At 7:10 on a November morning the pool deck at the Wynn is being hosed down and the loungers are still stacked, and the only sound on Las Vegas Boulevard is a street sweeper working the median between the Wynn and the Venetian. The casino floor behind you has been open all night and does not know it is morning. In 70 degrees and no wind, with the mountains sharp to the west, this is the hour Las Vegas is a good idea, and it lasts until the first cabana is claimed at about 9:30.
For a Strip weekend we would book Encore, the Wynn's second tower: every room is a suite, the pool is the quietest of the four resorts here, and it priced on every weekend we checked. The Venetian is the right answer for a convention or a group, and the Four Seasons for a trip that is not really about Las Vegas. We priced these five hotels on Sept 4 across six Friday-to-Sunday weekends, and the honest headline is that the Wynn is no longer the value it once was: it ran $515 to $1,136 a night, while Bellagio mid-Strip ran $391 to $620 for a comparable room.
Once your dates are set, you can book luxury hotels in Las Vegas at live rates on Luxvibe.
The short version
- Book Encore if the room matters: typically $561 to $780 a night, the tightest band we checked, so it rarely surprises you.
- Bellagio was the cheapest on the list at $391 to $620 a night, and sits mid-Strip where most people want to be.
- Every Strip hotel adds a daily resort fee the search price hides, identical whether the room is $391 or $1,136.
- Skip a "Strip view" room facing a parking structure across Koval Lane — ask which way the room faces before booking.
- Late September priced lower than mid-October at four of the five — the shoulder either side of a convention week is where rates fall.
What Is Each Hotel Actually For?
The Wynn is a resort with a casino in it, at 3131 Las Vegas Boulevard on the north Strip, and what it does best is the daytime: the pool complex is the best on the Strip, and the golf course behind the towers keeps noise off the rooms. The Wynn Tower rooms are older than Encore's next door; ask for a Strip-view room high in the Wynn tower. Typically $515–$1,136 a night across all six weekends, cheapest Sep 25–27 — check your dates. It had the widest swing of the five, so the weekend matters more here than anywhere.
Encore is the same resort's second tower, where every room is a suite with floor-to-ceiling windows and the pool is quieter. Typically $561–$780 a night across all six weekends, cheapest Sep 25–27 — check your dates. The narrowest band in this post: at its dearest, Encore still undercut the Wynn Tower at the Wynn's.
The Venetian is a city with a hotel in it: 3355 Las Vegas Boulevard, mid-Strip, all suites, more than 7,000 across two towers, with the Shoppes, a convention center and 20 restaurants under one roof. Right with a badge, a bachelor party or a family; wrong if you came for a quiet pool. Ask for a suite in the Venezia tower, which has its own pool deck and is a long walk from the casino floor. Typically $471–$650 a night on the three weekends it priced, cheapest Sep 18–20 — check your dates.
Bellagio is the value and the most central of the five, mid-Strip on the fountain side, with the best walk-out position in the city. The rooms in the original tower are the oldest here; ask for a Fountain View in the Spa Tower. Typically $391–$620 a night, cheapest Sep 25–27 — check your dates, which made it the cheapest room in this post on every weekend it returned.
The Four Seasons is a hotel with no casino in it, on floors 35 to 39 of the Mandalay Bay tower at the far south end, with its own lobby, its own pool and none of the noise. The best hotel of the five by the usual measures, the worst base for a Strip weekend: everything you came for is a taxi away. It returned a rate on only one of our six weekends, so we have no durable range for it — check your dates.
Which Has the Better Room?
Encore, then the Four Seasons, then the Venetian, then Bellagio, then the Wynn Tower. The Venetian's standard suite is the biggest entry-level room on the Strip at around 650 square feet; the Encore suite is a similar size and newer. If the room is where you spend the afternoon, book Encore. If it is where you sleep for six hours, book Bellagio and spend the difference at the pool bar.
Where on the Strip Do You Want to Be?
North, at the Wynn or Encore, if you want to walk: the Venetian, the Palazzo and the Fashion Show mall are ten minutes on foot and the Sphere is across the street. Mid-Strip, at Bellagio or the Venetian, if you want everything and do not mind the pedestrian bridges after 8 pm. South, at the Four Seasons, to be near the airport and away from it all.
Getting There and Around
Harry Reid airport is 15 to 20 minutes from the Wynn by taxi and 10 from Mandalay Bay, and the rideshare pickup on the garage second level beats the taxi line on a Friday night. For a two-night trip fly in Saturday morning: the Friday-to-Sunday weekend is the peak product every Strip hotel prices around. Book the flight through Luxvibe's flight search; the booking, the PNR and any cancellation stay in your account alongside the hotel. You need no car for a Strip weekend — everything above is on foot or by taxi, and parking is charged by the day. To compare more than these five, start from the Las Vegas search.
What It Costs
Two nights at Bellagio runs about $780 at its cheapest weekend; two at Encore is near $1,120. The mechanic that matters more here than anywhere in America is the resort fee: every Strip hotel adds a daily charge at check-in that the search price excludes, and it is the same whether the room is $391 or $1,136 — a far bigger share of a cheap room. Ask for the all-in number with fee and tax. Our Las Vegas hotel roundup covers the rest of the Strip.
The Pick
Encore, at typically $561 to $780 a night. The best room of the five, the quietest pool, and the narrowest price band, which on a Strip weekend is worth more than a headline rate you cannot reproduce.
Who should ignore this advice: anyone traveling on price, who should book Bellagio and pocket the difference; anyone with a convention badge, who should book the Venetian and walk to the hall; and anyone who wants Las Vegas without the casino, who should check the Four Seasons rate when it loads and accept the taxi.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Wynn or the Venetian better?
The Wynn for a leisure weekend, on the pool and the quieter rooms — but not on price any more. The Venetian priced below it on every weekend both returned, and it is the better base for conventions, groups and families who want everything under one roof.
Does the Four Seasons Las Vegas have a casino?
No. It occupies the top floors of Mandalay Bay with a separate entrance and no gaming, which is the point of it.
Do Las Vegas hotels charge a resort fee?
Yes, all five here do, daily and on top of the rate shown in a search. Ask for the all-in price with fee and tax before you compare hotels.