Accommodation in Las Vegas: How to Choose and Save Money
Accommodation in Las Vegas: How to Choose Where to Stay
You may feel overwhelmed booking accommodation to stay in Vegas – there are so many options, from cheap and cheerful, to luxury, on The Strip, or elsewhere.
Having been to Vegas several times, here’s our recommendations, whether you are a first-time visitor or looking for some tips to find the ideal accommodation.
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When to book?
This depends on when you are going. In the high season (typically Spring and Autumn/Fall), you’ll want to secure something in advance because prices can skyrocket, especially on weekends and when big events are on. For the shoulder seasons, accommodation may become quite cheap closer to the dates you’re visiting. We found that accommodation had decreased by over 50% in price booking two weeks out, opposed to 4 months out, for mid-week accommodation during the first week of May.
When to visit?
What is your personal preference – can you handle the heat, because it gets hot! I once visited Vegas in a heatwave which reached 54 Celsius! If you visit June, July, and August be aware that the average temperature for these months sits around 40 degrees. In contrast December and January can get into the negatives at night. April, May, September, and October are more manageable in the 20s and 30s.
Free cancellation?
We always recommend this if you book far in advance. You never know what might come up in life. Or in our case, what deals may become available closer to the time. We were able to cancel our existing accommodation for free and book much better deals.
Pay now or later?
It seems a lot of accommodation now (post-pandemic) offer cheaper prices for paying when you book versus when you arrive at the property with free cancellation. This can be tempting. We only do this if it’s getting really close to the trip, and we are 99% positive we will make it. Also, we make sure that worst case if we couldn’t go, we are comfortable losing that amount of money (so in reality, we would never do this if we were treating ourselves to luxury accommodation).
Third party booking or direct?
Personally, we usually book direct but do use booking websites as guides and for comparisons. Vegas has a lot of hotels with Resort Fees – be aware that these are creeping up to $50 plus tax PER NIGHT! Apparently third-party booking platforms cannot charge this fee, so you may end up with a nasty surprise at the end of your stay if you book through them.
Where to choose?
This is quite a daunting task as there are so many options. So, ask yourself, what is most important to you? Are you looking for luxury, cheap, or something in between? Do you want a hotel with a pool, fitness centre etc. or are you planning on spending all your time partying and just need somewhere to sleep? Are you okay with a casino in the lobby or would you rather have somewhere a bit quieter? Do you want to be on The Strip, right in the middle of the action? Smoking or non-smoking?
There are so many things to consider. If you’re struggling, make a list of these to help narrow your choices.
Casinos and Smoking
If you’ve never been to Vegas before, your lobby will most likely have a casino in it, and people will be allowed to smoke cigarettes there. It’s quite overwhelming if you’re used to smokefree environments. However, there is way less smoke than when I was there 10 years ago, but if it really bothers you, look at hotels that don’t have a casino and are non-smoking.
Where did we stay on our most recent trip?
Treasure Island Resort and Encore by The Wynn.
I’ve been to Vegas a few times and each time I have stayed at Treasure Island. There’s something I just like about it. It’s always a reasonable deal compared to other properties in the same area (heading towards the northern end of The Strip). The pool is good, the casino is fun, good restaurants, and somehow, I’ve had the best night’s sleep every time. It’s great for a couple, or group of friends. We booked direct which also included $50 F&B credit – look out for the deals!
Tip: If you are a light sleeper like me, staying at hotels at the north or south end of The Strip will be quieter than ones right in the middle (e.g. Caesar’s, Bellagio).
This time however, we were celebrating our anniversary and we thought we should stay somewhere a little more fancy for that. So, we split the trip. Our second part of the stay was at Encore by The Wynn. We managed to get a great deal here, on the second night we only paid $159 (excluding taxes etc.), compared to some nights that we’ve seen advertised at $1,000 and up!
The room at the Encore was amazing, and the lobby, casino, and all the restaurants etc. are great. The pool was nice, there is a 21+ area which was great for us with no kids, but the pool hours were only 9-5pm which we were surprised by. The cocktails at the pool were $25 plus tax and tip. We ate at the Wynn Buffet (see review here) which was awesome, but expensive!
Overall, the property was fantastic, but we were there for a special event which was on our booking, and we also got asked when we checked in, but nothing special was done for us. For such an expensive hotel, I expected something (having worked in a luxury hotel before, we would go above and beyond for guests celebrating a special occasion), so this was slightly disappointing – you definitely felt like a number to them.
We would recommend both of the hotels we stayed at to anyone, but my favourite (if you’re not a luxury hotel goer) is still Treasure Island. Other hotels we were considering and would also consider next time include Mandalay Bay, Trump Hotel, Aria, The Cosmopolitan, The Palazzo, and if we went luxury, Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria. For us, The Strip is the place to be, but if you are looking for budget accommodation, try your luck a couple of blocks away.
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