Over my decade of traveling to Las Vegas, I’ve had the opportunity to personally sample a number of the tourist zone’s hotels–but certainly not all of them. At general hotel websites, some hotels get rave reviews from families, others from couples on romantic getaways. Those reviews aren’t necessarily helpful to the solo traveler. Below are reviews of Las Vegas hotels from the perspective of a solo traveler (me, unless otherwise noted). They are by no means your only options, but they’re a start.
Ballys Pool Area
Ballys
Ballys is an aging hotel that is a little on the shabby side and is a bit more quiet and sedate than others on the Strip (read: not as exciting). Staff friendliness/customer service, and cleanliness are hit-and-miss. Entertainment and dining options are limited. Positive aspects: The Center Strip location–across the street from the Bellagio and connected to Paris, which has a more upbeat vibe and better dining and entertainment options; Ballys is also on the monorail; and it has a surprisingly nice pool area. I don’t recall anyone checking room keys at the elevator here, but I can’t say whether they do or not. I’d only recommend this hotel if you’re on a tight budget and it’s the best price you can find. It’s not one of my favorites.
The Bellagio
The Bellagio
The Bellagio is hands down the nicest place I’ve ever stayed, though I daresay there are nicer hotels on the Strip at this point. Prices used to be high, but I suspect that the influx of high-end hotel rooms on the Strip might drive the Bellagio’s rates down to a more reasonable level. Customer service here is fantastic. I have never once run into a rude, surly or mediocre employee here. There are a variety of excellent in-house dining options of a variety of price ranges (nothing incredibly cheap, but certainly affordable), including some quick grab-and-go eateries. It is well-known for its fine dining options. Cafe Bellagio, the 24 hour cafe, is very good and has counter seating, but I also ate at a table for two one day and was seated by a window (without having to ask) so I had something to look at while I ate. The buffet is fantastic, especially for breakfast, when they had some really unusual but tasty options, like vegetable dishes and cheeseballs. And Olives is a wonderful restaurant, with a good long bar for solo diners. There are live bands at the Fontana Bar and Lounge, which is one of the best lounges on the Strip. The hotel also has a nightclub or two. They did check room keys at the elevators. There is one in-house show (Cirque du Soleil’s “O”), a free Conservatory, and a not-so-free art gallery to entertain. The spa is to die for. I highly recommend it. Even if you do not stay here, you must try to catch one of the fountain shows, preferably at night. It’s quite an experience.
El Cortez Cabana Suites
The El Cortez
(review by Brian Tucker)
The El Cortez is not the swankiest downtown Las Vegas hotel, but thanks to ongoing renovations and great word of mouth, it is enjoying a renaissance. Located in the Fremont East district (about a block from Fremont St, depending on what part of the property you are walking from), the “El” has been open since 1941. The El Cortez Cabana Suites, in the former Ogden House hotel (where parts of Casino were shot), opened in 2009 to rave reviews, and rightly so. The 64-room building is across the street from the El Cortez’s main building and parking garage, which sounds iffy until you realize there is a friendly 24-hour security guard stationed right outside the Cabana Suites entrance. There is also usually a receptionist on duty in the Cabana Suites lobby to greet guests, though you must still check in the hotel over in the main El Cortez lobby.
While only about half the rooms are actual suites, the relatively small queen-sized rooms provide ample space for the solo traveler. There is no swimming pool on property, but the very generous (for Vegas) selection of cable channels in the Cabana Suites rooms, the fitness center off the lobby of the Cabana Suites, and the convenient gambling and dining in the main El Cortez building more than offset this. (I understand they plan to build a pool behind the Cabana Suites in the near future.) One may also choose to have room service brought over from the main El Cortez building, and each Cabana Suites room includes a limited minibar selection and a mini-fridge. The Cabana Suites truly are the best of both worlds: secluded convenience and hip hotel rooms.
The Flamingo
The Flamingo
Not one of my favorite properties. I just stayed here in 2009. The Flamingo has three things going for it: Location, one of the best pools in Vegas, and price. Prices are often really terrific here, which is why I booked it. The reason prices are so good is that it is a very old property. After reading reviews by other travelers, I got nervous about the reported cleanliness of the regular rooms and upgraded to a GO room. The GO room was very comfortable, with an enormous bathroom, and a lot of high-tech features, including a TV in the bathroom mirror. It’s very, very pink. Keep in mind that on the weekends, you’ll find a lot of young people who stay here to party because of the cheap prices and the pool area (including an adult pool). The Flamingo only has one good on-site dining option and that’s Margaritaville, which is a blast. I found the casino to be very dirty (dirty floors, sticky bars). The elevators were often slow and crowded. No one checked room keys here.
Golden Nugget bedroom
Golden Nugget
Up until now, the Golden Nugget has been heads and shoulders above all the other Downtown hotels. Of course, the newly-renovated Plaza might just give it a run for its money, but it’s still a very, very nice hotel. I stayed in one of the older rooms and I even thought that was nice, but there are much nicer rooms to be had here (especially in the Rush Tower). The Nugget is in the middle of the Fremont Street Experience, under the canopy, which places it in easy walking distance of most other Downtown hotels and in a safe location for solo travelers. There are multiple dining options on site (I highly recommend the Chart House restaurant), a lounge with live music, a show (Gordie Brown), a nightclub, and the coolest pool Downtown (with a slide that goes through a shark tank!). The best part of staying Downtown is the lower prices and better gambling odds than on the Strip. The Golden Nugget gives you a Strip-like hotel experience at Downtown prices. If you’re thinking of staying off the Strip, give this hotel consideration. For my full review of the Golden Nugget, click here.
Harrahs Bedroom
Harrahs
Harrahs is a budget hotel located Center Strip and on the monorail. Its other selling point is the abundance of on-site entertainment available for guests. They sometimes check room keys at the elevators after 9pm, but not always. The customer service here is generally good, though service at the cafe can be a bit slow at times. If you’re looking for counter seating dining, try the Oyster Bar at Penazzi and Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill. I ate at the Cafe and the buffet most recently in 2008, and both were good quality of food and prices. Harrahs has a fun atmosphere, and people here are friendly; you should have no trouble finding someone to strike up a conversation with. The clientele skews a bit older (except for young people on a budget). My only complaints with Harrahs is that it can get very smoky in the casino at times, and the pool area is nothing to write home about. I like to stay here when I’m on a budget.
Imperial Palace bedroom
Imperial Palace
The Imperial Palace is a budget hotel with a terrific center Strip location. If you’re in Vegas on a tight budget, but you still want to stay on the Strip, this could be a good choice for you. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and has some things going for it: The Hash House a Go Go restaurant, which is wildly popular; Human Nature, one of the best shows on the Strip; rooms with balconies, which is a rarity on the Strip; and good customer service. The elevators are a bit slow, and I didn’t see anyone checking room keys at the elevator. Still, I felt safe here. For my full review of the Imperial Palace, click here.
MGM Grand bedroom
MGM Grand
The MGM Grand is one of the larges hotels on the Strip. All the staff I encountered were very pleasant and efficient, if not great. They were not checking room keys when I stayed there, but the lock on the door worked just fine. It felt perfectly safe to me. In-house dining options are so plentiful, you could eat at a different restaurant for each meal and not run out of restaurants for a good while. I can personally vouch for the quality of the Studio Cafe, Fiamma, and Wolfgang Puck. There is bar seating at the latter two. The Rainforest Cafe can be quite entertaining if you are into animatronics, and it does have bar seating. There is one regular show (Cirque du Soleil’s Ka) and concert headliners often perform here as well. If you are an animal buff, do stop and watch the pretty lions sleep and pose in the lion habitat. The capstone of this facility is its pool area–with five, count ‘em, FIVE pools to choose from, including a lazy river. It also has Wet Republic, an “ultra pool” for those who can’t get enough of the party scene in Vegas. It is on the monorail, so you can travel to the North End of the Strip more easily. It has a decent nightlife if you’re into the nightclub/ultralounge scene, and tends to draw a younger clientele. The only drawback of this hotel is its size: It is ginormous, so it takes a long time to walk anywhere on site. On the other hand, depending on your tastes, you could spend your entire vacation on site without leaving and still find plenty to do. I’d recommend this hotel especially for solos in their twenties and thirties.
Mirage Pool Area
The Mirage
The Mirage was my first love in Las Vegas. I fell hard for the tropical rainforest theme that used to be featured more prominently here. The two times I stayed here, they checked room keys at the elevators all day long. My room door had a safety latch and a deadbolt. The staff was friendly, the clientele was comfortable for me, and I never felt out of place. Right now, there are two on-property shows to choose from (Terry Fator and the Beatles’ Love, a Cirque du Soleil show), as well as a number of restaurants of varying price ranges. I can recommend BLT Burger and California Pizza Kitchen, both of which have counter seating, and Cravings, the buffet; all of these are mid-price range options. They just opened up BB King’s Blues Club, which is a combination restaurant/entertainment venue with live blues music and southern style comfort food. Other nighttime entertainment options include the nightclub Jet and the Rhumbar, which has patio seating overlooking the Strip. The location is fabulous, as it is right next door to Caesar’s Palace, and Harrahs is right across the street. As you can see from the above photo, they have a spectacular pool area. There is a tram that runs from the Mirage to Treasure Island (“TI”) next door, giving you even more dining and entertainment options. I would have no hesitation staying here alone again.
The Orleans
The Orleans
(Review by Edward Terry)
The Orleans Hotel and Casino is located on West Tropicana a little over a mile west of Las Vegas Boulevard (the “Strip”). It is a part of Boyd Gaming Properties, which own Orleans, Gold Coast, Sam’s Town, Fremont, California and Main Street Station in Las Vegas. Although the Orleans is off-strip, there is a free shuttle that runs until 2:00 a.m. from the Orleans to Bill’s Gambling Hall on the strip, then to the Gold Coast and back to the Orleans. This is an excellent option for people staying here who want to visit the strip during the day or early evening.I have stayed in the Orleans three times in the last five years, all of those as a solo traveler. My last trip there was in early December, 2010 at a time when the National Finals Rodeo was in town and over the weekend when the Rock and Roll marathon was to be run. My room this time, as the others, was neat, clean and nice, but not as ostentatious as some on the strip. The rooms at Orleans are a bit larger than many strip properties. Amenities in the room included a hair dryer, coffee maker, iron and board and an in-room safe. The door has a locking bar. The bathroom is pretty standard with a tub/shower combination. The water closet and tub/shower are separate from the sink/vanity area. There is no real closet, but, rather, an area by the sink/vanity to hang clothes and to place a travel bag on the rack. In-room internet access is for a fee. My room was neat and clean and I had no complaints. Maid service was good each day.The hotel area is down a hallway past the liquor store, gift shop, etc. to the elevators. In my trips there, there has always been a security person at the elevator location to check room keys of people going upstairs. The property has numerous dining options, including a 24-hour coffee shop with good food at reasonable prices, a very decent and reasonably priced buffet, the notable Prime Rib Loft, Big Al’s Oyster bar, TGI Fridays and others.Overall, the Orleans is a very good option for people who don’t want or need to stay in the touristy area. The rooms are very reasonable in comparison to strip properties, there are good food options, live entertainment (weekends) in Brendan’s Pub, a bowling alley and a movie theater. There is free wifi access at Java Vegas Coffee on the casino floor level. The general attitude is very laid-back and friendly. I have always felt very relaxed and quite safe while there.
Paris Arch and Fountain
Paris
This Las Vegas hotel is Ballys’ prettier sister. While Paris can be a very romantic hotel for couples, it also draws enough of the convention crowd and other solos, as well as plenty of looky-loo tourists, that you won’t feel out of place. (Or at least, I didn’t.) It is connected to Ballys, which has a monorail station, and is an easy walk to Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. Paris has some great restaurants. Mon Ami Gabi has good counter seating and great food–as well as a view of the Bellagio Fountain Show across the street. The breakfast buffet is fantastic (if pricey), and the cafe is quite nice, too–but has no counter seating. Because of the high volume of guests and non-guests dining here, it’s a good idea to eat early, say between 5 and 6pm, or make a reservation if you want to get your preferred seating. Interestingly, with all the non-guests who pour through this hotel on an hourly basis, I don’t remember anyone checking keys at the elevators here, either. You might want to call to check on that if it’s important to you. The pool area is fine. Be sure to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower for the great view of the Strip.
Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood has a hip, Hollywood vibe going for it, along with a slew of great restaurants either in the resort or the attached Miracle Mile shops; great lighting and background music in the casino; and one of the best locations on the Strip–right across from the Cosmopolitan and Bellagio. The bed was comfy, the room stylish, and the bathroom was very large, with two sinks–and I was in the most basic room type. One thing I didn’t care for was how dark the rooms and the lobby were, but I am nightblind, so I may notice that more than most people. Also the room safe was too high in the closet for me to reach, and I’m not that short. Still, I loved my stay here and would gladly stay again. I just really like the vibe of this place. For my full review of Planet Hollywood, click here.
TI Bedroom
Treasure Island (TI)
Treasure Island is my one of my favorite Las Vegas hotels. It may not be as luxurious as the Bellagio, but the quality-for-price ratio is high. It has a terrific location on the Strip, next door to both the Mirage and the Fashion Show Mall; across the street within easy walking distance are the Venetian, Palazzo, and Wynn Resorts. There are multiple in-house restaurants of varying price ranges, and 2 shows: 1 free (Sirens of TI) and 1 not (Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere). The property is clean and the rooms are quite nice. I liked that each elevator only serviced certain floors, so getting an elevator was usually pretty quick. Some people think the pool area is small, but I thought it was more than adequate and nicely landscaped. This will probably be my first choice hotel in the future, unless I want to splurge on something extravagant.
Bedroom at THEHotel, photo by Megan Riley
THEHotel at Mandalay Bay
(Review and photo by Megan Riley of TheBigFatWorld.com)
THE Hotel is full of sleek lines, clean architecture, where the less is more really leaves an impact on the guest. It feels less like a Vegas hotel and more like a posh NYC hot spot. THE Hotel is actually attachd to Mandalay Bay and can be reached from the MB lobby or through its own entrance deep within the cavernous parking decks. The clean sparseness of the lobby is not everyone’s cup of espresso but the milky white floors and chocolate wooden accents make it a very delicious way to check in after a long flight. Inside the lobby, THE Hotel has a nice lounge where you can relax after a hard day of gambling* in MB and an eatery/coffee bar, great for a bountiful breakfast.
The rooms are sublime with contemporary furniture and most rooms having a suite. Some rooms even have floor to ceiling windows flanking one wall in the bedroom. The sheets are top grade, the bath products divine, and the view spectacular. As with most ‘Strip’ hotels, they do charge you for the extras like internet and use of the mini bar. Nothing like a $4 candy bar.
Being part of the MB, provides all the amenities of the MB such as use of the pools and fitness areas. THE Hotel also houses a lovely spa on the 2nd floor called The bathhouse that has a sauna, eucalyptus steam room, soaking pools, hot tubs, lounging area, and fitness room. The bathhouse is not part of the wonderful THE Hotel amenities and costs about $30 to enter. But it never hurts to ask for free access if you’re staying there. A variety of massages and other treatments are also available in the bathhouse. Like other Strip hotels, there is a strong security presence, so it feels safe, and the hallways weren’t awfully long, so the walk back to the room at night wasn’t bad.
*THE Hotel does not have a casino or any gambling on its premises. You can walk over to The Mandalay Bay’s casino to gamble, though.
The Tropicana
The Tropicana
I have not stayed here yet, so I can’t describe what it is like to be a guest here. But I did have the opportunity to go on a tour of the new renovated rooms and wanted to share those photos with you. Over the past year or so, the Trop has done some amazing renovations that have refreshed this old hotel and transformed it into a place I would consider staying. For the price they charge, the deluxe rooms here might just be one of the best deals in town. They’ve also just opened a new Race and Sports Book and the Nikki Beach Club and Cafe.
For a more complete picture of what Las Vegas hotels have to offer, be sure to check out their individual websites and read other traveler’s reviews (and view traveler photos) at sites like Raveable and TripAdvisor.
Seeking Contributions from Vegas Solo Travelers: If you have stayed as a solo traveler at a Vegas hotel that is not already listed here, I’d love to hear from you about your experience! Please use the contact form to send me a brief write-up of what you thought of your hotel. Did it have a solo-friendly atmosphere? Did you feel safe? Were there plenty of things to do and dining options? Who would you recommend it to?
