Vegas hotels

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Hi guys.

Planning on a little road trip and we have vegas on the map for a 2 nights stay. I have provisionally booked a couple of hotels with free cancellation. Has any one had any experience with either of these - just trying to finalise which one we should stay in!

The Sahara - I’m aware this is far north end of the strip but it has free parking and easy access to the mono rail?

The Mirage - will have to pay for parking here, it’s a little dearer but obviously more central on the strip and may be a better base for a couple of days.

Any one have any thoughts/experiences?

Cheers!
 
We stayed at Paris for 2 nights in August - not sure how the price compares but it's a great spot on the middle of the strip.
 
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Mirage is fine, I’d say it’s a ‘mid tier’ strip hotel. Nothing wrong with it and it has an interesting volcano out front. It’s just not as good as the likes of the Wynn or Aria etc but it’s priced accordingly.

You wouldn’t want to go any further north than Wynn or Resorts world. I’ve not stayed in the latter but I can confirm the Wynn is top tier ;)

You can walk from the Wynn down to the vegas sign but I wouldn’t want to go any further.

In all honesty, the strip is so big, pay for parking rather than soending half your time getting around. Just factor it into the room rate. As much as the yanks dislike paying for parking, it’s normal to have to pay in big cities and tourist hot spots.
 
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The Sahara - I’m aware this is far north end of the strip but it has free parking and easy access to the mono rail?

Stayed at the Sahara a couple of weeks ago and it was very good! Check in time is quite the rush and makes it a pain for getting lifts close to 4, but we turned up almost an hour late so didn't have to queue at all. Apparently that's normal for most of the hotels in LV. Parking being free was rather decent too, and even paying to use the monorail was still much cheaper. They've also got people on round the clock monitoring the parking there. Heard several issues further down the strip which is why we chose it.

We took the monorail which is at the hotel down to a point on the strip, then walked either up or down depending on what we were doing. Can just hop on another monorail back or Uber/Lyft for a couple of dollars. Poolside bar was great although VERY pricey and the wings we had in the hotel were also very good. But you can go and visit all of the other hotels by just wandering in.
 
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You have to stay on the strip; as central as possible is usually better.

This is because the sheer distance from the cosmo up to the Luxor is bigger than you’d expect; so staying central makes more sense.

Cosmo, Planet Hollywood, Paris, etc etc. if you can see the bellagio fountains you’re good.

All of this depends on what you want to do whilst you are there. Do you want to tour the hotels? Want to go shooting? Shopping? Is there a show you want to see? You can base your hotel choice on those requirements.
 
I’ve stayed at Ballys twice for work conferences. Latest was maybe 2015? It’s probably the oldest/worst hotel on the strip but location wise it’s next to the Paris hotel and was also the cheapest without going off strip. To me it was ok, rooms were clean but everything had an 80-90s vibe to it. Including the very very smoke infused main floor.

Side note, US colleagues had to book elsewhere as they left it late and it got expensive. They stayed at the hooters hotel. It is nowhere as good as you’d hope it would be! I’d avoid like the plague!

Oh, be sure to try and collect a full set of cards from the guys on the strip. They’re the ones clicking cards together and holding out near for you to take. Legend has it you get a free buffet if you collect them all :D
 
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I've always stayed at the Mandarin Oriental (now Waldorf Astoria) when staying in Vegas for work. No idea how the price compares but I believe it's the only hotel on the strip without a casino hence being my boss's choice. Very nice to decompress after a long day/night out, and not have to walk through smokey, noisy slot machines etc. 5 days in Vegas for work, burning the candle both ends is a lot :p

To be honest, as a tourist the hotel choice in Vegas is part of the destination/attraction. So the Cosmo or Aria always look cool. Why stay in a "normal" hotel when in Vegas.
 
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I would remove the monorail out of any list of reasons to choose a hotel, it's generally a waste of space

Location wise look at as close to the junction of LVB and Flamingo as you can get
 
I’ve stayed at Ballys twice for work conferences. Latest was maybe 2015? It’s probably the oldest/worst hotel on the strip but location wise it’s next to the Paris hotel and was also the cheapest without going off strip. To me it was ok, rooms were clean but everything had an 80-90s vibe to it. Including the very very smoke infused main floor.

Side note, US colleagues had to book elsewhere as they left it late and it got expensive. They stayed at the hooters hotel. It is nowhere as good as you’d hope it would be! I’d avoid like the plague!

Oh, be sure to try and collect a full set of cards from the guys on the strip. They’re the ones clicking cards together and holding out near for you to take. Legend has it you get a free buffet if you collect them all :D
Ballys rooms aren't bad at all and the location is great, as you say casino floor is dated

Cromwell worth a look if prices OK
 
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I was in the Bellagio for 5 nights in January. I am not a Vegas fan but it was work stuff and one of the better hotels and just vast. Room was decent and large but luxury in America always feels different to luxury in Europe.

Like most of Vegas, it comes alive at night and looks a bit crap during the day, as the views from my corner room shows.
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Also, this corridor ended up in Alaska I believe, I gave up trying to get to the end after day 5
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That shot reminded me of my first trip. 11hr direct flight, super tired, checked in got to room then met up at collegues room. Forgot my room number so trailed back to reception to ask the nice lady that checked me in where to go!
 
That shot reminded me of my first trip. 11hr direct flight, super tired, checked in got to room then met up at collegues room. Forgot my room number so trailed back to reception to ask the nice lady that checked me in where to go!
It is why I ALWAYS get 2 door cards! I get really ****** off when the door card fails after a 6 hour hike with 80kgs of bags.
 
I would remove the monorail out of any list of reasons to choose a hotel, it's generally a waste of space

Location wise look at as close to the junction of LVB and Flamingo as you can get

The monorail wasn't a requirement just an option with that specific hotel.

This is a last minute change to a 3 week road trip throughout CA so hotel prices are a little inflated, I will be there the second week of October so rebooking any other hotels is a little bit out of the question due to the cost (trying to keep the cost down as much as we can as this is only a 'detour' on our trip.
We will get in late evening to stay that night, spend the next day/night and then leave the following afternoon. So not a lot of time, and really we're happy with experiencing what we can whilst there. As such, we won't be spending much at the hotel we will be staying at and pools etc is'nt something we will be spending time in.

I'm not opposed to paying for parking etc, just trying to figure out what the benefits would be staying more central, and thus more moneys, vs staying a little further north and getting the monorail/uber in to the a central location for the day/night we are there. As the common thing is that everything is further away than you think, would we be relying on public transport to get around regardless?
 
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