They seem a valid option for those on a budget who travel lightly.
I googled up a few: see: LV hostels
My question: have any of you stayed in a Las Vegas hostel, and if so, how was the experience?
Also, what was the name of the place downtown that closed a few years ago that had really cheap rooms?
I don't think it was necessarily a wing of a casino, but it was near one, IIRC.
Cheap, very cheap: the kind of place with cinder block walls to make hosing it clean a bit easier.
Often a hostel becomes an abode for people who are "between jail stints" because the cheap housing and lax rule enforcement attracts that type of person.
Most hostels enforce quite strictly the No Daytime Occupancy rules, so that losers can't just hang out there all day long. They must both leave the hostel and leave the area. These rules tend to make hostels attractive to travelers such as back packers. In other countries families will stay in hostels and in Australia some hostels run banks of vending machines and offer hundreds of tourist oriented brochures.
In Vegas, people tend to keep unusual hours and Vegas seems to attract fewer people who are trekkers rather than simply poor.
If I were to run a hostel in Vegas, I would insist on Passport or Out of State Drivers License, I would impose and strictly enforce a No Daytime Occupancy rule and I would enforce a Maximum Stay rule also.
Quote: RomesI think FleaStiff 'kind of' hit why people don't stay in hostels... Vegas is an expensive city, even if you skirt your way around the cheaper options you still need a little bit of dough. Thus, most people who would stay in a hostel at $20/night probably wouldn't be going to vegas to also spend money on gambling, booze, hookers, blow... You know, things of that sort. =P
It is unbelievably easy to run some coin in or play in the pit for a little bit either downtown or boulder strip etc and generate room comps...
Hard core, low bankroll gamblers might also take advantage of the reduced rates.
A viable option, for those willing to accept the inherent compromises required.
I backpacked around Europe when I was younger. I don't see backpacking around Las Vegas as the same sort of draw. For one, once you get off the Strip or the other casino areas (Boulder, downtown), Las Vegas doesn't have a lot of tourist stuff going on. There is some, and it's gotten a *lot* better in the past 10 years, but it's not like Paris or London or Boston or Portland. Also, if you're a backpacking student on summer break and just head out into the desert for the day, you might die...Quote: MrVI'd think hostels would be used by single, young folk, the backpacking crowd: the newbies who know little about comps etc.
Quote: articleUnder extreme conditions such as those in the canyon, and without proper hydration, "the sun can kill you in 15 minutes," Bassett said.
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2003/jun/19/2-hikers-die-from-exposure-to-heat/
Not the kind of place anyone with a cash gambling bankroll would be comfortable in.Quote: FleaStiffOften a hostel becomes an abode for people who are "between jail stints" because the cheap housing and lax rule enforcement attracts that type of person.
Also, don't hostels usually have dormitory type shared facilities? No thanks.
Shared bathroom facilities usually, but often separate rooms and often family suites in foreign countries.Quote: DJTeddyBearNot the kind of place anyone with a cash gambling bankroll would be comfortable in.
Also, don't hostels usually have dormitory type shared facilities? No thanks.
Backpackers are simply too rare in the Mojave desert to make a hostel sensible. Bankroll safety would nix it for many gamblers and comped rooms are often given though not necessarily guaranteed.