Trip to Las vegas?

I spend 4-6 weeks a year in Las Vegas and have for the past 20 years, I don't ever recall seeing one cockroach...Then again I never did stay at the Westward Ho, and have no intention of ever staying at the Gold Spike or Western, so who knows...

I know of some inexpensive hotels that are a good value, I don't do cheap...IMHO the Orleans is the best value as far as hotels go...On the Strip it would be the Statosphere...I like Sam's Town on the Boulder Highway...Main Street Station>downtown..

Sunday through Thursday is much cheaper than Friday and Saturday...Avoid large conventions and events, they drive room rates through the roof...If you are flexible with your dates, you will save a lot of money...http://www.southwest.com/ has package deals, but it has been my experience that I can save money by booking separate..Two of the best times to go include December 10th-29th which is the slowest time of the year in LV, and The 4 days following and including Memorial day...You can find good rates, from November until the end of January and then again the summer months, you just have to check the dates on the travel sites, to avoid conventions and events that will drive the rates up...

this is a great site for LV info >"VEGAS INFO" covers just about everything...Including a list of all the free shuttles..

http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/

for room rates

http://www.tripres.com/

http://www.travelworm.com/

http://www.i4vegas.com/

http://www.vegas.com/

web site of Orleans hotel

http://www.orleanscasino.com/ > they will price match any online room rate you find....This is one of my favorite hotels in LV...Orleans is about 2 miles west of the Strip on Tropicana...They have a free shuttle which Runs to the center of the Strip(Barbary Coast) from 9am until Midnight, after Midnight you can get back by taking the CAT bus....

I rarely rent a car in LV...you can get around just fine using free shuttles and the CAT bus will take you anywhere in the valley...Including from the airport to your hotel, so long as you travel light, you can only take one carry on and a briefcase on the bus...Go to the lower level at McCarran "ground transportation" out the doors and to your right you can catch the #109 Maryland Parkway bus...Transfer to the #201 Tropicana west bound, will take you to the Orleans...The LVA site above has all of the bus routes...

you will do a lot of walking>take the most comfortable walking shoes you own...Of course don't gamble more than you can afford is always good advice...A nice place to play low limit Video Poker, is at the Las Vegas Hilton they have 27 nickel 9/6 JOB machines in their sports book...The LV Hilton's super book is IMHO the best place in all LV to watch sports...Plus you have to check out the Space Quest Casino at the LV Hilton, even if you are not a Star Trek fan this one cool place...

Things to do

Shopping-The Forum Shops - Caesars Palace

Desert Passage - Aladdin

The Grand Canal Shoppes - Venetian

Fashion Show Mall

The afternoon shows are generally much cheaper and some are good intertainment

Mac King - Harrah's - Comedy/Magic - If one of you has never had a "Total Rewards" slot club card from Harrah's, sign up and they will give you two tickets free to see the show...If you already have a card, sometimes they are handing out vouchers in the Carnaval court to see the show for free with a one drink minimum, they hit you up for $9.95 for that drink though...This is the best of the afternoon shows

Dirk Arthur - Tropicana - Magic -

Rick Thomas - Orleans - Magic -

a couple of good evening shows that don't cost an arm and a leg

American Superstars - Stratosphere - there is a 2-4-1 coupon in their "funbook" , which brings the price down to a bargain $21

Larry G Jones - Fitzgerald's - the man of 1002 voices for $22 IMHO this guy is just as good as Danny Gans($100/Mirage)

Cockroach thing is a myth. I've been there about ten times and never even heard of it until now. You do not need a car, but could take taxis or ride the tram. Traffic is such a nightmare you'll be glad you did not rent a car unless you are planning on going to Henderson, Grand Coulee Dam,The Grand Canyon or other side trips.

Cheap and nice is not that easy. But if you booked months ahead you could get a motel. I'd suggest a smaller casino in the older part of town (North of the Mirage) that has recently been cleaned up (I berlieve it's Fremont Street but it's been a few years). That's where the locals gamble because in general the slots are looser.

Try Travelocity or Expedia.

Other than that, have fun and remember the casinos are there to take your money. So consider it just entertainment and don't worry about it too much. I would say that if you are a prudent gambler you should learn about those games that can actually be beaten with the use of your own skill, such as Poker, Horses, etc., or which do not have a lot of risk, such as Pai Gow or Baccarat. Craps is a fast game, but if you actually spend some money on books and read some articles by Peter Andrews and other experts, you might eventually learn how to bet; but it is not a game for everyone.

Have fun.

I've never encountered a cockroach problem nor have I ever heard of one.

You do not need to rent a car. Most people walk or buy a day pass for unlimited rides on the bus.

Transportation to/from the airport is inexpensive and you save money by buying a round trip ticket when you land. There is an area right outside the baggage pickup for ground transportation. You will find a whole slew of busses out there like Bell Transfer, etc. Round trip from airport to hotel and hotel back to airport is under $10 per person. You cannot walk from the airport to a hotel it's too far...also do not take the monorail...it also is a long walk and entirely too expensive.

Your best hotel deals will be downtown. You can go online to check each hotel's deals and sign up for their free gaming card which keeps track of your gambling and gets you deals. I would try the Plaza, The Golden Nugget, Fitzgerald's, Binions and the Fremont Hotels downtown first. You cannot walk from downtown to the strip, but with the day bus pass you can get their easily.

Set aside a daily budget for frivolous spending and gambling. You can get by for food on under $25 a day. There are lots of free shows in front of hotels downtown and on the strip but beware where there are crowds there are pickpockets. They even have signs to warn people. Carry your belongings in fanny packs to keep your hands free.

i've stayed at some nice hotels and some medium nice hotels and have never seen a cockroach in either one. I'm sure if you stay at a sleazy one you'll find them but if its one on the strip it shouldn't be bad. bally's is pretty nice...on the cheaper end Riviera isn't bad either.

you certainly don't need a car there. take a taxi from the airport to your hotel and then walk the rest of the time. the best part of Vegas is the people watching and the best way to do that is walk. plus the casinos are so close together than you'll want to walk so you can just go from one to the next.

try to stay on the strip at night...its does have a high crime rate.

have fun!

Ok , never seen a cockroach at any of the hotels Ive stayed at.

And In my opinion the best hotel for price and location is the Flamingo. Its a decent hotel and right in the middle of the strip. Most importantly its reasonably priced.

I have never rented a car in Vegas. Its unnecessary as long as you stay on or near the strip

Go directly to the hotel websites, you can get the rooms cheaper...I go to Vegas every year with my sister and have never seen a cockroach...We drive, i live 3 hours from Vegas...You dont have to rent a car, get a cab from the airport to your hotel.

Circus Circus i would not recommend, way to many kids and its nasty...The hotels on that end of the strip are usually cheaper and older maybe they have roaches, i dont stay down there...The bigger hotels depending when you go do have some great prices. If you go in the off season when it hotter there you can get deals...

Actually depending on when you are going. You can find some really good rates even at the big Casino's

such as the Circus Circus, Stratosphere and a number of others. Last time I was there I stayed at Circus Circus and Walked a lot. easier and Cheaper.

There is also a tram that runs between a number of the affiliated Casino's but even that's kinda spendy.

Downtown Las Vegas is old but nice. The really cheap area is North Las Vegas. You probably want to avoid that area although it's not extremely bad.

I got this website (just type in your arrival and departure dates):

http://www.mylasvegasrooms.com/?SOURCE=goto&KEYWOR...

From off of this page of websites:

http://search.yahoo.com/search/dir?p=hotel+Las+Veg...