Best and Worst Las Vegas Casinos on the Strip – Where to Gamble and Avoid on Las Vegas Strip: There is nothing like visiting the Entertainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. If you are a veteran that visits Las Vegas often you probably already know the best places to stay, where to gamble and the places to avoid at all costs. However, if you haven’t visited Las Vegas or haven’t been in awhile, than we are here to help you make your next trip to sin city a great one.
Today we take a look at the hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip that we consider to be the cream of the crop and the places you want to stay if it’s within your budget. We aren’t talking about Downtown Vegas(ie Fremont Street, “Old Vegas”) as that is not where you want to be staying, gambling or clubbing if you can afford to stay on the strip. Sure, it’s fun to visit for a few hours and laugh at people(drugged out tweakers, disgusting old working girls, dirty looking drunks), but that’s where the fun ends. Stay on the strip where the real fun is and you will thank us later.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best casinos and hotels on the Las Vegas Strip along with some real dumps that you should run away from like your life depended on it.
Best and Worst Las Vegas Casinos on the Strip – Where to Gamble and Avoid on Las Vegas Strip
The Best of the Best
Bellagio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Need we say more? Bellagio is an iconic resort on the strip that came to life back on October, 15, 1998. It was built by Steve Wynn’s company Mirage Resorts, Inc. It is almost 20 years old now but the great vibe, location and pure beauty of this hotel casino inside and out still make it one of the best places to stay. Gambling at the tables or the slots here on a Friday or Saturday night is electric, the restaurants are top notch, the fountain view rooms are amazing and the sportsbook has it all. It’s a short walk to Ceasar’s Palace, Cosmopolitan and a quick free tram ride to Aria. Plus, if you like to party, The Bank Nightclub and Hyde Nightclub are two of the best high end in sin city.
Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Casino If money is no object or you have a real high end budget, than you simply can’t do any better than Wynn Vegas. This luxury resort is the finest of it’s kind in sin city and anywhere in the world. It has it all. Gorgeous rooms, high end shopping, 5 star restaurants, amazing pools including a day beach club and a great casino including a fantastic sportsbook. It also has arguably the best night club in Las Vegas at the moment as XS Nightclub is amazing and attracts big time celebrities, athletes and the best DJ’s. The only negative to Wynn we see is it’s location. It’s all the way down on the North end of the strip so you will have to taxi anywhere else or get ready to do a lot of walking. However, if you are staying at the Wynn, money shouldn’t even be an issue so taxi or rent a limo to cart you around town like a boss.
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas Mandalay Bay is our favorite resort on the strip. Is it as high end as Wynn? No. Does it have the perfect location like Bellagio? No. However, it is still a 4.5 star hotel with the best casino on the strip in our opinion along with tons of restaurants, shops and a fantastic pool area that includes a lazy river, wave pool and beach club. The sportsbook is also one of the best on the strip and it’s home to amazing concerts, boxing matches and the Michael Jackson One show by Cirque Du Soleil. It’s night club is called Light and it’s a great club that is well worth the price of admission and the party goes all night. Mandalay Bay gets you the best bang for your buck on the strip. It’s all the way at the South end of the strip so you will need to taxi, rent a limo or use the free tram that takes you up to Luxor and Excalibur where you can get off and walk a short distance to MGM Grand and New York New York casinos.
The Worst
We don’t want to bad mouth these hotels and casinos too much as they have hard working employees that feed their families. However, make no mistake, you should avoid gambling at these casinos or staying at these hotels at all costs. It can and will ruin your vibe and trip. We won’t even link to these three casinos as we wouldn’t wish staying at these places for our worst enemies.
Excalibur Hotel and Casino Las Vegas Woof. Too many families with annoying kids running around, the rooms are a dump and the casino has a poor layout and needs a big time refresh. However, surprisingly, the sportsbook is a hidden gem and is actually worth visiting if you like to bet on sports. That’s it though. And, oh ya, the restaurant options are terrible. Yuck.
Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino A dump. The elevators barely work to get to and down from your room, the casino is small and littered with unattractive working girls that will try and hit on you for money and the restaurants are disgusting. The sportsbook is nothing to write home about either. The pool looks cool but it’s tough to get a chair and it plays annoying music and is littered with too many kids. Run from this joint.
Circus Circus Las Vegas Hotel and Casino One of the furthest casinos on the north end of the strip and the worst on the strip. Good lord, this place should be bulldozed like yesterday. A filthy dump. It’s the cheapest kid friendly hotel on the strip so it attracts low budget trash with annoying kids that run all over this place. The casino sucks, the hotel sucks and the vibe of the place sucks. Did we mention this place sucks? If the only choice is vacationing somewhere else in a cardboard box or staying at Circus Circus we recommend the cardboard box. This place is the worst.
Do you bet on sports? Check out our top sportsbooks in Las Vegas article as we list our choices for the top 5 sportsbooks in sin city.