Where to stay in Vegas near Strip?

[CheckCheckFold]

Hi, this is my first time posting here, please be gentle. I'm from near LA and my friend in Houston (he will fly to Vegas) and I are planning to meet in Vegas. I was wondering if it's a good idea for me to drive to Vegas so I can stay at some place cheap far from the strip since I will have a car. Or should I fly to Vegas and stay some place on the strip? We're planning to stay in Vegas for 5 days, I wonder how much that will cost us. Your comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Dynasty]

You should be able to get a room on the Strip for less than $100/day. The off-Strip hotels will save you some money.

If you're coming to Vegas for the first time, I reccomend you stay on the Strip for the fun of it.

[CheckCheckFold]

It will be my first time, I'm excited just thinking about it. I won't be there just for the gambling, although it will be a big part, I'd like to see shows and such too. Do you have any recommendations? I like to see synchronize dancing type shows that I see in movies where guys in suits go. And also, I was wondering if there are easy to access and cheap transportation to move about the strip.

Thanks

[Leo99]

You need to do some homework ;-) They just started up a new monorail on the strip that runs from MGM to Sahara. Mandalay Bay has its own monorail to run from MB to Excaliber which across the street from MGM. Traffic on the strip can get real slow in a car or bus.

I don't know what kind of dance show you mean. There are tons of topless dance shows. Check out www.vegas.com (http://www.vegas.com) for a full listing of all the shows. If you like comedy magic, check out Mac King at Harrah's in the afternoon.

Download a program called TravelAxe and it will search the hotel rates from various sources for the dates you tell it. Then if you find something you like, call the hotel directly and see if they can beat the price.

Bally's is nice with a decent price and great location.

[jmark]

Don't bother staying off-strip. Just drive down and stay somewhere cheap on the strip, like Excalibur, etc. You're not going to want to drink all night then drive to Boulder Highway.