As was pointed out, your North/South was backwards. I used to make the same mistake by assuming downtown was South.

My choices in order would be:

1) Alladin - new, good location
2) Flamingo - good location, good pool although decor is a little cheesy.
3) Harrah's - good location, casinos are fun but noisy
4) Luxor - Not centrally located, it seems like it takes a half hour to get from the casino to the room - maybe I just had a bad room.

Follow QL's reasoning on not walking around too much during the daytime if it is too hot. Many people think they will walk the strip then just hop in a taxi if they get tired. It is actually tough to get a taxi if walking the strip; you need to catch one at designated areas of the hotel/casino (the designated area is usually off the strip).

Tazi has some good advice if your staying at Flamingo or Harrahs and the table stakes are too high. Also, if you stay at one of these two, take the free shuttle from Harrahs to RIO. It is a nice place (Carnival atmosphere). If you go up to the VooDoo Lounge, you will have a great view of LV.

with the Gold HHonors card, have a good chance for upgrade @ Flamingo. Also, at Flamingo, Ballys, Las Hilton, Paris, can check in @ airport and avoid long lines.

Flamingo (and Las Hilton off strip) have been running good rates recently. I'd go for either of them.

I have stayed at all four of these places, and it is hard to recommend one over the other without knowing your needs, so here is my breakdown of the four (going from North to South on the strip):

Harrahs - Used to be a Holiday Inn, so you will get Holiday Inn style/size rooms. Some have nice views, some have views of other rooms. Awful pool, no shade, simply a rectangle of water on the parking deck roof. This is a great place for the guys (loud, especially in the party pit) and pretty good drink service in the casino. Probably would not recommend this for your mother or a first time visit to Vegas.

Flamingo - By FAR the best pool of the four you have listed. Can be hard to get a lounge chair on the weekends. It is possible to get some fantastic views from this place, ask for one overlooking the Bellagio fountains. Food/Buffets not all that great.

Aladdin - Bankrupt, but so what? You're not buying the place are you? They aren't going to close their doors without notice. Has two acceptable pools with plenty of chairs and pretty good service. Has a spa if you or your mother are inclined. Has the biggest rooms of the four hotels you have listed. Pretty easy to get upgrades too. Check on pricing for "resort rooms" they are larger and have a very large bathroom (women like that). Across the street from Paris and Bellagio. Can get some really great views here too. Aladdin also has a shopping mall attached to it. Mainly higher end, more expensive stores, but still nice to look at.

Luxor - Pyramid Hotel, something a first timer will remember for ever. Others will tell you the tower rooms are larger/better (and they are) but when are you ever going to stay in a pyramid again? The elevators inside travel upwards at an angle, another oddity. Luxor has 4 (maybe 5) pools, so it should be pretty easy to find some shade. Luxor will have monorail service to/from Excalibur and Mandalay Bay, so it will be easy to see at least those two properties without going out in the heat.

I would probably choose the Aladdin unless it were significantly more expensive, but the Luxor would be a close second. Particularly if you wanted something memorable.

Good luck!

I agree. Apart from the location, it is my personal favourite (out of the hotels mentioned).

UPDATE: Decided to split the two nights. First night at Luxor and the next at Paris.

Thanks all for your helpful inputs. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Paris has a big problem with rooms not being ready at check-in, so you may want to go over early without your luggage and attempt to check in. They'll give you a time and you can come back with luggage.

QL

Thanks for the tip. I have requested early check-in, which they didn't say no to. So let see.... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

I have stayed at the Flamingo as an HH Gold card holder and was very clearly informed that although the Hotel does award points for the stay it does NOT recognise any other benefits of the HH programm. Definitely no room upgrades. The best you can hope for is complimentary access to the gym or some similar, virtually valueless benefit. The Flamingo is not a Hilton in the classic sense, it is merely affiliated very loosely due to Hilton owning a part of it in the past. I think they may not even have any connection what so ever nowadays.

Apart from that, the Flamingo really needs to be extensively re-modelled, the decor is very out dated and tired looking. I had a terrible stay there despite the fact that I had booked and paid for a junior suite.

I go to LV anually for a conference. I have stayed in two of the four, and visited all of them. The Flamingo is a very "old style" vegas hotel. Velvet carpets, etc. I expected to see the ghost of Sammy Davis Jr. every night lurking in a dark corner. The Luxor is my #1 favorite hotel in Vegas. The egyptian theme is very cool, plus Blue Man performs there nightly (a RIOT of a show)!

If you are restricted the four choices, LUXOR beats them all hands down. There is also a monorail that picks up at the luxor and stops at the Mandalay Bay & others. Easy walking distance to the MGM and NY-NY.

Totally agree with this post. However, my only beef with the Luxor is that if someone's not staying in the pyramid itself (and I would guess that a really good rate is not a pyramid rate), then they're staying in the towers...and my recollection from my last towers stay was that it was a fairly long hike to the room from the main facility (casinos, restaurants, checkin, etc).

Definitely the Luxor.

Not Harrah's. Its rooms, if you ask me, aren't up to snuff with the base level Strip casino standards.

I haven't seen the rooms at any of the other three.

d

Harrah's to buy Caesars
 

Wow, Vegas is really going to turn to crap, it seems. With MGM Mirage owning most of the strip, and Harrahs/Caesars owning the rest, it seems like things are going to get really bad for players.

How sad :(

From the source this time. $17.75 a share.

http://investor.harrahs.com/news/20040715-139189.cfm