Expert reveals the only cheap hotel on Las Vegas strip that isn't a depressing flea pit
Katie Dowd, managing editor of SF Gate, named the best budget hotel on the Strip, praising its wallet-friendly pricing and well-equipped rooms.
As outrageous pricing continues to turn tourists off Las Vegas, one expert believes she has found Sin City's best deal.
Katie Dowd, managing editor of SF Gate, named the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino as the best budget option in downtown Las Vegas.
While the city is experiencing a tourism slump, Dowd insists that the decades-old hotel is still worth a visit.
'I know what rock bottom looks like. So color me astonished to find Treasure Island is the best cheap hotel, by far, on the Strip,' Dowd wrote her latest review.
Opened in the 1990s, Treasure Island features a live casino, eight restaurants, nine bars, and standard room rates for two as low as $41 per night.
The rate is a steal compared to the typical $200-a-night cost for a hotel room on the Strip.
During her stay, Dowd wrote that she paid $120 for a standard room with two queen beds and, upon check-in, was upgraded to a 30th-floor room with a view of the Strip.
While she noted that the room decor and climate control technology were dated, it had all the essentials, including an empty mini-fridge that was not filled with overpriced items unlike in other Sin City hotels.
Katie Dowd (pictured), managing editor of SF Gate and self-proclaimed Vegas Strip affordable accommodation expert, says she has found the best cheap hotel in Sin City
Dowd said that Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (pictured) is the best affordable place to stay in Las Vegas
Dowd said the impressive casino level of the hotel, 'has the aura of a suburban mall mixed with a business center'.
She revealed was able to get a decent slice of supreme pizza for $8.50 before tax at Pizzeria Francesco's. The average price of a slice on the strip is between $5-$16.
'As Vegas moves further and further away from middle class travel, Treasure Island has remained a reliably budget option,' Dowd wrote.
Dowd's review comes as the the city's tourism slump reached new lows in November.
The number of passengers making their way through Harry Reid International Airport declined nearly ten percent in November when compared to the same period last year.
The airport served around 3.96 million domestic passengers last month, down from about 4.34 million in November 2024.
That was also a drop from October, when there were already far fewer airport departures and arrivals.