Las Vegas, NV: Hotel & Motel Planning Guide

When Should I Go to Vegas?

Vegas is the typical tourist destination in many ways. It's a popular New Year's Eve destination, as well as a popular weekend getaway. Expect hotel prices to go up on the weekends; save money and go during the week. That shouldn't be too disappointing since it'll give you an excuse to take a few days off from work! Just be careful about conventions before you book your hotel. Vegas is a major convention destination, and if the convention is big enough, it'll cause room rates to go up. Thankfully, the city's tourism website keeps a schedule.

December through February is a popular tourist time in Vegas because of the holiday season and the harsh winter temperatures in many states. If you're not trying to escape winter, head to Vegas between March and May instead. Weather in the desert is pretty pleasant during the spring; the average daily high in March will be about 70 degrees, and by May, it'll go up to 88.

The popular summer vacation months (June, July, and August) are a little less crowded, but it's because of the heat. The temperature in summer often breaks 100; it is the desert, after all! Wait until September, October, or November instead. The great part about Vegas is that it's a tourist destination year-round, so entertainment will always be available no matter when you go. If you can only visit during peak tourist season in the winter, don't worry. Many hotels offer deals year-round.

Where can I find hotel discounts in Las Vegas?

Dozens of hotels in Vegas offer AAA discounts, which are almost always between 10 and 20 percent off your room's price. If you're an AAA member, check out the Residence Inn Las Vegas Convention Center by Marriott, the Las Vegas Hilton, and the Comfort Inn & Suites. Their lowest prices come from AAA discounts and apply to multiple room styles and bed options.

With your AAA discount, stay at business-class hotels like the Hilton Grand Vacations at The Flamingo and the Residence Inn Las Vegas Convention Center by Marriott. Or make the most of your budget and discount at Crossland Economy Studios Las Vegas, the Fiesta Rancho Hotel & Casino, or the Travelodge Las Vegas.

If you're a senior and a member of AARP, you can also get room rate discounts in Vegas of between 10 and 20 percent. Both the Las Vegas Hilton and the Comfort Inn & Suites Henderson offer AARP/Senior discounts, which match the AAA discounts. When you're a senior traveling on a budget, check out the California Hotel & Casino or the Fiesta Rancho Hotel & Casino (though at the Fiesta Rancho, the AAA discount is more.) If you want to stay for a long time, the Desert Rose Resort offers AARP/Senior discounts on full suites with kitchens.

The Royal Vacation Suites, a small two-and-a-half-star hotel with a business center, outdoor pool, and a restaurant, offers a military and government discount that equals their AAA and AARP discount rate.

Which Las Vegas hotels have fantastic values?

Savvy hotel shoppers know that you don't have to pay luxury prices for great amenities. Vegas has some hotels located right on the strip that offer considerable amenities without exorbitant prices. These value hotels are the perfect compromise between luxury and budget, especially when you're traveling with family or having a weekend away with your friends.

Stay at Caesars Palace without paying luxury prices when you book the right kind of room. The famous hotel has luxury amenities like a swim-up bar, an on-site spa, and free valet parking, but if you book simple, classic rooms, you can get rates well below $200 a night. Caesars Palace also offers Nobu Hotel, a hotel within the larger hotel that offers gorgeous Japanese styling and many of the same amenities. On-site shopping, a hair salon, and free Wi-Fi (which isn't always easy to find in Vegas!) are some of its great features.

Another hotel with luxury amenities is the Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo. The facility was built in 1999 and offers a steam room, dry cleaning service, and an on-site convenience store. The same goes for The Cromwell, where you can enjoy a stay in bright rooms with opulent decorations for a reasonable price. Pets are allowed at The Cromwell, and it offers both free valet parking and a nightclub.

Which Las Vegas hotels have Free Wi-Fi?

When you're traveling on business, with children, or in big groups, Wi-Fi and internet surcharges are seriously annoying. Many Vegas hotels charge extra for Wi-Fi, and it's often more than $10 a day, leaving you to find the nearest Starbucks or add to your hotel bill if you need to get connected. If Wi-Fi isn't optional for your trip but you don't want to pay extra, thankfully you've still got options.

Look for a Hampton Inn & Suites or a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott (several are located around Vegas, and both brands have airport locations) if you want to take advantage of free Wi-Fi. For a resort vibe, check out the Platinum Hotel, which isn't on the Strip, but is close enough that you can see the Strip's main features from many of the hotel's windows. Get free Wi-Fi with a room that fits your budget at the Super 8, the Red Roof Inn, and America's Best Value Inn & Suites.

Travel overview of Las Vegas, NV

Cradled by most barren state in the US, Las Vegas shimmers brightly like a mirage in Nevada. Its subtropical desert climate ensures almost three hundred sun-drenched days. Home to over 200 million people and visited by 40 million people each year, the Fabulous City of Las Vegas is a siren of the Mojave Desert. Think Las Vegas and one word comes to mind, casinos. What started as a watering hole for bored scientists of the Manhattan Project became the Entertainment Capital of the World. Downtown nightlife started with granddaddies, The Golden Nugget and the infamous Flamingo. At the advent of The Strip, the titans . Mirage, MGM Grand and Excalibur opened the gateway to limitless pleasures and 4.2 miles of every fantastic structure known to man. Nineteen of the world's largest hotels stand in a cornucopia of sights, sounds, and free-flowing money. Truly a city that never sleeps, the lights don't turn off in this 24/7 city. Buffets, entertainment spots, nightclubs, and table games go on continuously throughout the day. Get married, have a picture taken with Elvis, or watch an acrobat successfully escape an untimely demise, let Las Vegas take the reins so the hangover will be worth it in the morning.

'Las Vegas looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night., Chuck Palahniuk, the author of many bestselling novels including 'Fight Club', thus described his reaction upon visiting Las Vegas for the very first time in his life. 
It's an understated reaction, albeit a powerful one. Visitors who have visited Las Vegas before can rarely resist the temptation of visiting this Sin City again and again. That's the modus operandi of this place, of a brand called Las Vegas. 

Las Vegas is unabashedly capitalist. There's no place for remorse or sympathy here. The only thing that works here without exceptions is the power of cold, hard cash and nothing else. Many people seem to detest the idea of a city that sells its very spirit like this, but others love it simply because the Sin City is honest enough to tell them what is being sold. 

Las Vegas is a city of anecdotes that may or may not be true. Movies, novels and music tracks of countless repetitions have added fuel to this notion of 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. As a result, most tourists flock into Las Vegas looking for the best time of their lives, and, erm, succeed in achieving just that. 

That's the beauty of a city like Las Vegas. It's about being levelled and honest about being commercial. Unlike anywhere else, you will be told that you are being sold this product, only in Las Vegas. 

Many people call Las Vegas the city of second chances. Well, that's a profound name for a city like Las Vegas, but still, it's a fitting one. Because of unusually high number of weddings it hosts, it is also called the city of weddings. 

Tourism is one of the largest revenue generators in Las Vegas, and that's why, this post intends to overview various options for tourists as far as Las Vegas hotels are concerned. 

Cheap Hotels in Las Vegas 

Nothing comes cheap in Vegas, as the popular adage goes. 

But if you are really determined to find cheap hotels in Las Vegas to save up as much as you can (only, most probably, to spend it all in a card game), you can find a handful of delightful options. 

Among these options, the best known, perhaps, is the Orleans Hotel & Casino. In spite of being a cheap hotel, the Orleans bears no outlook of one. It is housed in a beautifully grand building that is located just off the Las Vegas Strip. The Orleans also houses an in-house casino to make your nights more interesting. 

Gold Coast Casino and Hotel is a hotel of pretty much the same kind as the Orleans. Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall provides a no-nonsense accommodation experience to tourists, coupled with a state of the art casino. 

Luxurious Las Vegas: a Memorable Affair 

Moving on from cheap hotels of Vegas to real glitzy and glamorous ones, it must be stated that the difference between these two couldn't be starker. 

Las Vegas is known worldwide for its luxury resorts that regularly set the benchmark for hospitality. 

It would be quite a travesty to rank these luxury hotels in Las Vegas in ranks according to their services or quality. But still, in any case, the Mansion at the MGM Grand would certainly take the top spot. Nestled amidst the chaos that is MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, the Mansion provides a retreat that tourists who are looking for some exclusive luxurious treatment can take advantage of. 

Wynn Tower and Suites, a grand project by Steven Wynn, is also a great hotel (a collection of many, to be clear) that houses two five-star properties, many four-star properties, three four-start spas and a five-star business tower. 

Mandarin Oriental and Hotel Nobu at Caesar's Palace are not too far behind these leaders in terms of quality of hospitality and level of luxury accorded to their guests, either! 

Independent Hotel Scene in Las Vegas 

There is a thriving indie hotel scene in Las Vegas that many industry experts still have trouble explaining. 

In spite of having the largest concentration of hotel rooms on the planet, Las Vegas regularly falls short on availability of hotel rooms, especially during summer season. 

To take business advantage of this fact, many hotels in Las Vegas have come up with novel ideas of independent holiday rentals to accommodate guests with larger number of occupants. 

Time sharing has also risen in importance in this sense, in last few years. Time sharing apartments are virtually no different than regular hotel rooms, the only difference being the illusion of ownership created by marketing masterminds. 

Things to Remember When in Vegas

Sensible and wise tourists need not be told the travails that irresponsible gambling and booking inherently entail. So, the only thing you need to remember when you are touring Las Vegas is that no matter how badly you want to unwind, don't let yourself off the tracks. 

Examples of tourists losing fortunes of a lifetime in one night of bad decisions and questionable life-choices are not at all novel in Las Vegas, and if one is to guess correctly, nobody wants themselves to see as a protagonist of such anecdotes. 

Even if you are staying at one among many cheap Las Vegas hotels that provides additional credits for you to try your hand at their in-house casino, you need not lose balance and get sucked into endless vicious cycle of lost gambling money.

Other than this, there aren't many things that need your special heed. 

Getting Around in Las Vegas 

Las Vegas is well connected to nearby cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco by road and air. However, getting around when you are actually in Vegas can be a difficult preposition. Public transport, as such, is not a thing in Las Vegas, and most people seem to prefer taking their own vehicles. 

Private taxis can be a good choice, but the fact that they cost a great deal of money might be enough to put some tourists off.