lennon

Hubby and I are making our first trip to Vegas in early Feb. Neither of us is a gambler. The only good promo I have seen for that time frame so far is for the Golden Nugget. What are the pros and cons of staying downtown instead of on the Strip?



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lennon

MisterNice

The downtown hotels are almost all totally old, shabby and dreary. Stay on the strip for only $5-$10 per night more. Visit the downtown only to view the free antique slots, guns, NV etc collections and the Fremont St display.

MisterNice

businesstraveler

Depends on your budget and the quality of room that is acceptable. Hotels in downtown are old, but cheap. There is also a set of hotels like Palace Station, whose locations are off, but near the strip, who offer cheap rooms. There are also some hotels. mostly the smaller, older ones that offer cheap rooms. Places on the strip like the Sahara, Circus Circus and the Excaliber also offer low rates.

In addition, now (btw Thanksgiving & Christmas) is a good time to go. It is the slow period and most hotels are offering discount rates. One note: rates on the weekend are more expensive than during the week. Do some research, talk to others and maybe buy one of the many guide books for Las Vegas.

Then, have a great time.

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Michael Steinberg
Editor
BizTrip
http://www.biztrip.com

skofarrell

Take some vacation, avoid the weekends, and stay on the strip for up to 60% less than the weekend price.

Mirage, Venetian, Paris, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay are excellent choices for the non gambler. Tons of stuff to see and do.

Marysunshine

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).]

lennon

Thanks for all the good feedback.

Marysunshine, the sights you recommended have lots of info that a novice like me can benefit from

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lennon

Marysunshine

Vegas is an amazing place. So much to see and do. I even took my grandaughter there for four days and didn't even miss my gambling with all I showed her. I'm not cheap and living in NY I do go for the theater regardless of price, but I resent those show prices in Vegas. There are may shows for less money that are terrific. If you happen to see Bill Acosta appearing anywhere, definitely go and see him. He is half the price of Danny Ganz and fantastic! Lance Burton (magician and I don't even like magic) is wonderful and moderately priced. IF you are willing to go through a timeshare at the Flamingo Hilton, they will give you show tickets, or chips (same as cash) or a dinner on the house and the timeshare is beautiful and fun to see. If you want to see something different, in the lobby of the Flaming there is a Key Tours desk and they will take you for free to Laughlin, Nevada for a day trip. It is about two hours south of Vegas, right on the Colorado river. About ten hotels there, they give you free transportation, free lunch, six hours to spend seeing the area. You can do the riverwalk which is fun, going from hotel to hotel walking right next to the water. All in all it would takes days and days to fill you in but I Hope you have a great time and I KNOW you'll be going back!

alm

Since I like to gamble downtown (blackjack) I've sometimes split my trips to Vegas. Two days on the strip and two days downtown works nice for me. But, since you don't care about the gambling, I'd suggest staying on the strip......so much more to see. Just make the trip downtown one evening to see the Fremont Street Experience....the best show in town....IT'S FREE!

MRLIMO

First visit! Stay on The Strip and visit Downtown.

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I'd rather be sorry for something I've done, than for something that I didn't do.

blackjack-21

Agree with MRLIMO about staying on the Strip, and visiting downtown, especially since this is your first trip to LV. You'll get more of the "Vegas Experience" (my quote), that you're probably expecting to see.
As a further suggestion for checking hotel rates, I'd suggest going to the individual hotels' websites, as they often have special rates for their slower days each month. Use your search engine to find the websites. Also calling the hotels directly (via their "800" numbers), I've often found unadvertised rates that are lower than you find elsewhere.
If you do gamble, be sure to sign up for each hotel casino's players cards (they're free), which may get you offers of great room rates on subsequent trips (once your play is rated).
Even if you're not into gaming, the shows are fabulous, the food superb (though not as inexpensive as it was 17 years ago, when we first started going to LV, but then what is?), and there's lots to do and see. If you have the time, visit the "Valley of FIre", Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, all nearby, and accessable by car or sightseeing tours.

Vegas is a 24 hour town. Enjoy.!!!

bj-21.