Okay, we've been going to vegas 2-3 times a year for the last 20 years. In the early days we would stay on the strip: Caesar's; original MGM (which is now Bally's); Harrah's, etc. Then we started staying downtown at the Golden Nugget. the Golden Nugget is an A-one clean, well kept, luxury hotel, beautiful. It was owned by Steve Wynn who also owned the other Mirage hotels which included the Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, etc. He sold out to MGM which now owns all of them, but the Golden Nugget is still beautiful. Now as to the pros and cons: the pros for us are: we can hang out at a lot of casinos without traveling too far: there is a shuttle near the Freemont to go visit Sam's Town Hotel: Two blocks away is the city bus that will take you to the strip; rooms and food are much cheaper; and you get a lot of western people there rather than business types on conventions. While some of the casinos are a little seedy, certainly Main Street Station is not and downtown has been improving quite a bit lately.Also it is not quite as congested and chaotic. Cons: you do have to travel to get to the strip and if you are looking for the "famous" restaurants and shows then they are more conveniently located if you are on the strip. We have also stayed at places like the Rio Suites which is neither downtown nor on the strip and loved it. So it's a matter of choice. Just remember that almost every hotel has some free little gimmick to get you in: a short show, a magnificent sight or something else. So take advantage of them all. My favorites are the Masquerade Village at the Rio where you can buy a ticket for a few dollars and be part of the show and of course the beautiful gardens and dancing waters at the bellagio. Wishing you a wonderful time. If you really want to do some research you an go to www.cheapvegas.com www.talkvegas.com and www.billhere.com

[This message has been edited by Marysunshine (edited 11-18-2002).]