OT: Las vegas?

This is way OT, but I am losing my mind trying to decide on which hotel to stay at when we go to vegas in March. My friends are staying at the Tropicana. Should I spend the extra money and stay on the strip, is it worth it? Because of the weekend I will be there, it will be around $550 to $600-ish to stay on the strip. I was looking at the hotels close to the strip, or in the Freemont area, but don't want to be disatisfied and wish I had stayed on the stip. some look dumpy and some look like they would be ok. I am so confused, don't want to overpay, and don't really know what hotels off the strip are the best bang for the buck. Sorry so off topic, but it's really driving me nuts. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I live in Las Vegas. There is a new casino that opened and it is on Las Vegas BLVD, but it is south of the strip. It will probally take 5 to 10(at most) minutes to get to the major part of strip from it. I do not know the prices though. The Flamgino is a great hotel to stay in. If you go and sign up for a free club card, then they will send you coupons in the mail for free and discounted rooms(for furture use). There is another hotel about 1 block off the strip, called TERRIBLES. I do not know how expensive the rooms are or how good they are, but they have a good cafe on the second floor. The Orleans is also fun to stay at. Hope you have a great time!

HI THER. i use to live in vegas and the terribles is not a good place to stay,, the flamingo is a good place also the stardust, is a good place , is less expensive .hope this helps . rebecca

Sorry this is late but me and my husband go to Vegas quite a bit. There is nothing like Vegas...The Stratosphere is not a bad hotel to stay at and fairly cheap. The Hilton is really nice because it is right on the tram route along with the Sahara this way if your friends are staying at Tropicana, you could just ride the tram over to meet them. We went two years ago at Christmas and they had just opened the Tram back up so they had it free through the 31st of December. Wish I was going too. Enjoy!! Marti