How To Choose a Hotel in Las Vegas (Your Ultimate Guide)

Bryan Mullennix Updated on
How to choose a hotel in Las Vegas

With over 50 major resorts and more than 150,000 hotel rooms available throughout the city, how on earth are you supposed to choose the right hotel in Las Vegas for your visit? It’s an important decision, as your choice of hotel can make or break your visit to one of the most amazing cities on the planet!

Selecting the perfect hotel in Las Vegas involves considering the location that will best serve your travel needs, budget, desired amenities, and nearby activities. Looking at these factors together will reveal which hotel is the right choice for your Vegas trip.

If you’re planning a visit to fabulous Las Vegas and aren’t sure where to begin when it comes to picking a hotel, this guide is for you! Read on to discover the most important aspects of selecting the ideal hotel in Nevada’s most famous city.

The 3 Top Locations For Your Las Vegas Hotel Room

We’ve all heard it before when it comes to traveling and choosing the best hotel: Location, location, location! And that certainly applies to Las Vegas, as well. First, let’s talk about the three main areas people choose to stay in Las Vegas and identify the best one for you.

Hotels on The Las Vegas Strip

Las Vegas Strip Hotels

A major part of a Las Vegas hotel’s value is its proximity to other major attractions. Most notably, the four miles of resorts, attractions, casinos, and thrills known as the Vegas Strip. Many of Las Vegas’s best and biggest hotels are located along this section of Las Vegas Boulevard.

The endpoints of the Strip are defined by the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino at the south end of the Strip, and The Strat Hotel (aka The Stratosphere) on the north end. In between these two hotels is 4.2 miles of some of the most famous mega-resorts, shopping, and attractions found anywhere in the world!

If you’re staying on the Strip, you can be assured of being close to most of the biggest shows and attractions in Las Vegas. Even if where you want to go is at the other end of Las Vegas Boulevard from your hotel, it is easy and relatively inexpensive to get there either by walking, taxi, Uber, or even hopping on the monorail.

All of that said, there’s really only one main thing to consider when you are looking for a Las Vegas hotel: do you want to stay on the Strip or off it? Being on the Strip means you’re right in the heart of all the action!

Even on the Strip, some hotels are in a better location when it comes to other nearby resorts and attractions.

Here are some of my top recommendations for hotels on the Strip. These properties are located in the mid-Strip area, providing excellent walking opportunities and plenty of other nearby resorts and attractions.

Follow the links below to check the current room rates at TripAdvisor.

Las Vegas Strip Map

Be sure to download our FREE map of hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. It shows all the hotel locations and what is near each property.

Off-Strip Hotels

Staying on the Strip, however, isn’t your only option. You can stay off-Strip if you’d like a quieter and possibly less expensive stay. Sometimes staying off-Strip means just a block or two away. In other cases, it could mean staying at a hotel several miles away from Las Vegas Boulevard altogether.

Choosing a hotel near but not on the Strip provides several advantages and one major disadvantage. A hotel just off the main strip will give you the same basic access to the resorts, shows, and attractions found on the Strip, but often at a significantly reduced rate.

Not only are the hotel guest rooms generally less expensive, but everything from restaurants, drinks, spa treatments, on-site attractions, and resort fees are often less expensive.

Off-Strip hotels are also somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle. While it’s fun to get out and enjoy the crowds and chaotic energy on the Strip, many people like the ability to come back to a hotel with a much calmer and quieter atmosphere. Staying at a hotel, even just a block or two off the Strip, can provide some downtime to decompress.

The one disadvantage to staying just off the Strip is that distances are often exaggerated in Las Vegas. A block or two off the Strip can still be quite a distance to walk, especially after a long night or during the heat of summer.

Of course, you can always grab an Uber to eliminate this disadvantage, but naturally, that will add an additional expense.

The following are some hotels I’d recommend if staying off, but close to the Strip, sounds appealing to you:

Your other option is to pick a hotel a couple of miles or more from the Strip. There are several beautiful and amazing resorts that offer everything you need to have a fun-filled and relaxing vacation without ever leaving the property.

The following properties are ideal if you only plan on visiting the Las Vegas Strip once or twice during your stay and would like a much more chill trip to Vegas:

Downtown Las Vegas Resorts

Finally, you could instead select a hotel located in Downtown Las Vegas. Downtown, on or close to Fremont Street, is where Las Vegas began. Many people come to Las Vegas and never leave the fun and walkable downtown area.

Downtown is home to many attractions and activities, including the Mob Museum, Container Park, The Neon Museum, and the biggest, wildest street party you’ve ever been to, The Fremont Street Experience!

Take a virtual walk through the Fremont Street Experience!

Recommended Downtown Hotels include:

If you’re worried that selecting a downtown hotel will keep you from the Strip, know that the downtown area is just a 15-minute car or Uber ride to the center of the Strip.

How To Choose a Hotel Location For You

Now that you know the three main areas to choose from, you should be in a much better position to decide the Las Vegas location best suited for you and your traveling companions.

Keep in mind that:

  • Hotels on the main Strip are closer to many attractions but tend to be crowded and more expensive.
  • Hotels off of the Strip can be a short way (or a long way) from many attractions but generally cost less.
  • Hotels in downtown Las Vegas have a different but very cool, old-school Vegas vibe and are generally less expensive than Strip properties.

PRO TIP: If it’s your first trip to Vegas, I’d highly recommend staying on the Strip or at least at a hotel nearby. The resorts in the middle of the Strip or on the south end are the best Las Vegas hotels to get the most out of your first trip to the city.

The Best Hotels in Las Vegas For Your Budget (On the Strip)

The MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip is a great choice for families with kids.
MGM Grand at Night.

Once you’ve decided what part of town you want to stay in, it’s time to include your budget requirements into the equation. Naturally, one of the biggest deciding factors when choosing a hotel is whether you can afford it.

The good news in Las Vegas is that there are budget-friendly, mid-range, and luxury-priced hotels in every part of the city.

So, for instance, if you’ve chosen the Strip as your ideal location, you will easily find a hotel to fit your budget, no matter how big or small. The real icing on the cake is that even on a budget, you can find an affordable mega-resort on the Strip with plenty of amenities, shows, and attractions.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the most popular Strip hotels in each budget range:

Luxury Hotels:

Mid-Range Hotels:

Budget-Friendly Hotels: