There are budget visitors, medium rollers, and high rollers and Vegas Made Easy.com has different recommendations for each.

Extremely High Rollers

Within High Rollers are the near Whales, very high rollers, high rollers and medium rollers who are splurging.  For the near Whales or about-to-become-Whales, we recommend play at the MGM family of casinos such as Bellagio, Mirage, MGM or Mandalay Bay.

Bellagio's relatively best gaming is:

·         Roulette-single 0 with European rules (click here for details) 

·         Live Poker-best high limit room, next to Venetian for best overall 

·         Blackjack-mediocre rules but competitive for the Strip 

·         Craps-same as most, better than Caesar's 

For very high action, you may get invited to the Mansion at MGM.  The range is 2,400 to 12,000 square feet, with heated bathroom floors and individual indoor pools.  Private concerts, a private casino are part of the offering.  If not crowded, they might rent but this is highly unlikely-think invitation only. 

The Palms has specialty suites for the near whales.  The Hugh Hefner is 10,000 square feet with an Infinity Edge Pool that extends from the top of the Palms for $40,000 a night.  Their basketball Hardwood Suite is $25,000.

If you prefer very finely appointed suites, the Venetian Chairman suites range from 6 to 8,000 square feet for $10-15,000 a night but include your own Karaoke.

Very High Rollers

MGM Skylofts during slow periods may get down to $510 a night such as  November 19-21 but reach $10,000 a night on either conventions or major holidays such as New Year's Eve.  It is our top recommendation for very high rollers:

·         24 hour Butler 

·         High end Electronics Package (even bathrooms have 32" LCD TVs) 

·         Maybach Limo Service 

·         Infinity Edge tub, Steam Shower 

·         Espresso Machine 

·         Preferred seating (Robuchon, KA, Shadow Creek golf, etc.) 

·         1,440 sq. ft for 1 Bedroom 

·         3,000 sq. ft for 2 Bedroom 

·         6,000 sq. ft for 3 Bedroom 

·         24 foot floor to ceiling windows-good views 29 floors up 

Food can be catered in from either Craftsteak or Shibuya.  Craftsteak is our overall choice for best steak and the best for dry-aged, grass fed as well as a top choice for wet-aged.  Click here for details.  Here is a list of MGM restaurants and our ratings on a 20 point scale.

If you are not familiar with Las Vegas, room rates vary significantly for most properties.  MGM Skylofts rates vary more than most but Vegas has very big swings.

Platinum can go as low as $79 a night with $329 for New Year's.  Even Wynn, which tends not to have as big a swing as some others can go from $189 to $750 based on time of the year.  The Caesars Deluxe Palace Tower room that might go for $270 a night on Nov. 21 will go for $890 on New Year's Eve.

When the rates are down around $510 (or are comped), the MGM Skylofts are a great value.  When their rates peak, there has to be compelling seasonal value such as a big convention that you are attending or a major holiday that you want to celebrate in order to justify the rate.

Another recommendation for the very high roller is the Wynn Fairway Villas.  These range from 2,411 to 3,224 square feet at $1,200 to $5,000 a night and face the 7,042 yard par 70 Wynn golf course.  Wynn is a good Fazio course-highly convenient-but Shadow Creek is nicer unless you are a very big fan of vertical drops.

The advantages of Wynn are exclusivity in its entrance, lobby and pool facilities and slightly better dining options than any other hotel on the Strip.  If you are trying to get these rooms comped through big time wagering, here are the games where Wynn is relatively strongest. 

·         Baccarat-most tables (click here for details) 

·         Craps-same as most, better than Caesars 

·         Poker Room-only a tad behind Venetian, Bellagio, Mirage 

·         Race Book-best in Vegas (click here for details) 

·         Video Poker-(very good for the Strip-click here for details) 

High Rollers

Our recommendations are Wynn, Bellagio and Venetian depending on what is most important to you.  The strength of Wynn is its overall lead in fine dining, Venetian in Entertainment and Bellagio in location.

Here are our rankings for the top 3 hotels in fine dining.  Note that Venetian has recently spiked up due to Mario Batali's B&B and Enoteca and David Burke.  A future Cut (Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse) in Palazzo could help them challenge Wynn.

Although Alex is the top restaurant at Wynn, they are very strong across the board with the top Japanese restaurant in Vegas, Okada, our number 3 wet-aged steakhouse in Vegas, SW (click here for details) and an under-rated Corsa Cucina.  Bartolotta is a great seafood restaurant and a strong alternative to rm.

Bellagio had been the top fine dining hotel in Vegas but they have been passed up by Wynn and recently fractionally edged by Venetian.  Picasso remains one of the best in the city unless you hate genuine Picassos on the wall. 

Le Cirque is a very good restaurant although Le Cirque's is more formal than is currently chic.  Micahel Mina has recovered from the employee raid by Tableau at the Wynn, and can be recommended again.

Although this could change when Payard at Caesars opens, Jean-Phillipe has the lead in pastries although Chocolat at Wynn is pretty good.  The buffet at Bellagio has the best variety although Wynn's smaller batches make it very close between the two.  Venetian has no buffet but they also have restaurants in the shopping area that give it additional diversity.

Here is a listing of other restaurants by hotel for comparison purposes.  Caesars also has the Forum Shoppes restaurants and Mandalay Bay also includes Mandalay Place dining.

The advantage Venetian has over Bellagio and Wynn is Entertainment options.  They have Phantom, our number one recommendation for Broadway style shows, Blue Man Group also recommended, and Gordie Brown rated by Vegas Made Easy.com as second to Danny Gans for impersonators.  Wayne Brady is outstanding at improv but we rate Stand-up higher for comedic value.

Bellagio's "O" is about equal to Mystere as far as Cirque productions and superior to Wynn's Le Reve.  Wynn's Spamalot is very funny and benefits from better seats to catch the facial expressions.  The strength of "O" keeps Bellagio competitive.

Tao at the Venetian is extremely active (perhaps too crowded) with Pure at Caesars right on its heels.  Tryst has a great design which we prefer to Tao but it does not have as high an energy factor.  Blush at Wynn is a great bar which we prefer to all but Tabu at MGM.  Caesars Cleopatra bar has made a comeback of sorts.

Bellagio's nightlife will kick back into high gear with The Bank.  However, you will have to wait awhile for it to open.  This definitely knocks Bellagio down when comparing the hotels although their exclusive agreement as part of the MGM family of hotels give them a golf edge for Shadow Creek.  Here is list of Entertainment options.

For comparison, we also show some of the other hotels' options.  Mandalay Bay shows up strongly for nightlife due to rumjungle and House of Blues.  Caesars has the best headliner shows and Pure is a great nightclub.

Bellagio has the most central location of the High Roller hotels.  It is near Caesars, across from Bally's/Paris and roughly midway between the South strip cluster of MGM, Mandalay Bay, etc. and the North Strip cluster of Wynn and Venetian.

If you are the kind of person who wants to stay at one hotel for a total resort experience, Bellagio is an outstanding choice.  If you come to Vegas to hit as many of the big Strip properties as you can, Bellagio may be an even better choice.

Medium Rollers

Our top recommendation for an off-Strip hotel is the Platinum-a block behind Bally's.  Their smallest room is 910 square feet-160 feet bigger than the largest regular Strip rooms.  They also have 1,083 and 2,165 sq. ft. rooms.  All rooms have a full kitchen with fridge, microwave, oven, etc. and 2 plasma screen TVs with a 2 seater Jacuzzi tub.

There is no other hotel that comes close to rate/square feet.  On the Strip you will be paying from $0.20 to over $1.17 a square foot for somewhat similar rooms depending on the season.  The Platinum will swing from less than $0.09 to $0.36 per square foot per night.

Although the Platinum has a decent modern American restaurant, it is also close to some very good dining.  The best Sunday buffet in Las Vegas is Bally's Sterling Brunch. 

Bally's regular buffet has closed (not a major loss) but Planet Hollywood's is very good and a small step below Wynn and Bellagio.  Planet Hollywood is next to Bally's and Bellagio is across from Bally's.  A short walk away is Ellis Island which has the best bargain sit down dining near the Strip. 

Platinum has no casino and is best for those with a car and staying multiple days.  It is close to the Bally's monorail station and taxi drivers have figured out where it is.

Downtown, Vegas Made Easy.com recommends Golden Nugget.  Although this used to be the very high roller hotel decades ago, the downtown decline has made this much more affordable.

The rooms are still okay and the Landry's Seafood owners have been making a lot of upgrades that exceed their purchase price.  Vic and Anthony's is a decent steak chain, and Hugo's at the Four Queens is a short walk away-compared to the Strip distances.  Roberta's at the El Cortez is not quite as good as it used to be but is still serviceable and Main Street Station has a good buffet. Golden Nugget's pool with the sharks is a nice upgrade.

A drawback of Downtown is that good values can be found in the different Locals' casinos throughout the Vegas area and most of the Entertainment has moved to the Strip-such as Gordie Brown.  The Vegas downtown area has been in a protracted decline and its not easy to see how it will stop unless more poeple trade down from the Las Vegas Strip properties.

There is high limit gambling at Golden Nugget but for other gambling, the nearby casinos are often better.  El Cortez has good Blackjack and some Video Poker if you can tear the machines away from locals.  Main Street Station is best for Craps with their 20X odds.  They also have the best buffet and a good microbrewery.

Also not far away is the Plaza for Sports Book betting and the only Bingo downtown.  The Las Vegas Club has interesting Blackjack although their reputation for regular Blackjack has been usurped by El Cortez.    

If you need to stay on the Strip with a casino hotel, Monte Carlo has affordable rates and is not as run down as some properties that are almost as cheap.  It has Lance Burton, Andre's (Andre's downtown and Alize owned by Andre Rochat are a bit better) and Diablo's which is a pretty good Brian Massie Mexican cantina.  Across the street is Empire Ballroom for the late night. 

Low Rollers

Vegas Made Easy.com has no specific Strip recommendations-look for the best bargains at any given time.  Tropicana, Imperial Palace, Casino Royale and Excalibur may have promotions through the year.  Although the travel sites may sometimes have good package deals, you are often getting the best deal direct from the hotel.  

During the winter, the Trop has an indoor and heated pool and 2 good exhibits about Titanic and the human body that unfortunately have moved to Luxor.  Imperial Palace has one of the top Sports Books in Vegas.  Their interesting auto collection can usually be seen for free if you look for coupon books. 

Excalibur has a live poker game inhabited by a lot of fish and the occasional local sharpie.  They have slightly better than average food selections for this class of hotel which does not compare to the high end hotels.

Casino Royale is very good for gambling with the best rules for Craps on the Strip-up to 100X odds.  Their blackjack switch might interest non-Advantage Players and they have a rare 3 card poker non-human dealer machine.

If you have a car, or will walk to the monorail, the North Strip can be even less expensive.  Stratosphere, Sahara, Riviera and Circus Circus often have deals where their rates can drop to the under $40 range although during conventions rates go well over $200 a night.

We do not recommend the restaurants at Circus Circus except for a very good Steakhouse that also houses a very good buffet.  If you mistake their regular buffet for the one Vegas Made Easy.com does recommend, it will be a rather large mistake. A honking huge mistake.

Riviera has a Comedy room but we rate the Comedy Stop and Improv as being a bit better but it varies with the comics on any given night.  They have a good variety of shows with La Cage, a Neil Diamond tribute, Barbara and Frank tribute and Ice--a skating show. Their Italian restaurant is better than what you would expect.

Sahara has surprisingly good Vegas Entertainment.  Roseanne, Trent Carlini (the top Elvis show), Fab Four (Beatles tribute) Platters/Coasters and the new Brett Michaels Magic Show (which they spell backwards) They also have the Nascar café and a roller coaster with a 90 degree angle drop.

Stratosphere has an okay adult show, Bite, an impersonators show and a nightclub.  Their club is unique in not enforcing a dress code and is very rarely crowded so if you are looking the exact opposite of Tau at the Venetian, Polly Esther's may be your club.  Vegas Made Easy.com rates the view on top of the Stratosphere as the best in Vegas and they have good rides as well.  Their players club has the best introductory offers of Las Vegas. 

Although there are big conventions that affect rates throughout a city, there can be smaller conventions, especially at the Riviera that can affect a particular hotel's rates during that convention but not elsewhere.  For this reason we cannot recommend any particular hotel because we don't know what particular dates you will be in Vegas and what occupancy looks like for any given hotel. 

For a rough rule of thumb, the best you can do on the Strip is about $51 a night and under worst conditions, the cheapest you can find will be about $274.  The far North Strip will be about $7 a night cheaper on average during off-peak and about $17 cheaper on peak nights such as New Year's.

Off-Strip, the Gold Coast has not so great rooms but they can get down to $24 at their cheapest and not much more than $130 peak.  With the exception of downtown, these rates are the lowest in Vegas. 

They have a free shuttle to the Strip.  If you are an older visitor to Vegas, you will fit in.  If you are a younger visitor, the Rio and especially the Palms are across the street.

Gold Coast has low entry fee poker tournaments and good Craps.  They offer 5X odds but allow you to buy the 4 and 10 and alternate commission payments for a $10 bet.  No other Vegas casino has this Craps rule.  Their coffee shop has a very good steak special for $11.