One of my favorite Vegas websites (today the blog uncovers construction plans filed with the county which seem to imply Wynn Resorts is thinking of redoing the Las Vegas Boulevard entrance to Encore), RateVegas.com has a new version of its iPhone app, Vegas Mate, that came out earlier this week.

It is like the best travel book a tourist can get, with information, customer reviews and expert advice on almost every resort, nightclub, show and restaurant in the tourist corridor.

I have been playing with it for the past couple of days and I particularly appreciate that any user can leave a comment, and so there is a far wider range of opinion than in a typical guide of a single author. If some of the advice seems obvious, all of it is sturdy. And a handy concierge page aggregates the latest Vegas news.

It is amazing not only how good this app is but also, considering the number of tourist guides and sites dedicated to this town, that Vegas Mate has no significant competitor that I can find.

I have never suggested on this blog the best resorts to stay in Vegas. It seems self-evident that it really is about dollars. Obviously, a family with children may enjoy Circus Circus more than someone else who might find the older property only a great place to gag on the smell of stale cigarettes. But the Strip is meant to be explored; you can stay at Bellagio and still head to Circus Circus with the kids for a brief visit.

The problem is really money. How much do you want to spend for a hotel room you may not spend much time at during your vacation? And, as many travel writers have pointed out, warehousing yourself on the Strip has never been cheaper. If you want to fork out around $35, you can probably find a room at, say, Imperial Palace on a weeknight.  But  the plunge in room rates so dramatically over the last six months has meant that, for the first time, even the most luxurious hotels in Vegas can be rented at unbelievably low rates. So, I have a new hobby. I love luxury resort bargain shopping for staycations. You will get more out of this practice than I do, because the offers and specials really are geared to bringing tourists here. Also, the discount potential increases the more nights you stay at a resort, and I am going places only  for a single night.

The goal for me is to find a room at a top-tier resort for $100 or less a night. My list of top tier includes: Wynn, Encore, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Venetian, Palazzo and Mirage. I have left off Trump as it is a nongaming property and Four Seasons, which is a nongaming hotel and part of Mandalay Bay. I admit this list is subjective. The Mirage, for example, stands out as a hotel where some would disagree with my assigning it to the top rank. My reasoning is that thanks to the nightclub Jet, and entertainment that includes two hot shows ("Terry Fator" and Cirque's "Love"), Mirage has become a destination resort for many. On the other hand, I left off Caesars because I think the older property needs some work, including fixing up and cleaning up, before being as comfortable a place to stay as its newer competitors..

The No. 1 rule for luxury bargain hunting: Be flexible about dates in general and avoid weekends in particular.

That last part might be difficult for people looking for a weekend getaway. But consider the price difference in the basic Web rate for Mandalay Bay on a weeknight compared with a weekend. For $110 you can have a room on Thursday, April 23. But if you want the same room on Saturday, two days later, you will have to pay $350. And, that isn't the final twist. Saturday, April 25, is marked as a "No Arrival" day for Mandalay Bay. That means you would have to arrive at least a day before -- that extra Friday night will cost you an additional $210. 

Sometimes Sunday, but usually Tuesday and Wednesday seem the days to pick up the best values. I would plan a Sunday to Wednesday vacation. There is plenty to do in Vegas 24/7, so don't worry about the town being closed. The numbers change and move swiftly right now on room rates, so check back at resort sites frequently if you don't find a rate you like. But an hour on the Web should allow anyone with a flexible schedule and minimal effort to find a night  to stay at any luxury hotel on the Strip for around $150. And if you want to stay more than one night, you should be able to make that number go down. That is fairly easy to do. So all the rest is fighting over about $50 or less a weeknight.

For me the challenge remains the $100 room. Right now they are easy to find at a great hotel like Mandalay Bay. The key though is to be flexible. I concede I have not found a night at Wynn or Encore for $100 -- yet. For now Steve Wynn's customer service reputation makes me happy to pay a little extra for his properties. Or, I may find a night at Bellagio for $129 and decide I am reaching diminishing returns to save $29. But here is where you have an advantage: I am looking for only the best room prices. And since room rates are all I care about, there is nothing the resort can do that sweetens the deal for me. But who goes to Vegas to stay in a hotel room, even a luxury one, except a resident? You are probably here to do things; right now the resorts are putting together packages along with these amazing room rates where you can factor in discounts on food, shows, golf, spas or credits that can be used anywhere in the resort. Again, that is along with the low room rate.

So, instead of trying to find the cheapest room on the Strip, why not consider getting the most luxurious room on the cheap?

Photo: Sarah Gerke

The casinos in Primm (you drive past them on the way to Las Vegas) have been increasingly aggressive in courting California residents to stop there to stay and play instead of completing the trip to Vegas. Now, Buffalo Bill's is offering two free weeknights to  California residents between Jan. 4 and Jan. 30. The offer includes two free nights stay at Buffalo Bill’s (Sunday through Friday reservations only), $25 in free slot play, two free tickets to the Sin City Kitties  burlesque cabaret production at the Whiskey Pete’s showroom, and two free concert tickets (acts coming through during this period include Natalie Cole and Michael McDonald). Further details and booking are available here. I suspect this will be a sign of the sort of bargains people can expect from Vegas as well in 2009.

Ashley Powers has a great story in The Times about the big hit that the properties on the Strip are taking in the downturn. Those resorts are learning that they will have to drop room rates drastically to survive the recession and become affordable to middle-class folks again.

But what is disturbing at the top is devastating at the bottom.

Some of the saddest scenes in this city can be found at weekly rental motels. My guess is that with some rooms on the Strip going for less than $40 now on weeknights, even the extreme bargain shopping tourists who sometimes ventured this route in the past (according to Web reviews) are not staying here anymore. This is where you stay when the alternative is being homeless. I say here because I am living through New Year's Eve in a rundown weekly motel for a cover story for Las Vegas Weekly (where I am on staff). This will be a very different experience than the one I had last year staying at the Luxor while blogging for the Buffet in real time. About all this place has in common with the Luxor is a bar with video poker and slots on property. In the photo above are the dumpsters at the property where I am living. I have to walk to them a lot because there is no trashcan that comes with the room. I don't think I ever even saw a dumpster inside the Luxor. They are generally kept in the service hallways where guests never enter. My room at this place, on the other hand, does not have a bed sheet or towel as linens cost $80 extra on a room that is about $200 for the entire week. I am actually on the Boulder Strip for this holiday season. Here my 5-year-old Honda is considered a standout luxury vehicle and gets a lot of attention as if it was a Bentley pulling up to valet at Wynn. One of my neighbors, for example, likes to throw his body against the car to expertly set off the car alarm. Fun.

This place seems a world away from the other Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard. In fact, it is one of the few places I have been in Vegas where I can not see the Las Vegas Strip. I am used to orienting myself by the Strip's well-lighted presence throughout the valley. Those lights can't be seen here. If the recession in Vegas has a bottom, I am now visiting it. Sadly, I am seeing a lot of children around here (never with parents) who aren't just visiting but growing up among this.

Photo: Richard Abowitz

Why are CineVegas and The World Series of Poker simultaneously going on right now in Vegas? They are both events created locally. This June period is a rare slow time of year in Vegas. Many of the events that bring people to Vegas aren't popping up: major conventions, touring concerts and holiday weekends. Both CineVegas and The World Series of Poker are ways, over the years, that Vegas has continued to eliminate this increasingly rare downtime during our annual tourist cycle (after Memorial Day weekend yet before July 4 weekend).

This is a good time to come to Vegas if you are looking to find bargains for show tickets and rooms.