The "free parking with validation" system is a comp.
Virtually every downtown casino (the only exception we know of is the Four Queens*) offers free parking to hotel guests, but most also offer a complimentary parking opportunity to casual visitors as well.
In order not to pay the standard hourly rate, you have to take your ticket into the casino and get it time- and date-stamped, usually by a little counter-top machine situated at the main cage or bar. Of course, the thinking behind this is that you park in the garage because you want to gamble in the casino, or at least pay for dinner there, so the parking is a little freebie to thank you for your patronage. And, so the thinking goes, even if you happen to be downtown solely to watch the Fremont Street Experience and only use the casino's parking garage because you don’t want to park on the street or pay for a meter, once you've ventured through the casino door, you won't be able to resist a little flutter on the slots.
However, validation is a self-service process -- no one checks whether or not you did indeed succumb to the lure of the blackjack or roulette tables or spent any longer on the premises than it took to validate your ticket. You can simply park, stamp, and leave, returning only to retrieve your vehicle once you're done with your sightseeing/shopping/eating/or even gambling at the casino next door. Just present your stamped ticket to the attendant on duty and be on your merry way.
The tariff you saw displayed reflects the per-hour rate you'll get hit with if you forget to validate your ticket, or don't know that the option exists, or overstay the free-parking allowance. In theory, the time limit usually falls between two and five hours, after which you'll pay the hourly rate; in practice, we don't recall ever having been hit with extra charges, although we may not have stayed long enough to find out. If you're genuinely spending all those hours at the casino where you parked, a word with a pit boss or maître d' should be all it takes to get your free parking time extended.
A few things have changed since we last surveyed the downtown parking situation in 2005, including the opening of the 3rd Street valet and closure of the Lady Luck and Nevada Hotel. For an up-to-date look at parking fees and validation rules for downtown properties, click here.
*According to the Four Queens' front desk, the only way you can get the $3/day parking charge waived is to join the slot club, which will grant you free-parking status for all subsequent stays, but not for your first.
