GeoffM

I've just been looking for hotels for when my parents come next month. Harrah's was giving good rates ($130 avg/night early April mid-week), centrally located and supposedly a bit more upmarket than the cheaper ones like Circus Circus, Excalibur, Tropicana etc. Watch out for the resort fees as they can hike the rates by as much as $30 a night.

Avoid the weekends.
I previously stayed (free) at the THEhotel (Mandalay Bay). Lovely rooms but it is a MILE to get to the pool - yes, I measured it. And that's within the same complex. A bit less to get to the street and at least there's the free monorail to NY NY which is more the Strip proper - but still a heck of a walk to the other end. Not recommended for a pregnant lady! Note that the other monorail mentioned above is not free - in fact is a bit pricey IMHO. Taxis aren't too bad but factor in $20 per trip if you stay away from the centre of the Strip.

Bink

We were at the Bellagio this week. We had some idiots next to us on the last night who were destroying the room at 6.45am and woke our 18 month old up. To be fair, the hotel were very good and dealt with it very quickly. They sent people straight up and sorted them out.

As others have mentioned the hotels are beasts... The hotel next door but one can easily take you 20 mins to walk to...

I've stayed at what was PH towers and the Bellagio. I was in a penthouse suite in the PH towers so that was pretty sweet but overall I think the Bellagio is nicer. Do you have any airmiles? I got my hotel for free using BA miles.

Food in vegas is expensive, just be warned!

Holliver

It is expensive. I ended up going to Chipotle most nights.

Don't expect to find any supermarkets - unless you are willing to drive (driving is crazy busy in Vegas). There's a Walgreens next to the Venetian, but it doesn't really sell any fresh food. Just crisps, dips, sweets and alcohol.

Jerseygirl

When we first went to Vegas in the 80's the buffets were dirt cheap...just a few dollars. Then it was the casinos that brought the money in...now it's the food, shows and shops according to an article I read a couple of years ago.

Trixie_b

Oh, and don't fall for the low price show tickets, they want you to sit through a timeshare presentation thing.

There are ticket booths that sell tickets for "on the day" with some discount.

Michael

If you get off the strip (downtown), the food is still very inexpensive since that is the draw and they make their money on the casino tables. Many of the larger downtown hotels are also used for spill over when large conventions (such as the Consumer Electronics Show) are in town and each of them have parts of the hotel closed off for exhibitors.

GeoffM

Ah yes, if you ask they say "only 3 hours or so" but I've seen reports of them taking 5 hours or more, complete with hard sell by ever more persistent agents. I worked out that what they were offering was worth less than what I could earn in the same 5 hours back home.

Zoe Bell

We had a spare day where we couldn't be arsed to do anything so we went along to the timeshare thingy

Ad great fun pulling their math to shreds in front of them and got free tickets to the blue man group

It was quite entertaining ( the timeshare thingy)
Ben and I obviously look like fair game ( young professional couple) but I wasn't working at the time , had great fun making up truly outrageous stuff job wise when questioned !

Bink

My wife dragged me along to one here in order to get a 'free' cruise. I obliged to make a point that it sounded to good to be true because it was.

It took 4.5 hours and they were super pushy. They didn't like me picking apart their arguments! Oh, and the 'free' cruise was nearly the same price as a regular cruise by the time you pay the taxes (we never used). I made my point though so hopefully will never have to hear about them again!

Jerseygirl

Fremont Street? I haven't been down there in years.

RICH

Actually, isn't it more like - most of the casinos have their own hotel attached?

Jan Alaska

NOT the Flamingo its skanky. that is all ....

Holliver

CAROL ELIZABETH

Help. We will be arriving in Vegas in early April following a two week trip around the national parks. We are coming with our daughters and partners who will want to experience the casinos but are more likely to want to go to live music. Not the show type stuff like Rhianna, more heavy metal or indie groups. Does that exist in Vegas? As we are paying for most of this holiday and they have little cash we want to keep eating out to a minimum or at a very reasonable costs as we will have eaten out a lot on our road trip. We are staying in an RCI place through exchanging our timeshare. It is at Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Desert Club Resort. Is it miles from anywhere and are there any reasonable cost restaurants nearby? I am hoping it is a reasonable place to stay? we wont have a car then as we will have returned it - are there any supermarkets nearby? When we last came to Vegas - 32 years ago all the casinos offered really cheap meals and drinks to get you in. I assume all that has stopped now. Thanks for any advice.

Gillymonkey

Thanks everyone, I have gone for the Mirage following advice from some friends/colleagues. Looking forward to it