Strip or Not to Strip? That is the question.

For hotels (this is a clean blog, people)

For a town with over 150,000 hotel rooms (according to a dated New York Times article), figuring out the best place is a bit of a trick. To answer, you need to ask a few questions.

Who's going? You and your honey, you and your friends, you and your family, or just you.

How much do you want to spend on a room per night?

Is it your first time to Las Vegas?


Answering those questions will determine the best hotel for you. Some people chose the place with the cheapest hotel prices. That's fair too because I do the same thing.

More guidelines later. But here are some general rules to start with.

If it is your first time to Vegas, stay on the "Strip". The Strip is S. Las Vegas Blvd. (type it into Google maps. From the southernmost hotel (Mandalay Bay) to the northernmost (Stratosphere). The hotels between those two points are considered the Strip. Pick one of those hotels. Once there, you can walk or take a quick cab to anywhere you want to be.

Also, if you can, be flexible on the dates you can go. The best deals for hotel rooms are between Thanksgiving and New Years and, after the Fourth of July to Labor Day. So, plan around the times when rooms are cheap.

Finally, weekends will see room rates double or triple. No matter the time of year. So go during the week or be prepared to move into a cheaper hotel for the weekend. So look for weekday prices and weekend pricing if you are going to be in town for the weekend.

Even in this economy, there are still deals to be found if you look for them.