I stayed in the most expensive room at a Vegas budget hotel — here's how it went
Las Vegas is full of luxurious, even extravagant, hotel rooms and suites. However, most of these accommodations come with hefty price tags that sometimes total tens of thousands of dollars.
What do you do when you want to live like a high roller but don't have a stack of cash at your disposal? When I saw the price of The Linq Hotel's most expensive suite, I thought I might have found a great solution.
On the city's famous Strip, The Linq Hotel is a budget-friendly option with suites available for a much lower rate than what you'll find at nearby properties.
I recently spent a few nights at the property to see if staying in The Linq's most expensive room would be comparable to hanging your hat at a much pricier suite in another Vegas resort. While I didn't get as luxe of an experience as I might have at some other hotels, what I did get was a great value for the space.
The price was right, but what about the experience?
The Linq has a great location directly on Las Vegas Boulevard close to Flamingo Road, so it's central to most of the action on the Strip. The nearest neighbors are the Flamingo Hotel on one side and Harrah's Las Vegas on the other, with the grand Ceasars Palace and the Mirage just across the street. Unlike these adjacent properties, though, the price point at The Linq is much more reasonable.
Average room rates at The Linq start at $33 per night, whereas a similar room at Caesars Palace costs at least $85 a night. Similarly, a room at the Flamingo Hotel will start at $33 per night, while the Mirage offers rooms for $59 and up a night. All of these prices, including The Linq, vary greatly depending on the day and time of year, but even so, prices at The Linq remain notably lower than most of its neighbors.
Suite prices vary even more. My nearly 700-square-foot suite at The Linq starts at just $77 per night, less than the starting prices of a standard room at Caesars.
I must admit that the dramatic cost difference made me a little wary. I couldn't help but wonder if important things like customer care and amenities, such as room service, were being left out to bring the overall cost down. If so, what would the experience of staying here really be like? Though a bit of research online seemed to show mostly good reviews of the property and no glaring omissions in terms of amenities, I still wondered if the deal seemed too good to be true as I arrived for my stay.
Impressive, but not luxurious
My first thought when I entered the King Suite at The Linq was that it was enormous. The layout of the room emphasized the size and made it feel more like a one-bedroom apartment than a hotel suite.
When you first enter the suite, you step directly from the short entryway into an open-concept room with dedicated living, dining and kitchenette areas. The first bathroom, two in total, sits by the kitchenette behind a door to your right, while a door to your left opens to the equally large bedroom, with a second bathroom just in front of you.
The overall vibe of the suite is modern, with sleek lines and colorful art, including a cool mural-style piece that takes up most of the wall behind the bed.
There's a spacious living area with a couch, a coffee table, a flat-screen TV and a high-top table and chairs that serve as a dining area and a separation between the living area and the small kitchenette area. In that kitchenette, there's a sink, a minifridge and a Keurig coffee maker with everything you need to make coffee every morning. There's even a half-bath in the living area in case you have guests but don't want them in your sleeping space.
Despite the layout initially appearing ideal for hosting visitors, though, other details made it clear it'd be difficult to entertain here for an extensive period of time. There was no minibar for storing drinks, and the sectional couch didn't seem to pull out. The latter was large enough for additional guests to sleep on in an emergency, but it did not seem like a comfortable place for a group to sleep multiple nights.
Like the main room, the sleeping area was also generous in size. There was plenty of space to walk around in, even with the king-size bed set up in the middle of the room. In addition to a full bath, there was a closet, a safe, a desk and an additional flat-screen TV. There were plenty of outlets both near the bed and on the desk as well.
While I appreciated the ample space, one detail immediately stood out: There was very little natural light due to a lack of windows. There were only two windows in the entire suite (one in the bedroom and another in the living room). Both were long but not quite floor-to-ceiling, and they seemed a little narrow.
Given how gorgeous the view from my suite was — the windows overlooked the pool area and the High Roller observation wheel, a 550-foot-tall Ferris wheel that lights up in a kaleidoscope of colors at night — I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't enjoy more of it due to the skinny design of the windows. Not to mention, the lack of soundproofing was less than ideal, as the last thing I wanted to hear in the morning was a hotel pool party that sounded like it was happening in my living area. Still, it was a surprisingly comfortable place to catch some z's on a budget.
The spacious bathroom with a rainfall shower was well appointed, too. It was well-lit and had extra lights around the vanity mirror, as well as a magnifying mirror attached to the wall that made putting on makeup a breeze. However, all of the bathroom amenities — including body wash, shampoo, conditioner and lotion — were generic and stored in jumbo-size dispensers on the wall that looked like they hadn't been cleaned out in a while. The water in the suite's sinks also sputtered and appeared cloudy and white when turned on, which wasn't exactly the high-end experience I'd hoped to have here.
Breaking free of the suite
One of the coolest things about my stay at The Linq was Ivy, a virtual concierge service that's available at several Caesars Entertainment properties, including The Linq.
A few days after I booked my room, I received a text from Ivy explaining the virtual services and offering extras like room upgrades and special packages that I could have waiting in my room when I checked in. You can also make reservations for restaurants and spa treatments, or even purchase tickets to shows at other hotels around Vegas via Ivy.
In hindsight, I wish that I'd taken Ivy up on those offers before I got to Vegas because I found it a bit difficult to book some of these add-ons once I was in the hotel. There didn't seem to be a lot of availability for spa treatments or poolside cabanas during my stay. I did get to use Ivy for room service, though, which was very convenient despite the restricted hours and limited options. During my visit, guests could only order from Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar or Nook Express, both of which closed at 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends. These closing times surprised me, as I would've expected late-night room service options given Vegas' reputation as a party destination.
There are a few other on-site restaurants you can visit in person, though, should you find yourself dissatisfied with the room service options. To start, there's Hash House A Go Go, a breakfast and brunch spot accessible from the lobby via a set of stairs. Additionally, you can dine at the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery or Off the Strip, two walk-through, pub-style eateries with very different vibes.
When you're ready for an alcoholic beverage, you can head to one of several hotel bars, including O'Shea's Pub Las Vegas, the 3535 Las Vegas Cocktail Bar in the center of the casino and a daiquiri bar called Purple Zebra Las Vegas. While a few of the bars (such as Purple Zebra) seemed to have pretty limited hours of operation, you'll always have at least one watering hole available, as the Catalyst Bar welcomes patrons 24 hours a day.
If you're craving even more options, venture to the outdoor walkway behind the hotel. There, you'll discover more bars, shops and eateries with much later hours, so you can grab a late-night In-N-Out Burger when hunger strikes after an evening out on the town or a late flight into Vegas. It's not exactly a high-roller dinner, but it was certainly a treat, especially as someone visiting from the East Coast.
Vibe check
The overall vibe of The Linq is pretty relaxed. It wasn't terribly busy during my trip, but it wasn't deserted either. There always seemed to be a good amount of people of varying ages and backgrounds in the lobby, though most visitors appeared to be passing through. Neither the casino nor the in-house restaurants were overly full while I was visiting, which gave me the impression that most guests staying at The Linq were also exploring farther afield.
There were no particular high-roller amenities available with the suite I booked that I was made aware of, so I had access to the same amenities guests booking any other room get, such as a pool, a fitness center and free Wi-Fi. As such, the suite experience matched the hotel experience, which was nice but fairly middle-of-the-road.
Was it worth it? That depends
All in all, my experience at The Linq was decent but not remarkable. Whether or not you should book a suite at The Linq really depends on the experience you're looking for.
If what you want is a really luxurious Vegas suite experience, then The Linq may not be the place for you. However, if you don't mind sacrificing a few luxe amenities, then odds are you'll appreciate having an enormous room in a great location for a staggeringly low price.
Just remember to purchase any extras you might need ahead of time, as you'll have a harder time sourcing late-night snacks and booking last-minute spa appointments or pool cabana rentals once you've checked in.
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