12 budget-brilliant hotels in Las Vegas, for an affordable stay in Sin City

Formerly the world’s largest hotel, the MGM Grand towers over Las Vegas Boulevard. Its design looks futuristically modern, with glowing green neon outlining buildings guarded by a 50-ton golden bronze lion statue, a nod to the days when the casino was owned by a Hollywood movie studio company. Inside the ultra contemporary resort, everything appears larger than life, too. The boisterous party atmosphere continues around the clock.

You won’t mistake this casino hotel for any other in Las Vegas, thanks to millions of dollars of authentic rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia that is stashed in glass display-cases all around the casino and the lobby. If you don’t mind being off the Strip it’s a blast: legendary summer pool parties, cool concert venues for live bands, over a half-dozen restaurants and a svelte nightclub are what everyone is here for. The hotel’s free shuttle to and from the Strip runs hourly from 10am until 5pm. Otherwise, you’ll have to take a taxi or drive there.

Located at the southern end of the Strip, this one-time vintage Vegas swinger has been brought up-to-date, but has lost none of its tropical character. Think lush, landscaped pool area and classic Miami Beach-style rooms, complete with plantation shutters and sunset-coloured chaise longues. Rooms rates are fairly reasonable, given the good location and above-average rooms. But with more excitement elsewhere on the Strip, you won’t spend much of your free time here, except perhaps in the tropically landscaped pool area.

If you want to be in the thick of downtown Las Vegas, this 1940s-era hotel is where you should stay. It’s got a vintage vibe, which includes frou-frou bedrooms, poolside cabanas and a shark-tank water slide. The prices are also vintage, while menu prices are more reasonable than on the Strip. Fork into surf-and-turf at clubby Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse or dive into the Chart House seafood palace, where the bar encircles a mesmerising aquarium.

A hotel with a handy mid-Strip location, opposite the CityCenter complex, to which it’s connected by a pedestrian skybridge. Guests who expect movie-star fanfare may be disappointed by this brash, often hodgepodge transformation of the former Aladdin casino hotel. Others will find the atmosphere and attitude ‘contemporary cool,’ just like scenes from 21, which was filmed here. A decent selection of restaurants surround the casino, including Gordon Ramsay BurGR and the value-priced Earl of Sandwich deli, open 24 hours.

Go ahead, laugh at the kitschy Egyptian theme of this giant casino hotel. Yet it offers one of the best bargains on the Strip, even though it’s slightly farther away from the action. Named after an ancient Egyptian city, this black pyramid-shaped casino has been a Strip landmark since the early 1990s. At night, a 42.3-billion lumen beam of light shoots out of the pyramid into the sky, where it’s visible from passing planes. Cleo rooms are comfortable enough for the price – and you’ll ride in a sideways elevator to reach them!

Smack bang mid-Strip, this vintage casino hotel mixes a sprinkling of glitz with legendary mobster history. Fringed by palm trees, the concrete high-rise hotel tower may not immediately impress, but inside the naughty vibe is far from dull. On sunny days, laze by outdoor pools next to gardens and a wildlife habitat. Colourful and bright modern rooms are a surprising bargain for such a central location, ideal for first-time visitors. For fast trips along the Strip, the city’s monorail stops behind the Flamingo.

Stay at this vibrant casino hotel to save money on enormous rooms, not to mention the scintillating shows, fun and unfussy restaurants, a whizzing zip-line in the sky and a white-sand beach with swimming pools and waterfalls. With its enormous neon-lit towers covered in pink reflective glass, it looks the part of a brash Las Vegas casino, equal parts space-age modern and Mardi Gras madness. It’s just over a mile from the Strip, with a free shuttle bus service.

Towering over the far end of the Strip, with its 1,149-foot (350 metre) tower spiking the skyline, the Stratosphere’s casino and hotel are favourite picks for budgeteers. Contemporary rooms are serviceable, offering bargain rates and guest discounts on attractions such as the tower’s observation deck and sky-high thrill rides, which keep kids entertained. Though touristy, the revolving Top of the World restaurant offers unbeatable Strip panoramas from the 106th floor of the tower.