, Shibuya (MGM) and Verndah (4S). I really enjoyed Zumanity although my husband liked O better.

I second checking out chepovegas.com

The consensus seems to be that we should stay somewhere near the middle of the strip which seems to make sense. Are there lots of good restaurants close by ? We like good food but not real upper end budget breakers. Casual with great food would be best. Do we need suggestions or are there lots of places ?

I always stay at the Mandalay Bay. The location doesn't bother me. It is less smoky and cheesy than most of the other hotels. The pool is really fun for kids. If price were no object, I would stay at the Wynn.

There are so many restaurants in every casino. Caesers has a Cheese Factory. We ate lunch at the Mesa Grill at Caesers. It was on the expensive side. It is owned by Bobby Fay. The food was okay.

There is a breakfast buffet that is very popular at the Paris. We didn't eat there as the line was long. I am sure they have breakfast buffets in the other casinos.

Don't worry about finding places to eat.

The Rio has a large buffet also but I preferred the Bellagio buffet.

There are so many places to eat on the strip, it's unbelievable. Every hotel has SEVERAL, ranging from fairly casual to very formal/expensive. You'll find everything from Italian to Russian to Japanese to good old meat and potatoes.

The hard part will be narrowing it down!

Ditto what Siena said it is hard to narrow the choices down! This is what I do...I write down three choices then go on tripadvisor.com and just grab three words that describe the places I want to eat and put them next to the eatery. I then read them to my husband and he mulls it over. It usually works out and makes a fun way to pick places to eat.