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Cheap &
Sleazy for as little as $23/night
There are a bunch of motels that advertise
$23/night Sunday through Thursday, on Las Vegas
Blvd. on the one-mile stretch between the Strip and
downtown, and also on Fremont St. downtown,
west of Las Vegas Blvd. Of course their weekend
rates are higher, but still less than what you'd
find at any hotel-casino.
Lots of the motels won't accept reservations,
and they're not listed in the online search engines
anyway -- it's walk-in only. If you haven't
gotten a room before you arrive in Vegas you can be
fairly certain that you can get one by checking the
motels in the areas mentioned above. Once during
the Superbowl the only rooms in Vegas showing
online were $175+ per night, but downtown motels
still had clean rooms for $45/night (and I got
one).
Death of the
$16 room at the Western
For years, my favorite deal was the $16 room
at The
Western (downtown), the sleaziest
and most dangerous casino in all of Vegas. I took
advantege of a $16 room there as late as 2001. It
was $16 even on the weekends! However, by 2007 the
price has gone up to $35/night weekday and
$55/night weekends. The Western's sister casino in
sleaze, the Gold
Spike, has the same rates.
(Last verified:
Jan. 2007)
Obviously you don't get luxury even at the new
improved rates, but if you just need a place to
sleep, and you're not easily intimidated by shady
characters, this is it. The Western redefines
sleaze. But that's one of the reasons we find it so
charming. When in Vegas we've never missed an
opportunity to play $1 blackjack in a dump that's
the exact opposite of Bellagio. Here's the
hilarity that ensued when we tried to make a
reservation by phon. We enjoyed the humorous
writeup about The Western in Las
Vegas on $19 a day.
I wrote a humorous
article about the above hotels for the Wizard
of Odds newsletter.
Note that these hotels are all Downtown, not on
the Strip. Before you grab one of these rooms, make
sure to check the tips below; sometimes you can get
a room in a nice hotel on the Strip
for $39 or less. (I once got a room at the
Stratosphere for $19 during the week.)
The cheapest
hotel-casino in Vegas
While the Western takes the prize for the
sleaziest casino, it's no longer the cheapest.
That honor belongs to the El
Cortez, just a couple of blocks away on the
same downtown street, Fremont. Their regular
weekday rate is only $32.
(Last verified:
Jan. 2007)
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The
Gold Spike Diner
A friend relayed this story to me:
I
used to occasionally stay at the Gold
Spike when the rooms were still $22, even
on weekends. The rooms are better than you
might expect after seeing the casino. With
your $22 room you also got a coupon good
for a free breakfast at the snack bar.
Unfortunately, the snack bar is located in
the casino. My first time there, I looked
over the snack bar and decided that I'd
pass on the free breakfast.
As I walked
out the door, I was accosted by a
panhandler. In a moment of generosity
(unusual for me), I gave him my breakfast
coupon.
- He
examined it closely, and then handed it
back to me and said, "Thanks, man, but
I ain't that hungry."
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