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The catch at SAHARA Las Vegas

SAHARA is cheap for what it gives you, and five things explain why. None of them is hidden, and none is a reason to skip the hotel for what it does well, but each one changes how you book: when you come, which room you name, what the fee adds, how you reach the centre Strip and what is open in winter.

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  1. It is the far north end of the Strip, so the centre is a ride rather than a walk

    SAHARA stands where the Strip begins, on the corner of Sahara Avenue. From its Strip entrance the STRAT and Fontainebleau are each about 10 minutes on foot, but the LINQ Promenade is about 46 minutes and the Bellagio fountains about 50. The answer is the Las Vegas Monorail, which starts at the resort's own station, at the back of the property near the Alexandria Tower, about seven minutes' walk from the Strip entrance. Trains run every four to eight minutes, from 7am until midnight on Mondays, 2am from Tuesday to Thursday and 3am from Friday to Sunday, and reach Horseshoe/Paris, the stop for the centre Strip, in 11 minutes.

    What to do. Buy a pass if you will go out every evening: a ride is $6.25 and 24 hours of unlimited rides $15.50 at the station. The Monorail does not reach Downtown, which is about ten minutes by taxi outside rush hour, and for the Convention Center the Vegas Loop leaves from the Paradise Road entrance from 7am to 9pm.

  2. A $54.95 resort fee is added every night, and midweek it is as much as the room

    Every room and suite carries a daily resort fee of $54.95 plus 13.38 per cent Clark County tax. It covers in-room Wi-Fi, the fitness centre, pool access in season, two bottles of water, local and toll-free calls and boarding-pass printing. Parking is not part of it: self-parking and valet are free for every hotel guest. On a Tuesday in May 2027 the Blanca King is $54 before tax, so the fee doubles it, to about $124 a night in all. The fee stays the same when the rate falls: on the quietest winter and summer weeknights the same room is $22, and the fee is more than twice the room.

    What to do. Budget the nightly total rather than the rate: about $124 for a $54 room. If you are driving, set the free valet and self-parking against it.

  3. The $55 room is a weeknight price, and weekends and big conventions cost several times as much

    The rate that makes SAHARA a bargain belongs to quiet weeknights. The Blanca King that is $54 on Tuesday 18 May 2027 is $249 on the Friday of that week and $306 on the Saturday, before tax and the fee. A big show at the Convention Center moves it further: on the first two nights of CES, which runs from 6 to 9 January 2027, the same room is $399. Even weeknights move: the Tuesday a week earlier, 11 May, is $86. The hotel and its fee are the same on every one of those nights; only the date changes.

    What to do. Fix the dates before the room. Moving a stay off a weekend or a big convention can cut the same room to a fifth of the price, so arrive early in the week and leave before Friday if you can.

  4. The entry rooms are compact, and the cheapest rate does not tell you which tower you get

    The three towers sell rooms of different sizes and ages. The Blanca King and Double are 325 sq ft (30 m²), with the sink in the bedroom rather than the bathroom, and the Alexandria King, at 322 sq ft (30 m²), is no bigger; the Marra Style rooms are 360 sq ft (33 m²). Small rooms are a recurring complaint among recent guests, above all in the Blanca Tower. The cheapest rate of all, Room Assigned at Check In, leaves the tower, the bed and the view to the front desk. And the Alexandria rooms are not new: they keep the design Gensler and Philippe Starck made for SLS in 2014, while the Blanca rooms and most of the Marra rooms have been redesigned since 2019.

    What to do. Book a named room. The Marra Style King adds 35 sq ft for $5 a night over the Blanca King, and for real space the Alexandria Iconic King gives you 490 sq ft (46 m²) for $115.

  5. The main pool closes for the winter, and the spa and main gym are shut until the end of 2026

    The Pool, the main pool under a 240-foot LED wall, opens from March to about the start of November: it closed on 3 November 2025, reopened on 6 March 2026 and has pool days on sale until 31 October 2026, from 9am to 6pm between May and September and 10am to 5pm in spring and October. Entry is free for hotel guests of all ages, but the seating is not: bungalows, cabanas, daybeds and lily pads carried minimum spends of $600, $500, $200 and $100 on a Saturday in October 2026, and cabanas and daybeds are for over-21s. Amina Spa and the Alexandria Fitness Center, on the second floor of the Alexandria Tower, are closed for renovation from 7 June to 31 December 2026.

    What to do. Come between March and October for the pool, and reserve a daybed ahead for a weekend. Until the end of 2026, use the fitness studio in the Blanca Tower, which is open 24 hours.

Who should skip it

Anyone who wants to step out of the door into the middle of the Strip, since the Bellagio fountains are nearly an hour away on foot. Anyone who can only come at a weekend or in a big convention week and is counting on the weeknight price. And anyone who needs space at the bottom of the ladder, or wants the main pool between November and early March.

Who should book it anyway

Anyone who would rather spend on Las Vegas than on the room. On a weeknight SAHARA sells a redesigned room, free parking and its own Monorail station for about $55 before the fee, and the Alexandria Iconic King, the biggest room short of a suite, for about $115. It suits a trade show at the Convention Center, a road trip with a car, or a Monorail-and-pool stay between March and October, and Kwame Onwuachi's Maroon gives the north end a dinner worth staying in for. Book the Iconic King midweek, ride to the centre Strip and spend the difference.

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Questions people ask

Good questions about SAHARA Las Vegas

What are the downsides of SAHARA Las Vegas?

SAHARA is cheap for what it gives you, and five things explain why. None of them is hidden, and none is a reason to skip the hotel for what it does well, but each one changes how you book: when you come, which room you name, what the fee adds, how you reach the centre Strip and what is open in winter. It is the far north end of the Strip, so the centre is a ride rather than a walk A $54.95 resort fee is added every night, and midweek it is as much as the room The $55 room is a weeknight price, and weekends and big conventions cost several times as much The entry rooms are compact, and the cheapest rate does not tell you which tower you get The main pool closes for the winter, and the spa and main gym are shut until the end of 2026

Who should not book SAHARA Las Vegas?

Anyone who wants to step out of the door into the middle of the Strip, since the Bellagio fountains are nearly an hour away on foot. Anyone who can only come at a weekend or in a big convention week and is counting on the weeknight price. And anyone who needs space at the bottom of the ladder, or wants the main pool between November and early March.

Our verdict

Book SAHARA for a redesigned Blanca or Marra room, free parking and its own Monorail station from about $55 a night midweek, or spend part of the difference on the Alexandria Iconic King, the biggest room short of a suite, in its 2014 Philippe Starck and Gensler design. Ride rather than walk to the centre Strip, and budget for the $54.95 nightly fee.

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Last checked: October 2026

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$55 a night

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