snarla

Hi,

I peek around here quite often and now it's my turn for advice.
My husband has a convention in May and I'm tagging along for a weekend. We have two bigger trips planned this summer, so this is one of those trips where we aren't too concerned with the fancy digs(read: "a bed and hot water will do nicely").

This is what I've found so far. If you can offer FIRST HAND reviews on any of these I'd certainly appreciate it. The folks over at cheapovegas.com have helped, as well as provided us some snarky fodder to go by.

1. Boardwalk (location is good, but ???)
2. Westward Ho (price is right, but ???)
3. Sahara (the most legit of the group, but we're wondering if we won't spend the money we save for room on cab fares to central strip)

Barbary Coast would be in there but there's no pool, and as plain jane as the pools at these others may be, it gets me out of a sad room for a little while.

Any other STRIP suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Snarla

joesorce

Stay at The Orleans (very nice) or the Gold Coast (fine, clean). They are just off the strip but offer free shuttle bus all day and most of the night to center strip.

www.coastcasinos.com

islandpaddler

There are lots of chain motels like Comfort Inn, Econo Lodge etc. right off the strip. We stayed at a Comfort Inn a couple of years ago on Koval Street, which is a couple-of-minute walk from the strip.

We found the chain prices to be much lower than the casinos, particularly if you check out Smarter Living's small, significant organization's discount. Or use the senior discount if you're over 50.

They are perfectly fine, clean and not the least bit seedy.

Bo

The problem with "off strip" hotels is that, as you point out, cab fare begins to add up! Of your list of 3, although they are all "technically" on the strip, the Holiday Inn Boardwalk is the only one that is considered to be "on the strip". (the strip run all the way to downtown, but what people consider to be "the strip" is the area from Mandalay Bay to Treasure Island)

I would check out Flamingo, Harrahs, and Ballys, which should be able to provide rates that are close to the others you mentioned, but would provide a BIG step-up in quality.

Loki

Bo gave you a good list. Also, Orleans or even San Remo. Go to the individual hotel websites and check the "deals" sections. If it's weekday, you should be able to get a nice room under $75/nt. Aladdin recently had a promo for $29/nt rooms but it's over, I think you can get $79 at Aladdin if you join the slot club when you make the reservation but no play is required during the stay.

I would never spend the night in any of the hotels you mentioned. If you really want cheap on the strip, I think Imperial Palace might be the best of the cheapest at $39/nt. I'd consider staying in if it was like a night of debauchery with the guys and we needed a bathtub to fill with ice and beer. I would consider IP a step above Sahara and the 'Ho but that's me.

I've found the best deals to be at the individual hotel websites. You can get the links through cheapovegas.

Bo

I hope you wouldn't be drinking that beer directly from the bottle/can after it was sitting in an IP tub!!

If your stay will be Sun-Thur, the LA Times is a great place for deals. Due to proximity, LA gets a LOT of advertising dollars (and deals) from Vegas. You don't need to live in LA to take advanatage of them, but you do need to know about the deal in order to ask for it. Fortunately, there's an updated list of deals that appear in the LA Times here: http://off2vegas.com/hotspecials.html

Andrew

Also try www.travelworm.com for good prices. They seem to have good rates for Vegas and Reno. Used them once, no problems at all.

Andrew

Faina

Sahara is on the strip, and you don't have to hail a taxi, the bus runs 24/7 every 15 minutes or so. It's an OK hotel for money-saving purposes, I stayed there before. Their buffet is fine, if you plan to save on food. The pool area is nice.

To take taxi from Sahara to the center of the strip is about $10, and you do it once a day, so it's not like you'll spend your savings on hotel room.

Curly

Imperial Palace is OK. Our room was inexpensive, clean and did not have a view. Based on the amount of time you spend in any room in Las Vegas, the view wasn't a priority anyway!

deluca

Try the Imperial Palace or Ballys. Both have reasonable prices and have decent rooms.

Wendy

I also think these are way down on the list of anything but cheap and run down places. I always stay inexpensive in Vegas and like Harrahs, Ballys and Flamingo as someone else stated. Book direct from their site or also try quickbook.com

Wendy

X_Bellman

I haved stayed at the Stardust a few times because of the price....nothing fancy but a fair pool and no kids!

rjw_lgb_ca

I stayed at Harrah's not too long ago. It wasn't bad-- clean comfy room, OK restaurants, good casino area. It's pretty stodgy compared to the higher-end properties (especially the Palms), but it's on the Strip, it's not too pricey, and my view was great.

snarla

Thanks for your advice so far. Here's some more info that I didn't include, but it might have helped.

We happen to be going on one of the biggest convention week/ends of the year, May 16-18. Our goal is to keep the rates under $99. We checked out the usual suspects last night: Harrahs, Flamingo, Ballys, Harrahs, IP. No luck.(I even dared to visit the Casino Royale site {shudder}).

I appreciate the suggestions for the Gold Coast(sold out) and Orleans. Orleans has that free shuttle to Barbary Coast, so they're in the running.

Thanks Fodorites!!
Snarla

flopmeister

snarla,

the question is really one of how you define value. for instance, i'm staying this weekend at mandalay bay, a first class on strip hotel, for 99 per nite. the way i'm able to do this is simple - timing. if you go to the hotel websites, click on reservations, many list four months at a time. (on mandalay's website, i count 9 days in may where rates are 99 per night). to me, what i pay per night at a hotel is only one component of percieved value. the rest is, what am i getting (at mandalay you're getting a first class hotel & casino, wave pool, river, restaurants, etc.) for the per-night rate, will i be comped at all, and when the hotel was built/renovated. i understand this is just a quickie trip that you're tagging along on, but why not treat yourself a bit (i.e., spa) or something. also, it is quite possible that you will have a horrible time at a gross hotel and that will ruin your week. why do it to sacrifice $100 or so? i also understand you'll be there for a convention, and so your timing is inflexible. if the dates on the hotel reservation pages dont jibe with your budget in that case, you may wish to go to http://www.hotwire.com and you'll see strip, near strip downtown and on strip hotel properties, all of which will most probably fit the bill -- especially if the locations listed are "hotwire favorites." if you are attending a large convention, many times convention organizers have preferred rates at either the hotel where the convention will be, neighboring properties or affiliated hotels. I have never stayed at the hotels you mention in your post, and i would simply avoid vegas rather than do so.

flopmeister

Oh, one more thing. On strip, it's very interesting, BOTH NY NY and Luxor have decent rooms at great prices. My parents have stayed at both and had a great time. For some reason, these 2 properties are consistently underpriced given their location.

Bo

I checked Quickbook and the IP is about $90/nite. Oribitz has Bally's for $128/nite.

snarla

Thanks everyone!

Bo, I didn't even know about Quickbook...

snarla

Just a follow up(because we never seem to get follow ups around here..)

We went back and forth on this, and we decided on the Flamingo. It wasn't in the original group, and it's a little more $$ than we wanted to spend, but:

1. good location
2. clean rooms (although I was less than impressed when we stayed there last year..must think "bed and hot water")
3. nice pool, if you don't mind all the pool noodles and screaming meemies everywhere ("bed and hot water, bed and hot water")

and most importantly..
4. Hubby just can't deal with telling his colleagues we're staying at the "Ho", when most of them are staying at the reputable center strip joints.

Flamingo is a good compromise that allows us to still blow some $$ later this summer in San Fran and Cancun.

Thanks all!!
snarla

Bo

I think you'll be A LOT happier there than any of the other places you were considering.

Have an enjoyable trip.