Where to stay in Las Vegas: the best areas and hotels

If you picture Las Vegas, you're picturing this stretch. The Bellagio's fountains erupt across their lake every few minutes, Caesars Palace does Roman excess with a straight face, and the Cosmopolitan brings art, design and some of the Strip's best nightclubs and restaurants. Everything is a walk away, if a long one: distances here are always further than they look.

Bellagio is the elegant one, with a botanical conservatory, an art gallery and courtyard pools behind the fountains. Caesars Palace has seven outdoor pools and the Forum Shops, and tucked inside it is Nobu, a smaller luxury hotel with the famous Japanese restaurant attached. The Cosmopolitan suits those who want their stay with a side of style.

Between Bellagio and the south end, the glass towers of CityCenter feel like a city within the city. ARIA is the casino resort, sleek and tech-savvy, with corner views from floor-to-ceiling windows. Vdara, its slender neighbour, is a hotel without a casino floor, which is exactly why people choose it.

The Waldorf Astoria goes further still: no gaming, no smoking, just a vast spa and rooms high above the Strip, steps from T-Mobile Arena. Next door, Park MGM is entirely smoke-free and leans hard into food, with Eataly and a poolside restaurant inspired by the South of France. Ideal if you want Las Vegas without the casino haze.

Opposite Caesars Palace, the east side of the Strip offers the same unbeatable location at kinder prices. The LINQ Promenade, an open-air street of bars and restaurants, leads to the High Roller observation wheel, and Paris Las Vegas has its own half-size Eiffel Tower with views over the Bellagio fountains across the road.

Hotels here are lively and practical rather than plush. The LINQ is modern and right on the Promenade, the Flamingo is a Strip veteran with a spa and a garden of real flamingos, and Horseshoe is a few minutes' walk from the Eiffel Tower. Groups of friends love it: spend less on the room and more on the shows.

The southern end of the Strip is where Las Vegas goes full theme park. New York-New York squeezes the Manhattan skyline into one resort, complete with a rollercoaster, Luxor's black-glass pyramid fires a beam of light into the night sky, and the MGM Grand, one of the biggest hotels on earth, has more than 5,000 rooms and four outdoor pools.

It's a good base for families and for anyone heading to a fight or a concert at T-Mobile Arena or the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The airport is close by, and for something calmer, the Four Seasons occupies the top floors of the Mandalay Bay tower with its own lobby and express lifts.

North of Caesars, the Strip goes upmarket. The Venetian recreates Venice with canals, gondoliers and a painted sky, and the Palazzo next door shares its spa, shops and casino. The Sphere is just behind them and the Fashion Show Mall a short walk away.

A little further north, Wynn and Encore are the Strip's most refined pair, with chef-led restaurants, lounges that buzz late and quiet corners by the water. Encore's rooms are all suites, and so are the Venetian's, which makes this area a quiet favourite with couples and families who want space without leaving the Strip.

The top of the Strip has been reborn. Fontainebleau, which opened in December 2023, is a towering luxury resort beside the Las Vegas Convention Center, and Resorts World across the road packs a Conrad, a Hilton and the ultra-luxe Crockfords into one complex with a street-food hall and seven pools. SAHARA, a Las Vegas legend, has been completely remodelled.

It's a little removed from the centre of the action, but handy for trade shows and generally calmer. Families should look at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club on the Strip, a non-gaming resort with a heated pool and apartment-style rooms.

Before the Strip, there was Fremont Street. Downtown is where Las Vegas started, and its historic casinos now sit beneath the Fremont Street Experience, a pedestrian mall roofed by a vast LED canopy that bursts into light shows every evening, with zip-liners whizzing overhead. Round the corner, the Mob Museum tells the city's gangster story, the Neon Museum keeps its retired signs, and Fremont East and the Downtown Container Park are full of bars and street food.

The Golden Gate has stood at One Fremont Street since 1906, when it opened as the Hotel Nevada. The Plaza anchors the western end of the canopy, while Circa, the newest resort downtown, has a rooftop pool and is strictly adults-only, as is the El Cortez, a few steps from Container Park. Rooms and table minimums are generally kinder than on the Strip, which is about 15 minutes' drive south. Families will be happier elsewhere.

South-east of the Strip, Henderson is where Las Vegas residents actually live, and it does a fine line in relaxed resorts. Green Valley Ranch is a Mediterranean-style casino resort with expansive grounds, a spa and a far gentler mood than the Strip. Sunset Station brings a Gaudí-inspired bar and a cinema, and suites at the Homewood come with kitchens and views of the Strip.

Further out, Lake Las Vegas surrounds a man-made lake with golf courses and resorts. The Westin there has a private beach, a pool with a waterslide and an arcade, which makes it a hit with families. You'll want a car, or a budget for taxis into town.

On the western edge of the valley, the mountains of Red Rock Canyon rise straight out of the desert, and the hiking, climbing and scenic drives are some of the best near any big city. Red Rock Resort sits at the gateway, with a vast pool area, an award-winning spa and rooms looking either at the mountains or the glittering Strip.

The JW Marriott nearby suits golfers and spa-goers, and Durango, one of the newest casino resorts, has 15 restaurants and a nightclub. It's 20 minutes or so to the Strip by car, which is exactly the point.