The best areas to stay in Las Vegas are the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown. Each one has its own peculiarities that should be known before booking your accommodation. There are other areas and neighborhoods that are also highly recommended especially if you want to save money, or have another type of experience without giving up on being away from the Vegas Strip or Downtown. Get to know them.
Famous all over the world for its casinos, Las Vegas is also a very visited city because of its tourist and commercial offer and because of the natural resources that surround it. In fact, many people who have visited the city as tourists, have decided to stay in Las Vegas to live and even retire as retirees because of its good residential areas.
Although it is true that Las Vegas and other adjacent locations are in the Nevada desert, the city has important water supplies, both to the east, in the nearby Colorado River and the large lakes it forms, and by numerous springs. In fact, the name “Las Vegas” was given by the first Hispanic settlers when they discovered an area of green and wooded areas.
As for its birth, although Mexican and Spanish explorers passed through the area, it was the American John C. Freemont, once the area passed from Mexico to the United States, who first made the Las Vegas valley known nationally and then began to be colonized from 1855 by Mormons and the American army itself.
Today, the main street in Las Vegas’ Downtown is Freemont Street, in honor of the military man. On the west side of Freemont Street there are numerous casinos and lodgings to have fun and stay in Las Vegas.
It should also be said that Las Vegas is not the name given to a single city but a metropolitan area of nearly two million people and composed of several cities and counties like Henderson, North Las Vegas and others that we will see later.
The geographic boundaries of the Las Vegas valley run west to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, east to the Colorado River, which creates Lake Mead, a large water body that is the city’s main water source, and south to the Sloane Canyon Conservation Area.
And the northern part of the Las Vegas metropolitan area: miles and miles of arid mountains and desert.
The best areas and neighborhoods to stay in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip: the best place to stay in Las Vegas
It was already mentioned at the beginning that the term Las Vegas refers to the whole valley, and although all the towns are united urbanistically, they still have their own entity as localities.
In one of them, Paradise, is the Las Vegas Strip, or simply “Strip”, undoubtedly the area that has made the whole valley popular and more permissive than other areas of the United States in terms of adult activities.
This area occupies about four miles of South Las Vegas Boulevard and is home to some of the largest hotels in the world, as well as some of the best casinos, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. This area is home to the most popular skyline in Las Vegas.
As for what to do or see, there is a small tram that runs through this area making stops at major attractions such as the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino; the hotel-casino Paris Las Vegas, with monuments of the French city as the Tour Eiffel; the aforementioned Caesars Palace Hotel; the Luxor Hotel, Egyptian-inspired and pyramid-shaped, or the great shopping center Fashion Show Mail.
The shopping, restaurants and nightlife areas are everywhere. In addition to the resources of the above-mentioned hotels, a visit to the popular Pointe Café terrace, or the typical American restaurants Bazaar Meat and Bobby’s Burger Palace, where you can try the best meats and burgers in North America, is recommended.
As for shopping, there are two luxury places: Via Bellagio and Wynn Esplanada. And for leisure, bars like the Skyfall Lounge allows you to have a quiet drink and enjoy the best views of the city; the Intrigue nightclub offers an unforgettable night of dancing or Rose.Rabbit.Lie Supper Club offers a live concert.
Finally, it should be noted that although there are a few motels in the area, this is undoubtedly the most expensive area to stay in Las Vegas.
Hotels in Las Vegas Strip
Downtown
North of the Las Vegas Trip, in the heart of the city and as the oldest area of the city, is the so-called Downtown, whose main artery is Freemont St. Precisely this area, before the birth of the Las Vegas Strip, was the most touristic and visited.
Even though it has lost its boom, it still has great tourist and cultural attractions. One of them is the large Freemont Street Experience shopping center, a vaulted space and part of the aforementioned street, completely pedestrianized, with about four blocks of area and with all kinds of shops, restaurants, attractions and even two casino-hotels.
Just behind this center is a museum for the little ones, the Discovery, and, to the northwest, a series of museums to get to know the city like The Mob Crime Museum; Las Vegas Natural History Museum and the Neon Museum that keeps and exhibits all the historical icons that have made this city popular.
In the area you can also enjoy the nightlife in bars like Longbar and Atomic Liquors, or shop in many outlets in the rest of Freemont St. Sleeping in Las Vegas in this area also has its advantages since the prices are in the middle range.
Accommodations in Downtown Las Vegas
North Las Vegas
Surrounding the Downtown are three areas of interest which are East, West and North Las Vegas, much more residential than the areas mentioned so far. In the case of North Las Vegas, southwest of the Nellis Air Force base, many of its residents are military, so it is a quiet area.
It stands out for having, almost outside the city, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where NASCAR races and other international speed competitions are held.
However, the area also has hotel-casinos such as the Cannery and Texas Station. In terms of shopping and leisure, like any residential area, there are numerous small restaurants and bars, and the main shopping area is North Las Vegas Boulevard.
Accommodations in North Las Vegas
East Las Vegas Strip
Southeast of the above area, the East Las Vegas Strip is also recommended. This area is also home to the University District, with the University of Nevada complex as its main attraction.
Also other places of interest such as the Hard Rock Hotel Casino; The Boulevard Mall, and the Paradise Road shopping street, which runs parallel to Las Vegas Boulevard and ends at McCaarran International Airport.
Although it’s a mostly residential area, it also has boutique hotels and the city’s gay-friendly “Fruit Loop” area.
East of the Las Vegas Strip Hotels
West Las Vegas
As for West Las Vegas, this is considered the western part of the Strip and maintains the essence of the great tourist area, but it is not as luxurious and is more frequented by the local population. Still, it is also a feasible option to stay in Las Vegas.
In fact, the casinos are smaller, such as the Orleans Palms; there are streets with small cinemas and bowling alleys, and the most famous bars are the Ghostbar, in the aforementioned Orleans Palms casino, and the Bodo Lounge, in the Rio casino.
Accommodation in this area is also more modest, and the shopping area extends into Las Vegas Chinatown, the city’s so-called eastern neighborhood, although in this case it’s more of a shopping mall than a neighborhood.
The name of the center is Chinatown Plaza, and it includes a decorated Pekingese style entrance, a large square and plenty of oriental shops, restaurants and bars. Near this area, as a curiosity, there is another accommodation alternative: the El Dorado Caravan Parking Park, where you can rent a Mobile Home for months.
Hotels in West Las Vegas
Henderson
Henderson is a city in the southeast of the Las Vegas Valley, located in Clark County, although connected to the rest of the Las Vegas metropolitan area in urban terms.
It is mostly residential and has a typically American family character. Among the places of interest, you can find the Clark County Museum, several shopping centers in the downtown area such as the Galleria at Sunset or Stephanie Street, or family entertainment spaces such as the Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas Water Park.
As for restaurants, although there are all kinds of franchises in this city for all types of meals, it takes a lot of the small restaurant more traditional as Lucille’s Smokehouse, or Todd’s Unique Dining, places where you know the American lifestyle and your own food.
Of course, despite the fact that Henderson is a residential city, casino-hotels like the Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa & Casino, where there are also places for nightlife, are a must.
Henderson Accommodations
Summerlin
The last great place to stay in Las Vegas is Summerlin, at the foot of La Madre Peak, northwest of Las Vegas and a place where you can enjoy the city without the hassles of the Strip.
It’s a residential area, like Henderson, which also allows for naturalist escapes by bicycle to the nearby mountains in Red Rock Canyon, in addition to long walks in some of its parks like Angel Park, where there’s also a golf course, and the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa, which also has a casino and is the most important tourist complex in Summerlin.
As for dining, most of the restaurants serve American cuisine, which is smaller and more affordable than in the downtown area.
Finally, this area of Las Vegas has several shopping centers such as the Trails Village Center or the new Tivoli Village, one of the most complete and luxurious shopping centers in the city with a multitude of shops and nightlife venues such as the PKWY Tavern Tivoli.
Accommodations in Summerlin
Accommodation in Las Vegas
It’s a big city, and like all big cities it has a wide variety of accommodations, so you can even sleep in Las Vegas for $15 a night. However, the city is famous for its large and luxurious hotels.
Most of these super-luxury hotels are located south of downtown, on the Las Vegas Strip, and specifically in the accommodations surrounding the popular Caesars Palace, a skyscraper hotel that at its base imitates a Roman temple and where the price for one night does not go below $300.
As for the cheapest options to stay in Las Vegas, these are the hostels, the hostels and the apartments, a type of accommodation that is becoming more and more popular.
In the case of hostels, you can share a room with 6, 8 or 10 people, prices per tenant are below $20 and there are several in the city, even on Freemont Street in the downtown area. The hostels are well equipped, some have swimming pools and are frequented by young people for the weekend.
As for the hostels and small hotels in Las Vegas, these are spread throughout the city and their prices increase the closer you are to Downtown or the Strip.
Finally, apartments or apartment-hotels range from luxury apartments to apartments and rooms rented by individuals on web platforms. Their location is more widespread outside the downtown area.
In any case, even luxury apartments that can exceed $300 per night, being able to be shared, are cheaper to the pocket than hotels.
When asked about the best time to travel to Las Vegas, one must never forget that the city is largely surrounded by the desert, so in summer temperatures can be stifling. Fortunately, there are air-conditioned underground corridors between hotels and the main attractions in the Strip.
The seasonality, however, does not affect accommodation prices much, while the arrival of the weekend does, as Las Vegas is a typical destination for a two-day getaway.
Also certain days of the year such as Labor Day, July 4th, the second weekend in March for the NASCAR race, Memorial Day or New Year’s Day, as well as other holidays in the United States, also inflate prices as the demand for accommodation in Las Vegas increases.