For my first Blog post, I am going to tackle something kind of big.
How to choose a hotel for your trip.
There are so many things that actually go in to this that one post isn’t going to cover it all, but hopefully it will help you make the decision that works best for your particular trip.
The first thing you need to decided is the purpose for your trip. Is it for a convention, to see a show or special event, gamble the night away, visit a spa and relax, or just to take in as many of the sights as possible? Are you looking for high energy / hustle and bustle or do you want a slower pace?

If you are going for a convention, stay at one of the hotels that is an “official hotel” for your convention. Shop around for a rate since you can often find cheaper rates than what the convention has negotiated, but don’t stay at a different hotel just because it has a lower room rate. You will be spending more in time and additional transportation than you would have saved by staying at the cheaper hotel non-convention hotel. This is especially true if your convention is at an off-Strip hotel like the Rio or at the far North end of the Strip like the Stratosphere or Riviera.

If you are visiting Las Vegas for a vacation, remember that your room is where you start your day, plan your adventure for the day and recover from your day. Even if you only consider it to be a place to sleep and shower, you want it to be comfortable and you don’t want to dread going back to your room. You also don’t want to have to travel very far to get back to your room at the end of the day.

If you are looking for relaxation and pampering, try a hotel with a great spa. Qua at Caesars Palace and Canyon Ranch Spa at the Venetian should be at the top of your list. You don’t want to have to walk or catch a cab to get back to your hotel after your spa time.

If you are looking for a more relaxed, low-key trip without pampering, stay downtown. All of the downtown / Fremont Street casinos are within easy walking distance. Their table games have lower minimum bets and the slots tend to payback more. The hotels and hotel rooms are not fancy and some don’t even have irons (you have to call housekeeping to get an iron for an hour at the Fremont Hotel and Casino). You are not going to find the hottest nightclubs, a Cirque du Soleil show or a Celebrity chef here, either.

It gets harder to generalize once you get to the Strip, so I am going to save specifics for later posts. Location does play a big part, though. How easy is it to get from your hotel to any other places that you want to go? That might not be as obvious as it sounds.

Hopefully this gives you a starting point for your Vegas Vacation!