Which Vegas hotel??

Hopefully you know in which area of Vegas you want to stay and what budget you have (if not have a look at  How to get there and Where to stay )
so we can now get down to the nitty gritty of the hotels themselves...


There are loads to choose from and all look better than the last with amazing amenities; especially with the newly opened City Centre, there should be a Strip hotel to suit everyone. I'll try and group them a bit for you;


Themed hotels
These are fewer and further between than a few years ago and these days the theme doesn't extend into the rooms generally speaking; the theme is more the structure of the building and some details around the main public floors.

• Excalibur.
• Circus Circus (really tired looking hotel now but remains the most child friendly on the Strip)
• Luxor
• Flamingo (one of the Original Vegas hotels. Centre strip, 3.5* nice hotel. You could  do alot worse on your first visit to Vegas)
• Venetian (this is a one of a kind being both themed and 5*!)
• Bills Gamblin Hall (cheap beer and nightly entertainment. Centre strip. One of my favourite hotels. Not as classy as others (lots of cowboy hats) but also only takes 10 mins to get to your room as it is tiny by Vegas standards)
• Imperial Palace
• New York New York (has a roller coaster and a very real looking Statue of Liberty)
• Caesars (excellent shopping mall)
• Paris
• TI (treasure Island)

5* luxury

• Bellagio (the original 5* Vegas - great for upmarket shopping)
• Venetian / Palazzo (more upmarket shopping including Ferrari!)
• Vdara (non smoking and non gaming Spa hotel)
• Aria
• Wynn / Encore
• Cosmopolitan
• Mandarin Oriental
• Four Seasons
• Skylofts @ MGM

4* and still luxurious

• Planet Hollywood (has an excellent shopping mall)
• Monte Carlo
• Mirage (home of dolphins and white tigers
• Mandalay Bay
• MGM

Other Strip hotels

• Riviera (old school North Strip)
• Stratosphere (has roller coasters and other rides & cool views of the Strip)
• Harrahs
• Polo towers (these are studios & condos rather than hotel rooms essentially)
• Tropicana
• Ballys (old school and set back from the Strip so there is a moving walkway to make sure you don't get tired!)
• Jockey club (these are studios & condos rather than hotel rooms essentially)

Off-Strip

There are way to many to name here, but I am going to list the reasonably close "big" names

• Palms
• Rio (where Penn & Teller currently have a show)
• Las Vegas Hilton (this is the hotel used in Diamonds are Forever Bond film)
• Hard Rock Hotel (has a good live music venue for gigs)
• Hooters
• Trump Tower (non  gaming 5*)

As you can see Las Vegas is becoming more and more about 4 / 5 star resorts and no longer so much about kitsch Elvis based themes!
I am not going to give a review on each hotel as I have not stayed in them all and so cannot give a full unbiased review but there are some things I can tell you about to hopefully help your decision

1. On the whole there is not a huge difference in terms of luxury between 3 & 4 star properties
2. Most hotel rooms in Vegas are sizeable and, depending where you would normally stay, much bigger than most UK hotels regardless of the star rating
3. Location, location, location; you should be able to narrow down your choices by picking from the hotels that are in the area you want to stay (check out the maps in Where to stay to help you out)
4. Think about your activities A) 5* generally means higher gambling minimums and higher class food and drink retailers. If you are looking for £1 michelobs and $5 roulette you'll be more likely to find it in Bills than Bellagio
5. Think about your activities B) if you plan to go clubbing then staying in the hotel of a club you want to visit can be very advantageous (update on this after my October trip as I have never had the time nor energy for the Vegas club scene before now!)
6. Not all hotel pools are created equally. If this is an important part of your trip do some research to chose the right one for you (do note that they normally close the pools between Sept & May and some of the hotels don't even have a pool)
7. You really wont (or shouldn't!!) be spending that much time in your room, but only you know how much the star rating means to you for the time you do spend in the hotel
8. Some hotels are now non smoking throughout or do not even have a casino! (e.g. Vdara)
9. Don't stay in the Travelodges! I have been told by Vegas locals that they really aren't nice areas to be in and besides I'm willing to bet money you can get a nicer room in a nicer location for the same or less cash in one of the hotels listed above
10. If you are staying in Down-town try to stick to the Fremont Street hotels. Outside of this the area can be a bit dodgy

A word about Resort Fees. These are cheeky extra charges that some hotels charge on top of your room and are generally payable locally (either at check in or check out)

Check the Hotels' websites to understand what the Resort fee includes - it may be free internet use or gym use for example -  and how much it is. My suggestion would be to try and use whatever it is you are paying for. Local calls may be handy to book a restaurant for example (although its not all that easy - who gets faxes these days?!)

Some hotels don't have a fee and some include it the upfront price; whichever it is, make sure you understand what you will have to pay as it can be quite a stiff at the end of your holiday.

Here is an example from a random Strip hotel taken today

$12.50 per night
Hotel resort fee inclusions:
Internet access in guest room
Phone calls (local)
Faxes (incoming)
Newspaper (daily)
Use of fitness centre