Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Well yes . . . and no. The truth is, if you're going to be staying at a major casino
resort, you'll be staying in a room designed by committee, created for easy mainte-
nance, which will look like the 2000 other rooms in that hotel . . . and often will look
similar to the rooms in the other casinos
owned by that parent company.
Remember: Most of the casinos in Vegas
are owned by either MGM MIRAGE,
Boyd Gaming, or Harrah's—big corpo-
rations all, so you're not going to find
the same kinds of quirky, personal
touches you'll encounter in smaller
hotels in other cities (for the most part).
And if you're constantly having to
squint to read the paper in bed, don't
call your optometrist. Dim lighting in
guest rooms is the norm. It's a way of getting customers back onto the casino floor—
the longer you stay in your room, the less the casino is making, after all.
Some differences that will hit you, and which I'll discuss below, will be in the
overall ambience and decor of the public areas; what types of customers each hotel
attracts; how opulent their pool areas are; and their eating, shopping, and enter-
tainment options. With the exception of the swimming pools, which can only be
used by guests of the resort (they do check for room keys), I'm conflicted as to how
important the other options actually are. Savvy budget travelers simply choose the
cheapest hotel in the area they wish to stay and then hang out in the cushier places.
But when the mercury breaks 100°F (38°C), it sure can be tempting to stay put
within the icily air-conditioned confines of your home hotel. It's your call.
Our pricing symbols for accommodations:
$:
$50 a night or less
$$:
$50-$100
$$$:
$101-$150
$$$$:
$151 and up
SOUTH STRIP HOTELS
Alternately chichi and run-down, the South Strip is arguably the most polyglot por-
tion of this famous boulevard. At one end you have the ultraexclusive THEHotel at
Mandalay and the Four Seasons; just a short hop away are such old warhorses as the
Tropicana and Excalibur. There's Prada at the first two, JC Penney at the latter, and
everything in between for those who choose other properties in this section of the
Strip. Though this area doesn't have the outdoor spectacles (dancing fountains,
pirate battles) that the Center Strip does, it does offer a wide range of eating, shop-
ping, and entertainment choices in all price ranges, from frugal to obscene.
In ascending order of price:
“
Casinos and prostitutes have the
same thing in common; they are both
trying to screw you out of your
money and send you home with a
smile on your face.
”
—VP Pappy
$-$$
Your cheapest option on the South Strip is not on the Strip itself, but a
very walkable three-quarters of a block away (I promise!). Fronted by a huge,
Vegas-glitzy sign, it's the largest
Motel 6
(195 E. Tropicana Ave., at Koval Lane;
%
800/4-MOTEL-6 [466-8356] or 702/798-0728; www.motel6.com; AE, DC, DISC,
MC, V)
in the country, so massive that another small (and not as nice) motel is
