| Value for money: I’m not necessarily looking for the cheapest, but for the best value for the money that fits my other key criteria. |
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| Is there a mandatory nightly resort fee? |
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| Free parking: There are already so many fees and this is a deal-breaker for me, since I always drive or rent a car. |
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| Location is key: I insist on staying downtown, or need to know how far I am from the Strip, or my proximity to the Convention Center, etc. |
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| If the hotel has a casino, does it have playable games and good promotions? |
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| Lowest price: This is my overriding concern. I’m just looking for the cheapest place to lay my head, which takes priority over location or amenities. |
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| Does the hotel have good room deals with valuable extras that offset the resort and parking fees? |
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| Are the rooms quiet (not near the elevator, ice machine, or a nightclub)? |
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| Does the room have a mini-fridge or can I request one for free? |
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| What are the in-room/on-property amenities like (coffee maker, safe, fitness center, nice pool, concierge, etc.)? |
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| Does the hotel have a casino or not? (I may be looking for a non-gaming property to stay at.) |
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| Are there plentiful on-property dining and entertainment options? I don't like to venture too far afield but don't want to get bored after a couple of nights. |
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| Smoker-friendly or no? I need to know, either because I or my partner smokes or because I definitely don’t want to be in a smoky room/hotel. |
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| Is it safe to walk to and from the parking garage? |
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| Is guaranteed good wifi service available throughout and ports to charge my device(s) etc.? |
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| Are there charges for early check-in and late check-out? |
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| Can I request a Strip-view room? |
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| Is there good transportation, be it a hotel shuttle, local bus service, Monorail station, etc., so I’m not stranded or dependent on taxis? |
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| Can I guarantee my chosen room type? I’ve been let down too many times before when I've made a specific request. |
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| Not applicable; I always stay at the same hotel. |
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| Does the hotel have high TripAdvisor and Yelp ratings? |
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| Is the hotel close enough to the Strip that I don’t have to pay for parking, but I can walk there? |
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| Is the hotel pet-friendly or not? (I may want to bring my dog, or else I may want to be sure that the guest before me did NOT bring theirs!) |
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| Other (let us know about your preferences and needs in the comment boxes). |
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| Is it a family-friendly hotel or not? (I want to know one way or the other.) |
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| Are there balcony rooms? |
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Analysis
This was one of our more popular polls of late, garnering more than 4,000 votes. Obviously, LVA readers feel strongly about where they stay and why.
There were a lot of choices and every one received votes, but not surprisingly, given who we and who are followers are, the number-one criterion is value. Most of us aren't skinflint Scrooges, and that includes the most frugal among us, but most of us like a good deal, especially in the Greed Capital of the Known Universe.
But it's also instructive that the lowest-priced-rooms option came in sixth place out of 26 choices. Though Las Vegas is hardly the Bargain City it was when we published a book of the same name (1993), it still has enough low-price opportunities to make it a cheap domestic vacation for those who put in the time to make it so. Which involves the add-ons and extras that come with a room and that choice placed right behind the lowest-price option in the poll.
The opposite side of the value coin is that no one wants to be taken advantage of, and resort and parking fees often feel exactly like that. Again, we predicted both selections would be near the top and they were.
We'd also say that location has at least something to do with parking fees and transportation in general, though of course many people have a preference: Strip, downtown, neighborhoods. And the voting shows it.
LVAers are gamblers and advantage players, so when you come to Las Vegas, you want to be close to where you have your best shot of coming out in the black.
Most of the rest of the selections have to do with amenities, services, and security. We were interested, when looking at the bottom of the list, to see that pet-friendly is more important to visitors than family-friendly. In fact, Other placed higher than families! Though we still see plenty of kids being dragged along by their parents around here, the days of Las Vegas as a family destination, at least to our readers, are long gone.
I have been at this long enough to become married to two Strip casinos, two different companies, i.e. comp systems. I am faithful with casino-support payments to both, and this faithfulness assures good relations with Hosts, dealers, restaurant staff, etc. So, I always stay/play at the same hotel(s)/casinos which reduces pre-trip anxiety about my room. But relationships can hit snags, so from the survey I extracted a few irreconcilable differences should things go south: - Kids. I have actually given up on this one. Should there ever be a casino magnate with guts enough to forbid small children on the property, I'm in. Steve Wynn tried, but no go. So, odds are it won't happen. - Pets. I expected the worst, but haven't been bothered by pets...yet. - A nightly resort fee on comped rooms. No deal. - VP/slots become unbearably tight. I'm having suspicions right now. - Cleanliness ("other" on the survey) is critical. Gals need tidy rest rooms while they gamble!