I’ve stayed the last 3 nights in Las Vegas. First night was at the Best Western McCarran Inn – my review – (2 stars on TripAdvisor) and the Luxor Las Vegas (3.5 stars).
Luxor hotel (the pyramid!) as seen from the 64th floor of the Delano hotel
They were both free for me (the Best Western on a Best Rate Guarantee, and the Luxor as part of a Boarding Area conference that I was at), so price was not really an issue this time. So which do you think I preferred? Best Western, hands down! Here’s why:
Breakfast
Best Western has free hot breakfast. I’ve had better, but it was the basic hot breakfast (waffle maker but no pancake maker) as the “hot” option, plus your basic array of juices, danishes, cereal and such.
Luxor? Oooh suerie – breakfast buffet is $16.99 and no comps unless you’ve got good status. Supposedly you can get vouchers if you buy show tickets, but we struck out twice.
Internet
The Best Western has free wi-fi all throughout the hotel that works great
Luxor? Free wi-fi in the lobby, but no wi-fi AT ALL in the rooms. There’s one wired ethernet connection but a) that won’t work for phones or tablets and b) I couldn’t get it to work anyways
Parking / Shuttles
In Las Vegas, the Best Western had a free courtesy shuttle from the airport (although in my case it took an hour to show up…). None of the “fancy” hotels have free shuttles from the airport – instead you’ll be paying $15-20 for a shuttle or taxi.
Parking isn’t as big of a deal in this particular case, but oftentimes the “fancy” hotels charge for parking. A few years ago, I had 2 separate weeks of training for work in Chicago. First week I stayed in the Palmer House Hilton – Category 7 hotel and one of the most historic hotels out there.
Grand Lobby at the Palmer House Hilton
The second night was at a Holiday Inn Express (coincidentally, the same one I ended up staying at 7 years later).
Internet – included at Holiday Inn Express, like $15 / day at Palmer House
Breakfast – included at Holiday Inn Express, $10 or so at Palmer House
Parking – included at Holiday Inn Express, $42 / day at Palmer House
This is on top of the fact that I’m sure the rack rate was at least 2-3 times as much at the Palmer House (I didn’t care once again, because work was paying for it 🙂 ).
Family Travel
For family travel, there’s even more of an incentive to stay at your more basic hotels. If you thought the $15 price for breakfast was crazy, try multiplying it by 8, like us! Not to mention at the Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express, you don’t have to worry about your kids destroying priceless heirlooms 🙂 Something tells me too that your average guest at the Palmer House is a BIT more likely to be bothered by loud kids (maybe they’ll even call them ‘monsters’!)
What about you? What’s your preferred category of hotels?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I definitely agree that there are midrange hotels with free amenities that on balance are superior to higher end hotels where you pay for everything individually. Paying for breakfast and parking at a business focused Doubletree probably won’t provide a better experience than a Residence Inn or even a Country Inn and Suites where they’ll feed and park you for free.
That said, I think you sell the Vegas ‘nice’ hotels a little short in the parking category. Vegas is the only place I know of where all of the high-end properties have safe free parking plus free VALET parking too. The Luxor for instance has their valet directly off the strip so you can get from Las Vegas Blvd to inside the hotel 1-2 minutes, which is a pretty nice perk. I’ve actually found the value Vegas play most of the year to be renting a car for ~$20/day, valeting it, and then just driving offsite to eat 1-2 cheap meals per day.
Thanks sunrise – I didn’t realize that about Vegas hotels. It’s definitely true that meals on the strip are expensive!
One reason we always try to stay at Country Inn and Suites (Club Carlson family). Free breakfast all the time, and it’s a great breakfast.
Problem is: There are no Club Carlson hotels in Vegas.
Totally! I also had great success with Holiday Inn Expresses and mmmmm cinnamon rolls for breakfast 🙂
I couldn’t agree more. I stayed at budget hotels mostly out of necessity, and when I was growing up, family travel was usually at a higher-end suite, which I can’t really compare to my adult stays. In 2010, I got a really great deal on a 4-star hotel, and booked it for a Disney trip, but in the time between ended up arranging to use my parents’ condo timeshare. We ended up driving all night and arriving around 9 or 10, and checked in early to the 4-star (already paid) to take a nap before the condo check-in. Was I ever glad I wasn’t stuck at that “nice” hotel! Everything was an extra charge, the room was tiny, we didn’t even have a mini fridge or microwave (in Orlando, that seems to be a necessity, so it was a shock), and worst of all, their blackout curtains were permanently fastened in the open position! You could only open and close the sheer panels. They were fancy in appearance, as was the rest of the place, but a miserable environment nonetheless. I learned my lesson–I have enjoyed the cheapest of rooms at as little as $20 (15 years ago, in Bumf@!k, IL), and felt great at $30 (a Hampton) or positively pampered at $60 (an Embassy Suites with a top-tier morning and afternoon meal plan, including an omelette station in the morning, and a full, unlimited bar and tasty light meal in the early evening). If I am paying for a meal, 9/10 times there is a better local restaurant than the one located in the pricey hotels. But I stick to the budget options now, and usually have a fridge full of leftovers to process when I check out.