Las Vegas: Cheapest "decent" hotel on the Strip
 

She told me not to ask you, but I'm asking anyway ...

One of my good friends has been invited to a wedding in LV. Her husband just changed jobs, and she is debating whether to spend the money to go or not. (I graciously offered to go with her and split the cost of the hotel. :) ) In light of this, can you recommend a "nice" hotel on the Strip that is on the less expensive side? When you pay a lesser amount, what are you giving up?

Donna

www.cheapovegas.com

Read their reviews, and decide what YOU are willing to give up for a cheap Vegas hotel...

Christie: What a wonderful website! Thank you very much!

Donna

This depends on what you consider "decent". My husband could care less, says it's a waste of money since your never in the room but I disagree.

Depending on how much you want to spend, you can usually get some good rates at Bally's. It's nice and in a great location. The Flamingo, Treasure Island, Aladdin, Luxor can have some good rates with somewhat decent rooms. Cheapovegas has some pretty good reviews though and so does the hotel section on fodors.

If you have a few weeks before you leave, we (and others we know) have had great success getting good deals directly from the hotels' websites. Sign up for their e-mail special updates, and sooner or later they offer cut rates, even at the nicer hotels.

Tip: be sure to print a copy of your great deal--we once showed up and the desk couldn't believe we had such a price--I actually had to produce the paperwork as they had a different number in their computer. I am sure this is rare, but worth printing the rate.

Have a fun trip!

You know Donna, I have always thought perhaps we would stay at The Barbary Coast. Have read good reviews and it is definitely right in the middle of things.
Sign up at all of the hotels websites. They often have great email specials.

Check out the Imperial Palace. Its across the street form Treasure Island and Caesars Palace.

Unless The Imperial Palace has changed dramatically, it was a dump when I was forced to stay there 18 years ago.

This whole thread shows how difficult it is to share opinions about hotels in Las Vegas. My 20-something son and some of his friends stayed at the Imperial Palace and he thought it was seedy (but he had stayed at Luxor, Caesar's, Paris and Alladin previously w/us), whereas his friends thought it was fine. I think LV more than most places elicits very different desires from people depending on their purposes for the trip. Just like the buffets--I have a sister who *always* eats at them and I consider them unpleasant for anything but breakfast/brunch. To me the room and the overall experience of being in the hotel is no different in LV than it would be in any place I travel but for some people the only thing that matters is gambling, shows, etc. The suggestion of signing up for websites is good, and also get a (free) gambler's card in *every* hotel casino you go into. As a result of that card, we are staying at the Venetian next week for $129/night (midweek). This is an offer they emailed us and the only way to connect to it is through the link we received in the email. It will be hard for the original poster to get a good price at any hotel b/c since she is going to a wedding, I assume it is on a week-end and *very* few hotels offer any week-end bargains. There are so many Californians in LV on week-ends that the hotels don't generally need to offer incentives.

I just made a reservation at Alladin for three nights in August at $79 a night, which includes one full breakfast or dinner during the stay. There are similar deals at many hotels (but rarely on weekend nights). I couldn't find anything better on the internet, and so I called them, whined a bit, and finally they casually mentioned this "bed and breakfast" special. Before that they told me the least expensive was 109 a night for two of the nights and 129 a night for the third night.

My point is to call several on their toll free lines and chat and whine a while.

We just returned from Vegas, we stayed Wednesday & Thursday at the Excalibur for $45 a night,on Friday it went up to $79, this rate was booked off the web. Check out the website of the hotel you think you may want to stay at.

One that has not been mentioned is the Monte Carlo. This is the best deal on the strip IMHO during most time frames.

Close seconds (and closer to mid strip) are Ballys and Flamingo.

I would not stay at the Imperial Palace if they gave me a free room.

Look carefully at the cheapovegas site and take note of the location of the resorts. Bally's and MGM are pretty good properties and generally available for a lot less than the more hoky-themed resorts. Harrah's is smack-dab center Strip, but inexplicably prices higher than a lot of nicer places. The Imperial Palace is absolutely horrible; do not stay there under any circumstances.

I agree with placeu2. We stayed at the Monte Carlo in Feb for $65. I'd stay there again without hesitation. Previously we'd stayed at Flamingo (2 years ago $35 through AMEX) and MGM. Check each hotels website for deals.

Patrick is right about whining. I had forgotten that the time we stayed at Alladin, I called to protest the fact that one of the hotel reservation websites was offering cheaper prices than the hotel's own site. The young woman said she could not match the price but she could give us the B&B package for only slightly more than the competition hotel reservation website price (bringing the actual price to less when the breakfast was factored into the total). I promptly accepted b/c I would always rather book directly through a hotel rather than some travel broker. ALSO ps to rjw_lgb_ca--we are going to casa del mar right after vegas. Thanks again for your input on that!!

For nice, but on the unexpensive side I would look at Harrah's, which has perfect location mid-strip. My stays have been great there. Also, if you use Priceline and bid on the strip location for a 5*, most likely you'll get the Venetian for $100 or less.

We stayed at the Barbary Coast for a Thursday and Friday night earlier this month. The room was streetside - we could see part of the Bellagio fountains - but not noisy, which surprised me.

Ours was a standard room - 2 queens, sitting area with table and two chairs and a heavy drapery to close this off from the bedroom part. Handy if someone wants to sit up and read while the other sleeps. The bath was just a shower/tub combo and commode, with the vanity in a separate area. Ironing board, iron, and blowdryer in the room.

Check-in was a breeze. No one else in line and they had a bellhop right away to go with us to get our luggage from the parking garage. The elevators to the parking garage and to the rooms are back-to-back so there are no long walks like I've heard others complain about.

The hardest part was finding the entrance to the parking garage. Once we had that down the rest was easy.

The beds were comfortable, the place was clean and quiet, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. For the price (2 nights total was $101.00 per the net but they actually charged us less at check-in) it's well worth it. Can't beat the location. We'd definitely stay again. Next time I'd put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door when going to bed if I wanted to sleep-in. Housekeeping knocked on the door and woke us. In their defense, it was well past our normal "up and out early" time.

I think I'm pretty "average" - but because I go to Vegas a lot, I think my opinion is more jaded. For example, I would NEVER consider staying at Imperial Palace, Barbary Coast, The Riviera or Excalibur!!!! Sorry, but there are much nicer accommodations available than that, and I'm willing to pay a few extra dollars for it. Plus, I love to gamble, and I think it's kind of a waste, if I can't gamble in my own hotel. I agree with whoever above have said the following would be good for an "average" or "decent" place to stay ON the Strip:

Bally's
Monte Carlo
Treasure Island
MGM

I think the Flamingo consistently offers good deals. It ends up being an even better bargain if you ask and get one of the more recently redecorated rooms. I just got back in may for $60 a night.

We were among many Fodorites who stayed at The Flamingo last summer for their "Pool Party" rate of $55. If you do a search here you'll find many positive reports about this hotel. The only downfall is that their wonderful pool is very crowded, however from what I understand most of them are. We loved our few nights there and highly recommend it!