Keeping it Cheap in Las Vegas, NV

So I always imagined staying in Vegas would be expensive. Of course there’s the nasty gambling habit you’ll pick up while losing 10 grand in the casinos (and that’s just at the bar), but I figured the hotels would get you as well.

So imagine my surprise when the KOA RV park was only $35 / night for full hookups, including tax. The park isn’t so bad either, though it’s essentially a giant parking lot, primarily occupied by rental RVs (the 1-800-RV4Rent types), it does have a really nice playground and a pool as well.

So that’s the RV park lifestyle, but after we stowed our RV into storage for the next couple of months as we loaded up some backpacks (in my case my guitar case with whatever extra underwear and shirts I could fit around my lately-more-played acoustic, Tristan with a bit more focus on GI Joes and spare socks) that would serve as our homes for the next couple of months as we head for Myrtle Beach for an extended-family vacation and then to Pittsburgh to visit our kin in their natural environment, we caught a cab across town to the Desert Rose Resort. It was the cheapest hotel I could find, nearest to the airport, and I thought it a steal at $55, so close to the Strip (about a block or two away). So imagine my surprise when we arrived to an incredibly swanky resort, certainly living up to it’s name, where free beer and snacks were served during happy hour (5-7), and our room was actually a small condo, with a full kitchen, living room and even two TVs. The room was fancier than our first apartment as a family, and as I sipped a Heineken from the balcony in the perfectly warm Las Vegas evening I was overcome with excitement for the coming year, our second since leaving Pittsburgh last August.