Go a couple miles away from the Strip and it's more like one of the nicer suburbs of Phoenix.

I need to visit those or Green Valley Ranch, but Station Casinos seems to mainly offer comps at resorts one has visited before, so that's where my travel companions had comps. To its credit, Station Casinos seems to treat Sunset Station as the crown jewel of the Station-branded properties and uses it for concerts.

A friend recently stayed at Sam's Town and I stayed at Ellis Island my last trip. Both were much better than expected and were arguably higher quality than some of the rooms on the Strip. Especially on weekends, hotel prices and comp offers vary widely, so it's good to have a wide variety of places one would be willing to stay and save hundreds of dollars as a result.