Q:
Three years ago, we ran a poll on your favorite locals hotel-casinos. Looking back at the archives, we discovered that we've never run one on your favorite Strip resorts.
Yes, yes, we know that with resort fees, paid parking, lousy gambling, and the herd on the street, many of you avoid the Strip at all costs. Still, we also assume that you do have a favorite Strip hotel-casino, even if it's just your fondest memory of the last time you were there. The list includes only resorts that currently exist, not ones that used to be. And there's an extra choice at the bottom.
Based on the comments on the poll-preview page, we're looking for the one casino that you like best overall. Breaking them down by casinos, rooms, restaurants, buffets, shows, nightlife, amenities, and attractions, we'd have to run multiple polls and that would get boring fast. Our last poll on best local casinos was a "simple popularity contest," so we're applying the same criterion to this one too. However, since there are a number of criteria for casino fondness, we're allowing multiple votes, like we did for the locals poll. We're also including a general choice off a good suggestion by ZZDoug that you'll find at the bottom of the list.
From north to south (and yes, we're including Stratosphere, which won the poll we ran on the question last year handily, 58% in favor of and 42% against, but not South Point or the M, which aren't on the Strip proper and were included in the locals poll), here are your choices.
A:
1846 Total Votes
| I no longer go to the Strip, due to paid parking, bad gambling, and a rip-and-tear vibe. |
|
| Bellagio |
|
| I still go to the Strip, but only for a particular purpose (show tickets, meeting people, restaurant comp, etc.); I don't have a specific preference. |
|
| Flamingo |
|
| Caesars Palace |
|
| Mirage |
|
| Paris |
|
| Cosmopolitan |
|
| Palazzo/Venetian |
|
| Encore/Wynn |
|
| Bally's |
|
| Harrah's |
|
| Casino Royale |
|
| Planet Hollywood |
|
| Cromwell |
|
| New York-New York |
|
| Aria |
|
| Mandalay Bay |
|
| MGM Grand |
|
| Treasure Island |
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| Luxor |
|
| Tropicana |
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| LINQ |
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| Excalibur |
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| STRAT |
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| Park MGM |
|
| Circus Circus |
|
| Sahara |
|
Analysis
This simple popularity contest lines up about as expected, with two of the top three results an indication of the prevailing sentiments about the Strip these days from Las Vegas veterans and readers of this site.
Beyond that, the first six most popular casinos can be grouped geographically at center Strip (easily walkable from the free parking garage at Miracle Miles Shops). Then, we note, come two megaresorts that don't charge for parking: Wynncore and Venetianazzo.
We're not all that sure what Bally's and Harrah's offer that would rank them in the top ten, but to each his/her own.
And only a couple percentage points separate the next 14 Strip casinos, which is close enough to be a virtual tie in our book, with Circus Circus and the Sahara bringing up the rear. That should change when Resorts World, the Drew, and the Las Vegas Convention Center expansion are completed in the next few years
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