Mirage is just ok to me.

I like pallazo, aria, wynn, encore. Not sure why you say they are overpriced but I guess a price range would help us. Also, you can get poker room rate or something else.

Just checked prices and I must have picked a really good 3 days to go last year because the prices are double this year.You guys are right the other resorts aren't that much higher.At work right now but will be hitting up the discount sites when I get home. I can see myself walking those nice plush red carpets at the Wynn or getting lost at Aria wandering around the city center mall. Anyone know what the action is like at the Wynn around 5am?

I don't think you'll be happy with MGM Grand, Bally's, PH, Harrah's, etc. I can see where you're coming from on this, and I've stayed at Mirage 1000 or so times. There isn't really a totally comparable hotel to Mirage- it's slightly above middle class but not there with the top tier. That said, your best option if you want a new place is to go up a tier rather than down (and all the places I mentioned are definitely down). Between Aria, Wynn, Venetian, Bellagio if you shop and are flexible, someone will have a decent enough deal that won't be an arm and a leg more than Mirage.

You pretty much nailed it.It's just nice enough to be "nice" but not plush.Just checked Wynn out and will not be roaming the plush red and gold halls.

Mandalay has a nice pool complex

Mirage is terrible for the price. Aria is like 20/night more. Check out CET properties for low cost option - flamingo is pretty good and their pool is nice.

Stay at The Trop[icana] and walk to MGM. Some of The Trop's rooms are actually closer to MGM's poker room than some of the rooms at MGM.

Not to be a nit, but i think the parent company is Caesars entertainment now, not harrahs entertainment.

FTR -- given OP's stance on MGN, PH etc, i dont think ballys will do it for him either. I think eco74's advice is best -- you wont be happy unless you move up instead of down.

Mandalay is probably the only hotel that is actually pretty equal to Mirage, with the huge exception being the location. But it is a nice place, rooms are better than Mirage, price is probably cheaper. But...

Location, location, location.

And OP I really don't want to **** on other peoples' comments but I feel pretty strongly that you wouldn't be happy at anything below Mirage. I know I wouldn't if I were in your spot.

Is Mandalay is cheaper than Mirage? I always thought it was one of the more expensive spots on the strip. If it is in Op's price range, I doubt he'd be disappointed....its a very nice hotel with awesome pool area.

My suggestions to OP would be to give MGM a closer look, even though you say it never "did" it for you.
Considering its priced like Mirage/TI/Monte Carlo, etc, I think you get a more high quality resort for the money. Rooms are on the small side, but pretty modern and I thought beds were VERY comfortable. Poker room is nice and relatively soft. Pool area is MASSIVE...llike 6 different pools including lazy rivers etc. Plenty of food options. Also right across street from city center, so Aria poker room, generally considered one of the best in town around here, can be easily in your daily mix.
Stayed there twice, and even though I'm now an Aria/Venetian snob, I would stay there again

What do you consider across the street?

I was at Mirage today and couldn't help myself, here's a pic of "Jeffs Favorite" from the Carnegie Deli. I get it with Corned Beef and Pastrami and it comes with melted swiss all on top of a huge potato knish. It weighs about 3 1/2lbs. It was about $26.

I bet it looked good before the lid was slammed on.$26 might be more than NYC prices.

Just booked the Venetian poker rate. Been playing since 2005, been obsessed since 2009 (won my first $150+10 tourney for a nice 8k win).Time to test my skills, I'll hit this thread up when I arrive "easy money" in tha house.

Good luck. Two notes on poker rate: 1) you only have to average 6 hrs so if you book a lot one day, you can take time off another. 2) you have to get poker room staff to adjust your rate by 9pm *the night before* you check out.

Oh and 3) I think that if you come up short you can still get the rate reduced for some of the days.

Have fun.

I just got back from a quick 72-hour turnaround in Vegas, stayed at The Venetian on CC points. If was fantastic to stay there and all—the $20 sandwich trick got us moved to the Palazzo side with a great strip/pool view—but I'm happy with the most basic of accommodations .

OP is looking for something better than just basic, and my experience at Bally's wasn't much of a step up from Imperial Palace. The room was old, no frills, and the sheets gave me an itch I swear lasted me 18 months on my legs.

Flamingo has a great pool for its price point (about the same as Bally's), and they redid their rooms like four years ago. I've got two good friends of mine (both married couples, not card players) who just stayed at Flamingo, one stays there every other year by choice and the other was in LV for a convention and he/his wife really liked it. This spot offers you great location to center strip and its poker rooms.

For food, the Flamingo is probably pretty average but you aren't far from good food where you are. Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill serves good food in robust portions at Harrah's and Margaritaville has solid food as well. If you want to kick it up a notch, use your Venetian poker room comps to eat at Grand Lux in Venetian—it is a better 24-hour Cheesecake Factory.

The Venetian typically has a few 1/2 NL games going on through the AM hours. If you show up 4/5 AM, you may even catch the tail end of a juicy spewfest of a game. I played there from 7/19-7/21 on this trip and the poker room never had less than three 1/2 NL tables going. Small sample size, but I was playing twice into the really late hours/really early hours of the day/night. My past experiences going back to 2007 at Venetian have been similar in terms of poker room traffic/action.

Try this site for deals, there are some decent ones that include several hotels mentioned in this thread:http://deals.lasvegasadvisor.com/hotels