Bunk cheap in Vegas by curtailing the glitz

ONCE upon a time Las Vegas gloried in its down-home, western-style cheapness (think cowboy hats and self-serve buffets); now it advertises VIP-bottle lounges, $1,000 dinners and butler service. And along with this upscale evolution has come the replacement of several budget hotels by expensive high-rise towers. Sadly, the accommodations of Las Vegas seem to be getting costlier by the minute.

The Stardust (1,500 rooms), Bourbon Street (166 rooms) and the Boardwalk (654 rooms) are all closed -- or they soon will be. (Stardust will close at the end of the year.) The New Frontier (980 rooms) may be on its last legs, as may be the venerable Tropicana (1,878 rooms), which is on the verge of redevelopment.

By the end of 2006, about 5,000 budget hotel rooms will be eliminated from Sin City, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. That means that soon about 20% of the budget rooms on the Strip will be history, and $400-a-night suites might become a standard offering. So what can you do now to save money on a Vegas stay? Apart from scheduling midweek stays (always less expensive) and avoiding the dates when big conventions are in town (check the calendar at www.lvcva.com), you can search for three types of Las Vegas hotels:

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Hotels on their way down. The Sahara, (888) 696-2121, www.saharavegas.com, is one of the last legendary names on the Strip. It often has rates as low as $40 a night through its website.

Some rooms at the once-glittering Tropicana, (888) 826-8767, www.tropicanalv.com, across from the Luxor and New York New York, are as little as $49.95 a night. And same for the New Frontier, (800) 634-6966, www.frontierlv.com, just north of Treasure Island, and the Mirage, which is advertising $44.95 a night online.

One of the champs of low-cost Las Vegas rooms is the Stratosphere, (888) 212-0093, www.stratospherehotel.com, which charges as little as $31.99 a night for midweek rooms in late May. The price is only slightly higher in March and April. It’s not being torn down anytime soon, but in terms of cachet, the Stratosphere is old news in Vegas, so it dishes out the deals.

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Hotels on their way up. Not everyone will want to stay at a hotel named after a chain known for its waitresses -- but if you’re on a budget, the new Hooters Casino Hotel can be rewarding. While its owners complete its transformation from the former Hotel San Remo, prices are as low as $79 per night for a double room. (866) 584-6687, www.hooterscasinohotel.com.

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Hotels off the Strip. Some of the least-expensive rooms have always been found away from the main tourist drag, attached to the casinos that locals favor. At these joints, usually a few miles from the Strip, rooms are cheaper and so are the betting minimums.

Good locals’ casinos, which often price rooms at less than $55 per night, include:

* Santa Fe Station, 4949 N. Rancho Drive; (866) 767-7771, www.stationcasinos.com, 200 rooms from $49.

* Texas Station, 2101 Texas Star Lane, North Las Vegas; (800) 654-8888, www.stationcasinos.com, 200 rooms from $60.

* The cluster of properties on Las Vegas’ Boulder Strip, 10 minutes from the Strip, including hotels such as Sam’s Town, with 650 rooms, often as low as $39, (800) 897-8696, www.samstownlv.com, and Boulder Station with 300 rooms from $49, (800) 683-7777, www.boulderstation.com.