Question of the Day - 22 September 2014

You could say that free parking has been a casualty of downtown's revival and yes, in recent times what for many years was the norm is now almost a thing of the past. A combination of increased tourism, thanks to the development of the Fremont East Entertainment District, new dining outlets and attractions such as the Mob Museum and Gold & Silver Pawn (which has its own free parking lot, but it's miniscule), and events like First Friday, which now draws upward of 30,000 visitors, have put a lot of additional pressure on the somewhat limited parking resources. Add to this the parallel influx of new businesses in the area, of which the relocated Zappos HQ would be the prime example, and it all adds up to a big headache for anyone looking for a parking spot.

The hotels, which willingly offered free parking in the past to accommodate gamblers, suddenly faced the problem of staying guests being unable to find a place to park, as savvy tourists who might not even be visiting their property would park for free and then pay a quick visit to the casino cage to get their parking ticket validated before exiting. (This practice dates way back: When Anthony Curtis was still a professional gambler, he and his teammates would "play parking," finding all the ways to avoid paying, and factor this in to their gambling results when dividing up who had won what.) This was the (highly plausible) explanation put forth by Boyd Gaming when the company axed free parking at their California and Main Street Station properties in February of this year.

Some of the new parking policies in effect are so complicated -- and are subject to seemingly whimsical changes -- that eliciting a definitive pricing structure proved almost impossible for some properties. In one instance, we called the hotel front desk, the players club, the bell desk, and the parking garage itself, and received four different answers. What follows, however, is what we believe to be the current lay of the land at each casino property:

• Binion's: The property no longer has a hotel; guests of the casino receive free validation with verified play; otherwise, it's $2/hour up to a maximum of five hours.
• California: This hotel is one of the few last bastions of resort fee-free accommodation and there's no parking charge for hotel guests; non-hotel guests will be charged upon entry and must present their parking ticket, with either their meal receipt or their B Connected players card (as proof of gambling) to be reimbursed at the cage. If you don't do this, there's a flat fee of $3 Sunday to Thursday and $5 on the weekend.
• The D: Parking is free to hotel guests (note that there is a $20/night resort fee, which does not cite parking as among the amenities included, but it might as well). If you're not staying at the hotel, you may receive four hours of free parking with validation at the players club kiosk and they do not (currently) require verification of play or dining. If you park in the Fremont Street Experience garage, the D will validate your ticket too, but note that this is only for three hours.
• Downtown Grand: There's an $18/night resort fee, although again the hotel claims that guest parking is "free." If you're not staying here, self parking is $5 for the first 2 hours, then an additional $1/hour up to maximum of $9. As an example of one of the oddities we alluded to earlier, valet parking -- which is still pretty much free everywhere -- is $12 here unless you have proof of dining or play, in which case you can validate for free.
• El Cortez: Parking for guests is an additional $3, on top of the $8.95 nightly resort fee, but anyone -- guest or not -- may simply present a players card to have the $3 fee waived. Note, however, that you are charged the $3 fee on admission, so if you park before you visit the casino, we're pretty sure you're stuck with that first $3 fee. Without a players card, there's a $5 flat fee for parking. In addition, this hotel -- previously famed for its free parking -- has also started charging "event parking" fees, seemingly on a "when they feel like it" basis, but if you find yourself faced with one of these, presentation of a players card should get it waived.
• Four Queens: Hotel guests receive a free-parking pass; otherwise you must present a dining receipt, or have your play verified to receive 3 hours of free parking (and good luck with that -- in our experience, finding a slot attendant to come and witness your play is like waiting for a unicorn to show up). Without validation it's $2 for the first 30 minutes, then $1 for each hour thereafter, up to maximum charge of $16.
• Fremont: This hotel has no parking garage, but its valet service is free.
• Golden Gate: Parking is free to hotel guests (if you don't count the $20 resort fee); non-guests may receive up to four hours of free parking with the usual proof of gambling/dining required for validation.
• Golden Nugget: Parking is free to hotel guests (who are obliged to pay a $5 "downtown entertainment" fee, however). With proof of play or dining, parking is complimentary; otherwise it's $2/hour.
• Las Vegas Club: Like Binion's, the hotel here is closed, but restaurant or casino guests may validate for free; otherwise, it's a whopping $5 per hour.
• Main Street Station: See California, as the rules here are the same.
• Plaza: There's a $12/night resort fee, but hotel guests, diners, and gamblers may obtain validation to waive this. Otherwise, it's a flat fee of $5 to self park.

With the exception of the Downtown Grand, valet-parking services are complimentary, where available. Of course, tipping is expected, and the going rate is in the $3-$5 range, we would suggest.

If you're looking for free parking without all the hassles of validation in a casino, three of the options include non-metered street parking, which you'll find from the Stratosphere down to Fremont Street, but this is not the "best" neighborhood, shall we say, especially at night, and not a good idea if you don't like walking. You'll find unmanned dirt lots around the area, too, which are fair game, but park at your own risk. The City Hall garage at Stewart Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard provides ample free parking, but again that might be too far of a walk for some, while the same goes for the Government Center parking lot, located off Main Street and Bonneville Avenue.

As to other options, rather than reinvent the wheel, allow us to direct you to a handy guide on the Vegas.com blog, where you'll find more than a few other suggestions for free or cheap parking, the hours and rates for street meters, and tips on the best place to park for various popular destinations, like the Mob Museum. (They also list hotel parking charges, but we'd recommend using the information we list here, since we just completed our painstaking survey and can guarantee it's up-to-date as of yesterday.)

On the subject of parking meters, we had no idea how complex a subject this could be until we checked out the City of Las Vegas FAQ on the subject, which is two and a half pages long, and covers everything we could conceivably think of -- with the exception of costs, so check the previous link for that -- and several things we couldn't, since we didn't even know they existed). These would include: the supposed benefits of new solar-powered meters that are being installed; multi-bay versus single-space meters; mPark pay-by-phone meters and what will replace them (who knew we had them?!); and the withdrawal and replacement of the CashKey system (ditto). Far less confusing is the Downtown Parking Finder, also courtesy of the City of Las Vegas, which is a map that shows all the public parking spots, plus a color-coded guide to the multiple parking-meter zones and the maximum-duration stay permitted for each one.