There are so many reasons to love Las Vegas, but here’s our favorite: It’s one of the best places to book a luxury hotel at a great price. With gambling as the town’s central money-maker, high-end hotel rooms are often affordable, if you know where and when to look.
When to Go
You'll uncover hotel deals from June through September, when high temperatures drive the major tourist throngs away. Keep in mind that conventions and concerts can keep individual properties booked even during this period, so be sure to plan ahead. Two surer times to find lower pricing: during the week when weekend visitors from California head back to work, and in December when vacation time (and gambling and travel budgets) are often re-allocated to the holidays and family.
Where to Stay
The Delano
This stylish hotel offers a soothing respite from the madness of the Las Vegas Strip. Its low-lit, minimalist lobby and stark white rooms are the perfect place to rejuvenate after a night or day (or a night and day) of casino-hopping. The best place, though, to soak away the remnants of a late night out is at the Bathhouse Spa. Whisper-quiet except for the sounds of cascading water, and with textured dark stone walls, the spa offers a full menu of treatments plus a redwood sauna, eucalyptus steam room, plunge pools, and a full gym.
What It Costs: Look for rooms in the summer from $170-$230 per night, with lower rates during the week. Comparatively, rooms in January and February, or during a big conference, can be as high as $600 per night.
How to Save: When booking this hotel, always check the pricing on multiple room categories. Sometimes you can score an upgraded room for just $10 or $20 more than the lower category. Want to check out the spa, but don’t want to splurge for a treatment? You can buy a day pass to the Bathhouse for $30.
Four Seasons Hotel
At first, Las Vegas might seem like a surprising place to find a Four Seasons, but its focus on the finer things means it’s right at home amidst all the glitter and excess. This is where to stay if you’re in search of a refined take on Sin City. Traditional style, plush fabrics, and stunning views over the Strip typify this resort, along with its pool scene, which might be described as an anti-party. While other resorts crank up the music for young (often rowdy) revelers, the Four Seasons pool feels like a palm-fringed oasis that’s only open to hotel guests and is barely visible from the outside.
What It Costs: While the Four Seasons name itself is associated with a well-heeled clientele and sky-high rates, rooms at the Vegas property can be booked for less than you might think. Standard rooms in the summer can be found for less than $200 per night during the week, with weekend rates going up to about $300. Those same basic rooms easily go up to $550 per night in the winter and early spring.
How to Save: Opt for weeknights in warm weather and the bargains are yours for the taking.
The Cosmopolitan
This hotel’s strategy — to embrace the madness of the city around it — has paid off in spades since it opened in 2010. The Cosmopolitan has become an epicenter of upscale Vegas cool, with daring design and a host of trendy, upscale bars and restaurants imported directly from New York and Los Angeles. And of course there’s The Chandelier, its David Rockwell-designed cocktail bar, which has become a kind of new-Vegas classic.
What It Costs: Rooms can be found for as little as $160 per night, or as high as $600 per night, depending on what’s happening in town and at the property during your visit.
How to Save: Room rates at The Cosmopolitan vary significantly from one night to the next. Use the calendar tool on the hotel’s web site for a clear sense of rates on every night of the year. Then, hunt and peck for the lowest ones. Can’t find a price that works for your budget? Stay elsewhere and splurge for cocktails in The Chandelier.